Archive for Jewelry
Barefootin’ With Shelling Sistas
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It sure was a roller coaster weekend… literally. Hurricane Irene was rolling along the coast wreaking havoc and causing lots of trouble. My family and friends in Virginia Beach are fine (some with no power still, but fine) and I hope you and yours that were in Irene’s path are okay as well. I spent most of my time glued to the weather channel wrenching my hands so I took a 45 minute drive to Bonita Springs on Saturday to meet my Shelling Sistas Carla and Kelly at Barefoot Beach for some well needed shelling time. The welcome wagon was there to greet us in the form of a GOPHER TORTOISE…
He was even so friendly to hang out with Kelly for a bit. How cute are they!
The tide was pretty high when we started our treasure hunt but there’s always something fun to find on the beach.
Carla spotted a couple of SHARK’S TEETH and fossil piece of a mouth plate to a PUFFER FISH….
I only found one little SHARK’S TOOTH but was happy to find any!
Carla came across this PEN SHELL with such a colorful EGG CASING attached to it. It looks like a beautiful flower blossom!
I am a little confused which egg sacs these are because of the color but I think this maybe a TRUE TULIP EGG CASE that just was formed. Take a look and see what you think. I’d love a positive I.D. so if you can help, please help us learn what it is. Here’s a closer look at this beauty….
Carla walks this beach probably as much as I walk the Sanibel beaches so she has a keen eye to find the goodies like the SHARK’S TEETH, EGG CASES and this perfect empty LACE MUREX …
Did you notice her necklace? Yes! She found that big honkin tooth and made a necklace out of it like she did for the oh-so-cool piece of sea glass she gave me. I love it Carla!
Kelly was soaking in the beauty of the day every second….
I was thrilled when she brought seashells she found from Puerto Penasco, Mexico (aka- Rocky Point) to share. Thank you Kelly! Now remember, these are shells from Mexico NOT Florida…
Seashells from Rocky Point (Puerto Penasco, Mexico)
I didn’t get a picture of all her treasures our day on Barefoot so she sent a photo of her shells from the day…
I know these don’t look like great shells to most, but these were my favorite finds on Saturday- CORAL, WORMIE, SHARKS TOOTH, a piece of a LION’S PAW (!), a tiny OLIVE with beautiful color and pattern and a SEA PEARL.
Since I was so distracted by Hurricane Irene, I didn’t get to show you another shelling sista I met last week on the beach in Sanibel. It was so nice to meet you, Desiree! I love your hat!
She said she bought a cheapy hat and embellished it using hot glue with shells she found on Sanibel. She said it was a snap to make since the ribbon was already there to glue the shells to. It’s the simple things that make life fun, isn’t it?
I have some pictures of Blind Pass from yesterday evening at low tide that I won’t probably get to post until tomorrow but it’s just an FYI…. there are shells there. You have to look in the water right at the edge of the small drop off. Good luck! In the mean time, enjoy a few more pics of Barefoot Beach…
Seashell Jewelry ….. For One Day
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I always love to see what other people do with the shells they find combing the beaches. Sharlene found these DOVE SHELLS on a beach near her home in Puerto Rico and she decided to make them into earrings. They look great…but then I think she could make SEA PORK look good too, right? She also made a simple but very cool necklace out of an AUGER. I might have to borrow your idea, Sharlene.
But then I’ve said that before, haven’t I? After seeing Kathy’s Junonia Necklace (my post last year) and other inspirations like Sharlene’s necklace, I’m reminded that I was going to make a great necklace too out of my shells but this is as far as I got. I bought waxed linen to thread some shells to hang from my fabulous necklace to be. It’s still sitting….. waiting…..
That’s okay. One day. But until then, I want to show you a few other finds from my weekend. There were a lot of live shells in the water around Middle Gulf Drive but there were a few good empty smaller shells like the ones Mark and Rene from Miami found…
This is a beautiful RIBBED CANTHARUS Mark found along with a BANDED TULIP, OLIVES, a NUTMEG and a CONCH.
Right after I ooooed at that orange CANTHARUS (I consider that “candy” too), I found a TINTED CANTHARUS…..
Since it was a full moon on Friday with negative low tides, I thought we’d have a little better shelling this weekend along the middle beaches of Sanibel. Maybe I should have gone to Blind Pass but we had rain and thunder on and off all weekend so the minute I hear thunder…. I know there’s lightning somewhere. Yikes! That’s when I stay off the beach!
How To Drill Holes In Sea Shells
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Picking up Seashells
The shell pile on Captiva is moving to pile up under the Blind Pass bridge.
Under the Blind Pass Bridge
Wormie worm shell
Baby Flat Scallop
While shelling under the bridge, I met Gwen from Connecticut. She makes jewelry from SEA GLASS and shells by drilling holes in them. I’ve made seashell decorations from shells that already have holes in them (like my sand dollar and starfish garland) or with hot glue (like my Santa hat) but I’ve never drilled holes in shells to string or wire into jewelry or decorations. So here ya go… meet Gwen! She’s going to tell you how to drill holes in the SEA GLASS or any shell!
Isn’t that fantastic? Thank you Gwen! I can’t wait to try it. Here’s the rest of the group that was there with us.
Jim (ME), Bob (CT), Kaybe (FL), Patty (ME), Gwen (CT)
Do you see someone familiar in there ? In the middle is blogger and shelling sister Kaybe from The Essential Beachcomber. She came to Sanibel for the day from Englewood and I saw her find this yummy bright orange TURBAN shell. You don’t often see TURBANS this color so it’s always a real treat to find one.
Kaybe's Bright orange Turban Seashell
Shell Bag Half Full
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Shell bag on Sanibel
Joe Anne and Deborah from Brunswick, GA didn’t want me to take their picture on Algier’s Beach (Gulf Side City Park) but didn’t mind showing all of their shell bag treasure. They scored with FIGHTING CONCHS, LIGHTNING WHELKS, CALICO SCALLOPS and MUREXES. They weren’t the only lucky ones. They told me that a couple from a neighbor city in Georgia found a JUNONIA just minutes before we got there.
Carol and James (Waynesville, Ga)
James did find a JUNONIA! It was a broken one but the core was still in tact and it was the first time in 35 years of visiting Sanibel that they’ve found even a piece. I told them about the necklace that Kathy from Salt Lake made with her similar piece of Junonia in my post Junonia Necklace .
Kathy's junonia necklace
Last night's Sanibel causeway sunset
Gold Rush
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Jerry
It was hard to miss Jerry heading out into the water with his full wet suit and all of his metal detecting paraphernalia. It was a very low tide so he was hoping that he could keep up the good luck he’s been having lately finding GOLD and DIAMONDS. He said “In February, I found a 2.8 carat diamond ring that was a VS1 with ‘i’ color. It is worth $45,000!”. Holy cow! Why am I wasting my time finding WENTLETRAPS? OK, because I love them…but back to Jerry…..
He normally does his metal detecting over on the east coast of Florida because the higher the population will bring more lost jewelry. Unfortunately for him, the west winds have pushed so much sand up on the east coast beaches that his metal detector isn’t as effective so he headed to Southwest Florida. He finds lots of GOLD RINGS, NECKLACES, EARRINGS, BRACELETS and COINS. He reminded me that gold was trading so high right now that he was literally making a mint off the beach.
All I know is, if I lose any jewelry on the beach, I’m looking for Jerry before he sells my gold for cash.
