Leftovers and Black Friday/Cyber Monday

Thanksgiving leftovers....yum! I don't have to cook for a couple days. Just throw some leftovers in to a glass baking dish and heat it up.

The leftovers in the online world are a bit different. I had a conversation with a couple of online sellers and it has turned a bit bizarre as the week has progressed. The range of emotions by this small group have gone from looking towards making sales & creating coupon codes for discounts, to concern over "giving" their items away for little profit (which 2 of these sellers went and raised prices, so their 25% discount actually became a little better than 15%).

Today, they claim they expected to have made sales overnight while they slept and are disappointed that things are slow...lol. I guess their leftovers don't taste too good today.

The coupon codes are now in affect in my Etsy shop. There are a few really good buys and I suspect a couple of items are going to sell over this holiday weekend (I know I am priced a bit too low on one necklace and it was selected as a favorite item by a half dozen people leading into Thanksgiving...the piece of sea glass is flawless and the image is very good... I'd be surprised if it doesn't sell soon)
The blog code must be sent to me in a convo in my Etsy shop. Select the item you wish to purchase, apply the Etsy coupon code (THKSGVG2014 for purchase totals above $30 & BLKFRI2014 for purchase totals under $30) then convo me, using Sea Glass By Robin in the subject...I will adjust the price by another 15%.
Plus all purchases receive free shipping!

I have a funny (well I found it funny) story to share in my next blog entry...and hopefully, some new pieces of sea glass for my collection to share (if I can get to the beach tomorrow morning). Enjoy the rest of your weekend ( and the images of a few soon to added creations)




'til next time...
R

Wordless Wednesday - - Almost

This is my last post before turkey-day and in my previous post, I mentioned a special discount for my blog followers. It's been awhile since I have participated in the coupon codes at Etsy and I'm not sure if the policies have changed there, so...

I will have a code for the holiday weekend on the Etsy site, which can be used to save money on a purchase. For those that follow my blog, I will offer an additional 15% off of the remaining balance...you will need to convo me on Etsy first, so I can adjust the amount due.

Pick out the piece or pieces you want to purchase, apply the Etsy code and then convo me with the following in the subject title "Sea Glass By Robin" and I will take an additional 15% of your remaining balance, plus the free shipping. This code is available for my blog followers thru Cyber Monday.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

R

So Much To Do, So Little Time to Sea Glass

The cold weather has finally hit hard on the Jersey shore, as it has in much of the country. And it has kept me indoors for the most part.

I did get to the beach one morning earlier this week, found the landscape of the beach has been changed by Mother Nature once again. What looked like a very promising high tide that left a thick shell cover was mostly destroyed by tire tracks in the sand (there are several fishing tournaments at this time of the yr) and of course, the tire track run right through the shell beds.

Above is an image of a partial "kick-up" from a olive bottle, probably an old wine bottle. The piece appears quite old, because the bottom is very thick and it well-weathered. Some of the other images were of recent finds over the last couple of weeks. That is a piece of pottery in the mix, the first that we have found in quite some time- my DH actually found two others on the same day that weren't nearly finished, so they went back into the sea. In the 3rd image, the soft blue bottle top was an exciting find...it's quite old, very thick and very frosted. Not sure what the bigger wide-mouth bottle top could have been in it's original life, but it sits with my bottle top pieces in a large decorative jar, near my living room window.

My shop has been quite busy, some items selling within hours of listing. Lots of views, people selecting items and my shop as a favorite...hopefully to return later for a purchase. I have several new items waiting to go into the shop. Hopefully, the weekend will be sunny, so I can take a few more pictures and get some new items listed

Necklaces are the leaders in sales, followed by anklets. As usual, the blues are the most popular color, followed by white and then red and yellow (yes yellow...I finally took pictures at the perfect time of day to capture the true color of one of my yellows!) Midweek seems very slow, with sales being made Friday-Mondays.

This is all part of my learning curve, as I figure out how the economy has affected buying habits and what seems to be working in the world of handmade items on Etsy.

