EcoMom Alliance

"CBS Sunday Morning" recently ran a segment on star power in Hollywood helping to bring attention to important causes. Reporter Bill Whitaker interviewed Christienne de Tournay Birkhahn, executive director of the EcoMom Alliance. "It has been amazing to see the power of what celebrities can do when they're passionate about something," she said. Birkhahn says the involvement of actress Robin Wright helped her group attract 10,000 members and counting.

Great Doing Business With You!

I'm grateful -- very grateful -- to three people who purchased EarthSurf necklaces this week. Melissa, Amy & Michelle. I so appreciate your positive feedback and your business. It makes it all worthwhile!

New EarthSurf Seaglass Necklaces

These gorgeous necklaces have just gone online on my Etsy shop. Come take a look!
Earthsurf.etsy.com

Eco-Christmas Jewelry

Here's great gift for eco-Moms: EarthSurf Christmas pendants.

Green seaglass on a red silk strand. For people who want a very Earth-friendly piece of holiday cheer. I would love, love love to wear one of these on Christmas Day on Parrots Cay in Turks & Caicos.

Gala Donation Preparation

Today I've been working on the sea glass necklaces I will be donating to my son's school annual fundraiser (the GMVS Gala). I've strung the pendants on silver and gold chains. Here is a photo of the little beauties:

And another:

I must confess that I really love this particular set of necklaces. The big teal blue sea glass piece is really unusual. I almost hate to give it away. (But, hey, it's a fundraiser, right?) More and more, I've found great satisfaction in creating doubles (two pieces of sea glass on one clasp). The colors complement and play off each other.

To prepare for the fundraiser, I also refurbished an old jewelry stand I purchased years ago for a couple of bucks at a Baked Beads factory sale. The base was in bad shape -- it rusted and the paint was peeling, so I glued on a strip of cork. (It's actually the same piece of cork that's in the first picture.) I thought I had measured accurately, but, it wasn't quite perfect. While working on it, I thought about Martha Stewart the entire time. I love Martha, but I love "Whatever" with her daughter Alexis and Alexis's friend Jennifer even more.

What's next? My Christmas sea glass necklaces. I've been thinking about them for weeks. Now I have to make some.

Insanely Cool

I've been checking out the artists scheduled to appear at the One of a Kind Show and Sale which will take place in Chicago (my home town) in December. A person could spend hours and hours clicking through the artists' websites.

One artist that really impressed me was stained glass artist Alison (like Cher, no last name). She uses plates, prisms, parts of lamps and all kinds of other things in her stained glass panels. I am in love with "Canopy," a four-foot piece made from a former screen door.

One day I would love to put some of my sea glass into a stained glass panel. Until then, I am content to admire Alison's exceptional art.

Sea Glass Mini-Sculptures

This week I have been working on fulfilling a wholesale order and my anxiety level has been off the charts. I keep thinking that I'm going to run out of sea glass, that I'll never have enough jewelry-quality pieces to actually fulfill wholesale orders, and that I ought to just throw in the towel.

I am, at the same time, trying to get my son ready for boarding school (we drive him to school on Saturday), trying to re-write my fall syllabus (classes start on Monday), and exercise (so that I can actually fit into my teaching clothes).

While I was freaking out a little bit, I started making sea glass mini-sculptures. I've always felt that sea glass looks the best when the colors of the pieces are mixed. I love how the greens play off the blues, and the whites play off the greens, and how a handful of sea glass can look so spectacular sitting in your hand.

The mini-sculptures are simply pieces of sea glass arranged together into little sea glass formations. Smaller pieces on the top, larger ones on the bottom. I've been gluing them together so that they stay in place. I've made about a dozen now, and am in love with them. One one hand, they remind me of rock sculptures. On the other hand, they kind of resemble sushi. They are very cute.

After I started making the mini-sculptures, I began to look through my collection and I realized that I actually have a lot of sea glass from Barbados in colors like sea foam green, light blue and sky blue. Not good enough for sea glass jewelry. But perfect for mini-sculptures. Here's a photo of a little fleet I made this morning:

They look lovely on a windowsill reflecting the light. They probably could be used in a variety of ways -- such as with cards as dinner party placeholders. (They would make great wedding favors). They'd be fun just to collect.

