New for Me and You!

Hello, and TGIF!

Yesterday I was pretty busy doing listings on Etsy. I think I listed about 11 new items, with the fan pulls being four of them. (I was prompted by Karen to get them done!) Thanks Karen, I needed that push :)

Some of the new listings you have seen, and some you have not.

You have seen these frames....they are now in my shop :)

This cone shell necklace is new and is one of my Belleair Beach finds! Something for him or her ;)

A limpet shell necklace....love the lavender and brown in this.

I love, love, love this little lion's paw with the copper! No bling, just a simple shell necklace.

These yellow snail shell earrings are so bright, they just scream spring and summer to me!

These are all new in my Etsy shop!

I'm totally and completely thinking of spring and summer, after the major drop in our temps. It's in the 30's this morning BRRRRRRR! Way too cold for me!

I sure do hope it warms up nicely tomorrow....I'm participating as a vendor at the Country and Clogging Festival in Waldo, FL! I am super excited about this venue!!! The Waldo Flea & Farmer's Market is a biggy! Hopefully I won't have time to take pictures! LOL!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Sea Urchins and Seashells

You know I love all things pertaining to the sea. So, when I saw these darling little green sea urchins, I had to have them. I had no idea what I would even do with them, so they have been hanging out on my shell shelf since I went to the shell shop with Momma P back in late July/early August.

I knew they were going to be too fragile to use as is. I thought about this for a while, and decided to fill them to make them solid. After I made those last two seashell and flower headbands, I knew what I wanted to do with some of them.

I now have a pretty new headband to put in my shop!

The little urchins are still very lightweight, but far less breakable than they were.

The cream and white flowers accent the urchins beautifully!

I'm not much of a headband gal, but I would wear this one, too!

It is perfect for a beach wedding, though. Bridesmaids would look lovely, and flower girls would be so darling in this. I don't think I would wait for a wedding to wear this! I'd wear it anytime!

I have a few more of these cute little urchins, and will probably make another headband, and I don't know what else yet. Right now I have too many ideas, and too many things to play with....but I'm not complaining!

I have a couple of custom orders I'm excited to get started on, I'm just waiting for the rest of my supplies. I also just finished a couple! I can show you one of them. The other is a gift for someone, and the gift giver should have a chance at posting about it first, I think :)

These earrings were made to my customers specifications! Those blue green pearls really pop with the shells! She got the idea from another pair I posted a few weeks ago. You know my pics don't do them justice, and I'm really kicking myself for not taking more pics.

The only pics I took were on the whale tail :(
In my haste to get them listed, I failed miserably in the photo taking department.

These three pics are the only ones I have of these earrings. Shame on me! 

I do love the soft pink in these shells, and the crystals match perfectly. That little pop of sea colored pearls is mesmerizing, and gives these earrings a nice beachy vibe!

You may have noticed I haven't listed much of anything new in my shop. Between my custom orders, selling other things, and getting ready for the craft shows (and doing some serious playing! see my last post!) I just haven't made the time. But I have really enjoyed the time off from being a photographer lol. You know that is so not my favorite part of this. I really do need to get on the ball and show you some of the neat necklaces I've been making....and my new ideas and plans for the next show!

But...today I am taking a couple of hours to take a wire wrapping class! If I do a good job, you will see the results, if I don't...you will never hear about it again. LOL!

I'll see ya tomorrow!

Always have a beachy kind of day :)

Table Skirt Sneak Peek!

I was so excited by how this looks, that I had to snap some pics and share it with ya'll!

Excuse the tackle boxes on top of the table...the rafia skirt keeps pulling the "table cloth" down in front without something to hold it in place. That won't be a problem when I'm doing the shows. There will be lots of stuff on the table to keep it in place!

This is the laundry room side of my garage. Water heater, fishing poles, my big sink are all on this side, too.

This table cloth aka a sheet is actually a dark aqua, and matches my theme/logo very well. I'm hoping to shoot some pics of this outdoors soon :)

I must tell you what a time I have had with the velcro. I bought the sew on kind, and while sewing it on my sheet moved and they weren't quite even, even though I marked it with a seamstress pencil. So, I bought the stick on kind with intentions to sew it in place permanently once they are all in place. Two packages did one table....so, it's back to the store for more velcro!

I can't wait to do the mock up!!!!

Okay, now let's see some of those earrings and  things I mentioned before.

 These are sweet earrings :) Perfect for a beach wedding, and complete with something blue!

These are pierced look clip ons, and I have them in silver also. I need to use more of these! They don't pinch either :)

These are fun! I have more FUN earrings for the younger gals, too.

Mini Spiral Turritella Shells in gold....

 and silver ear wires.
I have colored wire in several colors, so will be doing more of these, and also some wire in silver.
I think 18 to 20 something year olds will like these.

