Back From The Beach!

I had a delightful weekend at the beach. Our friends invited us to stay with them on Sea Island, which is a very pretty resort, with lots of "everything" available. Having grown up on the coast of Connecticut, it takes something pretty big to keep me away from that kind of invitation.

The ocean is like a magnet to me...drawing me and keeping me mesmerized. I think it's not just the ocean itself, but the beach sounds that go with it. The waves, the children shouting, if I'm lucky, a little noise from the Hobie sailboats beached nearby, the birds calling and snippets of adult conversation...although I try not to listen too carefully to those.

This was the beach at sunrise on our last day there. A group of us went down with coffee cup in hand to enjoy our last morning there. I took a lot of photos and will sprinkle just a few in some of my blogs for your enjoyment.

Wishing you a Happy Columbus Day and to my fellow beach loving sis, Happy Birthday too!

Seashells

Do you love seashells as much as I do? I not only collect them, but enjoy making my shells out of glass- both realistic and very unrealistic ones.

I think my passion for shells has to do with growing up with the ocean a block away from my house. Collecting shells was just one of my past times, but the beach seeped into my soul and still is important to me, even if I don't go very often.

Yesterday, I was able to snag an Etsy Treasury. Usually I happily construct them with members of my Street Teams, but this morning, I guess the seashells were calling to me.

I did an Etsy tag search to see what was out there and then picked some of the pieces that were interesting to me. It might have been that they had a great design element, or their use of certain shells, or perhaps it was they just plain ol' amused me. (I bet you can guess which one). So here is photo of the Treasury I made, and if you click here, it might still be available on Etsy's website.

Perhaps they were on my mind, because last weekend I showed someone how to make a shell and then I came home and made a handful more of them. Also, I've been asked to teach a special class on shells and sculptural beach/ocean related items. I need to mull over what could be good items that will teach my students certain skills as well as the technique for the bead itself.

So what do you think? If you were taking an ocean/beach bead related class, what would you like to learn? Help me out here and give me your opinion. Out of the comments in this post, I'll be randomly choosing someone to receive a seashell from me. (International comments welcomed too, don't forget- I ship everywhere)

Meet Marabelle the Seahorse

Meet Marabelle the Seahorse.  She's a feminine seahorse who has all her curves and maybe a few extra details.

Brad Pearson taught seashorses in his class last week.  His was quite different, and of course, each time we learn something, we need to change it and make it our own. 

So his "boy" seahorse example, which had a black body with white enamel over the stomach and red details, morphed into my girly one with two toned transparent fins and pink lips & cheeks by me.  She also is a bit curvier and was built differently  on the mandrel.  I made her go straight up with the hole going through her head.

What is interesting to me, is that each one fits with each of our personal beadmaking styles.  I would have loved to see his include a little of his masking technique that is so beautifully done.

For another view of her, visit Marabelle and her other friends in my Etsy shop .