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

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

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!

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.