Snow Bling (a wintery contest)

You are ice and fire~~

the touch of you burns my hands like the cold, cold snow.
Amy Lowell (1874-1925)

My friend Andria makes the most beautiful sea glass jewelry that I have ever seen. Her creations are truly stunning~~ they take my breath away.

Andria combines sea glass with beautiful beads and vintage elements to create pieces that are a vision of loveliness - in both color and design. For these fabulous designs she used copper wire to hold the pieces of glass. (I love the mix of the copper against the vibrant colors of the glass. The combination of textures combines for the creation of pieces that I can only describe as stunning!)

For Christmas, Andria designed all of the pieces shown here for me to give as gifts to friends and family. Needless to say - each recipient was thrilled beyond words with their gifts.

The glass and pottery that Andria used in these fabulous designs was collected by me on this beautiful beach in Bermuda. The Gardener and I spent hours and hours collecting pieces for me to send to Andria for the making of these unbelievable creations.

Andria created this gorgeous "fire and ice" piece as a surprise gift for me! I cannot even describe how I adore this gorgeous necklace. Blue sea glass is so treasured and so rare~~

She also created these beautiful matching earrings. Those of you who are true sea glass collectors know that blue is the rarest of colors to be found on the beaches. The Gardener and thought we had died and gone to heaven when we found this unbelievable beach that was covered in sea glass and blue was actually plentiful!

Thank you Andria for this stunning creation that is the true vision of "Fire and Ice." (As you all are reading this post - the Gardener and I are preparing to embark on a long awaited 2 week cruise to the Caribbean. I will be wearing this beautiful creation and I am sure that I will be the absolute "Belle of the Ball" when I show up at the dinner table on formal night wearing this!)

Before you run and pack your bags to take off to Bermuda - I regret to tell you that the week after we left Bermuda - the island was hit by one of the worst hurricanes in years. My sources tell me that this little hideaway beach was all but destroyed in that storm. (I will let you know after I check this out for myself later on this summer~~)

More of Andria's beautiful creations~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

~~~

Andria has a fabulous collection of sea glass jewelry pieces for sale in her ETSY shop. Each piece is unique and original - made from sea glass and pottery that came from that gorgeous beach in Bermuda. She also has this beautiful calendar for sale in her shop~~

~~~

~~~

If you have sea glass of your own that you have collected from your beach walks and travels - Andria would be happy to create a beautiful piece of jewelry for you using your own special pieces. You can contact her through her shop.

My Mama taught me that it is polite to share~~

So~ I am offering this stunning pendant ~ crafted by my friend Andria from a found pottery shard ~ as my end of winter giveaway. Are you as happy as I am that winter is almost over? Is this not a wonderful way to celebrate? A little bit of "snow bling" to celebrate the end of this long, long winter.

The contest is open to anyone ~~~ from anywhere! To enter simply leave me a comment on this post. Please enter only once. However - if you wish to post about this contest on your own wonderful blogs - please leave me a separate comment here telling me that you have done so. Andria and I would be so grateful if you would share this contest with your blogging friends. (If you post about this contest - and your name is drawn as the winner - I will also be sending you a little token souvenir from our cruise travels.)

