Looking Back at a Past Collection

When I was a kid…

I grew up spending the weekends and most of our summer vacations at my grandparents house down the shore. My grandfather built the house when my mom was young so it was always a place we go every summer. From 10am until 5pm our days were spent on the beach. Sandy peanut butter and jelly or ham and cheese sandwiches were our lunch and keeping an eye out for the seagulls who were trying to steal our food out of our hands was a thing back then too.

We would take long walks on the beach and always find lots of treasures to bring home. My sister found a live mussel once. She filled a bucket with water and brought it back to the house to keep as a pet. My grandfather told her he would take care of it for her and he walked away with it. Next thing you know he cooked it up and then he ate it! Looking back it was pretty funny, but not really sure my sister thought so at the time.

My love of the beach…

So not only did we go down the shore every summer, but I also brought a lot of the shore back home with me. When I was a teenager my room was decorated with all the treasures I had found on the beach. Huge shells, starfish, abalone, sea urchins and anything else ocean related that I could afford to buy at the gift shop where my grandmother worked every summer also came home with me. Eventually I had so many treasures that I ran out of room to display them all.

Eventually my grandfather passed away and my grandmother sold the shore house. We were so sad that we no longer had our childhood home away from home. I have moved multiple times since then. Every move involved bringing the boxes of beach treasures with me but after a while the boxes never got unpacked.

Fast forward to a few years ago…

I went to a gem show a few years back and came across some carved bone pieces that I couldn’t resist purchasing. Quite a few of them were of marine life. When I eventually decided it was time to put these pieces to use I pulled out my boxes of beach treasures from the attic to see what I had that I could use. It was so much fun to see all of my forgotten treasures!

Some of those treasures made their way into some of these pieces. I used my metal stamps to recreate the motion of the waves and also the bubbles that come from under the water. The stones I used were all ocean colors. My love of the beach was shining through!

The reason I am looking back at this collection today…

Even though the beach is not too far from me I have not been there very often. There have been summers that have gone by that left me never putting a foot in the sand. And this went on for years. Life got in the way I guess. But this summer has been different. I have gone multiple times with my best friend and also with my family. It has brought back some really great memories and helped to make some really fun new ones. I forgot how much I loved being down the shore. Sand in between my toes, salt water on my face and of course collecting beach treasures.

Sometimes looking back helps you move forward. I still have those boxes full of treasures I collected as a kid. Not to mention some carved bone starfish and seahorse pieces I bought at that gem show that I haven’t used yet. The pieces in these photos all have sold. But I am really feeling all the beach vibes this summer so a new beach collection may be in the works…. eventually….I am still working on finding all the right beach treasures I want to use.

To see what I have available for purchase now you can go to my website. You can also see what I am up to on a daily basis by following me on Instagram.