This is the first thing I've ever done that seemed Martha Stewart-worthy. But, more than that, the experience taught me to let go of one of my big fears which is the fear of not having enough. Spending time with my sea glass, letting the pieces find each other, making imperfect yet balanced sculptures while remembering the sun-filled days in Barbados when Luis and I found the pieces, I realized that I don't need to be so anxious. It's all going to be OK.

I LOVE to Sort Sea Glass

Yesterday, I had about an hour of free time and went downstairs to the basement to sort some sea glass. My husband hates the fact that my sea glass projects are everywhere in the house, so I try not to use the family area of the basement for sea glass sorting. But, I can't help myself. The light, especially in the afternoon, is perfect down there. I like to sort on the granite top near the windows.

I used to sort sea glass by looking through my collections for a specific grade of sea glass. For instance, if I intended to make some sea glass pendants, I'd find the most perfect pieces, and then put all of the rest back into the jar. But that led to a lot of sea glass spending too much time in jars, being neglected.

So now, I take a handful and try to sort my sea glass according to it's future function. For example, in the photo below, you can see that I found pieces that might become bracelets, or necklace pendants, or magnets, or mini-sculptures (which I just started to make this week). The rough pieces will go into my mosaics bin. The triangles will probably become sails for my sea glass sailboat cards. (Soon to make their debut appearance on Etsy.) I really love to hold a piece of sea glass and try to identify it's ideal end. Sometimes the purpose of the piece is immediately apparent. Other times, I pick up the piece several times before I become clear on what it should be used for.

Hogwarts has it's sorting hat. I have my granite counter.

Community

There are sea glass collectors and sea glass enthusiasts all across the globe, and I'm so grateful that the internet enables us to connect with each other. One of the newest portals is the North American Sea Glass Association online community at http://seaglass.ning.com. It's such a beautiful website. Since it was launched, I've visited every day.

Last week I enjoyed artist Jennifer Judd-McGee's blog post about her visit to Lisa Hall's sea glass studio in Maine. Jennifer posted photos of Lisa's sea glass jewelry and photos of the shop. I have always wanted to visit Lisa's shop as Lisa is one of the premiere sea glass jewelry artists in the world. She is a classically trained jeweler and her work is exquisite. She is one of the few sea glass jewelers who works in gold as well as silver.

If I ever get to Maine, I'm going to go visit Lisa's shop.

I've been working hard on the wholesale side of my business this week. On my to-do list is marking up line sheets for the Fall/Winter collection. (Some great info on line sheets here.) I'm adding three new designs and need to photograph the new pieces.

Colletta stopped by with her friend from Russia to look at the gardens and we ended up talking about my sea glass jewelry. Colleta and her friend also make jewelry -- along with handmade dolls, dog beds, and other things. They had never heard of Etsy before, so I gave them a quick tutorial. There are over fifty Vermonters selling on Etsy now. Lets add some more!

(The photo is one of my EarthSurf necklaces photographed in the garden.)

Drilling Tutorial

When Luis and I were in Barbados in July, we spent a day at Bottom Bay, a beach on the east coast we'd never before visited. At the entrance to the beach, we met a terrific guy selling beach jewelry made from stones, shells and seeds. Luis loved one of the necklaces, bought it for himself and wore it for the rest of our vacation. While we were looking at necklaces, Issa, the seller, admired the sea glass necklace I was wearing.

(Below is a picture of me in Bottom Bay wearing the necklace.)


When I told Issa that I made it myself, he expressed an interest in making some sea glass jewelry to sell at Bottom Bay. I asked if he had any diamond drill bits, which are necessary for drilling holes in sea glass. He told me he did not have any, and so I asked for his address. When we returned to Vermont, I mailed him a diamond drill bit, along with one of the beach glass necklaces I make for guys. I am hoping that one day, maybe Luis and I will return to Bottom Bay to see sea glass necklaces for sale.

I was thinking about all of this when I came across a wonderful tutorial on "The Common Milkweed Blog" on how to drill holes in rocks. The process for drilling holes in rocks is essentially the same for drilling holes in sea glass. What I love about the tutorial was how comprehensive it is. The author even talks about the need to change the water bath midway because the water gets cloudy. This is a very important, yet often over-looked aspect of drilling sea glass.

Oh, if I only had an email address for the guy in Barbados. I would send him the link!