Hopefully, I can hit the beach this weekend for a little and have something new to share in the next couple of posts. Stay warm and for those who have been pounded by heavy snow, stay safe!

'til next time,
R

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

How Time Flies ~ November Tides and Full Moon

Wow, time is flying by.

Today, I was just wasting time, playing on the computer and I came across a site that listed info on
the moon. Some of the info showed when the November full moon is and that it closely follows the
moon in perigee (Perigee is when the moon is closest to the earth). I'm sitting there with my laptop, telling
my DH, that it's almost going to be a perigee moon in November.. His response was....it is November.

It's already November...where did October disappear to? And omg, I better get moving on some sea glass
jewelry for my shop...and the perigee tides started yesterday. And the full moon is Thursday...lol. And of course, my next day off from work is Sunday, so I will miss it all. (Sorry no pix yet...just some jewelry)

)

Luckily, DH went to the beach today and was gone for almost 3.5 hours. I was a little jealous that I couldn't
go and although he said he really could have used my patience, it didn't help much. He told me the shell beds were back...spread all over the beach! The kind of beds that I can spend an 30 minutes on, closely examining what the tide left behind (my DH is a scan and move on type of sea glass hunter...I like to see the shells & the driftwood while looking for sea glass...I might be able to use them in my creating)

So DH comes back with a pocketful of seaglass. And a pocketful of tops of bottles, nicely worn down from tumbling around in the ocean for who knows how long... a couple of soft blue tops, probably old Coke bottles and one with a very large opening...maybe an old gallon milk jug? It wasn't quite done, the outside is frosted, but the inside is smooth and not frosted at all (he brought it home for me to see) He also found a piece of pottery...our first piece in almost 5 years! I don't know how much time it was in the ocean...maybe it could have used a little more time, but the edges were very smooth, so home it came.

He probably came home with more sea glass than we found on the beach all summer and early fall. Nothing that is really jewelry quality, but a few pieces I am happy to add to my collection. Besides the bottle tops, there is a partial bottle bottom, an quarter size olive piece and a smaller light honey or maybe citron-ish piece. There is also a few nicer browns and a green that will go into a decorative jar. The rest will go into a pail, waiting for a project that needs browns or greens.

So the moon is in perigee...it's closer to the earth than it probably has been in the last 4 or 5 months and a full moon is due on Thursday. The tides will be extreme and hopefully they will leave behind a few more treasures.

I wonder if I can talk him into going back again tomorrow? I love coming home to see my table loaded with new sea glass waiting for me to look at.

'til next time...
R

Searching for Sea Glass In October- Part 2

On Thursday, I arrive to a little different landscape. Some of the smaller walls were wiped out by what must have been a more extreme high tide. Tire tracks from the fisherman were a little bit closer to the ocean than a couple days earlier and much of the sand was covered in tire tracks... so the fisherman traffic was greater than what I found earlier in the week.

The shell bed areas were still prevalent and large gatherings appeared in areas that had none earlier in the week. Again, footprints in the sand let me know I was once again, late for the party. The trip north up the beach, examining the high tide leftovers, was nothing special. More under-cooked pieces and a few mediocre browns, greens and a white. I was a little disappointed that the area where the Coke bottle piece was located two days earlier, had nothing but a couple of undercooked pieces (this area had been the ONLY area where we had found anything worthwhile all summer) and I continued my trek north on the beach.

This day, the high tide was already turning into low tide as I arrived, so my walk back to my starting point, allowed me a bigger search area near the surf. As I approached my little "hot" area, I noticed footprints in the wet sand. Someone had been there, as I walked further up the beach?

The mystery person was nowhere to be found, as the beach was desolate, but the prints in the wet sand were there and they were fresh. I actually thought to myself, "oh well, if it was meant to be, it would be" and less than a minute later, right in front of the house that I use as my bookmark for my little "hot" spot, I saw something yellow, glimmering in the sand. Not more than 8 inches away from a footprint, was a piece of sea glass, laying by itself. In the sunlight, it was almost a golden color, a small nick in the bottom, but otherwise, nicely tumbled and it had the typical frosting of a NJ piece of sea glass.

