A Sea Glassing Friday

Had Friday off, and hoped to hit the beach, in hopes of finding a few ocean treasures. Since it was snowing very early in the morning and much colder than I expected, I had a 2nd cup of coffee and  went through the bag of English sea glass my hubby had left on the desk.

I love English sea glass. It's always very frosty, well rounded and the multi-colored pieces that come out of the Seaham area are amazing. I don't come across many that work well with my style of wire-wrapping, but when I do, I usually wnt to keep it for myself.

Playing with the English mulits inspired me to take pictures of a few creations I made recently and also to wrap a bunch of new pendants.. a couple of petite reds and a couple of teals... maybe I'll do a special sale for one of my blog followers. Perhaps a special blog code for a % off one of my pieces on Etsy.com.

 With all the sea glass I went through today, all the pieces that my DH has already drilled and the many pieces that I have wrapped, I still have so much work to do. I would love to have another "Friday" off. I need another day or two of clear, sunny skies to take pictures and 3 or 4 more hours (or more) to wrap more pieces.

Maybe I do have enough to do a show, maybe not. Anyway, I had a productive Friday. Hope you enjoy the images!

'til next time...
R

Searching for Sea Glass In October - Part1

Last week, the weather was fairly mild for mid-October, so I hit the beach in the morning a couple of days, hoping to find a few treasures. You never know what to expect at this time of the year... high tides, usually mean you will encounter many surf fisherman (and women). Low tide usually means mostly empty beaches.

On Long Beach Island, where I do the bulk of my searching, it's quite apparent that the landscape of the beaches no longer resemble what you were used to in the spring and summer seasons. The towns do not have the funds to maintain the beaches and only the threat of extremely bad weather will bring crews to the beach in hopes of saving the dunes that protect personal property.

Tire tracks cover the high tide area, so much of those treasures are either buried and/or broken under the tracks. The ocean preserves the low tide area, as the pounding waves end up creating sand barriers that separate the high and low tide areas. These barriers are actually cuts in the beach, that create a wall in the sand, sometimes only 8-12 inches high, but in other areas, the wall is actually 3 or 4 feet high!

These are great areas to search for sea glass and other treasures that the ocean has left behind, as shells, seaweed, driftwood, etc all gather at the base of the wall, waiting for the next extreme high tide to reclaim them. Or for me and the other treasure hunters to search them.

So, different landscape, much less foot traffic and somewhat better conditions for finding a few ocean treasures

I made two trips last week, one at about 8am-ish on both Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday's trip was a little too early to have the opportunity to be there for low tide. I did have the "wall" areas to search, as some of these walls were able to contain the high tide that day. And there were plenty of shell beds to look through.
Unfortunately, there were also a few different footprints near the gatherings also, so I had been beaten to the spot.

Despite getting there 2nd or 3rd or whatever, I did find several pieces of sea glass, most of which "under-cooked" and needed more time in the ocean. These were left for the next tide to reclaim to allow the ocean to do her thing- continue to breakdown the shard and return it to the sand it originated from...or hopefully place it back on the beach in the future, for me to claim and recycle, repurpose, etc.

I did find a few nothing-special browns and a green and on my return trip to my car, I was able to walk closer to the surf and examine what was being left behind. It was there that I found a soft green piece of sea glass, somewhat small, but nice thickness. Most likely, it's a piece of an old Coke bottle, but still it's was good to see that LBI could still turn out something other than new beer bottle shards.

I don't have pictures of my findings from last week yet...I'm working on them, but I hope you enjoy a few images of some current creations and recent sea glass findings. Come back tomorrow for part 2 : )

'til tomorrow...
R

A Seaglassing Weekend

It's Labor day weekend and the east and west coasts are enduring passing hurricanes.
The surf is very rough here in New Jersey, and it's turning up the ocean floor. Rough seas, riptides, extreme tides usually equal "ocean treasure" opportunities!

On Wednesday, the shell beds on the beach stretched for nearly a block and the surf was filled with piles of shells...great for finding a few pieces of sea glass. Since Sandy tore thru the Jersey coast nearly 2 years ago, we haven't had shell beds like this on the beach, and the sea glass has all but disappeared.

But, we took advantage of the small crowds, hit the northern end of LBI and hubby and I hit the beds and found about 18 pieces of sea glass. My youngest son brought a nicely finished beer bottle top to us and found a few undercooked pieces. Hubby found a couple really nice greens and a few older browns, one looked quite old and very thick. But the biggest surprises were a few blues...one cobalt and one dark cornflower! They aren't jewelry quality, but they will look great sitting next to a window in a decorative jar.

