A Creative Exchange

Last Thursday I invited my new friend Joyce Roseman and her three daughters to come over for a creative exchange. I would show them how to do Zentangle, and Joyce would show me how to wrap seaglass so it can be used as jewelry.

The Roseman roses--Kyrsten, Katie and Kourtney--are absolutely adorable! In no time at all, they and Joyce were tangling away like a quartet of Zentangle professionals. Kyrsten even "invented" a few wonderful new tangles that I captured for my use later. Then I showed the girls and Joyce some of the things I've made from seashells.

In particular, I've had a lot of fun decorating jar lids--and reusing jars otherwise headed for the recycling bin. The white jar lid is one I covered with crushed jingle shells. You grind the jingles up with a mortar and pestle, which causes the shells to flake. I used a glue gun and glued the entire jar lid with the flakes to get that white sparkle effect. The finishing touches are a lovely piece of blue-green seaglass and a land snail shell that I bleached white by boiling it in a pot of water and Chlorox,

The second jar lid (black background) was much simpler. I glued a broken shell in the center and added others around it. The center shell looks like a rose bud, doesn't it?

The third lid is in progress. I think I'll cover most of the lid with paper and then add the shells as I've indicated. I liked the juxtaposition of the shapes, colors and textures.

Joyce and I played with various combinations of shells I've collected. I plan to turn some pieces of broken, polished shells into pendants. So today, I made a trip to Michaels to buy wire and supplies.

Next Monday, I'll share a post by Joyce. It's one of the most inspiring stories I've read in a long time. We'll also give away a piece of Strung Up Jewelry to one lucky commenter. I've asked Joyce to pick something special for one of you! Be sure to put next Monday on your calendar and plan to comment!

Even though I took the night off to be creative with my new peeps, I still managed to finish Death of a Schoolgirl: The Jane Eyre Chronicles. I've sent it along to my beta readers for their comments. The first of these, my sister Jane, really enjoyed it. There's always this sadness when I finish a book. My arms feel a little empty like I've given up a baby. It's really bittersweet.
How about you? Do you ever feel a little sad after you finish a big project?

Confessions of a Shell Seeker

Seashells have always fascinated me. When I was young, my mother would take us to Folly Beach in South Carolina. All of us would come back sunburned, but my red shoulders and neck announced I’d spent the visit stooped over, collecting shells.

On the way to the beach, we stopped at a shell shop. The bounty astonished me, and I vowed I would search the shores until I found some of the cool shells on display. (I certainly couldn’t afford to buy them.)

Many years later, I realized those shells came from all over the world, and most were collected while “occupied.” That's not a good idea. Although I try to avoid picking up shells that are occupied, sometimes it happens. Once I put a bunch of seashells in the trunk of my car without boiling them first. (Boiling is a good way to make sure the shells are really empty.) After a couple of hours of driving, I needed something from the trunk. Whooooeee, what a smell! That was a lesson I've taken to heart.

I wish we'd had the internet back when I was a kid, because I could have learned how to clean and preserve shells from experts. This is a great resource: website.

Now I live six miles to one of the best shelling spots in the world, Blowing Rocks Nature Preserve. I’ve been visiting regularly, collecting glorious specimens. My absolute favorite are these orange scallops.



My sister Jane showed me a mirror that a friend made for her, all from shells he collected at Blowing Rocks. Today, I tried my hand at making my own shell mirror. The results are below.


To learn more about what I did, how I did it, what it cost, and what I wouldn’t do again, go to my personal blog.

How about you? Do you love seashells?

A Creative Fugue State--A Holiday for My Brain

Blame it on Camille Minichino (aka Margaret Grace).

I was on my way to Florida for Spring Break when I emailed her if she’d like some sea shells for her miniatures. She wrote back, “Oooh, yes, I have a little beach scene on my bookcase, and it's seriously lacking shells!”

But somehow I read that as “ Oooh, yes, I have a little sea shell shop on my bookcase, and it’s seriously lacking shells!”

Funny how my mind works. I went to South Carolina and picked up tiny sea shells from the beach. But the whole time, I was thinking about a sea shell shop, which was something I’d intended to create for myself in miniature for years. In fact, I couldn’t get this project out of my brain. One night while I was listening to the ocean, I went online and found http://www.wannainelpaso.com/ I entered a fugue state, which is defined as an altered state of consciousness in which a person may move about purposely and even speak but is not fully aware. My mind was buzzing with ideas. When we got home from South Carolina, I went to Michaels, coupon in hand, and bought a paper mache “hat box” plus a wooden hutch and several bottles of acrylic paint.

On Friday, my husband left town for a business trip. Since then, I’ve done nothing but work on my sea shell shop, ruining a perfectly good manicure but having a ball.

It’s not entirely done…I want to add a few more things and then I’ll close it up and cover the outside and the lid. I made everything but the mermaid (I painted a statue of Ariel), the hutch, the paintings. I created the rug, the lights, the shell trimmed mirror, the table, the chair (except for the painted shells), the postcard stand, the plant, the shelving unit, all the shell displays and so on. In the "ceiling," I put tiny lights. Then, I draped the sparkling net over it to catch the 20 miniature "fireflies."

I’m curious. Do you enjoy more than one hobby? Do you ever get a creative impulse that’s so strong you can barely control it? Have you ever spent two days in your jammies working on a project and forgetting to eat? I feel so refreshed. I've been working on my writing for so long...I'm about 1/3 of the way through Book #3 of my scrapbooking mystery series...that this feels like a restful vacation. A holiday for my mind and my creative juices.

How do you like my sea shell shop?