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!!

It's Been a Long Time....

... since I updated this blog...Wow, a very long time!
I joined a few sea glass forum sites and I guess it's has sucked up all my blogging time. These sites are full of great information and I've learned a great deal about sea glass in other areas of the country, along with collecting habits of those that live overseas. The time I have spent on one site in particular is time well spent...it unfortunately comes at the expense of my blogs and I hope to get back to blogging a bit more.

Despite spending a lot of time sharing info on these sites (and I learn probably 10x the amount compared to what I share with them) I have been quite busy creating several new sea glass creations, most of which are consigned to brick and mortar shops. I do have a lot of sea glass that needs to be drilled for new creations, along with several choice beauties that I will be wire wrapping for necklaces.

In addition, I plan on adding a few anklets, wine charm sets and decorating picture frames with sea glass, shells, ocean stones and driftwood. Some of these new additions will find their way into my online shops and others will end up in the shops where I currently have my handmade sea glass jewelry.

Tomorrow, I'm hoping to get to the beach to go hunting for sea glass... I need to find some new pieces for some of these new creations. It's truly a beautiful thing....I go to the beach to pick up supplies for my creations : ) The beaches of the world are like my Michael's or Fire Mountain Gems. Walking along the beach looking for sea glass has always been one of my passions... it's relaxing, the views are quite nice and when I'm the only person on the beach, it's extremely calming. So the top item on my to-do list tomorrow is to go beach gem shopping... it's great to know that my money is no good there too : )

My summer craft show schedule still shows quite a few pending shows, but it is beginning to come together and I'm also booking fall/holiday shows (which I'll share when the shows get closer)

My handmade sea glass creations will be at-

-The Barnegat Bay Festival on June 7th, in Island Heights, NJ
-The Field Dog Expo on June 13th in Medford, NJ (lots of handmade crafters at this show!)
-The NJ Maritime History Handmade Show on June 27th at the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History in Beach Haven (Long Beach Island) NJ this show is still pending -permits
- OM Baby Handmade Show-on July 11th in Point Pleasant, NJ
- The Handmade Faire on July 18th in Medford, NJ this show is also still pending and I'm crossing my fingers that it goes off- it's probably the best show in central/southern NJ!!!

Hopefully I'll have a few nice pieces of sea glass to share with you for my next post.


'til next time...
R

First on the Beach?? Beachcombing at Low Tide

My hubby set the alarm for 5am to do a bit of beachcombing this morning. His game plan was to hit the beach shortly before sunrise and be first on the beach. With low tide peaking somewhere between 5: 30 and 5:55 this morning, he grabbed a quick cup of coffee for the ride, bundled up and made his trek to the beach. The temperature when he left was 33 degrees and with a 10-10mph wind out of the chilly west, the wind chill hovered around 20 degrees.

His hope was to be first on the beach, but he quickly realized when he got to his favorite spot, that someone had beat him to the high tide line. He surmised that a couple people walking a dog had walked along the what the high tide left behind and shockingly, what looked to be a women's footprint was in the sand... yes a FOOTPRINT... not shoe print, but a bare naked foot!

The winds made for a brutal 20-30 minutes on the beach and by the time my hubby decided to call it a morning, his feet were very cold (and he was wearing heavy wool socks and insulated boots) The wind was finding any little opening and quickly getting to his skin.

So besides getting a chance to watch another glorious sunrise (which he says somehow warms him up ...if only for a couple of minutes) he noticed thousands of crab shells and crab legs all over the beach. The gulls must have had some feast earlier that morning!

He did come across a couple of decent green pieces... possibly jewelry quality, and a few small pieces that will go into one of our display glasses/jars. Plus he took several pictures of the sunrise.

If you take a look at the ocean, you can see why our sea glass is rarely jewelry quality... a flat sea with no rocky areas... that often equals triangular and square pieces, rather than the round, well tumbled and sometimes flawless pieces found on the islands and the west coast.

