Monday, March 24, 2014

Collections - Sea Glass

I'm finally getting my butt into gear and showing you some of the things I collect. I've been collecting sea glass for a few years now, I remember Ben picking some up at the beach and I didn't really know what it was, after Ben explained it was broken glass that (over time) had been smoothed by the ocean I fell in love straight away. We both have a love for the man-made that nature has reclaimed and made even more beautiful. Sea glass is such a good example of that - I mean broken glass into treasure - how awesome.

Since I've been collecting a few years, I've become super fussy as to the pieces I keep.


Browns are the most common and therefore I'm probably the strictest in which pieces I keep, they have to be completely smooth on all sides and they have to look pretty, I like pieces that are frosty but not too frosty (ha ha - yup I'm picky!)


What I'm not picky on are purples and dark blues, you can see in the top image my only two purple pieces (super precious) and then above are my blues. Karla, my room mate, actually brought me back a couple of those darker blue pieces from her trip to Thailand - she said she was searching for purples pieces but couldn't even imagine what bottle they'd come from - needless to say I was super over joyed at the blues!

At the beaches I go to (Sunshine Coast/QLD/Australia), the browns are the easiest to find, followed by white, followed by green, followed by the light blues - I found this guide which is pretty interesting talking about the rarity of colours (from their beaches in America) - gosh I'd love to find a piece of red or yellow!

They list the light amber or honey browns as not easy to find so I'd say it really is dependent on your area, there is also this guide from people who collect from the beaches of Puerto Rico who list all browns as common.  

Did you know sea glass can take up to 40 years to go through the tumbling and smoothing process. I probably read that from a not too credible site but I'm sure it does still take years. I actually make up little stories in my head like my pieces coming from bottles people drank on the titanic which I know was way more than 40 years ago but sometimes my fantasies don't carry logic.

Precious treasures and completely free too!

Do you guys collect seaglass and do you have a favourite colour?

I actually blogged about finding one of the purple pieces over here. One of the many reasons I love blogging because I never would of remembered that story otherwise

17 comments:

  1. This is a stunning post! I love your collection and the way you displayed them just now. Sea glass has always intrigued me, but I hardly ever visit a beach, so collecting them would be very very tricky for me. I know I have one piece somewhere though.
    I love those very light sea foamy green/blue colors. Purple does look really magical! Had never seen that before!

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    1. Aww thank-you so much :) It definitely helps that I love close to beaches to keep my hobby alive. I agree those sea foam green are super pretty, I always get excited when I see one of them!

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  2. uau such a huge collection,Fee :D
    I love sea glass but i don't got as often as o used to so my collection is very tiny compared to yours!
    i love green and orange tones!
    i have a lot of sea shells i left at my parents house and i also have a lot of rocks <3
    Last week i brought a beautiful wood branch totally bleached and smooth by the sea and i am thinking about going there again and look for more wood!

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    1. I too collect shells and rocks which I'll photograph and share - it sounds funny to say you pick up rocks but some can be so beautiful! That branch sounds amazing Sara - now I'm going to add wood to my treasure hunting :)

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    2. rokcs can be pretty,yes! and i hope i can soon take a picture of my branch to show it up on the blog .D

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  3. i come to your blog and delighted to see all your beautiful photos but also always learn something new! this is so neat! itching to go looking for some!

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  4. What a beautiful collection. You have inspired me to start collecting sea glass! I already collect smooth stones, and like you am very fussy, they have to be suuuper smooth and perfect shape. I also have a few pieces of sea tile (is that what it is called?!) from Greece, smoothed down remnants of white tiles with a shiny blue top. Love them.

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    1. Smooth stones are awesome too - I remember watching an episode of the show hoarders where a lady is obsessed with rocks and although I could see it being slightly crazy I could also totally relate to her explanation about how nice they feel and how pretty they are and feeling kind of bad if you leave some behind - okay maybe I am a hoarder :P That sea tile sounds awesome - definitely adding them to my treasure hunt mission!

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  5. lovely. I used to collect it as a child... maybe I find a few pieces along the beach down here :)

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    1. If you do you'll have to report what colours are most common in Abu Dhabi - I think it would be interesting!

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  6. Such a lovely collection! I really like how the sea glass pieces look so organic, almost like raw gems.

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    1. yes - couldn't agree more - I feel like I'm finding gems even though they are really just bits of broken glass!

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