Sea Glass Festivals This Fall

I would love to attend these two sea glass festivals!

North American Sea Glass Association Festival
October 17 & 18, 2009
Erie, Pennsylvania
click here for more information

California Sea Glass & Ocean Art Event
November 7 & 8, 2009
Santa Cruz, California
click here for more information

Hunting for Sea Glass in Barbados, 2009

Luis and I spent the first week of July in Barbados. The weather was perfect. No rain this year! We stayed at the Almond Beach Club & Spa, as we always do. Surprisingly, it was fairly crowded, even in this global recession. (Sandy Lane next door was virtually empty, however.) Not much about the hotel has changed and it was nice to see Tommy again at Tommy's Rum Shop.

We rented a car for the week and traveled around the island visiting beaches on the east coast. We enjoyed Crane Beach, Bottom Bay, Bath and Bathsheba. We also found Surfer's Point and Jed's Surfing Adventures. Jed recommended that we spend an afternoon at the Silver Sands Resort where we paid a small fee for a day pass, swam in the pool, had drinks and enjoyed watching the windsurfers.

As one of our goals was to bring back sea glass, we hoped to find a new beach where sea glass would be plentiful. However, our old beach on the west coast of Barbados was really the only place we found a lot of good sea glass this year. Here are a couple of photos of the sea glass I collected on our second day in Barbados. Lots of greens, as usual. Some pretty blues and whites as well.



Some of the pieces of sea glass I brought back from Barbados this year are truly exquisite, and I'm really looking forward to transforming them into EarthSurf jewelry. I will try to photograph the sea glass as I make more jewelry, and will try to post them on the blog.

I'm so grateful for the opportunity to have spent a week in Barbados with Luis. It was so good to be back.

Sea Glass in National Geographic

The "Environment" page in the current issue of National Geographic magazine is about sea glass. Written by Margaret G. Zackowitz it reads, in part:

Blame it on plastic. Sea glass - the bright bits of old bottles scoured by sand and salt water - is getting increasingly difficult to find. "We are at the end of the sea glass window," notes Mary Beth Beuke, president of the North American Sea Glass Association. "There is less glass packaging now and more recycling. Much of the glass consigned to the waves decades ago, she says "is tumbled so tiny it's almost not worth picking up."

Of course, it started out as something not worth keeping. Trash tossed off ships or washed from dumps must spend years in the water to become good sea glass. Waves churn, shore terrain, water acidity, and the composition of the glass itself all play a part in creating the smoothed shards' characteristic matte texture.

The photo that accompanies the article features several rare pieces of sea glass including a red shooter marble, and an orange piece thought to have come from a signal light.

While it is true that jewelry-quality sea glass is becoming harder and harder to find, shards of glass from new bottles, as I mentioned yesterday, are common on Barbados beaches, signaling that new trash -- a lot of new trash -- is being dumped into the Caribbean.

The absence of sea glass in the U.S is a good thing. It is a positive sign that we are treating our oceans with better regard; a sign that fewer bottles and glass containers are being thrown into the sea; a sign that recycling has become the norm. The presence of new sea glass in the Caribbean, on the other hand, signals the opposite. Where is the new, ragged sea glass coming from? Freighters? Cruise ships? Tourist boats? Island residents? In all likelihood, it's coming from multiple sources. It is not a good thing.

Trashed Up Barbados

A couple of weeks ago, Luis and I took our annual trip to Barbados. After we got back, I thought about what we saw, and tried to figure out how to write about it. In the past, I've been really happy about our Barbados trips. But not this year.

For the past eight years, we have spent a week in July at the Almond Beach Club & Spa in St. James, just down the road from Sandy Lane. The goal has always been the same: to enjoy our time together as a couple alone, without the kids, and hunt for sea glass.

Year after year, we'd return to the same place, and would find pristine white-sand beaches, good weather, and plenty of smooth sea glass tumbled by the Caribbean.

This year was different. Something seems to be going very wrong in Barbados.

