Does anyone make Sea Glass jewellery?

[LaurieFairyCake]

Do you varnish your pieces so they have the wet look or leave them dry and frosted looking (both look lovely but different)

Bump

I don't make them but I think they should be frosted as that is what sea glass should look like. Varnishing seems wrong somehow!

Do you make your sea glass in a tumbling machine or do you collect from the beach? If you tumble the glass you can experiment with different effects depending on how long you process it.

Don't on any account varnish it, you will lose any natural effect and it will look plastic.

I'm collecting from along the shoreline in London, I've got some fabulous bits but they definitely look better wet as they've got stripes/spots

I've put vegetable oil on the little yellow piece as an experiment and licked the two blue ones

The frosted plain seafoam one looks lovely left as is but I do think the stripes look better wet

I'm wondering about doing different finishes

I've also found brass buttons, pins, bits of clay pipes I might add silver mountings too

I've never made sea glass jewellery but I love looking for sea glass on the beach.
I used to spend ages at low tide looking for stuff in the Thames, I've got jars full of the pipes, bits of crockery, glass, buttons and horses teeth (a bit macabre but still fascinating!)

You might be right about the striped ones. What do they look like frosted?

I want to go hunting along the banks of the Thames!!

That sounds fascinating, love the idea of macabre jars. There's so much good stuff down there. I've got a tiny round (probably willow pattern) perfectly smooth pottery Shard that would look lovely mounted

I've also got one of my puppies baby teeth I'm thinking about mounting Think it would be very cool

I'm too much of a wuss to go alone though.

Ok the striped ones have dried off now from the licking and they look 'ok' but not amazing imo.

My dog ate all his puppy teeth

I would varnish the spot/stripes. I agree that they look better. The "traditional" sea glass ones should stay frosted though.

You can go alone Soup! There's hundreds of people walking down the south bank and you're only 15 feet from them. The steps just after the wharf of shops has the best access.

All my bits are from Greenwich where I am. I'd love to sell them in rings and pendants at the market but the stalls are quite expensive I think.

I've ordered silver to come so hopefully I can get playing around with them

I've just washed off this tiny one and it's so pretty!

Whenever I went to look for stuff there were always several people doing the same. I used to go on the South bank, I've even taken kids down there to search (although there can be sharp bits and pieces so keep an eye on what they are picking up).

It's just my personal wussiness that stops me. Having loads of strangers there doesn't help :o I might have to take DD (11) along.

I've been down on the beach between Waterloo Bridge andBlackfriars Bridge but it was evening (I was geocaching) and there seemed to be mainly bricks and flint :)

I might even buy a metal detector

Flints good if you find an arrowhead? That would look amazing mounted

I read last year in that book 'how to be a tudor' that there were literally millions of pins (hair) along the shore line - and that's where the phrase pin money comes from. Women used to buy hundreds as they pinned their frocks together, pinned their bodices and lace etc.

I read somewhere that you have to be careful about bringing small children as there can be diseases carried by the rats that live down by the Thames. I have to admit that put me off going, but perhaps I should just do it. I don't love too far from the south bank and it sounds like something I would really like.

These were full flint rocks, although I didn't search too much. It was dark for a start!

I've just looked up the tides for London Bridge for Saturday. high seems to be 2:27pm and low at 9pm. I ignored the morning ones.

I think you have to make sure you have no cuts. Gloves are probably a good idea.

How lovely. I used to live in Greenwich. Wishing I had ventured down the steps to search for glass now!

Right, now I just need a shop name for my fantasy found jewellery

Greenwich found jewellery?

River Findings?