On Thursday, we arrived at the beach and found that the tides had taken back all of the shell beds and despite a low tide approaching, she left hardly anything for us to search through. So we walked far north than we have before, to find a small area with a huge concentration of shells.

By the time we arrived, there were many people shifting thru the pile, most were looking for interesting shells, but some were searching for sea glass. Since this area was quite large, there was plenty for everyone to look thru, but most of the glass that was there seemed to have held alcohol in it recently (like maybe the night before?)For every 50 pieces we picked up, there was 1 keeper. People picked up anything they could find, calling it "sea glass", when in truth it could have been used as a weapon, or worse yet, cut a young child's foot, had they stepped on some of those shards.

The search was fruitless and I headed back, followed by my hubby and oldest son. As they made their way back, a wave washed a brown bottle top onto the surf, not more than 8 inches from my son's foot and hubby grabbed it. He almost threw it back, but said he could feel the chemical change that causes frosting. It was a good decision, because by the time he got back to our umbrella, the piece was entirely frosted, inside and out.

During the day, we did stumble upon a couple pieces of well tumbled, well-weathered sea glass, again, nothing jewelry quality, but nice for decorative displays. But as quickly as those pieces were presented to us as we walked the beach, the ocean would have just as quickly taken them back. Just as it had reclaimed it's shell beds from the day before.

Even though the ocean appeared much calmer on Thursday, the undertow was still strong and rip currents were still present. Be careful if you enter the water, especially if you are not in an area supervised by a lifeguard. Save me some sea glass and enjoy your long weekend!


'til next time...
R

CreationsByRobin has Reopened!

It's been awhile...a long while and I didn't really know if I was ever going to reopen my shop on Etsy.com.

But a few recent trips to the beach began the itch, and an end-of-the-day find- a jewelry quality soft blue piece of sea glass, pushed me over the edge. I am back after an almost 2 year hiatus!
Hurricane Sandy left the Jersey shore battered and it has recovered nicely. Sandy has hidden all the sea glass, but when the ocean decides to expose the hiding places, I hope to be there...and continue to share them with you and hopefully, recycle them into something special.

I happy to be back, doing what I truly enjoy...walking the beach with my family, looking for ocean treasures!

Summertime Fun at the Beach

Wow, it's been quite awhile since my last blog entry...but I guess that's a good thing.
It must mean I've been spending a lot of time on the beach, doing what I love- searching for sea glass.

For those that are wondering what hunting for beach glass is about, or just looking for a fun & eco friendly summertime hobby, check out this article about what I plan on doing this summer...

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/8089711/fun_in_the_sun_at_the_beach.html?cat=24

Maybe I'll see you on the beach....enjoy!

Meet and Greet at Jersey Made Tonight 12-17

If you are still looking for a gift for a hard to buy for family member, friend, work mate, and they love the beach/ocean, then come on down to Jersey Made tomorrow night!
I will have a portion of my sea glass collection with me, along with wire to wrap pendants, and a few sterling silver chains.

Or you can bring a piece of sea glass and I'll create a custom wrap for you. I also have several new jewelry creations that I will be bringing with me, along with some pre-drilled pieces of sea glass, that can be used to create earrings, or bracelets.

Jersey-Made is located in the Mill Race Village section of Mount Holly, NJ and the meet and greet is scheduled tomorrow, Friday December 17th, from 5pm- 9pm. Stop in and talk sea-glassing and bring your prize "finds". We would love to hear your stories!

Hope to see you tonight!

R

Is Blue The Most Popular Sea Glass Color?

Orange is the rarest, followed by the color of love....Red. Many people love the earthier colors green and brown. But are the shades of blue, the most popular of sea glass colors?

When it comes to jewelry, it is virtually impossible to keep jewelry made with cornflower blue sea glass or cobalt blue sea glass in stock. No matter how many gorgeous pieces of teals, pinks or greens I have on my display, it's the deep blue pieces that receive the biggest oohs & aahs. A knowledgeable sea glasser will often jump at a reasonably priced red piece of sea glass jewelry, especially if it is close to being shaped like a heart. The in-the-know customer will also find it hard to pass by a flawless, dark teal piece... but there is something about the blues. They will examine every piece of blue on the table and the shade doesn't matter. From aqua to turquoise and every shade in between, almost always, not one blue goes untouched.

