Sarah Lake : Sea Glass Series 2/6

I’m Sarah Lake and I live near Seaham in the north of England. Since 2016 I’ve run the Etsy store, CornflowerLake which supplies sea glass to jewellery makers and crafters all over the world. Previously my husband, Neal ran HeSellsSeaGlass which I was also involved with.

We started HeSellsSeaGlass in around 2011 and although we were frequent visitors to Seaham beach before that, weren’t necessarily aware of the amazing range of colours of glass that could be found. It takes a skilled eye to find the best glass!



We started our first Etsy shop because we enjoyed spending time on the beach, were big fans of Etsy and thought it would be a fun and relaxing way to make some extra cash. Although I’ve enjoyed a lot of crafts over the years, I’d never tried silversmithing. I thought it would be nice to supply really good quality glass to people with the skills to turn it into amazing jewellery.  You can find my Etsy shop at: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/CornflowerLake





Although I find some multis in particular quite breath taking, I’m actually more of a fan of solid colours. I love a nicely frosted, well-shaped piece of red and also love all of the blue and green shades. Cornflower is a personal favourite, hence the name of the shop.

 


Why I, Melissa purchase from Sarah: Neal, Sarah's husband was one of my first suppliers when starting to work with sea glass. If I needed anything special he tried to help with what I needed. He took the time to read my Etsy profile to get to know me and and ask about how my children were doing. Sarah has continued to supply me with these gorgeous finds and the multi's are amazing! I have never been disappointed in my purchases in the years I have bought from them.

Here are some pieces Creative Art By ME has made with Sarah's  finds:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeArtbyME

Paul Vicente: Sea Glass Series Month 1/6

My name is Paul Vicente I am 61 years old, I was born in Hartlepool, England to an English mother and a French father. My profession is an editorial Photographer on a freelance basis. I first started collecting sea glass and other objects around 2006 as my local hometown beaches were covered in glass and driftwood etc. My passion for the sea and coast has been with me since childhood. I have found lots of interesting stuff on the beach including a child's Princess throne.




 I have my own sea glass selling and info page on Facebook: www.facebook.com/PaulsSeaGlass/. In 2017 I founded The International Sea Glass Society. An alternative group which promotes friendship amongst the beach combing society. We are doing really well. 

Why I, Melissa purchase from Paul: His love of sea glass shows in his posts about the beach. Whether they are of the sea glass he finds to the artistic photos he takes of the beach itself. I have learned a great deal through him and about Art Deco Sunderland Art Glass which is the shards of the glass he finds on his beaches. They are the most beautiful pieces I have ever seen. His multis which  is the close up pictured above are my favorite! His love of sea glass has him creating display cases and creating a community of sea glass enthusiasts as well as sharing his knowledge and his beach glass finds.

Here are some pieces Creative Art By ME has made with Paul's finds:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeArtbyME

Sea Glass Why?

   I was asked why I use sea glass? I had a artistic friend suggest to use some sea glass in my pieces. So I decided to look into it since I already incorporated glass into my pieces like marbles and beads.  I fell in love instantly! The range of colors, sizes and possibilities seemed endless. I am in love with wrapping and caging these pieces into a wearable piece. I have tried resin settings, drilling, gluing, wire wrapping you name it, I tried it.  The idea that these little bits of glass have been on a journey and they were made of something of purpose and now have been given a second life I find refreshing. I love the history of these pieces and how they are all unique and come in so many shapes too. I have also included beach pottery in my pieces and love the rawness of these pieces as well.

 I am on a mission to show my customers some of my suppliers of the sea glass I use in my pieces. Because I can not travel around the world to collect these beautiful pieces I rely on a group of wonderful collectors to help me out. Some I have used since I started and continue to use as well as some are now are new friends. I do my best to vet them out and guarantee they are real people who find these on their local beaches. I have found that the majority of these collectors are wonderful and inspiring people and I am glad to know them and work with them. I will be sharing each of their stories for the rest of the year right here. Six Sea glass lovers and why I use their pieces in my work coming soon!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativeArtbyME

Giveaway!

