Time in the garden

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. -Mohandas K. Gandhi 

 It's always amazing to me how gardening is a metaphor for life. Spring always brings new beginnings, new desires, new dreams. I seemed to have ignored my blog, just as I put away the fruits of my past gardens. Allowing the blog to lay dormant over the winter, and now that springtime is in full glory here in Michigan my thoughts have returned to it just as I have tended to my spring time garden. It's not to say I haven't been busy-so many new sea glass designs-I'll share them with you soon! But, in the mean time here's a few pictures of my just planted garden.  We went to the plant sale on Belle Isle this Saturday-I love supporting the agroscience students. They grow a wide variety of plants-including tons of heirloom tomato varieties.

 Plant sale at Belle Isle

 A few of the plants on the deck-I hope we can move them when we get the deck refinished!

 My 3 year old blueberry bush-I think we will have enough blueberries for a pie this year, that is if I can keep the birds out!

 This might not be the garden of my dreams-but in my little spot I have  tomatoes, peppers, beans and herbs-enough to keep me happy.

You just can't feed the body-you have to feed your soul too.

I've moved to Artfire!

It seems like a long time since I last posted, and looking back it has been! So many things have been happening in my life, some good, some sad, I really didn't take the time to share them with you.

In December, my best friend passed away. She had been suffering the effects of diabetes for many years, having undergone multiple amputations and dialysis for many years just to keep her alive. I just really miss her. You can not know how many times I pick up the phone to give her a call...and then realize that I won't here her voice again. We had been friends for over 30 years-all of my adult life. I have been so lucky to have known and had a friend like her. I know It is rare in this day and age to keep friends for so long. We been through husbands and loves, good times and bad times, we've shared all the secrets you only tell your best friend. Through it all we could always count on having each other.

I hope that you have that someone special in your life...that being said, I've looked at a lot of things in my life. I realized just how important jewelry designing is in my life. It truly is a passion that I enjoy. So looking forward to promoting my business in new way, I looked at the venues I have been using. I decided to move my studio to Artfire I hope you will check out my new studio. I'm going to be concentrating on my sea glass jewelry. I look forward to sharing much more with you in the future. I hope you'll stop by and see all the good things to come.

Peace to all of you!
Felicia

My Sea/Beach Glass collecting trip to the Lake Erie Shore

I've always loved the water. Growing up  and living in Michigan means that you're never more than about  an hour from one of the Great Lakes. I can remember combing the beaches for all sorts of treasures-but it wasn't until I was an adult that I first found a piece of beach glass. I had collected a few jars full-and then used them to line a fish tank. But I never thought to use them in jewelry until recently. Now I've become almost obsessed with finding these jewels.

After a bit of research, I decided to set off to Ohio, on the the southern shores of Lake Erie near Cleveland to look for some glass. I found another collector who offered a collecting trip and off I went! A three hour trip from my home I set off at 3 am to go on my venture. I met up with out host Jen Morrow and three others and off we went!

We hit a couple of great beaches  near Cleveland and this is some of what I found:

I was really excited about my collecting trip...after only about 5 minutes I found this rare treasure:

I was really happy to find this marble!

When I sorted through my pieces of glass I found these pieces of patterned  glass:

 You have to look closely-but those pieces in the center have patterns! I also found a few pieces of pottery:

Not too bad for a few hours of searching. Now I can't wait to go back. Here's one of the pieces that I turned into a  wire wrapped pendant:

The trip was wonderful, the new friends I met were great. If you're ever in the Cleveland area I highly recommend  looking up GenuineBeachGlass.com.
Jen and her husband Don are talented artisans whose work is certainly worth taking a look at.