Amazingly, it doesn't matter how much or little the potential buyer knows about sea glass, they see the blues and if it's within their budget, they have to have them. (and in pre-recession days, it didn't have to be within their budget...they wanted it, whatever the price!)

(At this point of the this blog entry, I took a look at my Etsy shop... 4 of my last 7 Etsy sales have been blue pieces of sea glass jewelry. 2 aquas, and 2 cobalts.)

My personal sea glass jewelry collection had been comprised of mostly teals, olive & kelly greens, and a brown or two. I recently added my first blue to my collection... a gorgeous English cobalt blue necklace (which I've been wearing pretty much exclusively every day for the last 2 weeks)

As much as I always hope to find an elusive orange or red piece of sea glass on the beach, I do get excited when I spot a dark blue piece sitting in the sand. There is something about seeing a wet piece of cobalt blue sea glass, glistening in the sun, laying in the sand. I just know that if it is a piece that is jewelry-quality, it's already as good as sold.

Unless I decide to add a 2nd blue piece of sea glass jewelry to my personal collection.... after all, there is just something about those blues!

I hope you enjoy the images... but they aren't mine any longer. They have all found new homes recently.

til next time...
R

Sea Glass Jewelry- Which Sells Better Earrings vs Necklaces

I came across a thread in the business forum on Etsy.com about what sold better for jewelry makers on Etsy...necklaces or earrings. Overall, the responses seemed about 50-50 for either style. Some sellers seemed to sell one a little more often than the other, while other sellers thought they sold each in equal amounts.

For my Etsy shop, I have found that necklaces far out-sell earrings, by more than a 10-1 margin. I have never sat down and actually figured out the total, but I suppose if I had, the number were be far greater... perhaps the ratio is 15-1 or more!

Part of the reason may be that I've never really been thrilled with my images of the earrings I create and I suppose that "vibe" carries over in my shop. I'm not sure what it is, but my earring images just don't POP on the computer screen.

The necklace to earring ratio is not nearly as large when it comes to doing shows. Necklaces are still the winner, but sea glass earrings tend to sell better in person ( which confirms my earrings have a commercial value, I just haven't found the correct way of capturing these images for internet viewing) I would guess I sell a pair of earrings for every 3 necklaces at fairs and shows.

Perhaps this is the very reason I currently don't have any earrings in my Etsy.com shop... but I am working on a few new earring designs. Maybe they will photograph better!

'til next time...
R

Red Sea Glass for Valentine's Day

With Valentine's day right around the corner, I thought it would be a good idea to blog about one of the rarest of colors in the world of sea glass... RED.

Ranked #2 on the rarity chart, red sea glass is one of the most sought-after colors of sea glass. In jewelry quality condition, a near-flawless piece can brings anywhere from $25 to upwards of $100 for the shard. In flawless condition or naturally shaped like a heart, can fetch that much or more.

Honestly, finding a red piece of sea glass is a rush, but really no more so than a cobalt or cornflower blue shard. Using sea glass in my jewelry creations, I actually find that the blues sell better than the reds and are in more greater demand (perhaps this is because the red pieces sell for 50%+ more than the blues)

So in honor of the upcoming holiday for lovers... here are some Reds!

The Last Full Moon of the 2009

New Years Eve will offer a third full moon for the month of December...and offer a prime opportunity to add to our sea glass collections on New Years Day.

I was able to get to the beach during November's full moon and the conditions were almost perfect for sea glassing...west wind, severe tides...if it weren't for the late afternoon low tide with the sun quickly sinking to the west, it would have been as close to perfect as possible (as close as temps in the mid-to high 30s will allow)
Illness and foul weather wiped out my chance to get to the beach early in December, so I'm really looking forward to hitting the beach and hunting for some ocean gems to start off 2010.

Here's hoping for a stiff western wind, 30 - 40 minutes of light during low tide and a severe low tide... Cobalt Beach is where I'll be heading and I'll be dreaming of finding that elusive orange piece...wow, that would be a great way to begin 2010!


til next time...

R

My sea glass hunt is rained out .....

I hoped to sneak away this morning to hit the beach and do a solo sea glass hunt. However, Mother Nature changed my mind. A drizzle that turned into a steady rain and morphed into a down pour keeps me in the house.

And I swear that there was going to be some beauties lying along the high tide line today : (

So, I'm taking a short coffee break to blog, share images of a couple of pieces that are going to their new home on the west coast (to a fellow sea glass collector) before I sit down to my craft table and create a few new sea glass creations for my shops and my upcoming summer craft shows.

