Work In Progress Wednesday, Week Six (After a LONG hiatus)
>> Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Finishing up some pendants made with a client's sea glass pieces.
Showing posts with label sea glass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label sea glass. Show all posts
Sea Glass Windows
>> Saturday, January 15, 2011
First, a look at yesterday's window now that it's finished
And second, I have finally begun listing my sea glass windows in my Etsy shop! 
***Update! The above window has sold, I will be listing more tomorrow when I can get some good sunlight through the windows! :)
I'm at it again!
>> Friday, January 14, 2011
Making sea glass windows...
this one is a custom piece ordered at my show last month.
Sea Glass Hunting With New Friends!
>> Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Over the past weekend, I got to (finally!) get together with a group of sea glass enthusiasts I know from an online community. Folks from all over RI, MA and CT gathered and braved the spitting rain and chilly weather to hunt for glass together.
After we hunted, we were invited back to one gal's house for a fabulous spread of wine, cheeses, handmade pizza and crudités!
This stunning table belonged to our hostess, Terry- can you say DROOLING?!
This is me, de-sanding and sorting. This is ritual, I do it every time. 
Apparently I have sea glass sorting OCD as I was the ONLY person out of around 15 to do it...as you can see by everyone elses piles.
Mine on left, other people's on right.
Two marbles- the one on the left is referred to as "bonfire glass" as it was melted before being swept out to sea. The right- a stunning icy blue with a cornflower blue swirl. These were found by my friend Gara, lucky girl!
Ed and I. Cold, wet and quite pleased with ourselves.
A collaborative photo. Everyone put their favorite finds of the day together for a group shot. Mine is the red piece at the top.
Maryanne and Gara sharing their finds with each other.
Terry got straight to washing all the dirt off hers!
A wonderful afternoon with lovely new friends! Once I wash and sort all my glass (again), I'll post more photos of my finds.
Vintage is all around me!
>> Wednesday, March 3, 2010
In the spirit of Retro Tuesday and Vintage Thingies Thursday, I was mulling what oldies but goodies I might have around the house to share with you all this week. I was super busy last week preparing for my craft show so I didn't have any time to shop the thrift or consignment stores, so I knew I'd have to find something I already had. What do I have?... Then it hit me- the biggest hobby in my life- the basis for my jewelry business- Sea Glass!
For those who don't know what sea glass is- here's my description. Sea glass, beach glass, pottery shards and the like comes from glassware, dishes, china, earthenware, etc that has fallen into the sea. 
Many times it was at the hands of man tossing (or mass dumping) garbage into the ocean, but there is also a great deal that comes from shipwrecks and storms that have literally washed houses out to sea. 
After decades and even centuries of rolling around the ocean floor; banging into rocks, tumbling in the sand and waves, a tiny gem will surface on the shoreline glistening in the sunlight like the finest emerald or diamond you could ever wish to discover! (okay am I getting too poetic?)
To me there is nothing more relaxing than walking the beach for hours with my eyes glued to the ground, scouring the sand for the tiniest glimmer peeking out from beneath the muddy sand or wedged between two rocks. It is my escape.
Yesterday I happened to have 2 whole hours to myself after dropping Avery off at preschool and the weather was a balmy 50 degrees and sunny, so I drove down to the beach and walked the 2 mile stretch back and forth- twice. I didn't find any ultra rare prizes that will make me a fortune on eBay, but I did find some really gorgeous greens of jewelry quality that I'll be turning into pendants, bracelets and rings in the near future. Here's a little peek at some of yesterday's haul:
My favorite items to collect are marbles, bottle necks (I'd love to find a whole bottle, but as you can imagine, those are really hard to find intact!) and pieces of old coca cola bottles. I have an ever changing display of them on my kitchen windowsill. 
The marbles are especially interesting to me- when I found my first one, I wondered what little child had brought his marbles to the beach to play and had a sneaky wave come upon him and wash away his favorite cat's eye when his back was turned? Then I thought- who brings marbles to the beach to play? 
And while I'm sure there are some who did and some who still might, I have since discovered that often times marbles were used as ballast in old cargo ships- which to me, is a much more plausible scenario for marbles being devoured by the sea. How intriguing to me it is that the frosty and pitted orbs that now decorate my kitchen in their rainbow of colors might have come from an ancient ship wreck- perhaps even a famous one!
My first marble
While I say "I collect" marbles, I must admit that I only own 4 so far. They are not easy to find! I use my favorite bottlenecks- in a range of aqua, green, white and lavender to display them. They are joined on the sill by large shards of coke bottle green glass
The tell tale ridges make these pieces easy to identify. 
One even sports the iconic cursive "ola" on it. 
This is from an old "sarsaparilla" bottle make by CI Hood in Lowell, MA.
Here's what it may have looked like when it was whole:
(image found at The Advertising Collections of Cliff and Linda Hoyt)
Have a look at what I turn pieces like these into:
Coke bottle green sea glass ring
Coke bottle green sea glass bangle bracelet
So to end a rambling sort of post, here I was thinking I had nothing "vintage" to show off this week and wound up discovering that "vintage" surrounds me and I am adding new pieces to my collection every time I go to the beach!
It's sea glassing time! A new clock for my kitchen.
>> Wednesday, January 27, 2010
The temporary clock in my kitchen, swiped from my studio downstairs
The new clock before I got my hands on it
Purchased at Family Dollar by my mom-on-a-mission for $5.99 (I mentioned the clock I wanted and she hunted down the only one in the store on her hands and knees behind a ton of other boxes that were nowhere near the clocks! She's a mad woman, I tell you!)
Some E6000 glue and frosty smooth sea glass from my collection
Viola!
Kitchen is now sporting a beachy new time telling apparatus! 
(As of these pictures, the glue is still drying, I was just too excited to wait. If the frostiness of the sea glass doesn't reappear after the glue is dry, I am thinking I will paint the backside of the glass with white glass paint. We'll see!)
Happy Birthday To Me!
>> Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Well not really, my birthday was the day after Christmas, but I wanted to share the pendant I made for myself. I am always working to finish custom orders and never make anything lovely for myself. This is the first time I've tried soldering more than one component together and I'm pretty proud of myself. I cut out the backing on the sea glass pieces so the light could shine through. 
Coke bottle green and frosty white sea glass are bezel set in fine and sterling silver. The pretty little shell is called a pearl umbonium and I have them for sale here. 
What do you think?
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