Great Beach Glass Festival in Ashtabula, OH

Thanks everyone for the great time in Ashtabula this past weekend. The 3rd Annual Ashtabula Harbor Beach Glass Festival was just super! We had gray, even a bit chilly weather on Saturday, but it was so much better than the sticky heat we had last year. And Sunday was just beautiful!

John and I were kept very busy with all our customers. They were enthusiastic and just great fun! We loved all the smiles, even giggles when they would SEE what we were selling. We heard “These are so cute!” a million times!

The people all share that love for Lake Erie, and the pebbles and beach glass collecting that make all my turtles made with the glass and pebbles so collectible and special! They just “Have” to have one. And the fun thing was having so many repeat customers from last year that wanted another one, or just waited all year to get one because they didn’t last year, or bought one last year for a gift, but just had to have their own this year! Now how fun is that!!!

And John was a big hit as always! The ladies worry about “their” turtle from the moment they finally choose which one they want until the see that he is wrapping and boxing them so carefully for them!

We just had a very busy, but great show. My shop is lonely without them all! And I do miss them! The place looks so empty, but then I guess I have room for more. “Here I come Lake Erie, Please bring me some wonderful treasures” And Lord thank you so very much for just everything!

Everyone loved "Turtle Treasures!"

Customers trying to decide which one they "had" to have!

 

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the newest “beach bum” arrives…

Introducing my newest Grandchild..."Josie Ann"

Wow! What a miracle LIFE is! The newest addition to our family is grandchild number 7, Josie Ann. She arrived on her due date March 30TH!

I’m so thankful for the end of Winter. The lake is WATER again and I can go beach combing!! Yeah! Last weekend was chilly and the shoreline at Presque was edged with piles of ice stacked up off the lake. It was so fun to give the big white chunks a kick and have them splinter apart into thousands of beautiful crystal ice cycles. The sound it made was like little tinkling explosions.

But the rain pretty much had things all melted by Sunday PM and John and I walked along and found some fun beach glass. I can’t wait to get back up to the lake soon!!!!!

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2010 North American Sea Glass Festival…coming SOON!

It’s coming soon.   I’m so busy trying to keep up with the demand for turtles in the galleries and get stock ready for the festival I can’t keep turtles on this site! Sorry!  You can check out more photos of my work on “Turtle Treasures” Facebook page.

Anyway, the Festival is just around the corner!  It’s exciting!   I hope to meet you there!

North American

Sea Glass Festival 2010, Hyannis, MA

Oct. 9-10

at the Cape Cod Resort and Conference Center!

for more info go to

www.seaglassassociation.org

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Warm hearts…

Ahhh February! The LOVE month!  Who couldn’t use more love?   So speaking of love, how about those heart rocks.  You know the ones you find that are shaped like a heart!  I have a twin sister Pattie.  She and I were due on April Fool’s Day, but arrived on Valentine’s Day.  I won’t say what year.  But it has always made us feel special!

I started bringing her home “heart shaped” rocks and pebbles from Presque Isle, Erie PA in August of 1992.  She got remarried on Aug.1 of that year and my husband John and I took all our kids and their kids, a total of 11 camping the day after the wedding, while they honeymooned.  We camped in an old pop-up and a couple tents and our old Dodge maxi-van!  I still remember this huge storm that blew in off the lake! But as usual we had a GREAT time and made many memories swimming and biking and playing together.  I took her home a heart shaped rock I found on the beach to honor her new marriage and remind her of our love.  Since then I have brought home countless ones that she adds to an overflowing antique toy wagon.  She still treasures them all and each new one is a wonder and special in it’s own way.

I now have added them to many, many turtles!  They get really cute with a heart rock on their back, surrounded by lucky stones and pebbles.  And then you get to give them the fun names, like “Lucky In Love,”  “Dance Into My Heart,” or “Love Never Fails!”  I always hope that they really touch people and make them think about how loved they are.

We are so “loved” you know, by the Creator of it all!  Those heart rocks on the beach ought to make us think about how much God does love us.  ‘Cause He does! And that just ought to chase the Winter cold away and “warm up” any heart!

"I'm Lucky In Love"

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Not enough sunshine, taxes and freezing weather

I so NEED some Vitamin D, not from some Vitamin bottle or that stuff added to some bleached out cereal or milk.  I NEED the kind your skin makes when those good old ultra-violet rays hit it!  I’ve been trying all Winter to catch what few rays there have been, even to the point of sitting in the weirdest places in my house where the sunshine has come in through the living room windows in the afternoon.  Those have been rare almost fleeting, funny moments of peeling off my socks, rolling up jeans and sleeves or whatever and trying to be warm enough to sit on the arm of the couch in the narrow rays of sunshine.  I have gotten outside a bit too, but then you have to bundle up so much that none of my skin is exposed but my face!  I’m dreaming of  sunny, sandy beaches.

And then you have to do the taxes! Enough said.

I’m not one to wish my life away!  There is something about the Winter that is Wonderful!  But when I get on this blog I’m thinking of Lake Erie and Presque Isle and missing the wind and the waves and the treasure hunting.  But the thing is I know that will all get here soon enough.  I’ll be so glad for that and for my dear Ben being done with all those horrible chemo treatments!  Healing is coming I pray it so.

No wonder Jesus is the LIGHT!  I just can’t live without it!  None of us can.

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Storm watch….