Further down the beach, near the jetty and within a few feet from another footprint, was a brown piece of sea glass. Nice size, nice frosting, well tumbled and sparkling from the water. I love older pieces of brown sea glass because their colors are so much richer than the newer glass being used today. They frost differently...and this one was well-tumbled, it's edges were smooth and rounded.

I wondered to myself as I shared the story with my family...was the person on the beach walking a dog and maybe not looking for sea glass? The footprints stopped shortly after the jetty and headed up towards the dunes. Or could the ocean have popped these two pieces of sea glass on the beach just prior to me walking up on them? They both were still wet from a wave that could have gone over them...or brought them onto the sand.

Seaglassing, is a funny thing. The only thing we are in control of, is the time we arrive, which way we choose to walk and how long we plan on staying. The rest is up to the ocean. Has she pulled everything back, left a few gems up in different areas or plan on putting a few pieces onto the sand, for the sun to heat up, before she reclaims them. Are you in the right place at the right time?

On this day, for me, it was meant to be. Of course, the ocean may have thrown a couple reds and blues up on the sand right after I left. She can be that way...hahaha.

For those that search in the fall and winter, please take heed...many times you are out there searching all alone. The beaches are no longer tourist friendly. They are now back in the hands of Mother Nature. The 3-4 foot walls that the ocean has created, are difficult (if not impossible) to climb. So please, pay attention to the time, the tides and the waves. The conditions will only get more difficult from this point. Take care!!

'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

Wordless Wednesday - Almost

We just moved...needed a bigger place for the boys. During the moving process, I found a few pieces that were somehow misplaced among my craft supplies and with the inspiration from the Sea Glass Festival, I was motivated... hope you enjoy!

'til next time...
R

2014 Sea Glass Festival - Cape May, NJ

I haven't had much to blog about recently. My work schedule and the weather have not cooperated much. And moving into a bigger place, has taken up much of my free time... tho I did find a couple pieces of sea glass that had been tucked away (aka- forgotten about)

My bro-in-law reminded me on Facebook about the NASGA annual Sea Glass Festival because it is "down the road" in Cape May, NJ this weekend! I would have totally forgot...so thanks Tom!

The festival is held this time every year and they are back in NJ in 2014. The Cape May Convention Ctr, is hosting this year's event and the doors open at 10am until 5pm on Saturday and Sunday. The festival is opened to the public and there is a $5 admission.

If you are into sea glass, the incredible ocean treasures that are on display will just blow you away. There is a shard of the year contest, where collectors put up their best finds and the winner collects (I think) $1000! In the past they had guest speakers discussing everything from the history of pieces of glass, to their personal preferences and conditions for finding sea glass.

There displays where sea glass can be looked at and an area where vendors may have sea glass and sea glass creations for sale... some of the items displayed are truly amazing!

My hubby and I will be there tomorrow, strolling among the crowds (last couple times I went, the people were 4 and 5 deep at the tables) and hopefully getting a chance to talk with a few sea glassing friends from the groups and forums to which we belong. If you happen to see us, come up and say Hi!

'til next time...
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

Is It Just Me or.... Recent Observations on Sea Glass Collecting....

Is it Just Me or....

Has the prices being realized on the sale of sea glass gone through the roof? The economy has been just awful and from what I've gathered, I'm not the only sea glass jewelry maker that has been experiencing slower than usual sales. So what gives with the insane recent prices?