Oh well, he said he's gonna try the beach again later this week, probably on Thursday or Friday, when low tide is closer to 10 & 11 in the morning.

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!!

Goodbye Electric Blue... Going Sea Glass Hunting Tomorrow!

It started out as a mystery. I wasn't even sure if it was a very dark aqua or a turquoise...plus it had a great star-burst marking that I couldn't place.

Then a lucky break... I happened to mention Richard LaMotte's book, "Pure Sea Glass" in my Etsy listing and I found out he was an Etsy member and he reviewed the shard of glass using the images in the listing (which was quite a thrill!!!)



Then, through a new sea glass collector's group I joined online, I received a couple more thoughts on what the shard may have been originally and one of the thoughts also proved to be very intriguing.

But now, I've passed the mystery onto another sea glass collector. My Electric Blue Sea Glass Necklace has left for it's new home in New York and I hope that if the mystery of the piece is ever solved, the story is shared with me. Goodbye Electric Blue!


On a brighter note, the weather has turned more like early spring rather than deep winter (at least for this weekend) on the Jersey shore. Baseball tryouts and puppy-sitting kept us off the beach today, but my hubby said he's getting up early and hitting the beach tomorrow.... it would be great to add a couple of jewelry quality pieces to the collection, but I'd be thrilled to see a yellow of orange piece of sea glass... my sun-catcher needs a couple new colors added.

Hopefully he'll take the camera with him and take a few photos of the beach while he's out there... I'll add a few images sometime during the day tomorrow...hopefully a couple will be of new additions to my sea glass collection!!

til next time...
R

New Sea Glass Jewelry, A New Slideshow and Possible Beachcombing Weather this Weekend...

I finally finished taking photos and cropping images of a couple of my new pieces of sea glass jewelry. I still have a couple more pieces to crop, but my photo program was having trouble loading pictures...I'll get the remaining items on the blog shortly.

This is what I transferred to my computer before the program faltered.... the top piece is a very pretty gray necklace and the bottom image is a soft aqua teardrop necklace.

I finished a new sea glass slide-show yesterday (before I cropped the new pieces...of course) and the slide-show can be found in the right hand panel of the blog. It contains some of the newest pieces of sea glass that I have for sale in my shops.

Could it be possible that Saturday may offer a possible shot at hitting the beach in hopes of finding some new beach glass? I'm not holding my breath, but I really am hoping to get out there this weekend. I'll bring the camera and hopefully have something to show on the blog come Saturday night.


til next time...

R

More Handmade Sea Glass Jewelry, Snow, followed by a downpour means no beachcombing again today...

Since my last blog update, I found the time to make a few another bracelet and a few more necklaces. I also had the time (and enough brightness) to take photos and go through another jar of sea glass, where I found another green heart-shaped piece of sea glass.

The heart-shaped green piece has already been added to my Etsy shop and I'll probably add either the cornflower bracelet or one of the necklaces to my Etsy shop. I would also like to add another sea glass piece to my ArtFire shop, but the views have been so sporadic there (and on 1000Markets) and I'm wondering if having a 2nd shop is even worth the effort. The last piece I added to ArtFire picked up 2 immediate views while it was sitting on the front page, when I promoted via Twitter, it was viewed another 5 times and then picked up 2 more when I did a little more promoting on a couple of social networking sites...for a total of 9 views...and that's where the view count sits 3 days later.

My son's are wakening up to a disappointing sight this morning... the 3-ish inches of snow that fell overnight is quickly being washed away by the heavy rains that are currently coming down. The mess on the roads has given them a delayed opening of 2 hours, but once again, living so close to the ocean continues to keep any kind of snow accumulation away. So far this winter they've been limited to a small snowball fight with a brief 1/2" of snow early last week... oh well, maybe February will provide them with a at least one decent snowfall that may stick around for 24 hours?

Despite a new moon on Monday evening, the driving rain will keep me indoors today, so another lost opportunity for new sea glass : (

Maybe it'll give me the chance to run out to the store and grab some supplies I need to build a light-box for my jewelry picture taking.

