Happy Earth Day! Keeping it Green..

There's been much talk and ideas for sustainability today, with even a bit of common sense 
re-thinking. Thought I'd include some of Glasswing Jewellery's green pieces in honour of the day
- all in recycled silver (apart from the chain - unfortunately I still can't find recycled silver chains).

Stack of Glasswing rings, with bezel set emerald, recycled silver

Trio sea glass bangle

Green sea glass bezel set ring pendant, recycled silver

Pale aqua green sea glass cufflinks

Two tone green sea glass stacker earrings, recycled silver

green sea glass bezel set ring, recycled silver

Glasswing summer wrapped aqua sea glass earrings

These aqua wrapped sea glass, for some reason just really make me think of long summery days by the sea - maybe because they're just so simple, kind of practical - (they do what they say on the tin) and they really are all about the sea glass.

Cornish aqua wrapped sea glass earrings

Glasswing - "Negys a'n Mis" the MAGA business of the month!

I'm really pleased that Glasswing Jewellery has been chosen as "Business of the Month" for July, by MAGA the Cornish Language Partnership, which was set up in 2005 to oversee the implementation of the Cornish Language Development Strategy. This is in recognition for my use and promotion of the Cornish language in my work.

Stamped sea glass pendant with Cornish stamping -

"Kowethes Kerra - Best Friend"

I've been using the MAGA partnership for translations for stampings on my jewellery now for some time, - it's a free service, and the translations are checked and double checked by the lovely Cornish Language experts in the partnership. It's great because I know I have the best translation possible for my work - and for my customers the assurance that their jewellery has just the right words, in terms of gender and tense, for their heartfelt messages to loved ones.

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Not only that, Glasswing now has it's first certificate to proudly hang in the workshop and the Glasswing website!

That's more like it.....

Great beach, big sky ~ bliss

This was the view in my right eye as I lay down on the sand today. This evening the wetsuits are drying in the garden. There is sand in the hallway again. Beach life is back. All is well.

I'm going to resist to urge to describe at length the sheer joy and rare relaxation I felt watching the children playing on their bodyboards, in a large pool left by the retreating tide. Or the unexpected pleasure of watching two smiling teenage boys spontaneously doing Duelling Banjos (well, one had a guitar) on the rocks behind us, and everyone's grateful appreciation of their music, young or old. Suffice to say today was just a stonkingly lovely day.

So with things back to normal on the beach front, there has not been much time for blogging. Last week in the workshop was productive though, using the sea glass we found in the new cove we discovered. Here are some of the new sea glass earrings, these and the rest can be found in my Etsy shop.

Another pair of stacker earrings, which I love. They hang at just around 3" long. My pair are getting loads of compliments. This pair is made with 2 pieces of sea glass, rather than recycled glass. Finished with subtle frosted recycled beads.
These are cold forged sterling silver, with pale aqua and white tone sea glass, found on our secret Cornish cove, and hand drilled in my workshop. The 'spines' of the earrings are hammered flat to prevent the beads coming off - really simple, and absolutely stunning.

Ridged sea glass spiral hoop earrings. The sea glass and the silver spirals are removable, so you've kind of got three pairs in one - the plain cold forged (by me) hoops (approx 1" diameter), plain sea glass hoops, silver spiral hoops, or the sea glass and spirals on the hoops (as pictured). That's four pairs in one actually!
I was amazed to find these two pieces of this lovely ridged glass that matched so well.
Drilling them was quite nerve racking. But it was worth it.

Wave sea glass earrings

These are so clean looking on,
love the length, and that they are all one piece.

Same only not looking at you.

Beach life resumed?

Back to beach life, kind of...

Dare I say it? After approximately two weeks the rain seems to have stopped. Sunday greeted us looking like the kind of day you could trust your washing with. There's not been many of those lately. The gallons of water that have fallen out of the sky have left us with knee high grass and rampant triffids that were once nasturtiums, strangling our garden. I ventured out there this morning, followed by my peg bearer (the bean), and we surveyed our little jungle with awe.

A rare moment of quiet on the roof

There is one thing around here at this time of year which is the same come rain or shine, the manic (Herring) seagull activity. You don’t just hear a few gulls exchanging pleasantries, not like civilised bird folk. On the contrary, having returned to breed yet again (it's the same pairs every year) these brutes are noisy – in fact entering the garden you feel like some hapless screw interrupting yard-time at the seagull slammer. There are gull gangs on every roof, as far as the eye can’t see (but rest assured they can see you), squawking raucously. Presumably they are warning the posse about something they think you might do to them or their offspring should you decide to fly up to their turf. They just haven't got it yet - no wings. This continues for the duration, whilst you're pegging out the washing, or any other suspicious activity you are engaged in. If they think you look really shifty, or you are a dog, they’ll even dive bomb you for extra sport.

Making friends

So this morning, after running the seagull gauntlet, with the washing out and flapping happily in a sunny breeze, we logged on and checked the tide times. Then we headed off for a spot of beachcombing, after we'd had a tip off about a great spot for some serious sea glass pickings along the waterline. It felt so good to be leaving the house with buckets, spades and toast, rather than wet weather gear, and to see the kids go free range on the sand again at last.

Sea glass Bonanza!

Our sea glass haul was fantastic. My wrecking crew and I found some lovely pieces that really glow. I have learned that this 'glowing' effect is caused by the prolonged immersion of the glass in sea water (chemical changes), often over years, and of course, there is nothing like the beautiful smoothed and frosted effects caused by the constant tumbling in the surf, against rocks and sand. I can’t wait to get down into the workshop.