My hubby thinks there has been a huge number of jewelry-makers that have noticed that sea glass jewelry is a niche worth looking into. He's come across several listings on eBay where the sea glass is quite questionable (disclaimer- it's sometimes very hard to tell if some shards are authentic or not...but in most cases, he believes the sellers that are 100% legit do a great job showing their offerings to be authentic sea glass...and he questions those sellers that don't take quality pictures to be those to watch out for... he feels they are hiding something...Hmmm, tumbled, craft ???)
He's also noticed some rather questionable to blatantly fake pieces of sea glass jewelry over the last 4-6 months. Since he is a huge part of my operation (the main sea glasser, hole driller and has taken over the ordering of all supplies needed for my little biz) he has started to question people as to their knowledge of sea glass, where specific pieces were found and so on. He's gone as far to tell vendors that some of the pieces they are selling shouldn't be listed as authentic sea glass, rather be called altered sea glass because they've been tumbled, treated with some sort of oil, or they are just "undercooked".

Is It Just Me or....

Is everyone selling jewelry made with "sea glass" lately? I've come across several jewelry-makers that use several different types beads as their focal piece and lo and behold, there is the odd sea glass jewelry creation.

In some cases, the vendor remembers finding the piece at the beach when they were little, or on summer vacation. The answer flows freely, and they often have a story about walking on the beach with friends or family when they came across it. Most admit to not knowing much about sea glass ... until they found sea glass jewelry online or at a craft show and realized she had a great focal piece for a jewelry creation (and could get decent $$ for it).

But others know very little about sea glass, claim to have been given it, purchased it at a yard sale (?), but most likely checked out a site like Etsy.com, saw the prices being asked for authentic sea glass and they figured no one would know the difference between tumbled glass and authentic. Perhaps I give them too much credit... in many cases it looks like the packaged "stuff" that can be purchased from their local craft store for a few dollars. Or bought a cheap lot of sea glass on eBay, not knowing what they were buying.

In almost every case, the vendor knows nothing about sea glass and often, it's the greed of the vendor that gives them away. Instead of sticking with a common color, they go for the rare Red colors (because the asking price is usually quite high compared to a Heineken green) and figure their asking price of $25 or $30 for their "authentic" Red sea glass necklace will sell immediately. After all, I always find that sea glass jewelers only have red sea glass...and nothing else.


Perhaps all of the above is due to the fact that authentic sea glass is exactly as Richard LaMotte described for his book... vanishing gems. In New Jersey, pieces wash up on the beach almost every day, but they are usually the common colors.... Budweiser browns, Heineken greens, and Corona clear. The surf here isn't rocky, nor rough, and most of the sea glass we find is not jewelry quality (but still so much fun to find!) Every so often we come across a rare color shard lying in the sand, but with the exception of a few key sea glassing days, finding those rare colors are few and far between.

Searching for sea glass has become a more popular beach-going event than tossing a frisbee. In the past few years, the amount of people who seem to be looking for sea glass has more than tripled. And with the popularity of the "Vanishing Gems" comes the perceived value...and worse, what some people will resort to, to find sea glass before others. I've watched people with nets, scooping along the shell beds in the surf, sometimes within just a foot or less of other people!

Not everything I've observed over the last few months is a negative. I have viewed several gorgeous pieces of sea glass... the owners of the shards were more than happy to show me the "gems" of their collections. I have also found some of the new sea glass jewelry makers to share the same sea glass values that I have (authentic only) and a few of them are quite talented!

No longer is the sea glass on the beach left to myself and a few other collectors. Being one of a few offering sea glass jewelry is a thing of the past also. Despite dwindling supplies, sea glass continues to move toward the mainstream and with it, the value continues to go up. ( and in the last few months, the value has sky-rocketed) But I'm always confident that there is a gem waiting for me at the beach, and as always, you can find me at the beach, looking down in hopes of finding it.

'til next time...

R

Using Multi-Colored Sea Glass In My Jewelry Creations

Recently I've had a little love affair with multi-colored sea glass. I find the colors so fascinating and the possibilities of what I can create using a multi intrigues me. But after watching the reactions of some of my customers at shows and the results of my sales online and in consignment shops, I'm not sure how accepted these creations are.