I'm running low on charm bracelets.....

so I made a simple charm bracelet...I'll be making more (I hope!) next week.

Such cutie little shells!

Now, before I show you this barrette, I have to say that I cleaned off the glue smudges AFTER I took the pics. Remember I shoot in MACRO, with an OTT light, and the glue smudges really aren't noticeable in person!!!!! I took the pics and they really highlighted them. So I cleaned off the little bits on there.

The beads are agate, and I can't remember what the little black auger type shells are. I guess I better look them up ;) The cats eye shell in the center is an operculum from a sea snail. The operculum is the "trap door" to protect them from predators.

Out of all of the earrings today, my faves are the white shells with pearls and angelite.


Tomorrow, necklaces again! I have 2 new pearl/beaded ones, and might have some more beaded.

I do have a few new shells on chain that I did Wednesday. It is actually still Wednesday as I write this!

I drilled a bunch of shells so that I can just pick a shell, and pick what will go best with it, and make it!

ALL of these have holes in them! Some are found, and some are bought. I really have more fun and enjoy working with my found on the beach shells :D

Have a wonderful day!

See you tomorrow!

Dentalium Shell Earrings with Sterling Silver and Pearls

Hello! Have I got something special to show you today!?!? Oh, you bet I do :)

When hubs and I went to the beach a couple of weekends ago, and we went to that little shell shop, I found some Dentalium "tusk" shells. They are sooooo pretty, and I had to buy just a few of them to play with and see what I could come up with.

But first, a little history on these tusk shells. Native Americans used them to make jewelry, and beaded clothing. They traded for them, and these shells were highly sought after, prized, and very valuable. A nice long dentalium shell was worth a dugout canoe! WOW! They used them in ceremonies, weddings, burials, and even made hair adornments with them. Native Americans have been using shells of all kinds, and pearls in their clothing decorations and jewelry for hundreds of years. Archeologists and Anthropologists have found seashell jewelry dating back thousands of years! I think I may be channeling my ancestors with this seashell jewelry making thing that I am so enthralled with.

I'm pretty sure this is my favorite pair of earrings I have made so far!

I love everything about these! The long, beautifully curved shells, the sterling chain and pearl drop, and the color of them.

This was going to be a post of several earrings that DO lay nice for photos, but these really deserved their very own post, dont'cha think.

I'll be back with more earrings, and/or the several other things I've finished....tomorrow, and through the week!

Thanks for hanging out with me, your opinions and comments really do mean a LOT to me!

Murex Haustellum Seashell Jewelry

Yay! It's Friday!

My best friend from Alaska is here visiting with her daughter from North Carolina (previously from Alaska) and four of her kids/grandkids.

We are taking off for Daytona Beach today for some fun in the sun!

But first I thought I'd pop in and show you my latest.

You know I sometimes like to work with unique and unusual shells not from our area, and I found some cool ones.

Murex Haustellum shells are from the Indo-Pacific region near Japan.

 No possibility of drilling these without breaking the shell, so I wrapped gold wire down the length of the shell, and hung them from 14k gold filled ear wires.

I had a shell that was just a little bigger.....

so I did the same thing, but put it on a gold chain. A plump freshwater pearl drop completes this pretty shell necklace.

Such a simple, but elegant and beachy seashell jewelry set.

I'm off to pack some essentials for the beach!
My HAT, SUNSCREEN, WATER, and BEACH TOYS!!!
No shelling bags this time. We will be lucky to find a few clams and arks. REALLY lucky if we find an auger or anything else! You know I like to shell on the Gulf side! Daytona really isn't a shelling beach :(

What kind of shells do you find on your East Coast beaches?

Swirly Shell Jewelry

Yesterday I mentioned that I had another bracelet that I made using those gold curved twist tube beads. (Say that fast 10 times!) I didn't use seaglass, and I didn't use local shells.

I used umbonium shells!

Such cute little shells....

How could I resist?

And with earring to match.

And tiny freshwater pearls.

It's lightweight, too. You'll barely know it's there. Delicate and dainty. The earrings are a nice length to sway back and forth.

While I was playing around, I made some more simple earrings.

I know, they look just like the cuff links I made! But trust me, they are surgical steel earrings.

Sundial shells are really cool, and shaped the same way as the umbonium shells.

I haven't found out what these shells are yet, but they are cool, too.

These are hard to take pics of. I deleted all of them but this one. I need to take some more.

They are easier to photograph on a barrette!

Another swirl type shell. It's really cool! This is a large size hair barrette....

and I made a couple of medium size barrettes with a couple of the shells Cheri aka ShellLady sent me. And a necklace, too! After I send some pics to her, I will share them with you. She really should be the first to see those, don't ya think?!

My fingers are crossed that I will be back tomorrow to show you what else I've been up to, and maybe it will be some Sanibel shell jewelry!

Or maybe what else I've done with pearl abalone shells????

See you soon!