I took today off. It was incredibly warm and sunny, such a departure from the chill we’ve had since November. What an amazing day it was! Funny, because I got an email this morning from a friend in Berlin. He said its minus 18 degrees Celsius there (that’s about zero in Fahrenheit). I lived in that great city for almost 17 years and even though I miss it and my friends there, there’s just nothing like living in Ventura.
I went to the beach to check the surf, board and wetsuit always ready in my Honda Element, the quintessential surfmobile.
Surf was tiny, and getting smaller with the dropping tide.
So I opted to enjoy the beach instead and search for sea glass (low tide is a good time to do this), which I use in some of my jewelry designs.
I had my iphone along, so it was easy to take some pictures and share this day with you.
I skipped through the tide pools barefoot and with shorts on for the first time in many months. Pure pleasure!
It was a typical summer day at the beach in California. Lots of Mexican families, people hanging out, kids playing in the water.
These three tykes were having a blast repurposing garbage into fun toys. They were filling empty Cheetos bags with water and dumping the contents on each other’s heads. This is a scene typical just on just about any beach in the world, Bali, Panama, Hawai’i, I’ve seen it everywhere. Kids are the same everywhere.
I usually don’t have time to search for sea glass. It was so nice just to shut down the brain and relax wandering up and down the beach for a spell. My friend Tracy collects most of the sea glass we use in my jewelry collection in her daily walks on the beach. I also started a sea glass exchange program with other local beachcombers that now brings in additional supplies to help me keep up with the demand for my designs.
I was truly stoked to find a sizeable rare blue piece, perfect for a pendant design!
This was an odd thing to find at the beach. At least, I’ve never seen it before.
Mushrooms growing in the sand.
I much enjoyed watching the sandpipers scurry back and forth on the wet sand with the tide chasing them. Looking at their cute little bird footprints next to mine was inspiration enough for a snapshot.
This is my sea glass booty I took home. You can see some of the pieces that I already set aside to make two pendants and a ring. There are two very interesting light green milky glass pieces I found and a piece of light blue tile is shown as well.
This is what the jewelry looks like when it’s finished. My silversmith in Bali does excellent work with the raised open back bezels and box hinges, all hand-crafted in Bali. We use the sea glass pieces the way we find them, shaped by the ocean’s movement and rocks and sand, and I love repurposing found objects without taking away from the environment they come from. My designs are sold in boutiques and better surf shops around the world and on my website, Bettybelts.com. People really enjoy having small piece of California to wear.
Thank you for joining me!
Donna
Had to laugh at the barefeet on the rocks! Only the locals could walk on the stones, the tourists feet were too tender!
What a great day that makes me miss my homes in Hawaii and Florida! We have had nothing but (state of emergencies)snow and rain plus flooding here in the PNW.
Great pictures! Makes me want to go back to tropical weather sooooo bad! The foot prints picture is priceless. Gotta frame that! It seems all the pictures on the site are very well done. Great photography.
Now I want to dump out my jar of beach glass and shells and see if I can get my creative juices going again! I love what you did with them. Would look so cool as a choker. but, I am in need of some practice, it has been a while. For now, I will come here to find great treasures, become inspired, and relive my past through your fine photos!
Thank you for sharing your stoke, Michele!