Frosted Trash

Craft Shows and Such...

2010-10-12T16:22:00.000-04:00

Fall is a great time for craft and antique shows, the air is cooler and Christmas is coming (oh yes it is!) so you have an excuse to shop! My husband mentioned an ad in the newspaper calling for crafters for a local show. He thought that it would be fun to sell some of my beach glass jewelry there. It's always nicer talk with people face to face and answer any question about the origin of beach glass.

Well the show was this past weekend and it was a glorious weather day. The sky was so blue. It was a wonderful contrast to the pumpkins and chrysanthemums.

As you can imagine, I talked to a lot of people about beach glass! Many remembered picking it up when they were young and told me stories about where they found it. Some had traveled to different parts of the country or different parts of the world and had recollections about their finds. Some said that they still had a jar full. One couple bought bags of beach glass for their daughters. They said they had lived in California years ago and remembered a TON of beach glass at the beach in Fort Bragg, CA. It is even named "Glass Beach". It used to be a huge dump, so there are all kinds of bits of glass from bottles to car windows. Sadly, they didn't keep any and bought the glass for their girls who were fascinated with their story. Here is a link to more information about it in case you are visiting California. Glass Beach

If anyone has been to this fabulous beach, let me know if the pictures are true.....looks like lots of great smooth pieces!

This weekend made me remember selling my things at craft/antique shows in my "other life". Before I moved to Maryland, I lived in New England. In this former life I was an Antique dealer who sold at "group" shops and shows in the New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts areas. I have great memories of the whole thing - conveniently forgetting all the hard work! There was a little show that my friends and I used to do in early October in a quaint New Hampshire town called Kingston. This show was on the village common in the center of town where the dealers set up. It was a grassy square with a lovely small, white bandstand. The mature maple trees all around the edge of the green were turning beautiful colors of oranges, yellows and reds and the two story antique houses, church and town hall that ringed the square were mostly white with black shutters (very New England!).

I'll be back in New England this weekend visiting family and I think that a side trip to Kingston will be on my list of things to do. Also a little antiquing!

A Change is Coming!

2010-09-24T17:34:00.003-04:00

I like to reflect the changing of the seasons in my house. Not just by putting out holiday things, but also changing the feel of the house.....making a warm nest for the coming chill. Maybe I'll change the slipcovers from white to a darker color and put out some textured, deeper hued pillows. More throws, with a heavier weight and weave placed around and also more candles tells you it's fall. Sometimes I move the furniture for a cozy-up-to-the-fireplace orientation.

And sometimes I go shopping in my closets and find things that were not right before, but are now. I don't know why that is, it just is.

I also put some of my beach things away, like the clear cylinder of shells and some special "finds" that are sitting out. There are my favorites however, that don't get put away regardless of the season. Some things I just love to look at and have around me.

One of my favorite things is this Mussel shell wreath. I bought this a long time ago when I lived in New England and didn't live near the beach at all.

On the Atlantic shore, the mussel shells would get so "pearly" from being scraped on the sand so many times.

As I can remember, it was pretty expensive for me, especially since I didn't have a beach theme going at all! But, I couldn't resist and just had to have it (even though I thought that I could probably make one!).

I kept it in an old hatbox with tissue for years. When we bought our property on the water and moved in it was one of the first things I put up. My husband was amazed at this and all the other "Beach" things that I had stashed away in the hopes of one day living by the water. It's good to be a little mysterious!

These have more blue in them and are larger than the same type of shells I find in Maryland.

Another great find was this (sort of) old carved hull on a stand. For a while, I used it for all our remote controls in the Living room. We called it the "Remote Boat"! Now I have several small old sweetgrass baskets from New England in it that are a lot more interesting! I will change this out with mini pumpkins or fresh pine to follow the season. In the summer, shells alone or with sand looks great. I think one summer I put sand and old photos of family at the beach in it - that was fun!

There are some things that I love from Christmas also that don't get put away. One of my current favorites (from last Christmas), is this lamp base with growing partridge berry plants in it. I got them in my friend's back yard and just plopped them into the container. They have been growing since last November, without the addition of water.

They are in the bottom of the lamp and are sealed in there. We used to make "berry jars" for Christmas like that, putting the partridge berries into small jars and sealing the top with cling wrap and a ribbon. They would last a long time.

The original moisture just keeps circulating!

