Stock up for Summer with Beautiful Coastal Pieces by Bancroft Studios!

Oh heck - these pieces are not just for summer - they are just delightful to use all year long!

Brooke Pickering of Bancroft Studios - and fellow Boston Handmade member - has become a good friend of mine over the past months. We live a stones throw away from each other on the beautiful North Shore, MA coast in Salem & Marblehead. I first discovered Brooke's work on Etsy - and was so impressed by her workmanship - she just had to join Boston Handmade... and of course she was accepted!

She uses the love for the coast in all of her work - as each collection is "ocean inspired". All pieces are hand poured in a slip cast method, hand painted and hand finished in her Salem, MA studio. Besides her stunning pottery - she does these amazing wall plaques that can be viewed & purchased here!

The following collections can be viewed and purchased directly from wwww.bancroftsudios.com - The Marblehead Collection, The Chesapeake Bay Collection, The Cape Cod Collection, The Blue Star & Green Shell Tableware, The Coral Collection and the Seaweed Collection. The Cape Cod collection particularly takes her a good deal of time with all the detail that goes into the hydrangeas. They all are so different, detailed & vibrant that you can't go wrong with any.

Bancroft Studios deals heavily in wholesale - so if interested drop her a line! Check out Brooke Pickering's work at her following shop locations: wwww.bancroftsudios.com ~ Bancroft Studios on Etsy ~ Bancroft Studios on 1000 Markets.

*All photos used are the sole property of Brooke Pickering of Bancroft Studios

Sea Glass Stitch Markers Now Available!

New offerings at Sea Glass Things this fall! Sea Glass stitch markers are now available in my Etsy store with more to come!

The stitch markers are a fun accessory for yarn enthusiasts and also make great gifts for the holiday season. Each set of 6 stitch markers also comes with a row marker... be on the look out for sea glass knitting needles as well! Check out Sea Glass Things for great holiday gift ideas.

First Ever Boston Handmade Marketplace - Fabulous Handmade Items from New England Etsy Artists

The Somerville Arts Council and The Boston Handmade present an ArtsUnion event! Also in conjunction with Etsy and the Mass Cultural Council - the Etsy Boston Handmade Street team will be well represented by a diverse group of New England Artists.

This is the first show in which the Boston Handmade team has come together to present fabulous handmade goods - art, jewelry, photography, handbags, children's items, clothing, home goods, pottery, glass and more!

Local artists include: Stonehouse Studio, Lucky Monkey, Made In Lowell, Amy Olson Jewelry, Little Wishes, Lucie Wicker Photography, Designs by Lulubelle, Two Guitars, Elizabeth Brennick Designs, Reclaimed To You, Nancyrosetta, Fern Animals, Fraske Designs, Tanner Glass, All Dunn, Blue Alvarez, Sea Glass Things, Bergman's Bear, The Hole Thing, Mimi Kirchner, muchacha K, Pogibabies Handmade, Vintage by Crystal, Glamourpuss Creations, Twigs and Heather, Amy Burhoe Designs, Paper Menagerie, and Cozy Cottage Creations






Come join in for craft demonstrations and live music with local bands: The Grownup Noise & James Christensen - an event you won't want to miss!












Details:
Saturday June 28th, 3-7PM
(Rain date June 29th)
Union Square, Somerville, MA

Visit the Boston Handmade site for more information and directions!

Sea Glass Pens....AH - Finally Something Beachy Keen To Write With!

OK - so I haven't posted in a while - longer than I like. I finally finished a custom order for a fantastic repeat customer for 7 more sea glass pens. They look beautiful and write like butter - great gift idea when you are stumped - can't go wrong with these!

Cultivating Sea Glass & Shipwreck Pottery: Collecting Pieces of History

As an avid sea glass & shipwreck pottery collector - my passion for these fragments leads me on numerous coastal journeys. I have traveled all up and down the East Coast - hunting as I go along. Collecting has also taken me beyond the US as well. I love to explore places that can't be accessed by foot. To do so, we often kayak to islands offshore to collect.



The best times to collect usually are in the fall and spring at low tide because of all the storms that churn up the oceans floor. Full moons also bring forth many unexpected jewels... and always high & low tide lines are full of goodies. Just as a cop never reveals an informant - a sea glass collector never shares their "secret" collecting spots. Rocky inlets or beaches around a harbor usually yield the best results. Depending upon the tide, how rough the surf and/or rocky the beach is will produce different glass. I find glass that is thicker, more porous and frosted on a beach that has a rough surf with a lot of rocks. With calmer surf and a sandier beach you can find more translucent glass - yet still frosted it is not as thick.






Since I started collecting sea glass - I always wondered where they have been, what they were and who might have once possessed the item from which the piece was a part of. I love recycling, or "upcycling", these found objects into wearable art and true heirloom pieces that can be passed on through generations.



Said to be the next "semi-precious" stone of this time, sea glass is becoming increasingly more difficult to find due to environmental awareness and rising popularity. Such awareness promotes beach clean-ups, proper trash disposal, decreased "ocean dumping" and lastly, people aren't burning their trash on the beaches like they did years ago. Technology is also a reason for the decrease in sea glass. As the years passed we became smarter, thus improving on technology. Such improvements in the shipping industry lead to safer travel on the seas. That meant a sizable decrease in shipwrecks that were carrying personal items as well as trade cargo. Over the years, those pieces of history have washed upon the shores, carrying with them memories of distant lands, and have been transformed into tiny jewels that are sought from beachcombers around the world.


These pictures were from out latest travels on the North Shore - June 14th. My older daughter, Taylor and my brother Eric set out to a nearby island to collect. The last picture on the right is what we collected on shore and on the island that day. Not even half of what is pictured will be "usable" for jewelry.