Lake Erie Beach Glass LEbg Cobalt Blue Heart

Sea Glass, Beach Glass hearts are such special pieces to find. Often, collectors and artists will hold on to these treasures to add to their personal collection. Every once in a while you can find sea glass hearts offered for sale by the individual piece or by purchasing a beautiful piece of jewelry that was created from it. I happen to be commissioned to create a beautiful pendant out of a Cobalt Blue beach glass heart that was found by one of LEbg's own from Lake Erie. The following pictures will show you the progression, or steps it took to create the pendant from beginning to end.

This is what sterling silver looks like with fire scale on it. It is ready to be "pickled" in a solution that will remove the fire scale.

"The Finished Piece!"

This particulat pendant was created with a certificate of authenticity that I collaborated on with Justin Lazarz, an invaluable asset to LEbg. He is a dedicated graphic design artist who has excellant ideas but is open to indivuality as well. Check out his site by clicking on the certificate below. Thank you Justin!

2009 Lake Erie Beach Glass Year In Review

Thank you, Jason for setting up this You Tube Video for me!

My son has been a tremendous help to me! My life seems to keep getting busier and busier and I haven't had time to complete some things, like my yearly you tube video. He has graciously taken on some of my roles. Here is the result...

HERITAGE Studio and Gallery is now OPEN!

I have recently been approached by Amy of Heritage Studio and Gallery in Canal Fulton to be a part of their family of artists. The opening reception was held Friday , July 31st and was an absolute success! All of the hard work that both Amy and David (the owners) put into this facility really paid off. The gallery is just beautiful and the event was a lot of fun.

I was so pleased to find that their were 3 other artists from my own Etsy Street Team, CLEVELAND HANDMADE, that were participating. Joining me at Heritage is Chris Zielski of Copper Leaf Studios, Gina DeSantis, and Melissa Muir!What an awesome representation of Cleveland area artists.

Heritage Studios and Gallery is located at:
2381 Locust Street #3
Canal Fulton, Oh. 44614
#330-819-4268

Identifying Sea Glass Marbles at the American Toy Marble Museum!

What fun it was to get together with Michael Cohill of the American Toy Marble Museum this past weekend! A man with a passion for marbles meets up with a woman with a passion for Sea Glass marbles!



In the years that I have been collecting sea glass it is always most pleasurable to find out the history of a piece. The mystery that exists when finding a piece of sea glass leads to the excitement of a possible journey. I have many sea glass marbles that I have collected through out the years and was just waiting for the chance to meet someone who would be able to help me identify them.



So, I found Michael Cohill! I can't really give the experiance justice by retelling it. It is something you would have to experiance yourself. But, Michael helped me identify a yellow Akro Agate Co. marble with a cork screw shape inside,
what is called a "Girl Scout" marble due to its green and yellow color, several opaque pieces which he believes were "game piece" marbles, and a highly desireable "chalky"!

Picking this fella's brain was a lot of fun and I am truly hoping that he will be a guest speaker at the next North American Sea Glass Festival that will be held in Erie, Pa. October 17th-18th 2009. He would have an excellant display of marbles, would contribute much knowledge on the area's marble history, and may even have a kids interactive area where they could learn how to shoot marbles! To learn more about the museum, please visit their site here!

Thank you, Michael, for all your help and I look forward to my next visit with you soon!
Jodie~LEbg
Lake Erie Beach Glass

Lake Erie Beach Glass presnte~LOVE AT TWILIGHT

Pink sea glass is so very delicate and pretty looking! Much of this color of sea glass comes from old depression glass. Some are pale while others are brighter and may even take on a peachier color. When I found this piece I really started thinking about the depression era, our economy now, and that movie, TWILIGHT! This piece is a mixture of those thoughts.

I cut a piece of sterling silver, shaped it, sanded it, and stamped it with the words love several different times. I added a swirl bail on the back and antiqued it. I strung it on 18" of sterling chain that I antiqued to match and gave it a handmade clasp. Thus, old meets new! I love how it turned out and I think I'll be making some more of these in the near future!

You can find this piece for sale in my etsy store here. :0)

"PING" The Orange Hobnail Duck!

Look! Its the Holy Grail Find in the Sea Glass World! There I was just walking along the coast line of Great Lake Erie when I saw a little sunny sparkle of orange. It was a ways into the water and at first, I thought it was the corner of a brightly colored fall leaf that had gotten trapped under some pebbles. Then, I second guessed myself and thought I should bend over to take a closer look. Of course a gentle wave was about to take that fiery little object away. I quickly grabbed the sparkly with a handful of pebbles and a wet cuff and shoe. Too my amazement it WAS the elusive and beautiful ORANGE sea glass that all sea glass enthusiasts covet! I ran down the beach toward the rest of my family with the biggest grin plastered to my face. They of course shared in my excitement but also pointed out that I must have pee'd my pants a little bit. Thank goodness for little children as my youngest daughter so cleverly changed the subject back to the glass by pointing out that it looked like a duck's head. Such incredible imaginations come from the littlest of ones! Thus, "PING" was born!

I have only collected 3 worthy pieces of orange in my life time up to this point and this is definately the best of the finds for me. It is well rounded and smoothed. The characteristic bump (of head of the duck) leads me to believe that it came from a decorative orange hobnail piece. In researching the piece I came across OODLE, a site that sells antiques including a beautiful Fenton Orange Hobnail Fairy Lamp! Being the impulsive buyer that I am, of course I have to have it to add to my collection! :0)

2009 SEA GLASS FESTIVAL is in ERIE PA!

The votes have been taken and tallied and it is now official! The 2009 North American Sea Glass Festival will be held October 17th & 18th, 2009 in my home town of Erie, Pennsylvania! The Bayfront Convention Center, overlooking Erie's Bay will be the venue to house the festival. The natural light will shine beautifully through those windows making it the perfect spot to display hundreds of unique sea glass collections from around the world, beautiful classic and unique creations of jewelry and art, informative lectures, and more! For room deals at the Sheraton Erie Bayfront, next-door to the Bayfront convention center, please call the Sheraton Erie Bayfront - (814) 454-2005. Limited rooms available. Don't forget to mention you'd like the “Sea Glass Festival deal”.

