The “Misfits”

One of the things I love about working with gemstone beads is their naturalness. Because they are natural, they are often imperfect. There will be irregularities in shape, size, and color among the beads. There will be small “flaws”. All of these things make them unique and special.
Even so, as I was recently organizing my beads to make way for some new ones, I came across a few beads that caused me to say “Well, aren’t you an odd little bead!” and set them aside. Because they don’t fit in well with the others, they are deemed inferior in quality, and I know that they won’t sell well. Or sometimes, it seems that a bead or two of a different variety has somehow gotten mixed in with my order. I wonder, "You don't belong here; now what am I going to do with you?"
Ya know, I don’t believe there is any such thing as a “bad” bead. They are still pretty, in their own special way. I feel bad about rejecting them. I certainly didn’t want to throw them out! I thought, “Maybe they can be used after all.”


These are my misfit bracelets, made from the ones I didn’t want to throw away. I just have a place in my heart for misfits.