First, the sea glass. We found loads of it. Since the beaches on the Caribbean side of the island have been shifting southward, we had to look around for it, but once we found the areas dense with sea glass, we were quite amazed by just how much sea glass was lying on the beach and at the edge of the surf. Now, you might think this was good news. It wasn't. The beach glass was rough, jagged and basically worthless. It was "new" sea glass -- "commercial grade" not jewelry-grade. When sea glass is in the ocean for years and years, it becomes smooth and polished, like a gem. The sea glass we kept finding was barely polished, meaning that it had only been in the ocean for a short period of time. This suggests that much more dumping is taking place in the Caribbean. If one can measure the health of an ocean by the amount of sea glass found on the beach, I'd say that the Caribbean is in trouble. There is too much new sea glass on the beaches.

The second change we noticed was the weather. Typically, Barbados in July means sunny days with brief rain showers in the afternoon. The Bajans hold their largest festival of the year, Crop Over, at the end of July, expecting good weather. But, the weather has been changing. Hurricane-like tropical depressions have become more frequent, and are happening earlier in the year. Previously, one could expect rain and storms in September and October. Now, the storms are coming in July and August. Is this a result of global warming? Perhaps. What is true is that it's very unusual to have four named storms in July.

Luis typically goes on several scuba dives while we are in Barbados, but his dives were canceled because of the storms, so we decided one day to rent a car and drive to the eastern side of Barbados -- the Atlantic side. We wanted to see an area called Bathsheba, known for it's annual surfing contests and it's dramatic rock formations. Driving there was an adventure. (Bajans drive on the left side of the road; there are lots of round-abouts; and the roads are not well marked.) The drive was well worth it. The Atlantic side of Barbados is spectacular. It feels like a Caribbean version of the Big Sur, or Oregon's Cannon Beach. We stopped at several beaches, and because it was raining, saw few other people. One of our goals was to look for sea glass. We found very little, and what we did find was just junk. We were very troubled by how polluted the beaches were. There is plastic everywhere. Plastic bottles, bottle caps, plastic netting, torn plastic bags, teeny tiny bits of plastic. Ugh. We saw several signs posted at the entrances of the beaches asking people not to use the beach for dumping, but apparently not everyone is complying. Some areas were simply disgusting. There was trash in the brush, on the beach, and in the parking areas.

This year's trip to Barbados made me keenly aware of how much more work must be done to clean up the beaches to and to prevent further ocean pollution.

There was one other thing about our trip to Barbados this year that really bothered me. Perhaps it's related to the ocean pollution problem.

The beach where Luis and I typically hang out has always been a nice, quiet beach. It's tucked into a little bay, and because of its proximity to the ultra-expensive Sandy Lane Resort, it's usually a peaceful, relaxing beach. For years, it has been used by the catamaran cruising companies -- particularly Tiami Catamarans - as a place to bring day trippers for an hour or so of swimming after they do their snorkling. (All beaches in Barbados are open to the public, so the catamaran companies can bring their customers to any beach they chose to.) In the past, there would be maybe one or two catamarans at the beach each day, just for a few hours. 20-40 passengers would unload from the catamaran and hang out on the beach, then get back on the boat. No big deal. It often made for interesting people-watching.

But in recent years, the cruise lines have been sending more ships to Barbados. In fact, in 2006, Barbados signed a three-year agreement with Carnival Cruise Lines that guaranteed the island a minimum of 400,000 cruise ship passengers annually over the contract duration plus revenues of $156 million dollars. (On the day of the Cricket World Cup final in April 2007, cruise ships landed a whopping 20,000 passengers in Barbados, overwhelming Bridgetown.)

So, instead of one or two catamarans in the bay, there are now triple the number. And, worse, they are jam packed with people from the cruise ships. It's crazy. I can't imagine it being very fun to be on a crowded catamaran with a bunch of sweaty cruisers. It would make me want to drink. It seems that drinking is, indeed, what they mostly do.

With the increased number of gigantic catamarans in the bay, the number of Bajan entrepreneurs working the tourist scene has increased as well. The once-quiet bay periodically erupts into a frenzy of jet skis and motor boats pulling Big Bethas and banana inflatables. The fumes, the gasses, the noise. UGH!

By and large, the bay is still fairly clean. Fortunately, the people who come off the catamarans don't leave a lot of trash behind. However, as measured by the amount of glass showing up on the beaches, the amount of trash being dumped into the ocean is definitely increasing. Moreover, the increased use of the Caribbean in the Barbados area by the cruise lines is resulting in a noticeable ecological disruption.

