from the desert to the ocean

posted by jennifer:


so, i have been a busy little beaver in the craft room the last month or so.... with nothing to show of it as of yet on this here blog.... but i am determined to start sharing again.

i think things are starting to settle slightly on the whole back to school/get more responsible with time management front.  slightly.  

i actually cleaned the kitchen table off today, did the laundry, vacuumed the 1/4" of dust off of the blades of our ceiling fan.... in our room at least. the living room fan will get done someday.   and i didn't go down to my craft room once.  yet.   but my point is, i have been spending too much, and often disjointed, time working on multiple (fun) projects while the house suffers.  

but look what i have to show for it!!!

these beauties  were made from found items collected from the desert to the ocean.  i am a collector you know... i come by it honestly, and i am raising a brood of collectors.  which i think is a good thing.

you can check out the entire collection here.

 the shells, sea glass, barnacles, and sand dollars were found on the beaches of san diego. mostly coronado, because, well, it is our favorite beach.  and there are often sand dollars to be found.  even really small ones.  so cool.

the metal pieces are mostly from the imperial valley desert.   my father-in-law and his wife have a house on the colorado river, which runs through the desert.  most of the year it is too hot to go treasure hunting there, as it often hits triple digits... but at least once each winter, we go out when the weather is cool(ish).  there are rocks and crystals to be found... and thanks to people dumping their trash out in the back country many moons ago, pieces of metal and glass that have weathered perfectly for a girl like me.

here are some pictures from our last winter hunt:

i had a collection of so many bits and pieces that were just begging to be brought back to life.  i spent enough time mulling things over, and came up with these ornaments.  i think they are just lovely. 

 it is amazing that a piece from an old tab top beer can get together with some shells from across the way, and something beautiful comes from it.

                                                                    ....becomes......

most of the additional sparkle comes from my collection of "jewels" that i have collected mostly from estate sales.  just to put a little extra shine on the matter.

and speaking of extra shine... 

behind the scenes of the photo shoot:

lest you think that all is sparkly and beautiful.... trying to keep it real here.  and that's just the deck ;)

well on that note.  

cheers!