Right now I love beach glass jewelry.....

Do you? Sending beach glass factoids over the web.





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Sunday, July 18, 2010

Pearls are a "Girl's Best Friend" in the summer! (or How Hot Is It?)

Right now we are going through some pretty hot and humid weather - the grass is brown and the hydrangeas are drooping.   I was creating jewelry in my workshop the other day and something about the sultriness drew me to use cool, white pearls with my natural beach glass.  The combination is so silky on your neck, wrist or ears that it is like a little breeze.  And the pearls compliment the cool frostiness of the beach glass so well - it makes you look cooler! 

Here are a few of the earrings I designed with pearls.





Kat from Low Tide High Style is giving away a pair of my cool pearl/natural beach glass earrings.  Be sure to visit her wonderful Blog.  I know you'll be captivated by her style.

I remember my mother wearing pearls in the summer.   Always a double strand for Church.  Here are some fun old clip on earring I found with HUGE faux pearls!



Pearls come from a family of pearl-oysters of the sea, and also a family of fresh-water mussels.  They come in such varieties of shapes, colors and sizes.  Part of my collection of white pearl beads:



There are some strange shapes created by putting a small seed in the oyster.  The oyster covers it with the Mother-of-pearl.  So whatever shape seed you put in is what you get out.   Here is a weird one!



Pearl wasn't used just for jewelry.  It was used for buttons, buckles, handles on flatware, and tokens.  In the old days, card games, board games, and games of chance required that points or money be kept track of.   To do this they used tokens.  Common token materials were bone, ivory, wood and even clay, both fancy or plain. One common material that was used throughout the world was mother-of-pearl.  This is the iridescent lining of the shells of some fresh-water and some salt-water mollusks.  I have a small collection of these mother-of-pearl tokens that I love to look at and handle:



You still find these tokens at antique shops occasionally.  I found these at a small shop in Maine a few years ago.  I thought that they would make extraordinary jewelry - a focal piece for a necklace or some wow earrings.  But I can't quite get the courage to drill them.  They are so beautiful as is - sigh,..... another useless collection. 

Here are some MOP buckles that probably were used for a fabric belt.  I wonder what I can do with these....any ideas? 



Keep a lookout for pearl items yourself, go through your Grandmothers button basket too.   Let me know what you find! 




Keep cool!




16 comments:

Sherri said... [Reply to comment]

What beautiful creations! I love the pearls with the beach glass-just beautiful!

Frosted Trash said... [Reply to comment]

Thanks Sherri! It's nice to hear that someone else likes the combination!

Low Tide High Style said... [Reply to comment]

Hi Julie,

Here's a link to my Giveaway post! Thanks again for giving me such a gorgeous pair of earrings to share with one lucky reader!

http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/2010/07/what-crazy-week-and-giveaway.html

Kat :)

michelle said... [Reply to comment]

Hi there! I came over here from Kat's blog! What great pieces you have! I love sea glass and I am always so excited when I find it! You have done a beautiful job incorporating them into your jewelry!

Pondside said... [Reply to comment]

Me too - here from Kat's blog. Your earrings are beautiful. I live near the water, so I'm fussy about things with connection to the sea....and I love your creations.

Nana's Fun Stuff said... [Reply to comment]

I just love the pearls and the natural beach glass. Beautiful!!

Shellbelle said... [Reply to comment]

I came from Kat's fabulous blog also!

I don't wear much jewelry, but yours is beautiful. When I was a child, my grandmother called sea glass, mermaid tears. I love that you collect your own instead of buying the manufactured kind — that's what makes it special. Good luck with your Etsy store!

Everything Coastal said... [Reply to comment]

Nice to meet you! Following your adventures now, I have such a fondness for anything made of sea glass - am a huge collector. Don't really do anything with it, but love it all. Come see over at both of my blogs - Everything Coastal and Everything Coastal Style

Samantha2818 said... [Reply to comment]

Hi,
just come over from Kat's blog - always happy to meet a fellow sea glass lover.
Love your first set of earings in particular - my favourite shade of sea glass.
~Sam

The Decorative Dreamer said... [Reply to comment]

Hi! I just come from Kat's blog! She is a fantastic blogger isn't she! So interesting...always! Thanks for offering such a beautiful giveway! I hope I win! I am your newest follower!

Loui♥ said... [Reply to comment]

Hi Julie..
Just came over from Kat's blog..
love visiting with her..
thanks to you for such a beautiful pair of earrings for this generous giveaway!!
would love to be the winner!!
am now following you..
warm sandy hugs..
Loui♥

Designs on 47th Street said... [Reply to comment]

Hello Julie, I also just came from Kat's blog and what a treat I found here at your blog! I really love the pearls with natural beach glass. I scrolled down and I REALLY love the blue glass from the old Mason jars. So pretty! You are very talented.

Donna

Vicki Boster said... [Reply to comment]

beautiful earrings - I want them all!

Vicki

Frosted Trash said... [Reply to comment]

@Shellbelle
Thanks for your comment! A lot of people don't understand that collecting beach glass - "mermaid's tears" is real work! LOL! And I just love it!

BAE said... [Reply to comment]

I just adore your work! Simply gorgeous, gorgeously simple.

Barbara said... [Reply to comment]

Hello I just found your blog through Kat's blog and I am a new reader on both sites. I have a passion for sea glass. I collect pieces from the beach at the end of my street. For me they are gems from the sea. I love the pieces I've seen so far. The first pair in this set of three is so beautiful in it's simplicity and shape. I'm looking forward to reading both your blogs.

Peace!