The Glass:
The beach glass used in Island Girl Glass jewelry and gifts is found right here on the 26 miles of Topsail Island beaches in North Carolina. You will also hear beach glass referred to as mermaids tears or sea glass. IGG uses glass found on the beaches of Topsail and it is all authentic beach glass, meaning not tumbled in a rock tumbler, but tumbled by Mother Nature Herself in our majestic ocean. There are different stages that beach glass undergoes on its journey to end up in IGG’s jewelry. IGG uses beach glass in its final polished stage naturally prepared by Nature, polished to a smooth, beautiful finish with no jagged edges and just the right size for jewelry and gifts. The glass used in IGG's jewelry and gifts is exactly how it was found on the beaches of Topsail Island. IGG does not polish, mold or change the glass in anyway, just rinse it off and showcase nature's treasure in jewelry and gifts. The owner visits other Caribbean islands for beach glass for her Destinations collection.
So what are some of the beach glass colors you can find on the beach?
The most common beach glass colors IGG finds on the beaches of Topsail Island are frosted clear, brown, green and aquamarine. Of course you never know when you will find a beautiful blue or red piece of glass on the beach, which isn’t as common as the others.
So where does this beach glass come from?
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure and this is definitely the case for Island Girl Glass. It is cool to think that nature has taken glass trash in the ocean and turned it into something so beautiful. How did the glass get in the ocean to begin with? A careless toss of a bottle into the ocean…..an old shipwreck….a bottle with a message in it from a far away land…..a jaded lover throwing a vase of flowers into the ocean…..from the ravages of a storm…..a lost pair of eye glasses at sea? The stories are endless and as you hold that smooth piece of beach glass in your hand, you can dream up your own story of where the journey started for that one piece of glass.
Do you buy your beach glass?
I have been asked the question, "Where do you buy your beach glass from?". None of Island Girl Glass beach glass is ever bought. The owner Joanna Taylor, spends several hours a week looking for beach glass, in addition to the decades of beach glass she has accumulated from Topsail Island that goes into IGG jewelry and gifts and is able to keep the pricing affordable because of this. Joanna also visits Caribbean Islands and uses this beach glass in her Destinations product line. This is one of the best parts of the whole process of making beach glass jewelry and gifts, is the time spent on the beach in search of this beautiful treasure.
Do you have any tips for finding beach glass?
Every beach glass collector has their own ways for finding glass, and you will in time learn your best techniques. IGG likes to look for beach glass at low tide and in between tides and after we have had big surf churning up the ocean floor. Click HERE for Topsail Island tide times. The green glass stands out more than the other colors, but once you have been collecting for a while, it will be second nature as you stroll the beaches and find various beautiful pieces. A visor and polarized sunglasses can help your search as well.
Glass is an amazing medium to use for artists. The history of creating glass can be traced back to 3500 BCE in Mesopotamia. When you start to think of how many items in your everyday life contain glass, it is almost mind boggling.
Below are some examples of interesting beach glass IGG has found.
