A Shell of an Idea

I have this thing about water. Well, I'm a water sign -- Cancer -- so I suppose that explains part of it. When I was little and spending summer vacations on Lake Erie I was the sort of kid that nobody could get out of the water. Throughout my adult life I have lived close to beaches, the Gulf of Mexico, and now, for the past 20 years within a few blocks of the Atlantic Ocean. I love the fragrance of salt water. So I suppose it is no surprise that I have acquired quite a collection of seashells and beach glass.

A few years back I was on vacation in Wellfleet and saw an ad in the paper for a workshop on making jewelry from seashells. I had several treasured pieces of shell jewel from Mexico but this sounded like fun. It was.

Over the next few years I began collecting beads, shells and other beauties and I made several pieces of jewelry using the skills I learned in that class. What got me thinking about this is that I am in the process of purging my sewing room and I cam across the items at left. I don't know what they are, I don't remember where I got them, and I don't know what I am going to do with them. But I love them. So I got four of the necklaces I made from other shells for inspiration. I decided to post them here hoping that people might enjoy seeing them. Click on any photo to enlarge it.

The first (right) is made from a shell, some mother of pearl beads, bronze Czech glass beads and six Abalone rectangles. I've worn this one a lot and it goes with everything.

The next one (left) is also made from a shell, MOP beads, amethyst crystal beads, some tiny gold beads and amethyst colored seedbeads and a few odd pieces of abalone. It is very long and what I love about it is you can soak a piece of cotton in fragrance and tuck it inside the shell. It is nice with long skirts and sweaters.

The third one (right) is also long and features two beautiful triangles made from abalone and lots of chips of rose quartz. There are some carnival glass beads and some beautiful, plum-colored glass beads of mysterious origin. This one is medium length and looks perfect with a deep rose-colored turtleneck I like.

And finally (left) is the piece I made when I took that class. It is quite simple really featuring one large turquoise bead and several small ones, four pieces of carved bone, a few milk glass beads, 2 turquoise scarabs, 2 abalone triangle beads and those two beautiful large things that are shells of mysterious origin. They are hollow and quite light in weight with beautiful color and sheen. It goes with everything.

So, as you can tell, I really love wearing shells and I've got to come up with a great design for the ones above. Leslie tells me they are "blister pearls" --- pearls that became attached to the inside of the shells when fresh-water (cultured) pearls are made. She has volunteered to drill little holes in the sides so we can experiment with adding beads and stringing them into something lovely. With Leslie's accomplished assistance, I am sure that they will be!

Thanks for reading.