How I Fell in Love with Pembrokeshire Sea Glass 🌊

If you had told me when I first started making pebble art that one day I would get excited about finding tiny pieces of old glass on the beach, I'm not sure I would have believed you!

But that's exactly what happened.

My crafting journey started with pebbles, but over time another little beach treasure began catching my eye.

Sea glass.

And once I started looking for it, there was no going back!

Finding My First Pieces

Living in Pembrokeshire means we're surrounded by some absolutely beautiful coastline.

Walking along the beach became more than simply enjoying the scenery. I started looking down amongst the stones and noticing little pieces of smooth, frosted glass.

At first, they were simply interesting finds.

Then my creative brain started working.

I began wondering what I could make with them.

Just as I had learned to look at a pebble and see something more than a stone, I started doing exactly the same with sea glass.

A curved piece might become part of a picture.

A beautiful little piece might be perfect for jewellery.

Two or three completely different shapes could suddenly fit together and give me an idea for a new design.

Before long, I was hooked.

Example of Sea Glass

What Makes Sea Glass So Special?

I think part of the magic is that you never really know what you're going to find.

You can walk along the same stretch of beach many times and every visit can be different.

Some days you might find several lovely pieces.

Other days you can search and search and come home with hardly anything!

Then there are those days when you spot a particularly beautiful colour or unusual shape amongst the stones and suddenly the whole hunt has been worthwhile.

It's a little treasure hunt provided by the sea.

Every Piece Has Had a journey

One of the things I find fascinating about sea glass is thinking about where it might have come from.

Before becoming the smooth, frosted piece I pick up from the beach, it was once part of something else.

A bottle?

A jar?

Something used in a home, on a ship or by a local business many years ago?

Most of the time I'll never know.

The sea has taken it, tumbled it amongst sand and stones, softened its sharp edges and eventually returned it to the shore.

Then I find it.

And that's where another part of its story begins.

From Beach Treasure to Coastal Collection by J

When I started incorporating sea glass into my work, I realised just how many possibilities there were.

It could become artwork, a framed picture, jewellery or something completely unexpected.

That eventually led to my Coastal Collection by J.

The genuine sea glass I use is collected from Pembrokeshire beaches, which is something that's very important to me.

I don't want my pieces to feel mass-produced.

The whole point is that every piece of sea glass is different.

The colour, shape, size and markings can all influence what I decide to create.

Sometimes I go looking for a particular piece for a design.

Quite often, though, the sea glass decides for me!

The Piece That Sits in the Box...

I have pieces of sea glass that I find and immediately know what I'm going to do with.

And then I have others.

They get cleaned, sorted and put away because I know they're special, but I haven't quite worked out what they're going to become.

They might stay there for weeks.

Sometimes months.

Then I'll be making something completely different, spot that particular piece and suddenly think:

That's it!

It has finally found its purpose.

That's probably one of my favourite parts of creating.

More Than Just Sea Glass

My Coastal Collection has grown beyond sea glass too.

I love using the different treasures and materials inspired by our coastline, including pebbles, shells and driftwood.

But sea glass has definitely found a special place in JMc Crafts.

It combines so many things I love: being by the sea, finding something unusual, being creative and turning something that might otherwise have been forgotten into something somebody can treasure.

The Hunt Continues...

I still get excited when I find a lovely piece.

There's always another beach to explore, another unusual colour to discover and another idea waiting to appear.

And that's something I'd love to share through this blog too.

I'll be showing you some of my favourite finds, sharing what different colours of sea glass can tell us, taking you behind the scenes while I turn beach finds into finished pieces and, hopefully, sharing a few of my beachcombing adventures along the way.

Because you really never know what the tide might leave behind.

Julie

JMc Crafts by J & R

Coastal Collection by J • Timeless by R

🌊 From the beaches of Pembrokeshire to something made to treasure.