Another find is this unfinished boat hull. I was at a Christmas Fair in Maine two years ago and I saw it above a doorway It was filled with greens and red berries and I wasn't even sure it was for sale! But luckily the ladies of the church decided to sell it to me. In the summer I put starfish in it, but in winter I'll have it decked out with something green or sparkly!

One year, I went to a local auction and got this great thick, leather heart with bells on it! Since the auction was at a farm, I think it was for horses or a sleigh? Anyone know? Anyway, I LOVED it! Needless to say, this Christmas decoration is up all year at my house. I just couldn't bear to put it away. It is on my door and jingles when anyone comes or goes. Delightful!

My most favorite though, is my reproduction Victorian fish bowl filled with Beach Glass! These are my most wonderful finds put into a container that is always on my counter to delight and inspire!

To get you in the mood for autumn, click here for music and pictures.

Give me a Break!

2010-09-20T23:30:00.001-04:00

Hopefully everyone has been reading some of my earlier posts while I was on a break...literally! I possibly fractured or bruised (couldn't tell from the x-rays) my ribs in a minor (very minor) car accident and I have been out of commission for a bit. It seems that your ribs are integral to most of your body's movement (who knew!). Anyway, it's been uncomfortable to do much for any amount of time. The medicine that I took at night, which I am grateful for, left me groggy a lot of the day. So, here I am back again! Able to move almost quite normally. (I will be using the groggy thing for awhile to mask any age-related forgetfulness!)

So, speaking of breaks ....

While taking a short walk on the beach with my husband (he did the "bend-and-pick-up" for me), we found a lovely piece of frosted treasure with some lines in it. My husband said it would make a great piece of jewelry, but I hesitated. You see, the lines in some of the glass that I find look like cracks and I'm not sure they would be as fascinating to someone buying a jewelry item as they are to me. Most of these cracks are surface but I can't tell how deep they are and I'm not sure how stable they would be. Here is an enhanced photo of the piece to show the detail.

Aqua shard with many lines of "crizzling"

This crizzling in glass is the effect of weathering. Wet glass that is exposed to freezing can sometimes form surface cracks. These surface cracks are straight lines that over time (wetting and freezing) can actually fracture the glass into triangular shapes.

Beach glass group with weathering cracks

A large piece can fracture over and over again creating smaller and smaller pieces. These are tumbled in the sand by waves and eventually end up smooth triangle shaped shards of beach glass. It will take 30-50 years of tumbling to round off the edges of these newly broken pieces. This fact always amazes me!

These are small, kind of sharp-shaped triangles that have had their edges smoothed.

Small, squat triangles of cobalt beach glass

These are longer triangles.

Long thin triangles, with smoothed edges.

But these triangles have been worn smooth and rounded! Probably some early medicine bottles that have been breaking and tumbling for 50 years.

Triangles that have been smoothed over time

So, you can see why the triangle is the most common shape that I find. Short and fat or long and thin, these triangles have a history we can only guess at!

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So lovely to have this nice support group of beautiful followers who take the time to send a kind word! :) Thanks all for your concern, I am doing much better and will be out beach-combing this weekend!

Beach finds

2010-09-02T10:30:00.000-04:00

I want to share a story that is not about beach time/decor/jewelry. It's inspirational.

My step daughter graduated from college with a degree in International Business. She worked for awhile, but realized her passion was still in Medicine. She made the hard decision to go back to school while working and living in Atlanta, GA. But, prior to taking the MCAT for Medical School, she broke her wrist. This necessitated a trip to the orthopedic surgeon. When her wrist healed, she started thinking about where her brace would end up. Landfill?? Unacceptable.

After some investigating, she discovered that there wasn’t any organization recycling these orthopedic items. Surplus orthopedic equipment from people who recover their breaks and sprains was being mostly thrown away or stored until it was thrown away at some future date. She thought that this was a waste and bad for our planet. She also knew that there were many uninsured/under insured people in her Atlanta area who needed this gently used equipment. She saw an opportunity, so she founded Embraced Atlanta, a non-profit business that recycles orthopedic items - crutches, wheel chairs and gently used prosthetics to name a few. http://www.embracedatlanta.org/

Since it was founded over a year and a half ago, Embraced has supported local needs and national/global disasters. The momentum is growing. She was recently on a local Atlanta radio show and got a chance to talk about her passion. If you have a few minutes, please listen:

http://wsrvfm.media.streamtheworld.com/audio/river_current_725_100787191.mp3

Her current fundraiser in Atlanta is a “Battle of the Burgers” http://www.battleoftheburgers.com/ (October 2nd, 2010 at John Howell Park in the VA Highlands) featuring Gureline as an honorary judge. Guerline was the only survivor from her class following the Haitian Earthquake. Her left arm was crushed with no way of saving it. Guerline is currently in Atlanta being fitted for a prosthetic arm. Embraced is currently helping Guerline to obtain the funding for this prosthetic arm through various fundraising efforts.