So my shop has hit 350 sales! I am so close to getting to 500 followers on Facebook too! I decided to do a giveaway. Not just one item but a whole basket of handmade goodies! I went with the winter blues, I just love blue. In the handmade knitted basket I have included a blue sea glass key chain, sea glass and wire work snowflake pendant, blue sea glass mini hoop earrings, blue wine bottle light with battery pack lights and light bulb wine decor and set of six matching wine glass charms supplied by my sister Bethany. Also included are two ornaments, one open ball with glitter blue star and one silver, blue and green crystal snowflake. Would be great to win all for yourself or could make some great gifts this year! Retails over $188!
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Handmade

    I had a minute to write and thought why not. Between the actual creating, listing, craft shows and my best shot at marketing my work. I have another job, Mom. Yesterday, was a rude awaking that these two worlds of work and home collide more an more. My daughter was home sick and I had loads of work that needed to be done. I think I juggled it fairly well. I started a giveaway, listed a few items packaged up a huge package to a consignment shop and photographed some new work. I was worn out at the end of the day. I have tossed around new ideas of what to do next and the ornaments I have to get ready.....yes ornaments.....in October. I actually have to start them by summer to even have enough for my craft shows I attend in the fall. I stay up late and squeeze in all this and try my best to take care of my little ones. Which leads me to why. Why do all this? I love the creative aspect and designing something fun and functional!  One thing I have learned over the years is how one piece leads to another great idea or piece. I love seeing others work as well because it gets me inspired as well as supporting others who are in the same boat as me. Sure I could take a 9-5 job. But who would have wiped away my daughters tears yesterday and picked up my son and take him to therapy and find out that he had a great day at school. (Which is far and few) I love the flexibility that this job has given me.  Sure the pay is not great, but the friends I have made along the way and the love or creating has me happy I chose handmade. Please consider buying handmade for the holidays and supporting us!

Summer Art Show Pieces 2013

I submitted three works of art to the Art Ventures Show again this year. This year only two made it through the jury process. "Waves" and wire work and sea glass bangle bracelet. "The Pond Series" A set of earrings and pendant necklace using PMC silver and resin hand painted, knitted
wire work necklace. The piece that did not make it was a sculpture  "Choice" Wire knitted snake and apple. I wanted to create another sculpture that was like the "Fire Wire " Piece I made last year. Next years is already in the works. I love the versatility of the wire and how you can make something from a mess of wire.

Copper Crazy!

I have been working on new wire work as well as trying out copper wire in some of my work the last few weeks. I am teaching myself some new techniques and trying to find a way to incorporate them in new pieces. I just received a box full of new tools today and am super excited to get to use them too! I will try to update the new ideas but it is as it always id a waterfall of ideas! I am going to share here some of the new copper pieces and the design on the earrings is by Aniko Sandor. I modified the size from her design to be smaller by 3/4". Her original design was larger and I am always trying for smaller work. Although if you look at some of my pieces they can get super bold! I was trying to tame it down. I tried her design in three different wire silver, copper, and gold filled. I also went and played with some gems I have been collecting. All are teardrop shape, but some are faceted and others smooth. I had fun playing around with the colors of the stones and thinking about the light reflecting through them and how they look with certain wire colors. I am currently working on a original design for three of these earrings to have pendants that can go with them. I will definitely be using the wire weaving technique and some of my own flair this time! I do enjoy pushing myself to try new things and her earrings really spoke to me to try and see what I can do with this new technique.

   

It is definitely why I have been super excited to be a part of the wiredteam on Etsy. I love seeing all the new ideas and we push each other to do our best and help each other.  In January I won the monthly challenge for the theme "Be my Valentine"

Monica chose my piece and  said, "My favorite is Melissa Eager's sea glass pendant. It feels so alive and I can almost hear the heartbeat."

Red, Orange Amberina Genuine Sea Glass Hand Knitted Fine Si...

by CreativeArtbyME