Thursday, November 28, 2013

Take A Walk By The Seashore

You can always take a walk by the seashore if you're running out of ideas for creating stained glass suncatchers.

Sound stupid?  Not at all.

If you live close to the ocean like I do and walk the beaches, you can often find a plethora of shells and rocks washed up during the high tides.

The ocean is a giant natural rock tumbler and whatever is washed ashore during the high tide is usually found in a somewhat polished condition.

An ordinary oyster shell or a broken piece from a larger shell is often unrecognizable as a shell.  Instead it takes on the aura of a piece of art that can be incorporated into your stained glass suncatchers.

An hour walk by the seashore can load you up with enough treasure to keep your mind occupied with new creations for some time.

Shells for use in stained glass suncatchers, wind chimes or in mobiles are prepared in the same manner as your stained glass.

You may need to grind the edges of shells thinner to accommodate foiling but you foil the shell the same as your glass.

Once foiled and burnished, you can tack the pieces to the glass pattern and solder as you normally would.

Ocean "tumbled" oyster shells make a beautiful unique addition to any stained glass suncatcher, wall hanging, wind chime or mobile pattern and they don't cost you a thing!

Next time you have the opportunity to take a walk by the seashore, be sure to bring along a couple of gallon size freezer bags to put your shells into.


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