I would like Lauren to be recognized for her contribution so that others might be inspired to help her with her goal to expand awareness and service of this remarkable effort.

Thank you : )

Canoe and Beach Glass Adventure

2010-08-22T11:52:00.001-04:00

OK, so it's Saturday afternoon and the "must do" chores are done....how do we spend the rest of the day??? The weather was nice, a little breeze off the water and not too warm perfect for a beach glass outing in the canoe! So, my husband and I decided to take the new (old) canoe out - first time for me in this one. It's a used Old Town Canoe made in Maine.

(old) Old Town canoe

Destination??? Well, I am always on the lookout for new beach glass locations and there was this nice beach not too far away that usually has quite a few pieces. So, we paddled over.

Beach with lots of stuff!

When we pulled the canoe up on the beach, first thing I saw was this wonderful piece of lime green in a great earring size! My day was made! I just love finding different colors!

Lime green glass on the beach

This was a good omen I thought and I was right....I found more of the same color! It's so, so, so unusual to find the same size AND shape, but a piece for a pendant also....Heaven!! Here is the trio:

Future lime green earring and pendant

I can't wait to see how they turn out! I haven't decided what color crystal or pearls to pair with them. Sometimes it's nice to have a real contrast. I just went to my favorite gem show and got a lot of new Swarovski crystals. I got some chocolate brown opaque that might be interesting.

I also find lots of white glass, as you would expect. This time there were some great patterns and some with writing on them. These are always fun and I love the way the pendants look.

Frosted white glass with patterns and words!

My husband had the find of the day though....this amazing piece of real purple. This is not the glass that turns lavender or purple from the sun. This is a GENUINE purple glass shard. It's big too....hard to tell from the photo, but it's about 2 1/ 2 inches. This would make a great pendant. The front has designs - it must have been a decorative piece like a vase.

Purple glass with decoration

The back is plain but nicely frosted and would be a good "flip" side for a pendant.

Back side of purple shard

Today my husband won the prize for the "best" beach glass. We laughed at the competition between us and then went for a swim, clothes and all!

I "Heart" the Beach!

2010-08-16T19:55:00.000-04:00

When my kids were little we lived in New England. Since the ocean was only 20 minutes away we always went to the beach - summer and winter! It was a great place for them to run around and get rid of some of that energy! I always know they slept better....and so did I!

Beach at Newcastle, NH

Even back then we looked for interesting things on the beach. Most of the time it was something "alive" in a small pail of water (ugh!), but sometimes it was a shell or pretty rock.

Newcastle, NH

When they got a little older, I'd make a game out of finding certain shapes. One of my favorite was the heart! The rock or bit of shell that was the most 'perfect' heart won the prize.

When I got re-married, my new husband hadn't been through this game! So, while on a trip to the Outer Banks one year I told him about the tradition. Larry is keen on finding things of interest too, so he got right into it. It was a challenge between the two of us that week to find bits of shell and rocks that most looked like "hearts"!

I kept them in a box and for Valentines Day that year I fastened some of the pretty shell ones onto some "I Love You" paper and put them in a frame.

We now have it hanging in a spare bedroom at our beach house. It triggers so many great memories!

When you are out at the beach, lake or river with your loved ones, make a memory out of it by preserving some of the fun in a keepsake!

Fabulous Friday!

2010-08-06T08:16:00.004-04:00

Storm Over the Marsh

We love to watch the storms come over the island or up the river. The clouds and shoots of lightning are so beautiful. Lately, our storms don't produce anything but the show. Well, we actually had rain with the storm last night and this morning the breeze off the water is dryer, fresh and cool-ish! Yea! It's been so muggy, which is intolerable for this New England girl. So I will enjoy it as long as it lasts!

Today I have my watercolor class in the morning and friends coming for dinner. I am making crab cakes for them with crabs caught off our pier, picked by my husband and I and made with my (not so) secret recipe. My friend Nancy will be picking some home grown Arugula, tomatoes and raspberries to bring for our salad and I will go to the Amish market for a fat, sleek watermelon. Sadly, I have no tomatoes as the deer have left us just stalks. Hopefully they will keep growing (tomatoes not the deer!).

