On The Road Again

It is that time again - summer art festivals. So we are hitting the road on Thursday to drive up to Fort Bragg. Captain Cass of the Sea Glass Museum in Fort Bragg is holding his annual sea glass festival on Saturday, May 28 through May 29, 2011, from 10 to 6. Fort Bragg is on the Mendocino coast above San Francisco. A beautiful drive, if a bit winding. Here's a great site that tells you little bit about Mendocino and northern coastal towns - href=http://www.mendocinocoast.com/about


So yesterday and today, I'm packing sea glass jewelry in boxes and making sure I have all the seller tools in another box like pens, order forms, cards etc.
The above picture is a new design of Jasper coin beads, sterling silver balls and white sea glass wrapped in sterling wire.

Hmm, yes, this is an odd picture of a sea glass necklace on a large shell. I was trying to get artsy. But really, a straight on shot would have been better, don't you think? Anyway, this is another new design using pink pearls, abalone coins, and sterling silver wire wrapped pale blue sea glass.

My sister and the other half of Sisters Jewelry Design, Shirley, is sending down more sea glass jewelry from Medford, Oregon where she lives and works. Last year, we met at Fort Bragg to do the festival together, but she can't make it this year. She did do a festival for us at Art in Bloom on Mother's Day weekend which was a big success. Still it would be fun if she was coming, but c'est la vie.

Tomorrow, we will pack our truck with tables, tablecloths, chairs, a tent, jewelry boxes, displays and other items we will need for the two day festival. And, even though I made a list, I will hope that I haven't forgotten anything.


I'll leave you with a new design of sea glass earrings. Back next week with adventures from the road and the festival.

You can find our store at http://sistersjewelrydesign.etsy.com/

Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sbrin1#!/pages/Sisters-Jewelry-Design/328818121698

Handmade Spark - SistersJewelryDesign - sea glass jewelry and necklaces

Handmade Spark - SistersJewelryDesign - sea glass jewelry and necklaces

Collecting Sea Glass for Sea Glass Jewely

In order to make sea glass Jewelry, my sister Shirley, and I have to collect the sea glass. Makes sense, right? We do not order sea glass from sellers on ebay or other sites because we use only surf tumbles glass not glass created in a tumbler. We hand pick the glass from beaches that range from Oregon coast all the way down to the beaches of Mexico. Mazatlan is one of our favorite beaches in Mexico like in the shot below.

You're probably thinking that beach looks pretty bare. You're right. At the time this photo was taken the tide was coming in and all the rock spots where we might find sea glass were covered with water. Low tide is the best time to look for sea glass as you walk along the beach. Sometimes, you will find sea glass higher on the beach, but not as often. The winds and tides play an important role in whether you will be successful in your search for sea glass. We love to beachcomb after a storm at low tide. We check tide tables and usually go on the hunt during the low tides on a normal day. Not every beach will have sea glass or at least not all the time. Again, tides and times of year and also the underwater terrain of a beach will determine what is thrown up on any given beach. For example, a beach that is like a cove and sheltered by a reef might not have any sea glass as nothing gets past the reef. Also there are beaches in California where the city cleans the beaches everyday with machines. The machines are like giant vaccum cleaners and they scoop up everything including sea glass.
This shot of Steve and our dog Dylan was taken at the Salton Sea. Great expanse of sandy beach, but no sea glass as this beach was created by the sea becoming trapped inland. You can read more about the Salton Sea at http://www.sci.sdsu.edu/salton/PeriscopeSaltonSea.html
Really an interesting place to visit - just no sea glass.


One of the best beaches, I've ever been to for finding sea glass is in Fort Bragg - the glass beach. Years ago, people dumped their trash into the ocean and over the years the glass tumbled in the surf eventually depositing on stretches of Fort Bragg beaches. To learn more about Fort Bragg and glass beach you can go to http://www.mendocino.com/?id=257 or you might want to go to Captain Cass's website as he is the local authority on glass beach http://glassbeachjewelry.com/
There will be a sea glass festival this year at Capt. Cass's sea glass museum May 27-28. And we'll be there too as well as other sea glass jewelers and vendors.



If you want a listing of good sea glass hunting beaches you can visit
http://seaglasslovers.ning.com/ This is a fun site where collectors show off their sea glass treasures and discuss the "ins and outs" of collecting. You don't have to be a member to peruse their web pages. And there is also the North American Sea Glass Association where you will find excellent material on sea glass. (When we first started doing our sea glass jewelry, I was so surprised to find the NASeaglassAssociation - who knew collecting was so big!) http://seaglassassociation.org/

Collecting sea glass is fun. You don't have to make sea glass jewelry to collect sea glass, you can display it in a bowl or create a display with the glass like I did with this candle holder.

So the next time you go to the beach look for sea glass and collect some Mermaid Tears. To see some of our sea glass jewelry pieces please visit our Etsy shop at http://sistersjewelrydesign.etsy.com/ or you can visit us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/sbrin1#!/pages/Sisters-Jewelry-Design/328818121698