Sea Glassing in Cape Breton

We just spent a fabulous weekend in Cape Breton, sea glassing, snorkeling, and getting fattened up by my mother's cooking. Its as good as life gets. And then some. We found some truly beautiful pieces of glass, including the one above, but what takes the cake are the thousands of pieces my parents have gathered (and sorted!) since the ice melted off the beaches a few short months ago. Stunning pieces of glass and pottery that are screaming to be made into necklaces, earrings and art. They'll have to scream a bit longer as I have to work at my Other Life Job tomorrow, and then work on some custom orders, but should have some new pieces ready for my etsy shop by the end of the week.



Neil's Harbour beach, where I grew up. My father was a lobster fisherman and once was caretaker for the lighthouse.



Shyloh, patiently waiting for someone to throw her stick, wondering why her people spend so much time poking around on the beach.

VivalaModa Online Magazine

Have you checked out VivaLaModa, online magazine? Its an amazing collection of handmade, independent designers, vintage, and all things beautiful. We are very happy to have our sea pottery necklace featured along side other jewelry designers in their Beachcombing article. Warning: I lost myself for half an hour in the magazine, beautiful finds!

Little Sea Creature

The newest addition to our Little Sea Creature necklaces, our aqua jellyfish. The sea glass used in the piece is quite thick and you can see little bubbles in the glass, which usually means that the piece is very old, before glass was mass produced. One of my favourite things about making jewelry with sea glass is resusing what was once discarded material, and giving it new life. He'll be joining the rest of his family in our etsy shop and after that, who knows where he'll be off to? A well traveled jellyfish. Anyone have a wonderful idea for another sea creature to tackle?

ROAD TRIP WINNERS!

Congrats to the Trans Canada Etsy Team Road Trip contest winners! Etsy user Nepp145 won the gorgeous prize pack and HipEHoops won the rug. We had lots of entries and lots of fun, thank you to everyone who participated.

TRANS CANADA ROAD TRIP EVENT!

Our wonderful Trans Canada Etsy Team is having a virtual road trip and we are giving away two amazing prizes! The promotion runs from June 20th to July 1st.

During this time, when you make a purchase from a participating shop, you automatically earn one ticket into a prize draw for every $10 you spend (before shipping is added to the total). So if you spend $10, you will get one ticket. If you spend $50, you get 5 tickets.

If you mention the promotional code "Road Trip" in the notes to seller when you check out, you can earn one additional ticket into the prize draw.

There are two incredible prizes!

A $350 Prize Pack consisting of all these handmade items:


And a $175 Handwoven Rag Rug:


The rag rug was woven by Pegg, FiveForty, using tshirts that were sent to her from all the participating team members across Canada. It is a wonderful collaboration bringing together our members from coast to coast, and beautifully executed by Fiveforty through her artistry and skill.

So here is how you win! From June 20th to July 1st, any purchase you make from the participating shops will get your name into the draw. You get one ballot for every $10 that you spend. On July 2nd, we will draw for the winners. Remember, if you mention the promo code "Road Trip" when you make your purchase, you will get one extra ballot!



Here is a list of participating shops and prizes that each shop has donated to the prize pack. Remember, you earn 1 ticket for each $10 you spend (prior to shipping costs) in these shops:


Enthral
(prize pack contribution: three pairs of earrings and a set of hair elastics, retail value $22)

Five Forty
(prize pack contribution: a suncatcher, retail value $42)

MyHandboundBooks
(prize pack contribution: leather journal, retail value $39)

i Heart That Dance
(prize pack contribution: handmade bag, retail value $35)

Laura Bucci
(prize pack contribution: cup cozy, retail value $12)

rjcharms
(prize pack contribution: earrings and a bookmark, retail value $17)

Rikrak
(prize pack contribution: bib, retail value $21)

Off the Hooks
(prize pack contribution: crocheted hat, retail value $20)

Too Aquarius
(prize pack contribution: two necklaces, retail value $20)

Pixel8ed
(prize pack contribution: recipe book, retail value $10)

Tangente
(prize pack contribution: a catnip mouse, retail value $8)

Inkyspider
(prize pack contribution: brooch, retail value $9)

Kootsac
(prize pack contribution: set of reusable produce bags, retail value $10.50)

Prairie Peasant
(prize pack contribution: journal, retail value $20)

Carvel Country soaps
(prize pack contribution: $20 gift certificate)

Bovine Bubbles
(prize pack contribution: $20 gift certificate)

Sea Glass Designs
(prize pack contribution: necklace)

Piggy Tails
(prize pack contribution: stationary)

String Me Along
(prize pack contribution: set of hair pins, retail value $27)

Paisley Baby
(prize pack contribution: wet bag, retail value $13)

We hope you have fun participating in our virtual road trip, Happy Canada Day!



*It is also possible to get one entry without making a purchase by writing a short essay describing your favorite Canadian thing (place, person, food, book, band, artist etc) Tell us why you love it and what it means to you. Then, send in your entry by contacting Sara through her Etsy shop.

BOTANICALS

June is one of my favourite months- our gardens, without a sign of life just a month or two ago, are green and lush, with spring flowers spilling over the grass and drinking up the rain. To celebrate, we've chosen some of our favourite pieces of sea pottery with botanical prints and adorned them with whimsical, tendril-like sterling silver bails, just in time for summer. Our botanical pieces are newly listed in our etsy shop

LOULOU Feature!

We're very excited to have one of our necklaces in LOULOU magazine's June issue! LOULOU is Canada's shopping magazine. Look for us on page 40, Eco-Buzz, featuring earth friendly products (you may have to look hard, because its a tiny picture, but exciting nonetheless!).