The UK is quite famous for it's multi-colored sea glass or "end of day" glass. When glass making was popular, several decades ago, many glass companies in the UK were located very close to the sea. The companies often tossed whatever glass was unusable or left over at the end of the day into the sea. And the ocean would do what the ocean does... break large shards into smaller pieces, tumble the sharp edges smooth and leech out the chemicals used to make glass.

What is left are gorgeous sea glass gems and they are truly quite different from much of the sea glass we find here in North America (not that we don't have multi-colored sea glass here... we just don't have nearly as much as the UK)

I'm not sure if some of my regular customers realize that the pieces really are authentic sea glass or if they just don't appeal to them, but watching some of their reactions becomes amusing sometimes because the glass often looks so fantastic in the light, but will appear a bit darker in front of a solid, dark background.

Maybe multi-colored sea glass is going to take a bit of time for some folks to get used to. To me, some of them are quite gorgeous... and I know I'll be adding a few multies to my personal sea glass jewelry collection in the very near future!


Craft Shows for July

July 11th- OM Baby, Pt. Pleasant, NJ 12pm-6pm 20+ EtsyNJ members will pack the front, inside and the back of the studio for the Summer OM Baby show!!
July 18th- The Handmade Faire, Summer of Love. Freedom Park, Medford, NJ over 100 crafters offering a wide array of handmade creations... it's THE show in NJ!!
August 1st- Lacey CrabFest and Craft Show, Lacey Rd, Forked River, NJ. Yea, it's a weird little combo, but it works! The show is in it's 9th year and the CrabFest in it's 13th. Come check out the handmade creations while sampling some great summer-time eats.

'til next time....

R

Popular Colors of Sea Glass Jewelry, Competition on the Beach....

I've spoken with other sea glass jewelry makers and it's amazing how the same popular colors are often mentioned. There are just some colors that sell very well, while others tend to stay in our inventory longer than others. The people who really know sea glass, understand that some colors are extremely tough to locate, especially jewelry quality pieces. If they like the piece, they are willing to spend the money.

But for the casual sea glass lover, it seems like the demand lies in a few colors. The blues pieces, specifically cornflower blue, followed closely by cobalt blue seem to be the most popular. I found that if I wanted to make sure I had cornflower blue jewelry for an upcoming show, I needed to put it aside, rather than add it to my Etsy shop. Eben with minimal promoting, somehow shoppers seem to find cornflower blue sea glass pieces in my shop.

I guess jewelry with red sea glass is just a universal must have...when I have a couple pieces with red sea glass at a show, they seem to get all the attention. People may buy something else, but they all pick the piece with the red and hold it up to the mirror to see how it would look on them.
Reds seem to have some magical power and the mystical draw of a red piece of sea glass has produced some, well interesting behavior.

I had a sea glass necklace with a pretty red piece of sea glass as the pendant at a show a few months ago. Several people commented, looked at it... a few came back two & three times to see it again. My husband watched this and predicted that one of three women was going to plunk down the money for it during the show... he claimed it was calling out to them. He was half right.

The show had hit a bit of a lull and I had a couple of customers at my table looking at a few of my blue and green necklaces. One of the women commented how pretty the red piece was, before she was practically "hip-checked" out of the way (that's what hubby said it looked like... a hockey hip-check) A women who had just spent about 20 minutes at my table came from across the aisle, "moved" the customer out of the way while grabbing the red sea glass necklace and announced "I'll take it".

I was somewhat stunned by the action and looked at the first women (who I was in conversation with) while my hubby stood up, took the necklace and began placing it in a gift box for the 2nd women. The women who had been there first, looked for a few more minutes before moving on and I finished the sale with the women who raced across the floor to claim her prize. She was so thrilled, she put the necklace on before she left my table and off she went....glancing at every display that had a mirror...lol. My hubby said he saw her standing in the next aisle, looking at the table and she must've believed the customers that I had been conversing with was about to buy "her" necklace. He said her eyes got BIG and she marched to our table and staked her claim on the red piece... it was going to be hers and she wasn't waiting, she nudged herself right to the front of my table and grabbed the necklace...display and all. This wasn't one of his predicted buyers, but he did say it was going to a new hme that day.

