Archive for February, 2012
Shellabrating Seashells In Fashion
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Sanibel and Captiva fashion divas strutted the runway yesterday in gorgeous gowns, dazzling dresses, stunning scarfs and sassy shoes all embellished with our favorite accent…. SEASHELLS!
It took two months for Melinda Graham of home decor boutique Surroundings to make this wedding dress adorned with JINGLES, BUTTON SHELLS and white land shells. I would have loved to have gotten married in this dress (especially if I could have ever fit into the tiny size)! It is so incredibly lovely. She even designed flower girl dresses…
She embellished the flower girls’ flip flops as well!
And the flower girl head pieces are laced with shells!
Melinda won first place for this seashell couture gown as you can imagine. Look one more time at the details…
Second place winner went to Marianne Kanzius in a dress she made from complete scratch then added seaglass beads and shells…
Look at these delicate details. So sweet…
There were more than a dozen other dresses adorned with our beloved seashells to Shellabrate the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show this week. Susan Berg opened the show with a shellacious start…
Long time shell enthusiast Ethel Sinow wore a vintage Lily Pulitzer dress and jacket accented with a seashell handbag…
The Shell Island Garden Club made this beautiful shell scarf to match the rest of Edie’s shell lined dress…
Check out all of the other shelltastic stunners…
Oh! I almost forgot to mention that my dear friend Jane donated one of her fabulous shell mirrors to start the show with an auction item. She too is amazing, isn’t she?
Thank you to the models/designers Susen Berg, Ethel Sinow, Karen Tempority, Mary Buck, Harriet Witt, Barb Kapinus, Mary Bates, Canstance Mara, Kerry Trapp, Marianne Kanzius, Floral Artistry, Shell Island Garder Club, Ding Darling and Melinda Graham for sharing your love of shells. Peace, love and seashells!
Mystique Of A Freak
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Ahhhhh Freak Out! Le Freak. C’est Chic. Freak Out! … Remember that song? Wouldn’t you freak if you found this FREAK LIGHTNING WHELK?
Martine (from my last post) introduced me to her Periwinkle Park neighbors Ron and Lucienne because they too love to shell. As soon as I saw their picnic table loaded with shells, I spotted this LIGHTNING WHELK. I freaked out when I saw the curly tail on this guy!
What’s a FREAK shell? As I understand it, it’s a shell with an abnormal structure, albinism, dwarf, giant or some sort of growth defect or maybe even a strange color pattern. This is Lucienne proudly displaying her FREAK WHELK…
After I calmed down about the curly tailed freak, I spotted something else. Another freakin’ FREAK?
Looks like a PEAR WHELK, right? I know, but I don’t think it is (although I could be wrong). I guess it could be a left handed PEAR WHELK with a strange apex but I what ever it is, it’s a FREAK! In my humble opinion, I think it’s a LIGHTNING WHELK that is a “Knobless Wonder” in a WHELK version instead of a HORSE CONCH. Look! It doesn’t have the spines that LIGHTNING WHELKS normally have. Believe it or not, they had two of these they found the same day.
Lucienne’s husband Ron was especially proud of this huge, beautiful KING’S CROWN he found as well. Wow! gorgeous…
Even this one looks like it is a little unusual (not to mention the size of it!) because of a second row of spines…
I wouldn’t consider this one to be a FREAK but this LIGHTNING WHELK had a slight bend to the base (or what I like to call the “tail”). And look at the color on this baby- fabulous!
Look at all these beauties!
I asked Ron and Lucienne where they find their best shells. They told me they love to shell in the bays around Sanibel in their homemade kayaks. Yes, you heard that right. They made both of these beautiful kayaks!
Thank you for sharing your treasures, Ron and Lucienne. I had an incredible time drooling over your incredible shell collection… especially those FREAKS! I’m still freaked! It’s hard to say what causes mollusks to have abnormal growth patterns like “Curly Tail” but there could be many reasons including lack of food, healing after damage by predators, water quality (red tide maybe!) or who knows…. it could be just in the DNA. Whatever it is, i LOVE FREAK SHELLS!
Bicycle Built For Seashells
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This is what a Sanibel bicycle should look like!
Martine (Quebec) loves to ride her bike to the beach to collect shells on Sanibel as a sort of therapy. She says when she is on the beach she gets into a ZEN type feeling that clears her mind like cultivating a bonsai tree. That’s so true, isn’t it? After she returns to her little piece of paradise in Periwinkle Park, she cleans up her treasures to add them to her bike with clear silicone. There’s even a JUNONIA on there!
And to her planters…
And to her “welcome” sign (heehee)…
She organizes some her shells in the trays you get for veggies and party platters. Great idea!
Martine also introduced me to her Canadian friend Lucienne (Ottawa) who loves shelling. Shelling Sistahs!
