Creative Spark Seaglass Spectacular

Summer 2015 Creative Spark ezine

I love sea glass!  When I go to the shore, it's a real challenge for me to walk along the beach at a normal pace, because sooner or later I get caught up in the search for the elusive sea glass.  Especially the rarer colors, such as the deep cobalt/sapphire blue that's my favorite find.  I can get so caught up in the search, I'd miss the sailboat regatta tacking around the bouys fifty feet out from shore.  Or the kite surfer dancing across the waves, or my husband waiting patiently for me a mile up the beach.  Oops!

Then, I discovered ZnetShows' cultured sea glass beads.  I can't truthfully state that I've completely abandoned my search for seaglass in the tide line, but I CAN say that I am much more easily distracted from the search.

ZnetShow.com's cultured sea glass is so lovely - it comes in all sorts of wonderful shapes, though I'm particularly fond of the more organic 'shard' designs that echo the shapes of 'natural' sea glass.   So you can imagine how excited I was to be invited to participate in summer, sea glass edition of Creative Spark.

Sea glass shards from ZnetsShows' website. They say 'fish fins' to me!

Hope Smitherman, Creative Spark's fearless editor, asked us to work with a sea-inspired or 'summer' theme.  While the main focus is on jewelry design, she also asked for upcycling/recycling and non-jewelry designs.

Sea-themed and non-jewelry?  Yep, you know where I went.  I quickly finished up Spike, my second Happy Fish.  He now sports sea glass tail fins.  And he's joined by his younger bother Pete, who sports deep blue tail fins.  I finished both up back in June, and have been waiting to say anything ever since.  You can see them both in the pages of Creative Spark, along with a sneak peek at work on my newest freeform peyote fish.  It's still in very much in progress.

My contribution may just be the quirkiest, but looking through the other artists incredible designs is simply inspiring.  Flipping through the pages, I find my fingers itching to go digging through my stash to play with more sea glass! 

Take a look and see what I mean:  Creative Spark, Summer 2015.

Thank you Hope, for once again putting together such a gorgeous magazine! 

NW Bead Society Bead Retreat

Time truly does fly by this time of year!  I can't believe it's already been a week since I returned from the wonderful Bead Retreat on Vashon Island.  I'd meant to write about it the Monday I returned.  Oops!  I didn't even have time to download all the photos until last Thursday.

The NW Bead Society's retreat is sort of like WWDC in that it sells out almost as soon as it's announced, with many returning year after year.  I was a little slow off the bat, and spent much of the summer on the waiting list, but finally got the call that someone had backed out so I was in.

So bright and early on the last Friday in October, Patricia Hardway and Pamm Horbit grabbed me and we all headed for the Fauntleroy Ferry.  There's something magical about ferries - I always feel like I'm on vacation as soon as I'm onboard.  Despite the fact that it's really right next door, I'd never been to Vashon Island, an oversight I was very happy to rectify.  It's amazing to me how close it is to Seattle, because it truly felt like a world away. 

a quick snapshot of the main beading room taken from my little corner

Then there was the retreat itself, held at the Retreat Center at Camp Burton, a wooded, waterfront property with gorgeous views.  Our main room was quite spacious, with a little kitchenette area and good light.  I managed to grab a corner spot with windows on either side.  Besides lots of time for beading, it was such fun to simply spend time with the other attendees.  Time to really talk with women I'd known casually for a couple of years now.  And to meet new people - like Sally Anaya, who teaches basket weaving around the world and maintains a blog that she updates daily.  Daily entries - I am so impressed. 

And when I needed a break from stitching, there was always someone up for a walk around the camp or a foray down to the beach (where my friends helped me find several more items for my Found Objects challenge piece).  Meals were served in the main dining hall, a short walk away, with a spectacular view.  For a day and a half we shared our meals with the Ballard High School Choir, who gave us a mini-concert Saturday night, singing Ave Maria.  Which of course made me think of my Mom because that's one of her favorite songs.  The food was simple, healthy and absolutely yummy and it was sooo nice letting someone else worry about menus and prep and cleanup, too.

view from the dining room at Camp Burton

the same view from just outside on the deck

from one of my walks

But perhaps one of my favorite things about the weekend were the Secret Bead Buddies.  Everyone was incredibly sneaky, and it was such fun returning from a short walk to find a package sitting at my workspace, or a package waiting outside your bedroom door in the morning.  It was equally fun trying to find ways to sneak my packages to my Buddy and helping others do the same.  And even more fun watching everyone discover the surprises.
 

I didn't find out until the last morning, but my Secret Buddy, Sharon,  couldn't be there.  But she gave all of her packages to Shirley with explicit instructions.  Shirley did an amazing job - she was definitely sneaky extraordinare.  I found my first surprise waiting on my workspace Friday evening with a hand-written note saying "Do Not Bend".  It turned out to be this mask. 

I spent most of my weekend working on bits and pieces for my Beaded Bottle project.  And collected several new messages for my project.  (To recap - I'm working on a Message in a bottle project and I'm still collecting messages for my bottle.  Feel free to send me one if you're interested). 







Sunday I took a fun class from Debby Zook on making Icosidodecahedrons (otherwise known as Beaded Baubles).  There was supposed to be a large bead in the center, but mine didn't fit (too small) so all I have is the framework, which supports itself quite nicely.  I'd love to make a bunch of these for my Christmas tree. 

They're also another bead project that you could give to a guy. 






Because I can't resist sharing, here are a few more pictures from the beach:

Tidewater with barnacles

barnacles encrusted on an old stump

A Walk on the Beach

The point at Golden Gardens - normally all this sand is underwater

Sunday, my husband and I managed to sneak away from all of our various obligations for a short while and go for a walk along the beach.  It's been ages since we managed that - I think maybe even last year which is simply sad, considering how close it is. 

The cool morning air and lightly overcast skies made it perfect weather and meant that when we arrived the beach was still relatively empty.  And at low, low tide!  Seattle's beaches don't have the cool, huge rocks that make tidepooling such a delight in other places.  Instead, our beaches have lots of little stones and a few big ones, scattered here and there.  With the tide out, the first thing you see is lots and lots of bright green sea lettuce and eal grass, but if you look more closely there are all sorts of hidden surprises. 

I thought I'd share.

I love the lines drawn in the sand by the retreating water

The floats in this seaweed look just like crab claws

A sailboat anchored just offshore - I'd love to go sail in it!

More lines in the sand - organic patterns, yippee!

Sea stones

pilings from an old pier - normally they're underwater

barnacles on on of the pilings

I found a crab hiding underneath this rock.  Love the textures!

Doesn't this remind you of a bezeled cabochon?

a perfect seashore still life

another texture shot - makes me want to do a freeform piece

encrustations

these mussels are about the size of my pinky nail - tiny!

A dungeness crab's molted shell

It just makes me want to break out the beads and start playing!  Oh, and in case you're wondering - the beach is Golden Gardens, just a few miles north of downtown Seattle in Ballard.