Maybe I can sneak off to the beach tomorrow...here's hoping the ocean understands my plight and leaves something pretty behind for me to find!!

The Sea Glass Generation

This has been a blog post that's been on the back-burner for several weeks and I found some inspiration to finish the post from a sea glass collector's group I belong to. The title to this thread is borrowed from one the members of this very knowledgeable group of collectors. So before I continue, I'd like to credit Krista's Kiln with the title for this blog.

This blog is one for those that know the thrill of finding one of the ocean's brilliant gems lying in the sun on the beach....

A couple of months ago, my hubby was searching the beach for sea glass when he came across a fairly large shell bed that was left behind by high tide. Shell beds like these are often contain many treasures for sea glass collectors and I've spent 30-45 minutes combing through the piles picking out some of the nicest pieces, and sometimes leaving other pieces behind for the next passerby.

While going through the pile my hubby found, he came across a few unfinished pieces (or under-cooked, as he and other collectors like to refer to them) a small handful of smaller to medium sized frosty pieces and a few slivers. Two of the three slivers were of one of the more sought-after colors, cobalt, and they were pretty well weathered. And it's these barely-there slivers that inspired this blog post...and it's one that leads to a sad realization for sea glass collectors.

As the discarded bottles tumble around in the surf, they break into shards and the combo of sea and surf work their magic. Chemicals are leeched out of the glass, smaller pieces break off, shards become smaller. After all glass is made from sand, so it's only natural that they return from where they once came.

As the years go by, the pieces tumbling around in the sea become smaller and smaller until they will on day be too small to see...and since we no longer make the amount of glass we once did, these ocean treasures are vanishing...vanishing in our lifetime.

This makes me wonder if my children will have the opportunity to share beachcombing with their children as we have with them? Or will my son's generation be among the final sea glass generations?

So going forward, I won't leave behind any finished pieces on the beach for the chance that someone else may find it. For if they don't the tide surely will reclaim it's treasure and subject it to more tumbling, perhaps years of tumbling, until it reduces the shard back to the granules of sand it once had been.

But don't think that I'm greedy because I did my best to pick up all the finished pieces of sea glass. I love giving pieces of sea glass away to people who obviously are looking for a piece of our maritime history... there is nothing like handing a piece of sea glass to a youngster and introducing them the hobby I have such passion for... at the same time, I'm expanding the future generation of sea glass collectors and hoping to keep the hobby alive.

After all, it is a hobby that will one day grind to an end, but hopefully not too soon...

'til next time...
R

Warm Weather, New Sea Glass Creations and the First Consignment Opportunity of the Season....

Sixty-two degrees on the Jersey shore yesterday! If I wasn't putting the last touches on a few consignment pieces, I would have been combing the beach for sea glass... but there will plenty of hunting opportunities before the summer season starts.

Instead, I spent the day finishing up a few items for my Etsy shop and making several new pieces for a B&M shop where I'll be displaying sea glass jewelry this spring/summer. Between sessions at my crafting table, the sun peeked out from the mostly overcast skies, so I spent time alternating between creating sea glass jewelry and capturing images of finished pieces.

Some of the images on the new pieces need work and I'll need to retake some shots again, but a few of the images were acceptable and yesterday I listed my first multi-color sea glass necklace. Also known as "end of day glass", this beauty is mostly white/clear with a splash of aqua blue. It's very pretty when held to the sunlight, and this piece is very smooth and well-frosted. This perfect piece of English sea glass is listed in my shop on Etsy.

I suppose it's time to announce the first brick & mortar shop that I will be displaying my sea glass jewelry for the spring and summer months. I will have between a dozen- 2 dozen pieces of my creations at the Museum of NJ Maritime History in Beach Haven. The LBI museum is simply beautiful, with many great displays...so many in fact, that it would be impossible to really take in everything in just one visit.

There is great upside to selling my handmade sea glass jewelry on Long Beach Island and I'm thrilled to have my creations at the museum for the spring and summer. If you are on LBI for the day or on vacation, stop in at the museum...it's free of charge... and take in some of the wonderful displays and some of New Jersey's Maritime history.

The images above are a couple of my new pieces. The red will probably be heading to my Etsy shop later tonight and the English multi-color is already in my Etsy shop.

til next time...

R

A few new pieces of Hanmdade Sea Glass Jewelry

A weekend craft show and a Sunday Etsy sale left my shops a bit wiped out, so back to the crafting table I went..... well not everything is just made... I have several pieces that were works-in-progress and a bunch of items that are/were set to go on consignment... and now I need to re-stock the shops.