I will show you some of the FREAK shells that Lucienne and her husband Ron found on my next post so stay tuned! Until then, I’m thinking I need to add shells to my bike basket too. Thank you, Martine, for a lovely morning in the park.
i Heart Captiva Island
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I love Captiva Island. I love that an artist made shell beach art like this piece at the entrance to Blind Pass beach. Beach artist, Robert from NJ, made it for his wife for Valentine’s Day. So sweet! Obviously, I haven’t been there in over a week so I missed it. Shame on me! But thankfully he has been grooming it to keep it clean and neat for a whole week for her.. and for us so we get to enjoy it as well.
I have another reason why “i Heart Captiva Island”….
Roma (MI) found a JUNONA!
She said it was one of the first shells she found this morning near the jetty rocks. It wasn’t completely whole but it is perfect to wrap for a JUNONIA necklace.
And that’s not it! Sara W found two (!) JUNONIAS at Blind Pass in the last week at Blind Pass as well. It’s so weird they are broken at the same exact spots but then again… perfect for necklaces! She posted this on iLoveShelling facebook page…
Jessica (NY) found a piece of JUONIA too. Maybe part of Roma’s or Sara’s?
Here’s Jessica with Steven and Kathryn this morning on the shell mound this morning…
John (NY) was working the pass side of the jetty and filled his shell bag full of FIGHTING CONCHS.
I had no idea the huge shell pile was back (and has been there for several days) and full of goodies! How did that happen and I didn’t hear a thing about it?? Mother Nature loves to play hide and seek with the seashells!
I found an assortment of treasures right away…
And a FLAT SCALLOP!
While I was checking out everybody’s finds and the big shell mound, Robert was collecting more PEN SHELLS for another shell art project. We look forward to your next master piece!
Yesterday’s Surf Advisory
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After hearing there was a surf advisory with high SW winds yesterday, I couldn’t wait to see the beach filled with seashells and cool Beach Bling.
Shawn from Kansas was in perfect Sanibel Stoop position so I figured he had already found some goodies…
He found a nice mix of shells. I looove that LACE MUREX with the link top…
After talking to him, we realized that I had met his mom a few weeks ago, She’s Shelling Sistah Karen from that special day “When Shelling Worlds Collide“. Hi Karen! Now I met your son Shawn!
Massachusetts girls Kristin, Chloe and Haley were having a blast finding PAPER FIGS, SEA URCHINS and STARFISH. Most of the STARFISH were alive so they went back to the water but there were a few dried in the high wrack line. A souvenir!
I didn’t see many shells on the pier side of the Sanibel lighthouse but there was plenty of SARGASSUM. This is a type of seaweed provides a rich environment for marine animals like SEA TURTLES.
More PAPER FIG EGG CASINGS…
Low and behold, I found a BABY’S EAR turned upside down in the bling…
And just to get my heart racing, half way buried in the sand I saw the ribs of a LION’S PAW. I reached down to dig it out … and came up with a broken piece. That’s ok! Where there’s a broken piece today, there may be a whole piece tomorrow.
We’ve had so many beautiful calm days for weeks and weeks. This is a wonderful thing for most people, right? But for us shellers, give us some messy weather! This wind was a start but maybe just 2 days back to back of high west winds… then it can go back to perfectly gorgeous island weather. Am I being too selfish?
PS- The DOLPHINS and PELICANS were playing this morning too!
World Record Sanibel Stoop Scoop
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After seeing over 700 hovering hineys on Bowman’s Beach today, I’m sure there was a new record set for the Guinness Book of World Records doing the Sanibel Stoop.
It was a blast to experience this spectacular kickoff for the 75th Annual Sanibel Shell Fair and Show with so many shellers bending over … with butts in the air … to do the Sanibel Stoop all at one time.
Before we started stooping, it was like a party while I stood in line with friends Karen, Gail, Sandy and Jane to register our names to make it official.
Then we all headed to the beach…
My good friend Lisa showed up in style with her iLS cap! But why are Jane and I turned around? We put our tees backwards for the stoop overhead photos- ha!)
Then the party got crazy when 3 other beach bloggers showed up! Here’s the shark’s tooth queen of Englewood Kaybe (The Essential Beachcomber), the ultimate shelling guide Captain Brian (Captain Brian On The Water) and Rhonda (of Shellbelle’s Tiki Hut). That’s Capt. Brian’s boat anchored in the background. He came by water to the stoop!
Wahoo! Here comes the helicopter for the overhead count and photos!
Everybody in stoop position!
The crowd went wild after the chopper passed the second time for a “shellabratory” spin..
The organizers did a fabulous job getting this event together. They even gave away free tee shirts for the first several hundred “stoopers” to register. Darn! I was too late!
When I get more scoop on the outcome of the stoop, I’ll share the word. Let’s keep our fingers crossed we make it in the Guinness Book Of World Records. It was a day to remember for Shellabration 2012!