This situation is probably going to get worse in the next ten years. The next generation of Royal Caribbean mega-cruise ships will carry 5,400+ passengers, 1200 crew and be almost 1200 feet long - and that is only one of many types of huge liners that will be coming into service in the next 5-10 years. Will they be choosing Barbados as a port of call? Bajans hope so. The cruise industry means a lot to Barbado's tourism-based economy. But ecologically, I really don't think it's a good thing.

EarthFirst Reviews EarthSurf

Woo wee! EarthSurf was reviewed by EarthFirst yesterday.
Thanks so very much for positive review!

Simplicity Necklaces

Sometimes I wonder if my life could get any more complicated. Even in the summer, the season of ease and relaxation, of simple suppers, flip-flops and shorts, things can get harried from time to time.

We had a really busy week last week. So I just felt like making something totally simple and uncomplicated to remind myself of the value of pared-down basics.

I created several necklaces using one single piece of perfect sea glass strung on one single piece of silk thread. I'm calling them "Simplicity Necklaces" because, really, what could be more simple or elegant?

Nothing fussy. Nothing complicated.

Just a reminder to ah, relax.

Summer Classics: Sea Glass Necklaces & White Shirts

A crisp, clean white shirt. Perfect all year round, But especially in summer, to show off one's tan.

John Olson styled a page of beautiful summer white shirts for women for the July 2008 Town & Country. While the prices of the shirts ($298 - $950) are way, way out of my range, I was thinking how wonderful it would be to pair a crisp white shirt with a simple sea glass necklace. It would add the perfect little summer color pop to one's ensemble. So, whether you are wearing Anne Fontaine, YSL, Ralph Lauren Black Label, or Hanes this summer, don't forget your humble sea glass.

The Reason for Beachcombing

For my money, the best magazine in the world is "La Vie Claire," subtitled "Claire Murray's The Art of Living a Creative Life." It's one of the more expensive publications around. (Cover price $6.99. A four-issue yearly subscription $24.95.) The photos are exquisite, the stories are inspiring, and every issue is a keeper. What "Architectural Digest" is to upscale real estate, "La Vie Claire" is to ocean-inspired artistic entrepreneurship.

The Summer 2008 issue features an excerpt from A Beachcomber's Odyssey: Treasures From a Collected Past by S. Deacon Ritterbush, also known as Dr. Beachcomb. The excerpt is illustrated with Celia Pearson's beautiful photos. (That's one of Celia's photos above.)

With her lovely writing, Ritterbush captures the joy of beachcombing:

I believe there’s no more wonderful world than the one waiting for me out there by the sea. An hour of beachcombing, of strolling through the silky sand with the sun at my back and the endless blue horizon melting before me, calms my mind as it works my body. I always return home the better for it, with lungs full of fresh air and pockets full of interesting things. Beachcombing magic eases me through heartache, leads me to patience, and transforms my sometimes tense little life into one of beauty and hope and joy again. Sometimes, it even reminds me that the best things in life are often right there before me in the sand.

Amen.

Nautica Summer '08 Abs. I mean Ads.

This summer, Nautica's magazine ads feature a gentleman wearing a sea glass and leather necklace. While Nautica sells a huge variety of things -- from clothing to sunglasses to cologne -- they don't sell sea glass surfer necklaces.

Yet.

In the meantime, get yours here.

Too Much Mrs. Robinson?

Here's the copy I wrote this morning for a new listing on Etsy:

If I had a pool, I'd certainly have a pool boy, someone who looked like a young Brad Pitt in "Thelma & Louise," or like that young, handsome guy in Desperate Housewives.

Alas, I have no pool, only fantasies. Er, dreams.

As I was making this bracelet, I was thinking that it would make a great gift for the guy who mows your lawn, teaches your kids how to fish at summer camp, or shuttles you to your boat at the boat club. It's ruggedly handsome and yet cool. It would look great on a tanned wrist.

The bracelet features genuine black leather cord and genuine surf-tumbled sea glass from Barbados. It has adjustable sliding knots, and will fit just about any size wrist.

The sea glass is smooth all the way around. It is slightly curved inside to fit a wrist.

This is a terrific bracelet to wear at the beach since you can go in the water with it.

I know someone who would look really great in it!
For sale at EarthSurf Etsy.