I still have to take photos of most of the pieces, but here are a few new pieces that will find their way into my Etsy shop this week. I also have a necklace ready to go into my Art Fire shop and I'm working on a few sets of earrings to add to all three of my CreationsByRobin shops (Etsy, Art Fire, 1000 Markets)

The Red Sea Glass necklace was added to my Etsy shop on Sunday, and the 2 blue pieces will eventually find their way into the shop...the bracelet will be listed later today.

til next time...

R

Waiting on the Sun...New Sea Glass Jewelry!

Besides this beautiful cornflower blue sea glass necklace, I did a few more wire wrapped sea glass necklaces, including the first piece of jewelry with red sea glass.

I'm hoping for a break in the cloudy skies...but that break doesn't seem likely today : (

The red piece will most likely end of up displayed in the B&M opportunity I spoke about in my last entry. They are setting me up with a beautiful octagon-shaped showcase display and I think this red sea glass necklace will look great as the centerpiece.

And that will give me the chance to keep it around to admire for a couple more weeks : )

I hope the sun sneaks out from behind the clouds tomorrow so I can try to get a few photos taken and share the images on this blog.

til next time...

R

New opportunities, new additions to my sea glass collection and new creations....

Yesterday, I took a big step into placing a large quantity of my sea glass jewelry into a brick & mortar selling opportunity. The possible opp is all but finalized and I'm very excited about being able to put several pieces into one location that often has several hundred visitors or more every week in the summer.

This will probably limit any other consignment/wholesale opportunities, but the potential is so great that I'll be" putting all my eggs" in one basket when it comes to brick & mortar stores. (of course, should any store want to take on my glass beads/semi-precious pearl jewelry, that is a different story)

Today, my hubby and I went through a large quantity of sea glass that we've acquired over the last 5 or 6 months. We culled many of the pieces that I can't use for my jewelry creations and I came away with enough for a couple dozen necklaces, a several pairs of earrings and a handful of bracelets. I still have a few lots of sea glass that I have purchased from private collectors that I haven't received...there are several pieces that will make great necklaces and add to my earring & bracelet totals.

So back to my crafting table... my Etsy shop needs a new addition or 2 and it would be great to add something new to my 1000 Markets and Art Fire sites and then off to work on my brick and mortar creations... hopefully, everything is finalized later this week and I can announce where my newest selling location is!

The piece of sea glass above, is a grape piece of sea glass that I've been holding for quite awhile. Perfectly smooth from tumbling around in the sea, it has nice frosting and is practically flawless. The color just blows me away and I've been debating if it's a piece I keep for myself or one that I share with a lucky customer on day soon. It will make a very pretty necklace...but the inner-debate rages on!
The 1st image is one of my latest creations... a pale seafoam sea glass necklace. Should the sun cooperate today, I should have a few more images of the necklaces I created on Sunday.

til next time...

R

New Sea Glass Creations, Works In Progress and Getting Ready for Boutiques?

Two new sea glass necklaces have been added to my Etsy shop and I'm busy working on putting together a few new bracelets and a couple new pairs of earrings. I'm looking to add a couple of bracelets to my Etsy shop, and I hope to add a bracelet and earrings to my ArtFire shop and a couple pair of earrings to my 1000 Markets store.

I've been busy drilling sea glass, and I have about 60 pieces drilled and I'm looking to add another 15 or 20 pieces during the week. Hopefully, my last 2 drill bits can complete the project.

I'd on the fence over putting together a presentation package for a few local brick & mortar shops. I'm hoping to have enough sea glass for my shows and to keep my shops, especially Etsy, stocked throughout the year.

Finding enough jewelry quality sea glass is getting tough. There's quite a bit of competition on the beaches looking for the ocean gems and the few trusted suppliers I purchase from have found the demand for quality pieces far exceeds their supplies...which of course means higher prices. Silver has been going up every day, so it's becoming harder to make affordable sea glass creations and having to charge more $$ in a sluggish economy means less sales.

So finding the right store or boutique is going to be very important and being able to keep them supplied all summer long is going to be challenging. Hopefully, I can talk hubby into hitting the beach in hopes of finding a few pretty pieces during the next few weeks.

I'll post more images, as I complete pieces.

til next time...