There is a severe storm watch posted for most of the mid-section of the country and it’s headed EAST! I really don’t care much as long as everyone is safe on the highway, but it does make sunny days beachcombing seem so far away!  I miss Lake Erie and that wind blowing from the WEST.  I miss the waves crashing and the hunt for TREASURES ESPECIALLY!

That’s the thing about treasure hunting along the shore, you just never know what you’ll find.  I know to the majority think it is just TRASH, but some of us who know it is precious treasure!  Last Fall I found this old metal spoon.  It was all worn from it’s time in the lake.  BUT it had been someone’s tableware and maybe even a wedding gift.  It HAD been used and used again before it became TRASH in Lake Erie!  It’s marked with Pat. Mar.13.24 and WWRogers & Son AA.  It has a story.  It “lived” it’s  life somewhere dishing out mashed potatoes and cereal and had one “terrific” ride in the lake.  And to me it still “lives” a tells it’s tale!  I just love it!

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The Sea Glass Festival was just super!!!!!!

On man it was just the best!!!   We had a great time!

We sold lots of turtles and just had a blast.  It was wonderful and crowded and just even better than I imagined.  People were so excited about all the beautiful jewelry and my booth was a big hit too!  We met so many beach glass lovers from all over the country and even the world.

I made a huge show piece turtle with all kinds of beach finds.  It got lots of attention and was sold right away, but we got to keep it for display all day Saturday.  Everyone loved my little turtles too and so we very, very busy with customers, which is good thing, but I didn’t have time to enjoy the Festival lectures or shop at all.  My friends loved the lectures and all showed me what they bought.

All the artisans were so nice and their “stuff” was just fabulous!!!  I just couldn’t get enough time to see everything!  I was like a kid in a “candy store” and just so pumped up checking out all the booths.  I tried to get everyone’s business card and checkout where their beach and sea glass was from.   It was all just so cool!  The glass from Santa Cruz and the stuff from England with all the colors was just super!  I just loved it all.

I was just the most amazing experience!

It was GREAT!!!!!!!  Thank you family and friends!

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2009 Sea Glass Festival is here!

Erie here we come!   I’m about as ready as I can get.  All I need is some more sleep!  Everyone is so excited!

I have all my turtles packed and tonight we’ll load them all in the truck!  I’ve just been finishing up bits n’ pieces of stuff today!  We have to make an errand run tonight.  The store where I got my shoes forgot to take that security ink thingy off!  And I need a few things laminated at the office store.

My mind is already in Erie though!

We sailed near downtown week before last on our last sail of the year.  I  gave up the helm to take a couple pics of the Convention Center.  I’m so excited!!!! I feel like I’ve been working and plkanning for this coming weekend all year!!

I can’t wait to meet all the crazy sea  and beach glass artists and lovers!!!!

My family has been very supportive, especially the hubby! Thanks to you all!  Thank the Good LORD!

See you in Erie!

bonnie

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beach glass…one more piece..just one more

We had a great extended weekend in Erie!  The weather was great finally!  And I got to do a lot of beachcombing along the Presque Isle beaches.  It is so much fun walking the shoreline with the waves crashing and the wind blowing at you!  The seaweed wasn’t too bad and the yuck carried onto the beach by all the recent storms has been cleaned up for the most part.  It was just beautiful!

I treasured the few bits of time I had the beach to myself, but I did get a kick out of the beach glass lovers that are just as addicted to finding that special piece as I am.  This one young couple came and “hogged” in on my spot and the guy wanted to go, but the cute chick in her little bikini kept saying, “just one more piece” over and over again.

I get that though.  I think I should get going, it’s lunch time or dinner time, or I told John I’d be back or I NEED to PEE, but then I find “one more piece” and I’m still at it!  Because that next piece might just be that “special” one you’ve been looking for.  Yeah, just one more!

catching the glass

catching the glass

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A piece of green…

We left for Erie as soon as we could last Friday May 1st.  I was anxious about going and leaving my family after a whole week of family things with the death of my father and his funeral, but so anxious too, to get away!

We got to camp before sunset and so I gave John a quick kiss and headed for the beach.  It was nice out and I ran into my beach bum friend Judy for the first time this year!  We are friends by accident.  I was picking up a bag full of trash a couple years ago and she wanted to thank me, but the wind kept blowing her words away and so she chased me down and we just hit it off sharing heart stuff right off the bat and cleaning up the beach together!  We have a special, just summertime friendship.  It was great to see her and her husband too, who left us to chat away!  It was great to share heart stuff again after such a week, while the sunset helped us say good-bye to another day.

Saturday was so windy, just crazy how windy and cold.  I didn’t care and braved the elements a couple times to see how glass getting was, but it was just lousy out.  But Sunday afternoon it warmed up a bit after a very chilly, my hands are freezing morning, and was just glorious.  I found a place that was bringing me in some glass, nothing special but you know constant with almost each wave.  I didn’t have my boots on and I saw this really big, really nice piece of green tumbling in the surf and it just wasn’t getting in and I was so afraid I’d loose it so I just went in and got it!  Lake Erie is still pretty chilly but it was so worth it! I got it!  I got soaking wet for a piece of green beach glass!  Yeah, what fun!

We headed home by 3:30PM and met the family at the local summer hang out, Young’s Custard Stand.  It was Mother’s Day and I got to end my day by loving on my dear mom and getting a hug from all my kids and grand kids.  I know I’m blessed, very blessed!  Thank you Lord for green beach glass and grand kids!

Me and my grand kids!

Me and my grand kids!

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