I’ve done it.

I’ve made a how-to video! I pulled out some of my sea glass collection, and I’ve gone through what to look for when collecting and choosing sea glass for jewellery. It was fun to make, and I hope you all enjoy it! Let me know what you think

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Since coming over all crafty and all, I decided that it was high-time I made presents this Christmas. Obviously only for female friends and relatives, though, as I’m yet to crack the skill of making masculine jewellery!

Here are a few of the sea glass pendants I’ve made people so far:

This one was for a good friend and colleague, Liz -

This one I made for my assistant manager, Lydia, who happens to also be Liz’s sister -

And this one is for my partners, mum, Jenny. I know she reads this sometimes, so if so, hello, and I hope you like it

I’m still in the process of deciding what to make for my Mum… it’s a shame that purple sea glass is so rare, as it’s her favourite colour!

I’ve also bought a few handmade presents off Etsy, and hope to visit our local craft market this weekend to get any additional gifts. There’s something really fulfilling about buying hand made goods, and making things myself for those I love. There’s nothing like the feeling of watching someone open their gift and love it, and know it is something that you have dreamed up and created!

How many of you are making your Christmas gifts this year? Have you done this for a long time, or is it a new thing for you, as it is for me?

Lavender is a rare colour for sea glass. It was originally white, but over time the sun reacts with Manganese used in the production of the glass! These pieces may, therefore, date back to before the 1940s! Apparently, if I leave them in the sun, the colour will intensify over time.

Here are my two, precious, pieces of lavender sea glass! I found the larger one just this weekend gone…

Lavender Sea Glass

I’ve found a new passion! After seeing a ring made by a fellow crafter on Crafteroo.co.uk, I popped over to her blog, followed links to tutorials, got the general idea, and then got creative!

Thanks KittyB, for sharing!!

Here’s what I came up with…

First, a simple ring made with silver-plated wire and a square bead.

Then, I decided a sea glass and copper ring was in order. And so it was…

What do you think? I love the sea glass ring - I’m now planning to start making more and putting them in my etsy shop. Perhaps some brass and sterling silver ones, too?

I’ve just made my first animoto video! For those of you who’ve not heard of it, animoto is a website that allows you to upload your own photos, choose a music track to accompany them, and then puts them together into an awesome animation!

I created one to showcase my sea glass jewelery - check it out…

The cool thing about this is that it’s free!!!

You can then easily tag it with relevant keywords, upload it to YouTube… and hopefully people will watch it, like what you make, and check out your site and your stuff!

One boo-boo with this one - I forgot to title it with my full web URL. I’ll be doing that in future!

What do you think?

We had a lovely night last night! My partner Nick and I have been renting a lovely 3-bedroom house near the beach for a few moths, and we decided we wanted to have our family and friends to visit. So, last night was our housewarming!

It was great fun…

Our house-warming, November 08

Two of our good friends stayed the night, and we all went for a walk down to the beach this morning. It’s a windy day, but not a cloud in the sunny sky. Here’s what it looked like…

My local beach - Redcliffe, Queensland, Australia.

As always, I couldn’t help but cast my eyes to the sand! As it’s been very stormy here this week, there was lots of detritus on the beach, which, of course, equals fantastic sea glass and stone/shell/coral finding conditions. My haul was quite modest compared to what I’ve come back with some times. There were a few particularly nice bits there today - especially the awesome long, deep-green bit that Nick spotted!

What I Wombled today...

This is not my favourite collecting beach, though. I think I may have to head out this afternoon to the best beach I have found… but I’m keeping that one a secret!

I also finally got the chance to photograph some of my sea glass jewellery! I also wore one piece at the party last night (you can see it in the photo above), and it was really rewarding to have people notice and comment on it. It’s just so wonderful to create something you really love and are proud of

Hmmm, it’s almost 4pm, I think I’ll have to head down to the beach soon. It’s been such a lovely day after the crazy week of storms we’ve had here. Last night was perfect - no clouds, stars and a light breeze. We thought we might have had to postpone it, but we’re glad we didn’t! Enjoy the rest of your weekend, all!

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I’ve been making sea glass and other ocean-related jewellery. Well, I have finally gotten around to launching my Etsy shop for it all! I decided to use a little play on words, and call it AusSea Designs. It’s likely that only Aussies will get the joke…

I decided that I wanted to sell and brand this stuff separately from my other bits and pieces - aim for a slightly more upmarket audience and style. I’m working with more expensive, precious materials, such as resin, sterling silver, plus unique finds. Every piece in this shop will be totally one-of-a-kind, as I’m working with natural found objects.

I have come to really love living by the sea, and taking time out a few hours per week to just slowly wander up and down the beach as the rays of the sun slowly dim. I’ve found so many lovely treasures! And I have come to really love turning them into wonderful little works of art.

Over the next week I hope to photgraph and list all of the pieces I have currently made. I was waiting on an order of sterling silver chains, so I can photograph my sterling pendants with the chains they will come with.

To take a peek, have a look here - AusSea Designs. I’ll also pop a little Etsy mini-shop up here in the sidebar so you can get a regular squiz at what I’ve been up to! Have a look below, as well…