~~~

I am also going to bring home a box of wonderful Belgian chocolates from our favorite chocolate shop in St. Martin. Our friend Beatrix makes the most delectable chocolates there. One of my lucky followers is going to win this sweet surprise. Maddy girl will pick the winners and I will post next on March 21. (it will officially be spring then!)

~~~ The Gardener and I are doing some traveling right now. We will cross the ocean, visiting the islands of St. Marteen, Antigua, St. Lucia, Barbados, Grenada, Aruba, Curaco, Bonaire, and Grenada. Please say a prayer for our safe travels~
~~

I will see you again when the days are a bit warmer and a bit longer~~~

Vicki

ps - I won some wonderful prizes in the recent OWOH event~~

This gorgeous necklace was created by Andrea from the blog My Everything Corner. Andrea is a busy stay at home Mom - she crafts and makes beautiful jewelry. Her etsy shop is filled with her lovely creations. She also has a wonderful selection of vintage jewelry pieces. I am crazy in love with this beautiful necklace - I especially love that she used so many different findings in her design - love the colors of the stones - this necklace has so much character - Thank you Andrea!!


I also won this fabulous bird themed stamp collection! Is this not THE perfect prize for me!! This wonderful gift was from Linda at the blog Lambsworld.
Linda is a mixed media artist who crafts beautiful collages and cards. She is a nurse (love her for that - me too you know!) She stays very busy with her blog and participates in many fun exchanges and activities. I would love to see her craft room - I bet it is filled with wonderful stamps and crafting materials. Linda - I adore this stamp collection - it is a perfect selection for me and it will be treasured! Thank you very very much!
xoxo V.

"Washed by the Sea"

The sea is calm and unimaginably blue~~




The waves are small and rhythmic, soothing in their repetition as they quietly and softly roll ashore. The sea is powerful and unending - it's waves rolling again and again and again. Reminding us that it is both a treasure and a threat - it can feed you, it can kill you, it can create beauty, alive - but still only drops of salted water. Reminding us also, that when small things stand together they can create power.




The glass washed by the sea, is shaped by the waves that come again and again. For me - it is a visible proof that we should never give up - that if we consistently focus on things that we want to change, that after a while, - we will finally shape it.


The Gardener and I just returned from a wonderful (and romantic) cruise to Bermuda. One of our primary tasks - to find out if the legend of the "seaglass" beach was true~~

We had no idea what was awaiting us as we climbed down the crooked little winding stairs that led from the top of the hill to the beach below. Some creative person had embellished the stone walls and staircase with bits of seaglass and pottery. That someone would take the time to create such artistry was a delight for me. It was all sort of "corny" - and yet - I so loved it ! Taking these photos was such fun!

~~~

~~~

~~~

We had found a seaglass lover's paradise! The most amazing sight - the entire beach was covered with bits of seaglass - in a variety of colors like we had never seen. Frosted whites, dark green, teal green, light green, brown, frosted brown, amber, yellow, pink, and a few precious pieces of that elusive blue!

My goal was to fill 2 gallon size zip lock bags. I could have filled 2 dump trucks! And at the shoreline, as the waves gently rocked against the sand - I listened to the constant jingle, jingle, jingle of the glass as it tumbled against the rocks and shore.

The first day that we visited the beach - we stayed there and played for over 3 hours. At one point we were trapped in a late afternoon rainstorm - so we donned our Gortex jackets and huddled under a tree against the hillside. When the rain was done - and we returned to the glass - the beach shimmered in that wet glow that makes the seaglass so beautiful. The colors were more vibrant and each piece seemed to shimmer and shine - saying "pick me - pick me"!

~~~

~~~

We carefully selected each piece of glass that we chose - finding something special about the way it looked, and curved and shined~~

~~~

Along the top of the beach - the glass was several inches thick in places. (good thing I brought those brand new water shoes!) This was one beach that you really did not want to walk on with bare feet. The glass was all tumbled and not sharp - but there was so much of it!!!

True seaglass collectors know that blue is one of the most desirable colors to be found. When you are lucky enough to find a piece of blue - it is often tiny - like this one above. (I brought home a nice bag of little pieces like this.) Those little treasures are headed to the "shorebird nests"!!

There were also bits and pieces of broken pottery - an amazing asortment of colors and designs. Can I just say that this still seems like a dream that we had really found such a place as this!

This view is of the "other side" of the seaglass beach. As you climb down the stairs - you can see that there is a beach on each side. We had to come back on a second day to scour this side of the beach. And when we did - the first thing I found was a beautiful piece of sapphire blue glass laying right at my feet!

See our happy "seaglass" smiles! Don't you love my fashionable pink water shoes! When we returned to the ship - don't you just know that I washed and examined every piece of glass - still unbelieving that we had found such treasures.

Legend has it that a kiss under a moon gate will bring you "forever love" and make your most secret wishes come true. This beautiful Moon Gate was not far from one of the seaglass beaches that we found. Bermuda is famous for their novelty Moon Gates. I will tell you more about this very special moon gate in a little bit when I post more photos of our wonderful trip.

~~~

As summer draws to an end here for us all - I hope that you have enjoyed the bright and sunny days. Fall is in the air - I can smell it, I can feel it, I can sense it in the wind. Visit with me on October 1, if you can, for a special welcome to the Autumn season. And if you are waiting on those "shorebird nests" - they will be coming up soon!

Vicki