2013 September : Seaglassing & Wire Wrapping

Archive for September, 2013

TUTORIAL – wire wrapped sea glass pendant

September 26th 2013 Posted at Wire Wrapping
2 Comments

Hi Beach and seaglass fans! It is time to wire wrap your own pendant if you haven’t already.
If you have and you are stopping by for a visit for the first time to Scrap’N Wrap, then welcome – pull up a chair.

Today on my tutorial I’m going to pick a piece of seaglass out of the treasure chest that we keep in the ISLAND MADE gift shop. I recently picked some lovely rounded pieces off the shores of Prince Edward Island and I offer a few wire wrapped pieces on my Etsy Shop at ScrapNWrap and we sell bags of sea glass in the gift shop and on Etsy. I’m working on a pendant today so lets get started.

Supplies Needed to Make The Pendant:

Pick your piece of seaglass you want to wire wrap

Flat nose pliers, round nose pliers, and cutter pliers

About 12″ of wire, I use a copper coated non tarnishing wire and 20 gauge wire to wrap.

At this point you want to make a loop to hang your pendant.
To do this:
Use your flat nose pliers and bend the wire at about 45 degrees.

Next make your loop by using the round nose pliers and wrap the wire around the pliers then around the wire a couple of times.

My photo didn’t turn out as the battery was low so I included a link here to how to wrap around the pliers.

After you wrap underneath the loop and around making sure to have one end about 3″ long and the other end with all the length.

Now you are ready to position your seaglass on top of the wire with the loop at the top and the long wire at the bottom of the seaglass.

Taking the wire from the bottom of your pendant you want to start wire wrapping it around the seaglass so make a cage to hold it in. Be creative and wrap anywhere around the bottom.

Continue making spirals holding the wire down with your thumb and using your free hand bend the wire slowly until it loops around. I call this free hand wrapping.

After making a spiral return your wire back to the top of the pendant and wrap the wire around the bail once more.

Still working with the longest piece of wire start a spiral on the opposite side holding in the right side of the seaglass pendant.

Again being creative and wrapping the wire and looping it as you go, then pass the wire around the back and back up to the top and wrap around the bail once more.

Taking the end of the short piece of wire and the round nose pliers make a coil in the end.

Then using your flat nose pliers grab the end of the loop and coil the loop up towards the bail.

At this point I cut myself another short length of wire approximately 8″ in length and attach it by wrapping it around the bail a couple of times over the already wrapped wire.

I cut off one end as it is too long and I’d like the coils to be different sizes.

I then start with the short wire and use the round nose pliers and bend a loop, then coil it up with the flat nose pliers.

I continue doing this until all the wire ends are coiled up to the bail.

Sometimes I’ll need to turn the piece of seaglass over and over to get it into the position I can work with it.

I press the rounded coils against the seaglass making it appear as though there is a flower at the top, while it hides the wire I wrapped around the bail.

Well that’s it, another piece wire wrapped! Let me tell you it can be addictive. You get one piece finished and look for the next piece of seaglass to start wrapping. I’ve been wire wrapping for years now and I love it! I started wire wrapping with beads then a few years ago started with the seaglass. I’ve made a number of pieces and some of them are for sale in my Etsy Shop, ScrapNWrap.

I hope this tutorial was a little helpful and has inspired you to visit my ScrapNWrap Etsy shop to purchase some beautiful seaglass!

Thank you Prince Edward Island, shipwrecks and for the seaglass.

Happy wire wrapping,

Cindy

How To Find SeaGlass

September 20th 2013 Posted at The Beachcombers
2 Comments

Even today I walk the beaches and find people coming up to me and asking if this is a good beach to find seaglass? Or they question how to look for it, or where. It seems to be a high security question for most and I have never felt it deserved a high security answer. Now, if you have happened onto this by accident and you’re not the novice beachcomber then you might find this just a wee bit overwhelming. However, if on the other hand you are retired, a beginner or have time to spare, you might just want to stick around and enjoy the hunt.

When searching for seaglass you want to be sure of a couple of things before you start to explore.

The first thing being a beach, but that was a given, I just liked this picture and needed to share. Be patient, all good seaglunkers I’ve met have been extremely patient and retired of course.

Some of the necessities you might think to take along would be, a bottle of water, a bag to collect your seaglass, toilet paper just in case, and a good pair of walking shoes. Oh and a camera comes in handy because you will always find that amazing piece and someone will ask when you found it, then they will answer with “no way, you didn’t at least you will have the picture to prove it.

Preferably dry shoes not wet like these

It is best you find out from me that you can find many things on the beach and sometimes they could be upsetting for some people so be warned. Once I found a baby seal, and another time a large seal had been hit by a boat and ended up on the beach, I’ve seen sea trout that kept being rolled ashore with the surf, a pelican that looked like it hit into the edge of the cliff and then there are the plastic items that should be considered waste. Just remember the ocean is a playground to many and things happen.

Not everyone is in search of seaglass and I should mention that before I go any further, because I have found people picking up shells, rocks and petrified wood, along with teeth, and bones.

When to search is a key factor but that is entirely up to the individual and up to the amount of balance they have in their life as well. If I had ideal conditions, I would definitely be out after a storm, on a full moon, and during a very low tide.

But others seem to prefer to walk the high tide line.

You can always identify the high tide line as it has the most amount of seaweed on it and will be at the same distance along the shore line.