Sad Little Garden

For my watercolor class, I just have to go to my friend Susan's on the other side of the island. She is an accomplished painter and we are so lucky to have her in the community. I could actually bike to her house if I didn't have all my supplies to carry :) We are working on a picture of the reconstructed Blackstone Lighthouse on St. Clement's Island. It's a bit detailed and we just started so no photos of it yet. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Original Blackstone Lighthouse

Susan wants me to make her a pair of earrings made with cobalt blue glass. She likes these but....

Cobalt Beach Glass Earrings on Etsy

... she only wears gold so I'll have to custom make them for her. I'm bringing her some pieces of glass so she can pick what she wants. She also collects beach glass on our island, but doesn't have the right ones for earrings. Blue is pretty rare to find. She did show me a wonderful piece of pottery that she found with a picture of a woman perfectly framed within the size of the shard. That would make a great pendant! The pottery shards are so interesting! I've seen some that have parts of the original decoration on it with some wonderful results. Sometimes you get a whole flower, bird or, in Susan's case, a person!

Beach House Details

2010-08-02T18:29:00.001-04:00

My friend Kat at Low Tide High Style recently had a contest to win a pair of my beach glass earrings. Hope you all got a chance to enter!
If you check out her Blog today you'll see some photos that she took of my beach house! I know that we are so fortunate to live in a great spot like this. Larry and I wonder at our luck every day!

I thought everyone would like to see some more details, so I have taken a few photos for you. Remember, Kat is a far better photographer than I am! Here is a photo of the outside that she took so you can see all the porches!

In the pictures of the living room that Kat took you may have noticed funny looking things on the wall. These are old corbels - a carved wooden bracket that was used to support a wall or porch roof. You will see these on many old homes. When the homes get remodeled, these are thrown away or (hopefully) sold as architectural elements on their own. I have many (too many!) and put them around the house to set things on. One has a starfish and one has a small bird decoy. The grungy old paint makes them even better I think! I like them because they fit in narrow spaces and add so much texture.

Corbel and Mussel Shell Wreath

The wreath in the photo is made from New England mussel shells that have been bleached and worn by the waves. Some are so pearly and some worn a soft blue. Another example of nature's gifts, found things that can be transformed to elegant accessories.

And this painted shell I found at a flea market was also transformed from the ordinary to special. Someone else knew the beauty of a found object.

Primitive Painted Shell

When I go out searching for beach glass, I often find feathers from our native birds. Over the years, I've collected them all in a small crock. I keep it on top of my wall clock - so the kitty-boys don't get it. I've learned this the hard way!

Maryland Native Bird Feathers

I love collecting interesting things, don't we all? I especially like natures perfect elements ..... and they're usually free!

The Best Show Around....Nature!

2010-08-01T17:07:00.002-04:00

We never get tired of just looking at the beautiful nature around us here on the island. The changing water and sky colors remind me of beach glass. Sometimes the water can be aqua, sometimes it's teal. When there is a storm, the water turns dark blue. I try to capture the soft, sunny colors and the dark stormy colors in some of my beach glass jewelry. These necklaces show the two personalities of the water I think.

My pallet of colors can change to suit my mood too. Sometimes I feel like making something bold, and sometimes gently delicate. Don't you love the wonderful colors of beach glass!

Weather by the shore can be unpredictable. When we first lived next to the water, there were several incidents of soaked carpet when windows were left open - we don't ever leave them open now! Once my husband thought he could take a quick trip to the store without closing up the house. The sky was clear and sunny. In the 10 minutes it took him to get home the sky got dark, windy and rainy. The wind blew the rain in the windows and french doors --- all the loose papers in his office flew around, got wet and stuck to the walls! What a mess! We do laugh at it now! I'll bet everyone who lives near the water has some stories - want to share?

We were sitting on the deck this morning after going for a walk on the island. It had been sunny and cool with some light clouds. In the sky, off in the distance, there was a growing band of dark. Then the breeze picked up and the dark clouds started to sweep across the sky. The layers of dark right over the blue sky was so dramatic I grabbed my camera.