So school is now out for the summer and the out-of towners (or bennies, as we like to call them) are here, on the beaches, in full force. If things weren't bad enough last summer with the antics of some when it came to sea glass hunting, it doesn't seem like our summer of 09 visitors have learned any beach etiquette for this summer either. There is nothing quite like telling your young son that you saw a piece of green sea glass in the water and having some oaf, hear you and proceed to step in front of you while trying to "steal" the piece. Talk about wanting to give them a swift kick where the sun doesn't shine when they bend over to pick up the sea glass.

My hubby drove two adult women nuts the other day, when he kept announcing he saw something red in the water. He spent another few minutes looking (and they moved farther into the surf, right in front of him) before he left. More than half hour later, we went back to that same spot and were joined by the same two women and one of their husband/boyfriend. Again they took up a spot about 3 feet directly in front of us and this time my hubby was ready to play his oh so funny, yet cruel joke.

Like he did last year, he packed a couple small popular colors of sea glass into a zip lock bag & puts them with our sun block. When he decides someone needs a bit of beach behavior modification, he takes a piece with him to the water and places it in his pocket...and then the game begins.... He waits about 5 or 10 minutes. Maybe we'll move down the beach a few feet to see if they follow and when they do, hubby knows the game needs to be on. Just as they settle in, he'll say "Did you see it?" while pointing to an area. Once he's positive that they are totally not concerned with our "space" at the water's edge, he pulls the planted sea glass piece out, walks right up alongside them, bends down and "scoops up the beauty."
Of course they exclaim they didn't see it, start with the "how could you miss it?". I'll add insult to injury when I tell them that he always "finds" such nice pieces...lol. It works like a charm...they are usually shot after that...I mean, what are the chances of finding another gem after "missing out" on such a nice piece. At least they tend to give us some space (I mean is 3 or 4 feet too much to ask... I really don't need to smell your perfume at the beach nor do I care to breathe in your 2nd hand smoke)

We usually lie and tell people that there is plenty of sea glass for everyone. The truth is, the supply of sea glass in the ocean is dwindling. Plastic is the new glass, ocean dumping is no longer accepted and basically the last time any major glass dumping occurred was probably about 4 decades ago. The ocean which tumbles the shards of glass, making them rounder, with dulled edges and beautiful frosted patinas is actually reducing the shard to it's original form. By taking out or leeching the chemicals from the glass, all that will be left one day is a few granules of sand.
So if you happen upon a piece of sea glass washed up on the beach, grab it before the ocean takes it back... if you don't know what to do with it, drop me a line. I'll be more than happy to add it to my collection, or perhaps make you a keepsake that you can pass on to future generations. After all, only you know the story of how that wonderful piece, a vanishing gem lying in the surf was found and it's a story worth sharing.

'til next time...
R

New Summer Sea Glass Creations, Craft Show Schedule....

I've been off from the J-O-B for the last two days, so I used my little "mini-vacation" to straighten up my craft table and do a little creating to build up my inventory for June & July craft shows.
The images above are a couple of my newest items (both are in my Etsy shop) and I'll be adding a couple more into both my ArtFire and Etsy shops over the next couple of days.

I even snuck out of the house and made a trip to AC Moore this afternoon...and found a couple items I've been looking for online, but unable to find. Finding those components will allow me to place my online orders for drill bits, and a bunch of sterling silver (wires, necklaces, bracelets, head pins, etc).

So my "summer circuit" craft show season is under way. I had a fun time at the Barnegat Bay Festival and was excited by both the amount of traffic at the show and the number of people that were buying and/or very, very interested in my sea glass jewelry. I handed out a lot of business cards and had quite a few people asking me what shows I'm doing next.

My summer shows (for my followers that prefer not to shop online)
June 13th- The Field Dog Expo on Mt. Holly Rd. in Medford, NJ. Looking at all the activities they are planning for this show, it looks to be a fun, family festival. Lots of things to keep the children occupied, plenty of puppies and of course, a handmade craft fair with a few EtsyNJ members attending.

