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

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

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

More Heart-Shaped Sea Glass Jewelry, Good-Bye Green Heart, Handmade Sea Glass Jewelry

After a day sitting in my Etsy shop, the bright green heart-shaped sea glass necklace is moving to a new home. Like her sister piece, the cobalt blue necklace, this pretty green heart is going overseas...Finland to be exact.

The honey brown shaped heart necklace (image above) has been listed in my ArtFire shop (link in right hand panel) and the frosty clear heart shaped necklace will be listed in my Etsy shop later this morning. The frosty heart piece is quite pretty and one that can be worn throughout the year and can be worn in almost any situation.

I'm still waiting on a sterling silver component before I can begin making bracelets and with today's weather (overcast and windy...wind chills expected in lower 20s) it would be a great day to sit at my crafting table with a cup of coffee and create.... maybe I'll put together a silver-plated bracelet later this morning (and hope the sun can sneak thru for a half hour so I can snap a few photos)

I know my hubby is itching to get to the beach to do a little hunting... it looks like tomorrow may be the better day. Maybe he'll find a few gems that I can share images...

'til next time...
R

New Sea Glass Necklaces... Cobalt Bracelets, Cornflower Blue Earrings...

The weather was cooperating yesterday and I was able to finally take photos in natural light.

I'm still transferring some of the images to my computer, but I did get two pieces cropped and into my computer for loading.

The necklaces are made with pieces of sea glass that are in the 1/2" in length range. Some are a bit more some are slightly less. The cobalt piece was listed last night and sold earlier this morning. The green piece has yet to be listed and it will go into my Etsy shop later today.

I also have a clear/frosty heart shaped piece and a light brown heart shaped piece that will be listed either this evening or tomorrow. one of the pieces will go into my ArtFire shop, probably the frosty clear/white necklace.

I've already begun working on a cobalt blue bracelet and have been contacted about cornflower blue earrings... I'll post images of everything as each project is completed (hopefully Mother Nature will give me a bit more sun in the afternoon over the next few days)

'til next time...

R

New Sea Glass Creations for Valentine's, Sea Glass Works in Progress

Okay, just when I thought I was done with making Valentine's Day items, I've gone ahead and made a few more...

With the extremely cold weather keeping us indoors (and very little snow to give us incentive to get outside) I decided to spread me sea glass out over my crafting table last weekend. The game plan was to organize the pieces that I plan on using in my crafts (and for myself) to see what I had and what I wanted to look for...either in my collection (yes, my collection is separate from my crafting) or from some of the reputable sea glass lovers/collectors that I've been fortunate to meet on the internet or at the Sea Glass Festival.

Upon spreading out my gems, I found a few "heart-shaped" pieces in various colors and thought they would make cute little charms. I wire wrapped a few and put them on a sterling silver chain and I'll add them to my Etsy shop (and maybe one to my ArtFire shop) as soon as I get photos... and the sun has decided to come out today, so hopefully I'll have some really good light this afternoon to grab some images.

Later this weekend, I'll be wrapping a couple of white/clear pieces of sea glass and they'll be used as the pendant on necklaces and I'll also be adding a couple of cornflower blue and cobalt blue bracelets to my shops... perhaps a matching set of earrings also.

With no football on this weekend...finally... I should be able to get my hubby to drill a few of my remaining aquas and turquoise pieces and hope I can put together 2 bracelets of the 4 main blue colors of sea glass... I say hopefully, because I really want to treat myself to one of the bracelets and may keep it all to myself if I only have enough pieces for one.

No new images to share right now...hopefully later today... so I'll share an oldie, but goodie that really helped me get started selling sea glass online...

'til next time...

R

New Sea Glass Jewelry, Beachcombing in January, What's New in My Shops...

Let's get the beachcombing out of the way right from the start... hitting the beach in the winter takes some serious motivation. I've only been out a few times this winter, but my hubby tries to get to the beach more often.
So far January has proven to be a rather frigid month in New Jersey and the possible days to go out haven't coincided with the tides. Therefore, the pain of getting about in single digit temps, with wind-chills near zero or below, just isn't worth it.
The only day this year my hubby went out, was cut very short by wicked winds that made hunting sea glass almost impossible. His 10 minute walk on the beach yielded a couple of mediocre greens and 1 brown piece, along with a couple of unfinished pieces of browns and amber. Certainly not worth the exposure of skin to the elements.

Yesterday, I listed a pretty Kelly Green necklace to my Etsy shop (along with a few regular glass bead Valentine's Day-themed pieces) The new green necklace is a very dark green, well tumbled... smooth and frosted with great markings from it's time spent in the sea.
Later today, I'll be adding another awesome piece of Gray sea glass to one of my shops (probably Etsy, possibly ArtFire)
The image of the gray sea glass necklace is shown above and this very light gray shows a lot of markings, is very smooth and nicely frosted. Followers of my blogs (I also have a 2nd blog at http://dabblewithcrafts.blogspot.com ) may know that gray sea glass falls into the extremely rare color category and finding a gray piece is about 1 in 2,500 pieces.
This is only the 2nd gray piece of sea glass that I found to be in jewelry quality. I did have a request to drill this piece for a custom necklace, but I just couldn't bring myself to put a hole in such a beautiful piece of sea glass, so instead I wrapped the ocean gem in sterling silver wire.

I'll be sitting down to work on a blue sea glass bracelet, probably later today. I'm not sure exactly what color blue it will be, as I have some beautiful turquoise, cornflower and cobalts available. I may make a combo bracelet of all the blues or just stick to one color...whatever I decide, I'll post some images as soon as I take photos (the blue sea glass pieces just don't last very long in my shops)

'til next time...
R

Sea Glass Slideshow, Beachcombing in January, Works In Progress

I added a new Sea Glass Jewelry slide show to my blog. It can be found in the right hand column about halfway down the page (just under the banner for 1000Markets) I'm hoping to keep this slide show current and only include pictures of items that are still available in one of my shops. Of course, that's easy to say right now in January, but when it comes to the busier months, I'll try to do me best keeping it updated with new creations and removing any items that have gone to a new home.

Beachcombing in the new year has been very tough. The weather has not been kind to anyone who has planned a walk along the beach and the slower stroll needed to to examine shell beds for sea glass have been nothing short of brutal. With temperatures in the low teens and single digits in the early mornings over the next few days, I'll opt to sit in my warm house with a cup of coffee or tea and dream of walking along the beach on some Caribbean Island.

Hopefully, there will be a bit of a break in the weather over the next week or so... I'd love to get back out on the beach to see if the tides left anything behind for me. I'm also planning on checking out a new spot on LBI, that was recommended by a couple of hobby-type sea glass collectors. One of these weekends, I'll have to give a couple of these tips a try.

My new shipment of sterling silver should be arriving this weekend (so says the FedEx tracking device) and I have quite a few pieces of sea glass ready for bracelets, along with about a half dozen wire wrapped pieces that will become necklaces.

I'm still not sure what I'll be doing with the pieces of red sea glass I have. I hope to figure something out in time for the Valentine's Day selling season. I'll also have bracelet and probably earrings in both cobalt blue and the rarer cornflower blue. If the weather cooperates over the weekend, I may be able to take photos to share on this blog, and perhaps have new listings in my shops.

The bracelet shown above, is a beautiful deep green bracelet that can be found in my ArtFire shop. There is something about those deep green ocean gems that I really like. I'm not sure if it's the colors of the polished shell pieces that make the dark green standout even more, but it really is a nice little bracelet.

Any who...stay warm & check back in a few days for another update!

til next time...
R