We have a porch on the water side of the house and it has a large overhang from the deck above it. We sat, safe from the storm, enjoying the show and the wonderful breezes. The dark clouds eventually took over the whole sky and then it rained. We have a nest of Osprey out in the water in front of the house. The "babies" are now big enough to be taking short flying trips. When the rain started the whole family opened their wings and took a shower!

The Gulls didn't seem to think the rain was fun at all!

Too bad for them, it cooled and entertained us!

The Dog Days

2010-07-29T20:50:00.001-04:00

Hi, my name is Mattie and I am Frosted Trash's Grandoggy!

We recently had a visit from my daughter and her family who live in New Hampshire. They (including Mattie!) had a fun time even though the temperatures were in the 99-104's! Mattie kept cool inside the house along with my kitty Willy. Willy watched Grandoggy with a suspicious eye, I think because Mattie loves cat food!

While taking Mattie for a walk on the beach, my son in law found an interesting piece of frosted trash (beach glass) that no one could figure out. It looks like a top of a bottle, but where the hole should be - it's covered. Anyone have an idea what it could have been? He won the prize for the most unusual piece of beach glass this trip!

It will go in my "Interesting Glass" bowl. If you check Low Tide High Style , you'll see it filled with glass. It's a replica of an old fish bowl - big and round on a glass stand. Some of the pieces in it are interesting only to me and some are really weird!

Here's a sample of a weird looking piece - "campfire" glass.

Campfire glass was melted by some type of fire and when it cooled, made a free form shape. Sometimes it also has pieces of burnt wood, rocks or sand in it - trapped for all time.
I made a pendant for my husband to wear out of a neat piece with black lines - probably carbon got folded into it when it was melted.

Not all beach glass that's found can be made into jewelry, but even the unusual can sometimes be beautiful.

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

2010-07-18T20:00:00.007-04:00

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!

Lazy, crazy, hazy days of summer.....

2010-07-06T18:12:00.001-04:00

Now that the 4th of July Holiday is over, I feel a broad expanse of summer possibilities in front of me. Those lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer! The warm, heavy air - redolent of tomato plants and beach breezes makes you just want to drowse on the porch with a good book. And since the days are so long, everything is possible and there's time for everything. I find myself going from the garden to my jewelry bench and then off to the Amish farm stand for some just picked corn and local peaches! Yum!

Seems like I want to get it all in .....maybe because I know that summer will be flying by me all too soon. Don't you feel like time is speeding up???

My daughter and her family visited over the 4th and we had a great visit. Just the right amount of "doing" and "not doing". Some of our activities included a water tour of the local beaches in our new (old) boat, visiting a nearby lighthouse, a whole afternoon floating in the water getting some sun (burn!), playing games of horse shoes (young men vs. older men), eating lots of great food and going to the Gem show.

The Gem show was held near Baltimore, MD and had jewelry and jewelry related things for sale (beads, crystals, silver and gold). I mostly go there to find unique beads and crystals and also look for good ideas. There was a whole building of dealers selling things. Many with hundreds of beads in hundreds of sizes, colors and material. Here is a bird's eye view of just a part of the Hall!

This trip I bought some lovely Swarovski crystals that have Aurora Borealis highlights. These crystals are small and light green like the old jadeite dinnerware I sometimes find as beach glass. These have that additional colored sparkle that "AB" is known for.

Another find was some great carved bone beads. I think these will look great with turquoise or brown. Very island wear.

One of the funniest beads I saw (and had to buy) were these lizard beads. I guess they are lamp work - it looks like each lizard is just a little different from the other. When I go to these shows, one of the pitfalls of loving jewelry is that I spend too much $$$! See, I didn't really have an idea of what I'd do with the lizards, just that I really, really liked them!

A classic trend I was reminded of was the combination of gold and turquoise. It's so elegant and rich looking and also very summery. In the 1900's this was a combination used in rings and necklaces. It would be fun to make something with this look. I do have some genuine turquoise beads and golden brown beach glass. I wonder how that would look???

Actually, I will be making some new designs ..... First a walk on the beach, then I'll check my tomatoes, and than maybe some home made ice tea just right for relaxing on the porch! Supper will be light fare and sleeping will be sweet with the sound of the waves through the window.

Born on the Fourth of July

2010-07-01T09:00:00.005-04:00

Well, I have been getting ready to deal with the 4th of July. No, not just the National celebration, but my mother's birthday. You see, my mom was born on the 4th of July and I was born on the 2nd of July. She always called me her "birthday present". But this July will be the first one without her that I've ever known. She passed away in February of this year at 94. A good long life. I've had quite a few years with our birthday's celebrated together and you know what, I always thought that it would be nice to have it all to myself. But, it doesn't really feel that good and I'd be happy to be able to share it again.