July 11th- OM Baby, Pt. Pleasant, NJ- another EtsyNJ event. It seems like about 20-25+ EtsyNJers will appear at the OM Baby Yoga studio for the 2009 spring version of this event. It's in a great area, many wonderful shops nearby and of course, the Pt. Pleasant beach and boardwalk.

July 18th- The 2nd annual spring edition of The Handmade Faire. This year's spring event will be held in Freedom Park, in Medford, NJ. The show is juried, (I'm still pending and crossing my fingers to be accepted) and one of our EtsyNJ team leaders, organizes this event. The first annual spring and fall events were outstanding... the high quality of handmade crafters made these shows the best in Central/Southern NJ and perhaps the best throughout the state (they were by far the best handmade show I've ever attended) I'm really looking forward to this show, and hope to be selected (emails to AbbieRoad of Etsy requesting my presence are appreciated... lol)

August 1- The Lacey Crabfest & Craftshow- I don't remember how many years the Crabfest has been held, (I know it's more than a dozen) but the CraftShow is in it's 9th year. The event attracted several hundred people last year despite a hard early morning shower and even with a slow start, the show was a success for me. Another fun show that attracted a handful of EtsyNJ members (which always makes a show a good time)

Hopefully somewhere in the mix, we'll get the first handmade craft show at the Nautical Museum in Beach haven on LBI (probably the 2nd or 3rd weekend in August)

That's it...a busy summer, squeeze in a vacation and a few trips to the beach and it's almost Labor day by the time the smoke clears : (

til next time...

R

A Few New Creations, and Shutout at the Beach...

Yesterday, I had an opportunity to sit down at my crafting table and make a few new creations. I wrapped about 8 or 9 pieces of sea glass, and added them to the small collection of pendants that I've been wrapping in my spare moments. Before I added chains to the sea glass, I spread them out for a few photos and got very lucky to shoot the above photo, just before the sun disappeared behind the clouds.

The cornflower pendant/necklace will probably make it's way into my Etsy shop later today and join the purple/amethyst necklace. The purple piece of sea glass has been in my collection for awhile. It hasn't been a piece that I displayed around my home with my other sea glass. Instead, I think I always have thought as this piece as perfect for jewelry. The images of the purple piece are not what I had hoped for, and I will definitely be adding a few new images when the sun decided to return. It's a surprisingly beautiful shard and one that will make a great summer accessory....I just wish purple was a color that looked good on me : (

My trip to the beach to hunt sea glass was a total washout. I believed I had arrived early enough, but found a beach with many footprints and very few shell beds. I guess quite a few people had the same idea I did and they all arrived first. I did find a nice little green piece that may find it's way onto one of my future bracelet or earring creations, but there was very little in the way of sea glass. I enjoyed a nice stroll on the beach, but came away empty-handed.

'til next time...

R

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

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

New Handmade Sea Glass Jewelry...

Getting ready for an upcoming show, putting together a line of sea glass jewelry for a summer resort area gift shop and building up some inventory for my online shops have kept me at my crafting table for much of the weekend.

I finished several pieces today, a couple that will go into my online shops and several that will go into the gift shop where I'll be displaying some of my handmade sea glass jewelry. One of the pieces is my first necklace (or any piece of jewelry) with a piece of red sea glass. The red sea glass piece is absolutely beautiful and practically flawless. It's wrapped with sterling silver wire and hangs on an 18" sterling silver chain...(Image above)

One of the other pieces I finished today was a gorgeous heart shaped sea glass necklace. The piece of sea glass is a dark cornflower blue piece that has also been wrapped with sterling silver wire and hangs on a sterling silver necklace.

These were the only 2 images I was able to photograph during a brief brightening of what was a rainy and overcast Sunday sky. Hopefully the weather will clear up a bit, so I can continue taking pictures this week.

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