Monday, March 17, 2014

Sea Glass and my Journey

For those of you who are new to my blog / shops, I relized you may not know the love affair I have had with sea glass.  It played a huge part in my "taking off" as a jewelry designer.

Here is the backstory...........

I started out stringing gemstones and using silver- two of my first loves.  One day, i walk into a shop on Long Beach Island NJ, and the owner tells me she likes my necklace (a wire wrapped gemstone) and asks me if I could do that in sea glass.  I said I guess, I never tried...and I have never had any sea glass.  So she promptly grabs me two gorgeous pieces of sea glass, tells me to do something with them and come back in the spring, and she'd let me put my jewelry in her shop.  That is how my love affair with these magnificent little gems began.

And so I wire wrapped, and I drilled, and I made very typical pieces of sea glass jewelry.  











I really enjoyed working solely in sea glass- and I sold these on ebay (don't miss that at all).  But I also missed my gemstones.  

I also sold at my normal art and craft shows, plus, I did a couple sea glass festivals per year.  

I then acquired some better wire wrapping and metal smith skills.  I learned to solder, to rivet, I added PMC and metal clays to the mix, and I wanted to mix them all together.  

That is when everything finally started to feel like home- and I have been mixing it up ever since.






















Going through all my sea glass as I clean the studio has me quite nostalgic.  I miss doing the Lewes DE sea glass festival.  It was a nice show- just so much work to be away from the family for the weekend during school.

Since I am cleaning out and organizing, I am offering some one time grab bags with diamond drill bits over on my facebook page today.  Limited to the quantity at hand and that's it.  
They are a great deal.  Here is a peek at the bags.  They were all pieces I was going to drill for jewelry myself, so they are very good quality!  some even have pencil marks of where i was going to drill.  They can be erased or washed off if you want to.



So stop by my business page and see what I have to offer, and what is left.


If you already have sea glass and drill bits, you can check out my free drilling tutorial at the top of the blog.  Click on Tutorials and Tips, and you will find it there.  Open the sea glass drilling tutorial, and you will also find a video demonstration. 

Thanks for joining me on this trip down memory lane.  It makes me long to have my toes in the sand and sea glass around my neck!  Come on spring!  You are not coming fast enough.

3 comments:

  1. A sea glass festival?!? That sounds like heaven! Your work is just stunning. I bet they're the kind of pieces people get compliments on every time they wear them. - Julie

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    1. Oh the sea glass festivals were wonderful! everyone there is a fan /addict, so its is endless show and tell, and sea glass talk. everyone is a beach babe, so so fun! I really miss them

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