Sample Box

Recently I have been spending time looking at tons of indie blogs. There are so many people out there with mountains of creativity. The link below is to a blog that is promoting a "sample box". They are asking for other indie businesses to donate samples and shipping them to consumers. I think it is a fabulous opportunity for shoppers and businesses alike. Check out the blog!!

Freshwater Pearls

This time the “stone” up for discussion is the pearl. All of the pearls in my pieces are cultured freshwater pearls. A pearl forms when there is and irritation within the tissue of a bivalve mollusks ( a science word that I learned from my mother ) such as a mussel or oyster. The pearl then forms when a mother of pearl substance, nacre, is secreted and sticks to the irritation. There has always been a common teaching that the irritation was a grain of sand. However, here comes the science lesson, nacre will not stick to anything inorganic, sand is inorganic. The irritation must be organic such as a piece of foreign tissue or parasite. In the case of cultured freshwater pearls a piece of tissue from another oyster or mussel is implanted and the process begins. There are other methods but this seems to be the most common practiced. Just a few random pieces of information.