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!

The NORTH AMERICAN SEA GLASS FESTIVAL is almost here!

With summer coming to an end and fall being just around the corner, the kids are now in school and I'm their teacher! With so much going on, I'm having a difficult time getting ready for the festival! YIKES! The NORTH AMERICAN SEA GLASS FESTIVAL is almost here! This year's event is being held Oct. 11th and 12th at the Virden Center in Lewes Delaware. Creating enough of an inventory and trying to be as creative as possible has been a challenge. There will be vendors from all over the US as well as Canada and Scotland! I am hoping that my designs will stand out as fun, unique, and different. These are just a small sampling of some of what I will be offering. Hopefully, I will be adding a new blog post after the festival of photos of vendors, authors, and events, along with a little note of success?!

The Handbook To Handmade Vol 7!

The Handbook To Handmade is a monthly book compiled of talented artisans on Etsy! I am proud to be a featured artist in the upcoming Volume 7 of this series. These coffee table books have been very successful as conversation starters, promotional tools, and as works or art themselves. Creator Timothy Adams of Timothy Adam Designs is the brain behind these books. He is also a well respected metalsmith artist and an asset to his trade. Please check out his work and find the book for sale along with previous issues in his Etsy Store at www.TimothyAdamDesigns.etsy.com :0)

Hullabaloo Boutique

OH MY GOODNESS! I just HAD to feature Hullabaloo Boutique this week because of the fabulous job Nicci did on my girl's Sassy Pants Tea Party custom order outfits! They are just too adorable! Nicci is another artist on Etsy who makes handmade items to sell. I love shopping for handmade boutique items because I have three girls that are difficult to by matching clothes for. Besides, they don't always like to exactly match. So, when I purchase from someone like Nicci, I have the choice to switch things up a bit so that each outfit is unique to each girl's personality but still match when it comes down to the BIG picture. Thank you so much Nicci! The girls and I love them!

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)

Sea Talent!

This lovely item was a treat to see in my inbox! This handmade SandDollar Vintage Style Necklace was created by Em's Gems using My Sea Glass! I recently sent her some great pieces of genuine sea glass, predrilled, and ready to go. Look what she made with them! This awesome piece is so beautiful and so Sea worthy. I appreciate seeing what others do with the glass that they purchase and this really was a nice treat to see.

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!