The 2008 festival that was held in Lewes, Delaware was a huge success with thousands in attendance! When the tickets were sold, we distributed name tags for entry and when those ran out, we just simply marked the hand with an X! It was an incredible show! Here is a snap shot, above, of the 2008 festival and I'm looking forward to being a part of the 2009 festival as well!


For more information on the 2009 sea glass festival visit the North American Sea Glass Festival site here.

Sea Glass Photo Stands!

I thought I had heard of everything! But sea glass photo stands are new to me. Tracey, a friend and fellow sea glass enthusiast has her own shop on Etsy like myself. We often find ourselves in friendly competition with each other but I have to tell you, she is always coming up with something new, fresh, and funky!

I loved this idea so much that, of course, I had to blog it! What a terrific idea for a gift, for your desk, or for any of you sea beach glass crafters out there (and I know there are a lot in Erie!)who want to display it a long with your favorite sea glass find photo right in your studios! You can check Tracey out in her shop, SteppingStones or her bio here.

We are back from Lewes Delaware!

The North American Sea Glass Festival was HUGE this year! The weather was perfect for the venue and the line to get in was long! There were many wonderful vendors with unique exibits and beautiful jewelry to sell. I was a part of this venue last year when it was held in Santa Cruz, Ca. and was amazed then! This year's festival added new and exciting things a long with some similarities to the Santa Cruz festival.
Lectures were offered from expert sea glass hunters and collectors. Collectors of old bottles and beautiful Japanese floats that wash up on the Alaskan coast were set up for viewing.

Several authors including Richard LaMotteof Pure Sea Glass were on hand to sign books and answer questions.

And the Shard of the Year contest brought in some of the most beautiful and unique pieces of sea glass, pottery, and stoppers that I've ever seen.

I know this was a very successful festival for sea glass enthusiasts alike! To view a slide show of the festival visit NASGA'S on-line magazine The Sea Glass Journal. So, where will next year's festival be? I've been listening to the crowd of customers, the sellers, the collectors, and the many members of NASGA and there is talk of having it back in Lewes or in my neck of the woods here in Erie, Pa. The official votes will be counted around October 30th so we will know for sure after that date.
On a second note, one might think that we would be tired of sea beach glass after such a huge event but not us! We went right back out to the beach the first chance we got and what does my daughter Hanna find? A marble, of course!

Tour de West County July 19th, 2008

Tour de West County is a local fundraising event supporting The Lance Armstrong Foundation. TdWc is being held Saturday July 19th, 2008 at Pleasant Ridge Park 8289 Barker Road, Fairview Pa. and starts with a bike tour(8:30 am with shotgun starts) which includes a shorter ride for families and a 25 and 50 mile tour for more experienced riders. The ride is then followed by a Family Expo (11am till 3 pm), which includes:
Local Business Sponsors
A live performance by King Cobra Karate
An awesome dunking booth
A live performance by Tad Bowen and his frisbee dogs
A Dino-jump for all ths kids to enjoy!
A DJ, LIVE MUSIC, and GREAT FOOD!
AND A silent auction with numerous items including:
A Pat Monahan Autographed Guitar by Grammy winning TRAIN (Donated by Pat Monahan),Genuine Beach Glass Jewelry by Jodie Pastor of LEBG, A Willie Parker Autographed Football (This is an official game ball now used during practice...PRICELESS Donated by the Pittsburgh Steelers!) ,Kevin-John Jobczynski must see lithographs, and so much more!
For more information please visit http://mysite.verizon.net/mspelce/tourwest.htm!
Thank you Mike Spellacy for ALL your involvement and leadership in making every year of Tour de West County such a success! :0)

Faceted Sea Glass Beads, Handles, Stoppers, and Figurines!

There are some pieces of Sea Glass that the avid collector will cherish! These are a few that I hold dear to my heart. It is so exciting to walk the local beaches and collect sea glass then come across a faceted glass bead, a handle to a mug, a stopper to an apothacary jar, perfume bottle, or decanter, or to find a face to a figurine. All of these items at one time were intact and had a useful purpose. When their purpose was fulfilled, they were tossed out where the water could find it, reshape them and give them texture then throw them right back at us as little gems. Here are a few of my little special gems!


Faceted Glass Beads

More Faceted Glass Beads

Faces of Figurines. Is that Washington or Bach?

My Favorite Little Perfume Bottle Stopper!

Other Stoppers and Handles!

LOOK! I've been Blogged by Bonghi Natura!

What a wonderful blog set up Bonghi Natura has! This blog features a different Etsy seller each week. I was lucky enough to have been chosen to be featured this 3rd week of April. I'm feeling the love and hope I can pay it forward! To read the entire interview and view the blog just follow the link! Thank you Bonghi! :0)
Bonghi Natura


Visit her shop here:
Bohghi Natura Etsy Shop!
Speaking of paying it forward...I'm not one to believe that by doing good to others that there is a mystical or universal force that generates the good you've done back to you BUT...I do believe that by giving, doing something good for another, and by maintaining a positive outlook that it is contagious and people will naturally be drawn to you and you will be happy and successful. :0)