I’m Back: Hingham Farmer’s Market May – Oct. 2011

After going through a major life change which involved changes at home and in my work life I’ve figured out a way to balance my love of sea glass and jewelry making with the rest of my personal and professional responsibilities. I am happy to say I will be showing my work at the Hingham Farmer’s Market at least once a month starting in May of 2011. This time, my aunt will be joining me and adding an entire new dimension to the sea glass. While all of our pieces will have sea glass and I still focus on wire wrapping using recycled sterling silver, my aunt has a great sense of color and uses beads to compliment the wire wrapped sea glass. I’ll be posting pictures again soon as well as sharing more about the hunt. It’s a warm spring day and the sea glass is calling!

WHERE:

Hingham Farmers Market

WHEN:

MAY: 5/14 
JUNE: 6/11                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    JULY: 7/23 
AUGUST: 8/13                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        SEPTEMBER: 9/10                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        OCTOBER: 10/1    & 10/15   & 10/29 

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Sea Glass Wire Wrapped on a Shell

My aunt came for a visit the week before last. I showed her some basic wire wrapping techniques. She’s been making incredible jewelry with beads. She has an eye for color and detail and I’m sure this is because she is a painter. Anyhow, she found an ivory pendant that had a shell shine. She wire wrapped a piece of sea glass and the teal color looked incredible against the off-white background. It was so pretty. She made a necklace with the same off-white tones as well as adding more color. It was a stand-out piece.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to making sea glass jewelry. I’ll ask her to take a picture of her necklace and see if I can post it here.

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Sea Glass Crafts: Displaying & Decorating

I hear from many people who have a lot of sea glass but don’t know how and don’t want to know how to make jewelry. What they want to know is how to make the most of the collection they already have which far too often ends up in a bag, a drawer or in the trash after hours, years or even decades of collecting. You don’t have to be a jewelry person or a decorating guru to make it look pretty. Here are some easy and simple ideas. Also, if it’s getting cold where you are (as it is where I am) it’s nice to pull our your treasures and think of the sun, sand and beach. Here are some ideas:

http://www.ehow.com/way_5166235_unique-ways-display-sea-glass.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_2045659_showcase-sea-glass-collection.html

http://www.completely-coastal.com/2009/02/sea-glass-love-decorating-craft-ideas.html

If you have any simple display ideas you’d like to share, please do, and if you give permission for me to post them I will.

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Sea Glass: My Christmas Tree Ornaments

O.k., so these ornaments have been a blast to make. They are fun and fairly simple but require some chunky pieces of sea glass. So far, the triangle shapes work best. I know some trees are more round but they don’t seem to translate that shape and look winterish when I attempt a rounder shape. you’ll see one or two photos below where I’ve tried.

Also, for many of the trees I did use some gold coated copper wire which is a departure from my usual recycled sterling silver. These are so fun because they can be hung on a tree, in a window, attached to a pin and worn on a coat and I’ve left a bale for those who want to wear them as necklaces. They are fun and unique gifts and I’ve enjoyed making them. Here are my recent creations. At this time of year, I get bogged down in the crafting and have trouble maintaining my blog. I apologize to those of you who check my site regularly. I like to post weekly at least and it seems monthly is what I’m getting to do.

Here are some photos of the trees.

I sell my trees from $9.99 to $14.99 depending on the size/shape of the sea glass and color as well as the sterling silver used and the beads/crystals. I want them to be affordable as the economy is hitting people so hard this year.

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Sea Glass Crafts: Bookmarks

An easy and fun sea glass craft is the making of book marks. One reason I like them so much is that they are practical and make great gifts. Almost everyone reads something. Plus, they use smaller pieces of sea glass and look nice with beads or charms. They are not always easier than pendants to make because you are using small glass. However, they are more forgiving than pendants because if the wire doesn’t end up EXACTLY at the center when finishing off the bale it doesn’t ruin the look the way it can with a pendant.

What you need:

book mark finding (the ones with jump rings already on them are handy)

craft wire

sea glass

(beads are optional)

You wire wrap your sea glass and can hang it from craft wire to the jump ring on the bookmark or coil the wire, twist it, add beads or some charms. See below for some samples. The best way is to practice and get comfortable bending the wire, figuring out which gauge (thickness of wire) you like working with (I like 22 gauge some people like thicker or thinner). Here are some samples of recent work available at the Hingham Farmers Market on Saturdays and/or the Coop in Hingham during the week.

You can see that sometimes I hammer the sterling silver wire at the bottom and other times add a small peace charm. Sometimes I use more than one piece of sea glass in a bookmark. The wire, I find, can be more expensive than the actual bookmark finding if I use too much. So, for me, learning to use less wire is one of my crafting goals for the fall and winter and 2010. I am a huge fan of recycled sterling silver (like the green aspect, the cost and the texture of the wire) and I need to conserve how much I actually need in any piece.

 

Anyhow, have fun making your own sea glass bookmarks. Mine sell for $7.99 to $12.99 depending on how much silver I use, the color of the sea glass and the condition it is in, if I add crystal or sterling silver charms. It’s nice to have one item at least at a reasonable price point for customers who like sea glass but can’t afford or don’t know what color/style the sea glass lover in their life enjoys.

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Sea Glass Jewelry: Make Your Own

Learn to Make Your Own Sea Glass Pendants, Earrings & Bookmarks in one of my 3-week clinics at the Hanover or Stoughton YMCA or with a private lesson:.

YMCA Evening Classes in Hanover and Stoughton:

Hanover, MA (or Mill Pond) YMCA Monday Nights, Sept. 14, 21, 28                  Cost:$ 59  for members & $89. for non members

http://ssymca.org/pdf/MP_PgmGuide_Fall09.pdf (pg. 14), www.ssymca.org 

 Kim@ssymca.org at Englecontact Kim

 Stoughton, MA YMCA Fri. Nights    Oct. 2nd, 9th & 23rd             Cost:$50. for members & $80. for non members

781-341-2016   www.oldcolonyymca.org

In any of these 3-week clinics you will learn basic wire-wrapping skills in order to make your own jewelry to give or keep. Once you know how to make pendants, earrings and bookmarks, you will have the ability to make your own charms, anklets and sea glass ornaments as well. Dust off the sea glass sitting in jars and bottles and make some gems for you and your loved ones.

Private workshops are $40. for 2 hours. I supply white sea glass, tools, glass beads and wire for up to four people (or $10. per person). If you want recycled sterling silver wire or crystal beads it’s $60. for the 2 hours (or $15. per person). Contact me at 617-962-0036/

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