R

More Changes to the Beach, New Sea Glass Creations

Each of the last couple of trips to the beach have revealed completely different beach-scapes. Some of the local towns on LBI have been adding/moving quite a bit of sand. The sand buildup is very necessary to keep the surf off of the dunes, which protect ocean front homes.

However, for the beachcombers that frequent the area, it becomes quite frustrating. The shell beds that are often left behind by the high tides, are often buried under imported sand... and buried with the shells are the sea glass that washed up with them.

Since late last summer, I've noticed, as have others, that the shell beds that were normally be found on the beach in the winter months are no longer found on the beach. The lack of shell beds on the beach has made sea glass quite scarce. Unless you can get to the beach at low tide, and are lucky enough to find the low tide is extreme enough to expose shell or stone beds, you may find a few pieces of sea glass.

My best outing of the winter was the perigean spring tides back in November, when an extreme low tide exposed a twenty- thirty foot shell bed where several pieces of sea glass lay waiting for me.

As the waves slowly rolled in, the beds shifted and further exposed a few more ocean gems. After about 30 minutes, the shell bed was cleaned out and a quick walk for a few blocks in each direction proved a waste of time (well almost a waste, a pretty cobalt blue tiny shard was found a couple blocks down)

The extreme low tide proved worthwhile for 2 straight days. Low tide the next afternoon yielded another handful of sea glass, but the tide came near sunset and battling a cold day and stronger wind wasn't much fun (at least at that time... I've been on the beach many times since in brutal weather conditions and came home practically empty-handed)

Since that bountiful 2 day haul, this winter hasn't yielded that many pieces combined. I know there gems are out there... whether they are buried by the beach construction or sitting farther out in the surf. There may not be as many left out there, but they're out there... : )


Two new sea glass necklaces should be making an appearance in my shops later tonight or tomorrow. The first is a greenish-blue piece that has me searching my "Pure Sea Glass" book
for the name of the color. It's not quite teal, but calling it a green doesn't do this ocean gem justice.

The second piece is a light green piece with a yellow-ish tinge. It looks like it could be depression glass and does take on a brilliant bright green when held under a black light. This UV piece of sea glass has been wire wrapped and made into a necklace... it's a great piece for someone that does a lot of clubbing where the lighting will certainly change the look of the sea glass.

The sun is out today, but it's only 29 degrees... too cold to hit the beach for pictures and beachcombing...but I plan on getting some indoor pictures later today when the sun moves into a better position. Hopefully I'll have images to add later!

til next time...
R

Saying Goodbye To 3 Of My "Easter Eggs", Beachcombing Day??

Three of sea glass necklaces are heading to a new home in Illinois later today and two of the three were on the Styleboard I created for yesterday's blog (an image of all 3 are above)

The gray piece is really gorgeous and probably a bit under-priced. I wasn't sure about pricing it any higher in this economy, but I knew I could get at least 25% more at a showing. The sea glass piece was practically flawless...almost a pastel gray and very much unlike any gray I've ever owned before.

The aqua was a stunning piece also, and one that I know I probably could've sold for a bit higher (I did have a feeler from a local shop about doing a wholesale order including all 3 that sold...but an new Etsy customer beat them to the punch)

I have a pretty light green piece with a hint of yellow...probably an older shard of depressions glass. It's nicely tumbled, with no sharp edges and slightly bigger than a dime. I'll try to add a picture here on the blog of the piece under a black light... the piece is very dramatic under a black light (maybe it's an older piece of Vaseline glass??)

Severe winds are pounding us in southern NJ (and probably throughout the state and the whole east coast) These winds should have a dramatic effect on today's low tide and I'm trying to figure out how to get to the beach at low tide. The winds may push that low tide back a bit further and expose some of the shell beds.

Low tide isn't until 4pm today, which means it will be getting cold quickly at that time of the day and those 35-40 mph winds (with gusts reaching into the 50s) won't be fun to deal with.

Now if I can just figure out how to get the boys off the bus without me being there...hmmmm.

til next time...
R

New Slideshow -- My Kind Of Easter Egg Hunt!

I created a slideshow of what the perfect Easter Egg Hunt would be...for me, at least.

Sea Glass... by creationsbyrobin

Just a few of my recent handmade sea glass jewelry creations. Wouldn't it be great to find all of these beautiful ocean gems on the beach during one stroll?
I'd have to pinch myself, because I would probably be dreaming...this collections a wonderful egg-shaped beauties took quite awhile to collect ~ yes, I know there's a heart shaped necklaces included~ I thought it would look great to see them altogether in one image...thus the slideshow....enjoy!!