The images above are the cornflower bracelet and I'll be adding a couple images of the new necklaces as soon as I finish cropping the photos...

til next time...
R

Handmade Sea Glass Jewelry...hot off my crafting table!!

Everything fell into place yesterday. My boys played quietly in their room, allowing me to spend 3 or 4 hours to create a few new items. Mother Nature played her part and allowed enough sun to come through the early morning clouds and I was able to take photos.

Already on Etsy is another honey-brown heart shaped necklace and a cobalt blue pair of earrings (2 pieces of cobalt blue & one frosty clear piece of sea glass on ea earring) Both of these pieces can be found in my etsy mini found in the right hand panel.

The other items I finished yesterday are a "Cornflower Frost Sea Glass Earring Stack", a "Cobalt Blue Sea Glass Bracelet" and two new sea glass necklaces... a "Soft Blue Mermaid's Tear Sea Glass Necklace" & a "Soft Seafoam Green Sea Glass Necklace"

One of the necklaces will go into my ArtFire shop, the remaining three pieces will probably all go into my Etsy shop.

Another no-go as far as beachcombing goes today... it's much colder than yesterday, but not nearly as windy (it's always something that keeps me off the beach), but I think hubby is itching to get out there, even if only to walk a few blocks... I'll sit with a cup of tea and dream of finding beautiful ocean gems in the tropics...lol


'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

Electric Blue, Opinions, New Items & Works In Progress

In my other blog ( http://dabblewithcrafts.blogspot.com) I mentioned that my Electric Blue Sea Glass Necklace has received several opinions as to the origin of the shard of glass used in the necklace.

I have already blogged about Richard LaMotte's (author of "Pure Sea Glass") thoughts about the piece coming from a possible 19the century antique art glass piece. In his book, there is an example of the art glass decoration that he is referring to and it certainly does look like the markings on the picture of the decoration and sea glass to be very similar.

I also received a few opinions on a sea glass site I belong to on the internet and one opinion comes from someone that I would consider an expert in the area that this piece came from. This long-time collector said she has seen a few pieces in this color and said it comes from decorative windows found in Victorian houses.

Understanding that neither of the two experts in the sea glass field have actually held the piece in their hands and are only stating their opinions by viewing 5 images I used to list my necklace on Etsy, makes this even more interesting. A large part of me wants to cancel the listing and hold onto the piece until next October's Sea Glass Festival, in hopes that I can bring it to both for further observation (and bring it to a few of the other far knowledgeable collectors for more opinions) The Electric Blue Sea Glass Necklace can be viewed in my Etsy mini in the right hand column of this blog...to see the rest of the images (and maybe add your thoughts of origin to the mix) click on the piece to see the 4 other images.

On the other hand, maybe not really knowing what this beautiful blue piece of sea glass was in it's former life, gives the necklace an air of mystery... and perhaps the future owner of this creation would enjoy the search of unlocking the answer to the mystery.

Pieces like this come few and far between and these are the pieces that make going out on the beach in sub-freezing temperatures worth the effort. I never know what I'll find on the beach and the allure of finding another beautiful piece, one filled with questions that may never be answered... but have much speculation, makes each hunt so exhilarating.

Sea glass hunters know there is an incredible gem sitting just off the surf, tumbling around, waiting for the tide to drop it on the beach. It may not be that day and may not be that stretch of beach, but one day it will present itself when the time is right and hopefully, I'll be there first to claim it.

I'm still waiting on my shipment of sterling silver and I'm planning to do a little drilling to make some bracelets and possibly some earrings (all sea glass of course). I have a few teal pieces that don't match up well enough to make earrings with, but I'm holding hope to find enough to make a bracelet and the same goes with the smaller red pieces I have. There is a bunch of cobalt blues and cornflower blues that will be used in some creations, along with some very frosty clear/white pieces and a handful of greens.

And as always, I'll try to post images before the items are listed in my shops! Pictured above is a very pretty lavender sea glass necklace...

'til next time...
R