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?

Happy Birthday USA

We American's love celebrating birthdays with cake, or dessert of some kind.

I thought it would be appropriate to show some patriotic desserts today.

Source: recipe.com via Della on Pinterest

Source: recipe.com via Della on Pinterest

Source: saucytart.typepad.com via Della on Pinterest

Source: momandwife.com via Della on Pinterest

Source: bedifferentactnormal.com via Della on Pinterest

Source: bedifferentactnormal.com via Della on Pinterest

Happy Birthday America!!!!
Hooray for the Red, White, and Blue!!!!

Pearl Abalone

When I saw these pearl abalone shells, I had to have them!
First I made a patriotic seashell necklace with one of them.
And then I made some earrings from the baby size shells.

Abalone Earrings in Silver Plate

Abalone Earrings in Sterling Silver

Abalone Earring in 14K Gold Filled

Abalone Earrings in Hypoallergenic Gold Plate

For some reason I only have the hypo pics w/the light background hanging on the display?????

And because my light color water paper is wearing out, and I can't find it anywhere....

Abalone Earrings in Sterling Silver

Abalone Earrings in 14K Gold Filled

Abalone Earrings in Hypoallergenic Gold Plate

Abalone Earrings in Silver Plate

It's going to take some getting used to.....I really liked my light color water paper!

I'm also trying to get used to using a lightbox! And taking pictures standing up. I used to, but sought a solution to taking them sitting down. Now I'm back to standing, and I'm not liking it one bit. My hips don't like it one bit either.

These earrings are really simple. Just shells, ear wires, and jump rings. Of course, if you wanted, I could add some nice dangling pearls or something. I aim to please everyone :D

I also made another necklace with a big abalone shell!

Abalone Pearl Seaglass Necklace in Sterling Silver

Remember that sterling heart bail I couldn't use on the heavier sliced shell and crystal?
I used it here!

You can't really see it though. That must have been the blurry pic I deleted. ARGH!

There's also a nice piece of pale green seaglass inside the shell!

I really like the design of this!

I think this necklace has been the hardest to take pics of. Notice I left the ends of the sterling chain intact and didn't snip them off???? What may fit me perfectly well at 14 inches and have it lay just right across my chest may or may not fit you, or you, or you at 14 inches and have it lay just so across your chest!
You may be 13 inches, 15 inches, or 16 inches. If I sell it, it will be the buyers choice on the length, and it needs to be about as short as you can go for all of those shells to sit the way it was made to. That could be complicated, so I just may keep it for myself!

See what I mean?

And what do you think of the darker blue paper?
I also have "sand" paper, and weathered wood boards paper. I guess whatever looks the best for each piece of jewelry will be what I use. They are all beachy, so I guess it works. It's just hard to get used to!

I have some more new things, and I have the pics taken. I'll see you soon to show what they are. Some more shells that I'd never used before!

Oh! and before I forget, and before I go....
have any of you changed over to Google Chrome? Blogger is prompting me to, but I'm holding off for now until I get some opinions.

Is it so very different?

Hello Monday!

Hey there! I hope everyone had a good weekend, didn't lose power, and aren't burning up from the sweltering temps. Even though Florida is actually on the cool side compared to many places in the U.S, I spent most of the weekend indoors enjoying the AC. I'm quite a wimp when it comes to too much heat, or too much cold. Give me a nice even 85 degrees please! I did get out yesterday for the derby scrimmage, and the after party. It's always a blast hanging out with the derby crowd!

So, what's a scrimmage you ask? A scrimmage is a derby meet where gals from different teams from all over the state get together to form 2 teams, and the proceeds go to a local charity or organization of some sort. Last night the teams were the Tigers and the Leopards in Cat Scratch Fever. Shae was on the Leopards team. (and they won!) The proceeds went to Peace River Refuge & Ranch. They are currently in the process of moving the ranch to Marion county (where I live). A housing development is being built close to the refuge, so they need to move.

I did take pics, but was using Shae's camera, so she has all the pictures I took. I checked FaceBook but she hasn't posted any of them yet. I hope at least 56 of the 256 pics I took are decent!

While I was enjoying the AC this (past) weekend, I worked on my craftroom (now that the old couch is outta there) and made a light box to take my pics. There are some things I can't, or couldn't take pics of inside. Now I can.

 I do have a couple of more lights for it, and this is set up this way just for a pic of the box.

A couple of weeks ago I mentioned making some wedding items. I tried taking pics, but flat didn't work for these. So, I bought a cheap styrofoam head and cheap a wig.

These pics are unedited! With just a little tweaking, they will be perfect. Like this one (above) needs to be cropped.

This was just playing with it, and testing it out. When I get serious imagine what I can do!

This setup will be awesome for taking pics of my barrettes and hair pins. So excited to have this done!
These headbands will be perfect for a beach wedding, and I can do them in different colors and shells.

Each limpet shell I use has to have the edges filed a little. They are sharp! I don't just go all willy nilly gluing shells to things. Some do need a little smoothing, or a nice coat or three of gloss.

I'm going to be working on getting pics of necklaces on my display. I have several in my shop that are just flat pics, so I really need to show how they hang. It does help to sell them.

I have some cool earrings, and a couple of necklaces finished to show you this week, and am working on a home item for my shop, too. I also have a statement necklace in the works! I'm not rushing it though, it has to be perfect!

I have so much to do, I don't know where to start LOL!

I definitely do NOT have idle hands!

I'll see ya tomorrow with that abalone I mentioned last week!