Paua is the name given to the New Zealand abalone shellfish with the unique iridescent color. You can read more about it in my past post Iridescent, irresistible paua.

Sheila has been beading before and has a keen eye for designing with gemstones she doesn't yet have in her jewelry box. As soon as she saw the paua beads in my collection, she went ahead and created this simple paua necklace and earrings to match. She used light purple and bugle beads to go with the shell beads.

Sheila is already married so these are for her personal use. However in New Zealand, paua themed weddings are all the rage. According to Pauamana.com, a supplier of all things paua for crafts people, you can get wedding invitations featuring paua shell, hand stitch two-holed paua buttons to wedding dresses, strewn pretty paua pieces as table decorations or use them to adorn wedding favors. They also had a super tip to use whole abalone half shells as lovely candle holders.

Beader Design #: 532

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