I’m Susan, the creator and founder of Susan’s Jewels of the Sea. I design sea glass jewelry using real, collected sea glass. My goal is to create joy and inspire you. I find my inspiration by the sea. I love the story of transformation in our own lives and how this is illustrated by sea glass, when what was once considered trash is refined by the storms into something beautiful.
It’s spring vacation, beautiful weather in California and time to visit some of the beach. We selected 4 beach areas for our sea glass hunting expedition. My husband is very supportive and enthusiastic about helping me find sea glass treasures. Our teenage son joins us, although his preference is connecting with friends on social media, he is good at spotting sea glass.
Davenport
Our first stop is Davenport, home of fabled sea glass. Discarded bins of artisan sea glass from the Lundburg glass studio washed into the sea when a creek overflowed, which resulted in beautiful glass being washed into the ocean. We planned for an arrival at low tide, but brave sea glass hunters venture into the dangerous waves to capture Davenport sea glass. We did bring a shovel to dig in the sand, and found a few small pieces of ordinary sea glass. Perhaps next time, I’ll plan a longer time to dig in the sand, but this was also a road trip, and the road was calling to us.
New Brighton Beach was our next stop. We were able to spend morning and afternoon sea glass hunting. The landscape of the beach looked very different at high tide than low tide. My beach shoes were a welcome addition and allowed me to wade in the water. Probably this was my favorite beach for walking on, and logged about 5 miles a day of beach walking.
Seaside has a long stretch of nice sandy beach. There was lots of sea glass. There was a person hang gliding there, so that was fun to watch, but most of the sea glass was rough and jagged, not the smooth, frosty pieces. Of course we know that the conditions on any beach vary greatly from one day to the next, so, this was just our experience there. Cambria’s Moonstone Beach is enchanting. There are so many beautifully colored pebbles. I found myself just picking them up even through they weren’t sea glass. The multicolored pebbles made finding sea glass among the many colors quite a treasure hunt. See if you can find the one piece of sea glass in the small stones below. Hint, it’s green.
Thanks for visiting these beaches with me. Please share with your friends. I would love to hear from you, please comment or ask questions.
Before cities used landfills, people buried or burned their garbage on the outskirts of towns. Unwanted glass was often dumped onto beaches, finding its way into the rivers and oceans. This is where transformation to sea glass begins.
Because glass is unrivaled in its sustainability , what was tossed in to the ocean 30-50 years appears on our shores today as sea glass. The history of a location is key to understanding found sea glass .
The ocean’s currents transforms the appearance of ordinary glass. Chemical changes result in the cloudy appearance of sea glass. The soda and lime, used in the making of the glass are leached out by the salt water. Minerals are deposited which contributes to its sparkle.
Sea Glass Transformed
Sea glass is known for its polished, smooth appearance. The sharp or rough edges of glass are polished by the oceans currents, rocky shores and coarse sand.
Sea glass is seen as a symbol of renewal and healing with a new purpose found for broken pieces. Broken bottles, dishes or decorative glass previously of no use, are transformed into a thing of beauty over time. Sea glass is valued by collectors world wide.