So, I thought you would like to see some pictures of Mary. She was a sweetie and very independent (of course! She was born on the 4th of July!).

This was taken on Mother's day a few years ago. My brother and I took her to an upscale restaurant. She said it was nice but I know that she really didn't like "fancy". I'm sure she would have preferred it if I made dinner for her at home instead. Most of the time that's what I did.

Here she is in her "disguise". I always teased her when she wore those big sunglasses! Since her eye surgery, she wore these when she was outside. She laughed along with us and enjoyed the teasing. She wore this hat just to have some fun. The picture was taken at my friend's house down the street where we had an informal picnic since her mother was there also. They both sat outside and talked about the "good old days".

As you can see, Mom had a great smile. People liked her right off because of it. She liked to laugh and dance. Boy, did she love to dance! She was an Arthur Murry instructor for a short time when she retired to Florida. I remember her dancing with my husband and gently instructing him to "stop hopping!" We got a chuckle out of that!

Besides dancing, she loved to eat! Being Italian and all, at our house food was usually abundant and good. She enjoyed cooking and eating. After she moved near me in her 80's, my daughter would always bring lobster from Maine for her birthday. She loved it and looked forward to that special treat. This year my daughter is bringing lobster also and we will enjoy the seafood in her honor and remember her.

Love you Mom

Mary Rose

7/4/1915 - 2/2/2010

Talking Trash and Turtles

2010-06-15T20:23:00.001-04:00

I was at Bunco last night (that's why I'm tired!) and someone purchased one of my necklaces that had a pretty piece of frosted aqua beach glass. I mentioned that it used to be an old Ball canning jar and she seemed surprised. I told her that a lot of broken "trash" was recycled by Mother Nature into beautiful beach gems. I thought you might be interested also.....

This is the necklace:

Here is another photo of the necklace against the sky, and it's humble beginnings as food storage!

As you can see by the photo of the jar, there are parts of it that are deeper colored than others, I guess it's the thickness. That's why you get such variety in the colors. Below are some of the lighter parts of the jar; broken, frosted and waiting for glory!

When I hear the waves crashing, I know that the next day there will be treasures to be found. Maybe I'll find an old marble, I have found a couple.

Sometimes you find other things too. This weekend, I walked down to our little beach and came upon a turtle in the sand. She? looked a little startled, so I stepped off the path and continued on so she could "get away". I'm not sure it was a female, but that is the same spot that we've found turtle eggs burried each year. No, we don't dig them...but the Racoons do and I've seen evidence each year. I hope somehow that part of the nest survives and baby turtles return to the water.

The Wonders of Pottery Shards.....

2010-06-11T18:22:00.000-04:00

So, other things wash up on the beach besides frosted beach glass. Lots of dishes, tea cups, crocks, vases, bowls and flower pots were thrown away also. These bits are unique in that the shard often has a little of the design on it. Or sometimes it has some of the 'made by' information. Again, it's Mother Nature's whim as to what you get.

Here are some of my pottery bits.

And another view.....

Some of the pieces are large and some tiny, but all are interesting. I keep an old iron urn filled with the pieces on top of my blanket chest. Every time I come back from the beach, I just toss the new pottery into the urn! I do find more glass than pottery, so this container has not grown too quickly.

I'm sure it's no surprise that I have made jewelry out of pottery too! Here's one of my fun pendants created from a pretty orange-y piece:

I used an earring that had lost it's mate...I have many of those single earrings - don't you?

Here's the back -

I've also used pottery pieces to glue onto a plain cork board...it makes it look so much more special and beachy! I've glued Mermaid's tears (previous blog) onto pushpins to go on this special cork board.

And a detail of the edge:

Don't forget to look at my Etsy site - I've put several NEW pieces on that are a bit different!

http://www.etsy.com/shop/frostedtrash

Have a great weekend!

FROSTED TRASH IS NOW ON ETSY!!

2010-06-08T23:50:00.000-04:00

OK, I've officially opened my Etsy site: http://www.etsy.com/shop/frostedtrash

Yea! I'm a little nervous and a little excited, but I have sold to many friends and neighbors, so this won't be scary...right? If you have any comments on the shop Please tell me!