Here are some I made earlier, these can be found in my shop

Green Cornish Sea glass and recycled beads
sterling silver stacker earrings

The Rain it Raineth...and raineth

The Rain it Raineth Everyday, Norman Garstin, 1889

One of the paintings most strongly associated with Penzance is the striking "The Rain it Raineth Everyday" of Penzance Prom, by Norman Garstin painted in 1889. The original is in the wonderful Penlee House Gallery and Museum. The gallery stands in the gorgeous Penlee Park, in the centre of Penzance. I've always loved this painting, inspired as it is by the Impressionists, and the Japanese aesthetic. We always make a point of going to see it whenever we visit the gallery for events or exhibitions. I was delighted when I picked up a framed hardback print of it, of fairly decent size and quality, from the amenity tip (one of my favourite places to look for tools and useful stuff for the workshop) for 50p last year.

Yes, it's still raining. At this point, a subtle kind of cabin fever is slowly but surely gathering like a dark cloud in our place. We are getting out and about despite the downpours, but the freedoms of summer (beach life, park life) seem a distant dream, and we are redeveloping that weary winter posture, and reluctantly replacing flipflops with boots. The kids are restless, the washing is piling up, and the grass in the garden is topping a foot in some places.

View from the allotment

We survived the weekend, just. The highlight (apart from the Wimbledon finals) was spending Sunday morning on a friend's allotment, during a brief break in the clouds. It was hard but someone had to do it. We have been given the responsibility of picking (and eating) all the soft fruit for them while they are away. "Oh go on then, we'll do it..." Nothing like a spot of neighbourliness to make you feel noble - and bloated. When the grind got too much, we retired to their garden bench with a flask . Sunday morning coffee never tasted so good!

One thing about bad weather, there's no longer an excuse to put off work! I managed to get down to drilling the seaglass we've been collecting on more clement days. My workshop is slowly returning to full production mode, and I am loving rediscovering the brilliance of silversmithing. I listed these in my shop today.

Seaglass and recycled glass sterling silver stack earrings
( seaglass found on St Ives Harbour beach)




Seaglass and silver spiral hoops
(seaglass found on Pentewan beach)


Mermaid's seaglass earrings
(Seaglass found on St Ives Harbour beach)

Life's a beach

Praa Sands Kieran's photo

Sunshine on a rainy day

Summer beach life has been suspended for two days now, and given way to warm weather rain. The garden loves it, I love it, and the kids love it – as witnessed by all the people hanging out at Penzance bus station this morning, when the bean (two year old son) lay down in as many puddles as he could, as I poured his sleepy older sister and her toast on to the school bus.

There’s two distinct types of beach life here in Cornwall, at least for our family, put simply ~ winter beach life, and summer beach life. Winter beach life: mostly characterised by periodic blustery beach walks – brief, but strangely rewarding. These involve a sort of determined shoulder-hunched, hands in pockets, billow-trousered stride down to the water’s edge. Once there you pause for a moment, pained grin under a tightly tied hood, and take an exaggerated intake of ‘mmm fresh air’. Enjoying a rare moment alone as the kids play tug of war with a huge length of slimy seaweed, you look out to the wild white seas, and start to feel the wind penetrate your trousers. Pretty soon it's in to every other layer, no matter how ‘outdoorsy’, the goose bumps are rising up your whole body - the back of your head, then your cheeks, until fairly soon you are officially freezing. Defeated and shivering, having been on the beach for all of twelve minutes, you beckon the troops (who are so hot there’s a cloud of steam around them). You then fight the wintery gusts to get back up the beach to the car. Stuffing children, wet coats, arms, legs, and bits of seaweed in to the slightly swaying vehicle, you finally launch yourself in just as the wind whips the door shut.

Then you set off in search of a rare café that actually opens in the winter. If you’re lucky the rest of afternoon is spent enjoying mugs of hot chocolate and cakes, ears stinging, and feeling rather intrepid. (This beach life is particularly successful if experienced on occasions such as Christmas Day, when the cosy après beach rewards are extra delicious, and warming).

finding seaglass

Now, summer beach life is a different thing entirely. It’s a kind of ongoing state of being – both on and off the beach. When I lived in cities, if the sun came out, I always had the feeling that summer was going on elsewhere, without me, and the city sunshine was just a rather cruel reminder of what I was missing. Well, it was, and it's here! If we’re not off to Woodcraft Folk or Cornish Dancing or any of the other after school activities we seem to shuttlecock between each afternoon, then it’s off down the beach for tea .

There’s nothing quite like reading Biff and Chip in your school uniform, sitting on a body board, eating an egg sandwich. Or at least I don’t reckon there is, I don’t know, I’m not 6. But I know that would have been pretty cool when I was a kid.

Praa sands

Summer time in our place is measured by the progress in the washing cycle of swimming costumes and towels, and how dry the wetsuits are. The passing weeks are counted by the depth of the tan (dirt?) on the back of the children’s necks, the build up of sand in my bag, and how hard the skin on the soles of our feet has become. Buckets and spades start to breed, becoming lodged in almost every corner of the car, garden, bathroom….

I know it’s summer when my pockets are full of seaglass, which I do want (see below), and loads of other flotsam that I don’t, put there without me even noticing by smaller but equally avid beachcombers.

At weekends, in stark contrast to the winter, there’s no limit on where to go and what to do, the only problem is deciding which of our fabulous beaches to go to.

rockpool treasures

Actually, rain rain go away…I think the garden’s had enough now, we want to get down on that beach.

Oxidised silver and seaglass earrings.

Available in my Esty shop