I more often then not prefer to be in a rocky area and the size of the stone is relative to the size of seaglass you will find as well.

I did mention I liked a low tide line, where the waves and I argue about how long I can keep my shoes dry.

With each wave takes the top layer of beach sand away back into the ocean and uncovers some of the most beautiful finds. Like this one, I’m going to try and be patient without stooping down and snatching it up before the waves come back and either totally uncover the seaglass or yet cover it up or take it away to sea entirely, lets see what happens.

Here is just the top of the piece uncovered.

Then here it is again with the next wave

I’m lucky it is still sitting waiting for me, what about the next wave? Will it uncover more?

I don’t want to take the chance and I stoop, and reach out and snatch it up before the wave comes in.

Ok, I have told you enough about seaglassing that you should be able to go off on a hunt and find some. Lets take this next picture for example, try your luck at searching for the seaglass. How many pieces can you find?

Click on the picture for full screen and search for the seaglass

Now that you have found your first number of pieces of seaglass what will you do with them? I know a number of people who just put them in a jar and watch the each day to remind them of the beach. While others bag the seaglass and sell it. Then others are just out for the hunt and they hand you seaglass when passing you on the beach. Then there are the repurpose people like myself who like to take the seaglass and make jewellery from it. Sure we have little hope and great intentions of making a sale someday but we spend far too much time on the beach and far too little time advertising our product to make a sale. I enjoy just setting it up in a gallery and listening to hear all the comments from others. If you are ever in Prince Edward Island be sure to stop by the Gallery/ Studio at 545 Malpeque Rd, Route 2, and take a peek. If I’m not busy I’ll even show you how to wire wrap a piece or two.

Happy hunting,
Cindy

Crazy Over Blue SeaGlass

September 16th 2013 Posted at Wire Wrapping
2 Comments

It never fails, I think I have wirewrapped enough seaglass for the Giftshop and all of a sudden it is the second week in July and people are asking for something I don’t got have. This time it is Cobalt Blue Seaglass, what is it with everyone going crazy over blue seaglass this year? I guess I just didn’t have enough pieces because early in the season they were all gone. I went digging in my reserves and started wirewrapping a few pieces, just to make a little headway. Good job I found a very nice piece before boarding the Ferry for Nova Scotia Saturday as I found a good wrap for it.

This is a piece of fire glass, still cobalt blue seaglass but you can see it was melted to one side.

These other pieces I have been storing away in my collection. They have a bit of a sharp edge to one side or the other and I took care when wirewrapping each piece to hid what the ocean forgot to smooth.

That’s it I’m out of cobalt blue. I’m either going to have to get back to beachcombing or start buying seaglass. I’m thinking I’d rather be at the beach, bye for now.

happy hunting,
Cindy

Antiqued Seaglass Necklace

September 16th 2013 Posted at Wire Wrapping
0 Comments

We took another road trip and this time over to Nova Scotia in search of Jewel of the Ocean, you guessed….seaglaass.

I have packed my tools and a small bag of seaglass, my table and a number of beads. Is this going to be a workcation or a mini vacation? I searched the shore while waiting for the Ferry at Wood Island, Prince Edward Island to board and cross over to Caribou, Nova Scotia. I had good luck in a number of finds and now had to get myself back to the camper before the line started to move.

The internet was slow on the ferry so I shut the lid on the computer and started to daydream. Here we are on another road trip in search of seaglass. Do I not have enough of the sparkly stuff? Why continue to collect when so many others are doing the same thing and so many are wirewrapping these days. Oh to do something different, I need to find a new look, a new design….but what?

We get up early the next morning and get out onto the beach, its windy, the waves are high and crashing the shore line and there isn’t any sun in sight.

As the sun comes up higher it is starting to look like it might turn out to be an ok day after all.

I still can’t help thinking about a new design for my seaglass jewellery. I search my mind attic for ideas and can only come up with a combination of all thing that I like jumbled together like, antique, copper, brass, charms, seaglass and steampunk. I had fun creating that night and finding a new use for yet another way to reuse seaglass into jewellery.

the next day I could hardly wait for the sun to come up so I could take a few pictures and share my new necklaces. What do you think, original? catchy? Do you think they will be a hit?

This one with the butterfly has to be my favourite.

The next one I did was with this little fairy, she is so cute.

I love the way I used the chain in this one. I’m thinking of another design using seaglass and if it is another sunny day tomorrow I’ll have to share.
Time to hit the beach again before the sun goes down.

Blessings,
Cindy

Just a Little Twist

September 1st 2013 Posted at Wire Wrapping
3 Comments

Hello my friends Hello! I’m still here in the background, lately behind a pile of laundry and a sink full of dishes. We love our little Bed and Breakfast the B&B keeps us busy and sometimes we miss a few little things in life that we enjoy, like blogging and our anniversary — ooopps.

I have been working on a few new products in the gift shop that I’d like to share. They are just a little twist from my normal seaglass wirewrapping and I hope you like them. Most of our seaglass I’m imagining comes from shipwrecks that have happened over the last hundred or so years. I love finding old pottery plates that have washed ashore and image they have come to me off pirate ships or perhaps the Titanic. My brother gave me moms set of old dishes when she passed away and I broke one of the side plates and just can’t throw it away. After a few test runs at a thrift store plate, I’m almost ready to cut a medallion from moms old plate.

Here are medallions cut from a thrift store plate.