I have to learn the ropes of putting things on the site efficiently and one of the problems I first had, was the size of the pictures. Who knew? So now I have to resize them each before the program will accept them. I'm sure it will get easier as I learn. I've now set the camera download to the correct size.

Anyway, you probably don't care about that....you just want to see the jewels!!!

Here's a sneak peak:

This is a great soft piece of cobalt blue glass made into a bracelet -

I love the way it looks with all sorts of colors. It's a real summer piece.

This next one is a fabulous soft blue/green color. It is almost "starfish" shaped and has an air bubble trapped inside - so cool! The air bubble indicates an early piece of glass.

The Swarovski crystals reflect just the same colors as the glass. It would be so pretty with a crisp white top.

Email me if you have any great ideas or thing you would like me to try! frostedtrash@gmail.com

Thanks!

More Worky and Sorty.....part two!

2010-06-06T16:47:00.001-04:00

So, now that I have looked at all the glass from the beach and decided what to use for jewelry and what to fill yet another container with (whew! I have many!), it's time to ..... you guessed it! Sort again!

I bring it up to my work room and dump it in more paper plates to sort the colors. Then I put the pieces by color into a divided white tray. This helps me see the colors better. I also have to do this in natural light- again, it helps me see the true colors.

Here is a picture of my tray with mostly purple. I use some of the empty sections for other sorted "finds" that may be interesting.

These purple pieces will have to be resorted by size and shade if I want to make earrings. That is the most difficult part, finding a pair that are about the same shape and color. The top left section has two pair that are close enough for earrings. What do you think?

Some of the other pieces in the bottom sections of the tray are interesting, like the white one with a pattern. This was most likely some cut glass - a dish or vase.

I like to find pieces with letters stamped on them too. Sometimes they get broken along the brand name and end up spelling something different. For Christmas, I put two pieces of glass in my son's stocking that had the letters ALEX on them. His name is Alex! Kind of fun. He and his wife have their own container of beach glass on the dining room table and these went right into the pile.

Here is another tray with some of my cobalt, green and teal suitable for jewelry:

I love the colors, all the variety and some of the unusual shades that I find. I have yet to find a piece of orange (sigh!), but you never know.

There is a great book that will just inspire you! It's called Pure Sea Glass. The photos are great and there is so much useful info on where sea glass/beach glass comes from and the rarity of each color. You can buy it on Amazon.

If you have questions or something you would like to see...please email me at: frostedtrash@gmail.com

The Work-y Work-y part of it.....part one.

2010-06-04T07:56:00.000-04:00

Yes, strolling by the sea, waves lapping, gulls calling and the sun shining. What an idyllic way to go to "work" finding beach glass!

But....that's not even a small part of creating beautiful frosted gems. I have to then sort the glass, and sort the glass, and sort the glass (you get the picture). It takes good eyes and some creativity to match Mother Nature's gifts to what I can use for pendants and earrings and bracelets.

I generally use white paper plates to sort on. They show the colors of the glass truer than on a counter top. Also they are cheap and if the glass is wet or dirty, I can just throw the plate away.

This morning while waiting for my tea to brew, I was quickly sorting some beach glass in to a couple of piles. The top one is the "probably can use" pile and the bottom one is "can't use". The can't use pile has pieces too large, pieces not shaped right or pieces that are still a little shiny. These I throw back into the water and will get them another day when they are beautifully frosted all over.

The other piles are mermaid's tears (smooth tiny rocks) and shards of "frosted" pottery.

I know that this looks like a big haul - but it wasn't from one trip to the beach. My husband looks out for glass when he launches his boat or canoe and we both pile up our finds over several days or a week before the sorting begins.

Next blog, I'll show you the sorting room!!!

Just Bloggin' Around

2010-05-26T15:59:00.001-04:00

First - thanks for all your comments, I love hearing about what you think! I know that you all love blue, so here are a couple of pieces that will be on my new Etsy site soon.

Don't you just love the rich warm blue? These are both really nicely frosted.

When will I be up and running on Etsy??? All you busy people know that soon means if I can get through the weekend and finally put all my winter clothes away (I can't be the only one!).

Until it's up and running, you can WIN a piece of my Maryland Beach Glass jewelry! Yea! Follow the link to Low Tide, High Style blog and you can sign up to win a piece!! Ms Tide featured my jewelry in a recent post so you can get an idea of other thingsI make.
http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/2010/05/frosted-trash-giveaway.html

She also featured the "decks" view of my house in the Neverending Vacation post. I've included the link here for you to see. She is saving the rest of the house pictures, since they are being looked at for possible publication.

http://lowtidehighstyle.blogspot.com/2010/05/neverending-vacation.html
The little house in the woods is my friend Susan's and is right down the street from me. Her house was recently featured in Southern Maryland This Is Living!

Have a wonderful holiday and good luck on the contest!

Going to work

2010-05-08T07:15:00.000-04:00

I have a full time job, but my part time job as a jewelry designer is my favorite thing to do. When I "go to work" for that job, it means a long walk on the beach! Finding beach glass or beach "trash" is always exciting and never the same two days in a row. If you've gone beach-hunting, what are the fun things that you've found? Recently I took a long walk on the beach and this was my collection:

As you can see, there is a real variety of beach glass. Even though white beach glass is common, it's always so perfectly "frosted" - it has a cool, snowy look. I love to pair it with turquoise:

I keep a large glass jar full of just white on my kitchen counter. In another post I will show all the ways to display glass around your home. I also found some driftwood, a pottery shard, and some "Mermaid's tears". These are small, perfectly polished quartz stones. Some are round and some are oval. You can see one in the foreground of the picture. I started to notice these smooth white stones after seeing the movie "Somethings Gotta Give". There were bowls of beach stones all around her gorgeous house. I now collect these in my favorite antique white flower pots. Here is a picture of one:

Let me know what kinds of things you are finding on your "secret" beaches!

Now that I've got your attention.......

2010-04-14T10:53:00.001-04:00

You might want to know where to buy some of my beach glass jewelry. Apple Basket Antiques in Mechanicsville, MD is the only shop that carries it! (http://www.applebasketantiques.com/) They have wonderful ever changing Antiques, but they also have gifts, jewelry, Trollbeads, Crocs and much more. It is different everytime you go there.
Here is a picture of my jewely at Apple Basket. We used an antique display case filled with sand (from my beach) to make the setting just right.

I also made some beach glass "beads" that fit on their Trollbead bracelets. Here's a picture so you can see how great it looks. Very summery! The beads are not round, but different shapes (remember, as found!) so each one is unique.

These are limited, since the size and shape of the glass that I find is seldom thick enough for a bead.

Hope to see you in the shop!

Beach Glass Jewelry

2010-04-13T16:04:00.000-04:00

So here are a few pictures of what I make. Some of the colors are rare...like cobalt blue. So pretty and rich. It looks great with silver and crystal!

These earrings are made with Natural "as found" beach glass. No two pieces are ever alike, so I find similar size, shape and color intensity to make a pair of earrings.

Here is another pair in the familiar sea blue/green color that I love.

I've also made many unique pendants out of larger pieces........this one is created from a "starfish" shaped piece with bubbles in it (hard to see). That indicates a really old piece of glass. The crystals are two large, bi-cone Swarovski iridescent beads.

Another really rare color is lavender. Lavender beach glass is able to be historically dated by - it's color! Prior to the 1920's, glassmakers used the chemical manganese in making clear glass. When this glass is exposed to UV rays from the sun, the chemical transforms the glass color to a range of lavender/purple. The longer the exposure the darker the color.

Here are some earrings that I made out of two similarly colored pieces:

Beach glass is often also called Sea Glass. Here is a link to a great website, the North American Sea Glass Association. There is a lot of great information and pictures on this site!

http://www.seaglassassociation.org/

OK, I have to go to "work" now and look for more beach glass!

Frosted Trash - Getting ready for Summer!

2010-04-13T14:45:00.000-04:00

Welcome! I set this blog up to talk about Beach Glass and show jewely that I make. For those who don't know, beach glass is really just bottles, jars and broken decorative glass - usually from generation before us. These items got thrown into landfills that are now underwater or just got thrown right into the water! People thought that was a good way to dispose of things - they didn't have the environmental awareness we do today. Well, the really cool thing is that Nature takes these "trash" pieces of glass and rubs them in and on the sand over and over again. Over time, the sharp shards become soft edged, rounded and Frosted! The variety of colored pieces are so pretty and unique. I never tumble any glass, just use them as found. That's why earrings can be tricky....no two pieces are really alike. With the beach glass, I use crystal, beads, pearls, silver and any embellishment that helps to make something pretty and useful out of "trash". It's a lovely way to recycle!
Today I thought I would put some pictures of my creations for you to look at.