A Miscellaneous Day of Shells

So today is a half day in school and tomorrow is my 17th birthday and on Sunday I have my Grande Finale show for horseback riding, so I'm very excited. But we all gotta get our shelling fix, so here goes! This post will be a compilation of various shell photos and topics. :D

I found this Northern Quahog in Southport, NC about five years ago. You can see the purple part on the inside of the shell, Native Americans carved beads from it.

This is a Purple Sea Fan, it is a soft coral. Soft corals are made up of colonies of teeny polyps. They do not need symbiotic algae to survive, like stony corals do, so they can live in deeper waters with less light. I found this Sea Fan in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

I got this Sea Horse in a nature center in North Carolina. Sea Horses can change colors like chameleons and their eyes move separately on one another. Also, male Sea Horses have pouches under their stomachs where the females lay their eggs and then the male Sea Horse gives birth to the babies. :)

And in case you were wondering about the background in my two photos before, I want to show you my new bed spread. Yes it has shells!!!!!!!! 

Moving on to shellart. I drew this picture of a Sea Horse after seeing my Sea Horse (several photos above). Then I glued the picture into a frame and decorated it with seashells and coral. Hope you like it! 

Yesterday was a snow day, and as you guys know , I love playing in the snow with some shells. So here's a shell bow in the snow! What shells do you see and can you name?

Very kindly, one of my brothers agreed to be a hand model and hold some of my shells over the snow. Here's a close-up.

And here's the complete photo! It's just so cute!

Anyways, I hope that all you guys who are freezing in the snow, just like I am, enjoyed this post! Don't worry, spring is just around the corner.

By for now,

Lava of Ocean Dawn :D

1st Anniversary!!!!

It has been exactly a year since I started this blog!
I shared pictures of my shell and fossil collection, pieces of shellart that I created and photos from my trips to various beaches. Thank you to all of you who have stuck with me through this year.
I just want to share some more photos with you to commemorate this anniversary!

 

Here is a photo of my seashell anchor which I made a few weeks ago. I gave it to my little brother because he really liked it. Hopefully he will start collecting seashells too, soon!

By bits and pieces of the Florida Crown Conch. I have never found a fully complete one- even the two on the bottom which look fairly whole, actually have holes in their sides. Oh well, in less than two months I'm gonna be on Sanibel and I hope that I'll find one!

 

 

The Atlantic Marginella... I found over a hundred of these mini shells (they are less than half an inch long) on our week long trip to Oak Island this summer.

 

And that's it for right now! Hopefully, I will have another post ready soon- either about some more of my shellart or a few shells that I identified recently. Keep tight!

 

Lava of Ocean Dawn :D

Even More Seashell Crafts!!!!!

Over the past month, I have been very productive in the area of shellart! I've made several plaques, wood burnings and (a first for me!) shell flowers. So here are some new decorations that can be found in my room.

 

Firstly, I drew a picture of a Queen or Pink Conch and then wood burned it. After wood burning it, I used watercolors to color it>

 

And finally, I added a frame made from my shells!!!!!!!!!

 

I made these little "shell globes" by taking plastic, clear cartons and gluing some shells inside of them.

 

I have long wanted to make a Jingle Shell flower and here is my first attempt. :D

 

For my best friend, I decided to make some shell flowers and a hand-knitted basket.

 

Here's a close-up. The flower on the left has Auger petals and a Oyster Drill center. The flower on the right has Coquina petals and some unknown shells for the center. These shells were on a seashell necklace that I bought and then accidentally tore. Oh well, I found a better use for them!

 

More Coquina flowers with Shark Eye centers! These are residing on my bookshelf now.

 

Shell plaques... This was the first one that I every added a Pen Shell too (see it smack in the center?)

 

I decided to experiment with shapes a little, so this one looks like a tear. :)

 

Lastly, I finally used one of the Sea Stars that a friend gave to me, as the center for one of my Shell Plaques. Notice the little Coquina butterflies?

 

Now, I also really like scrapbooking, so here's two scrapbook pages that I made using various photos that I took at Sanibel last April. Less than three months until I see Sanibel again!

 

And lastly, I made a Shell Mirror! This was my first attempt at a mirror, and I can truthfully say that I am proud and happy with it.

Now, if you guys would like to know, I use hot glue for all my shellart. It holds the shells really well, but you have to be careful not to burn yourself, as I am wont to do.

 

I hope that I have inspired you guys to try some shell art of your own!

Lava of Ocean Dawn :D

 

P.S. With all these shellart that I've been doing, my supply of craft shells has depleted. Another reason to look forward to my trip to Sanibel this April!

Shellart on Sunday

Today I had a free day so I decided that I do some shellart, that I had been wanting to do for the past week or so.
I started with some shell plaques...

 

 

These one was my first one today. I took a piece of cardboard and used a hot glue gun to cover it in pretty origami paper and then to glue on shells. I have a supply of "craft shells" for projects like this. My "craft shells" are complete and broken, old and new, but they are slightly worse than my "collection shells" (the ones that I organize into boxes to keep), so they go into my craft supply.

 

Then, I made a second shell plaque. I started the same way as the first one. Then I made the flower in the center out of Disk Dosinias and a Chestnut Turban. The yellow chain at the top of the plaque is a Whelk Egg Casing.

 

After my two shell plaques, I got into a holiday mood. So I made this Christmas Shell Tree out of various Ark shells and a Scallop on top. Lastly, I made sparkly balls out of silver and gold paper to be ornaments.

 

Having completed my Christmas Shell Tree, I made some shellangels. I used Mossy Arks as the wings and yard for the red bows.

 

And now, I want to show you guys some other shell crafts that I did about two weeks ago.

 

First, I crocheted this Pearl Oyster or Clam! Did you know that not only oysters and clams can make pearls, but conchs and whelks too? Yes, they can!

 

And also, I made this print of a Horse Conch. Then I decided that the white edges of the paper looked bare, so I made a shellframe!

 

I hope that my shellart will give you guys some shellspiration! Have fun!

Yaroshelllava :D

Some Shellart

Hi guys!!!!!!!!
So today I had no school, so I had more time than usual and I decided to make a blog post for you guys. In this post, I wanted to show you the different shellart and shell arrangements that I have decorating my room.

 

A shell plaque with Skate Eggs, Olives, Ceriths, Olives and more...

Another shell plaque- this was actually that first one that I ever made!

 

Last shell plaque- I decided to make this slightly different by turning it sideways, therefore making it have a diamond shape.

 

And this is my first shell bowl- I filled it with shells, coral, crab claws and seaweed. Oh, and a bit of sand at the bottom!! :D

 

A shell arrangement- I took a pretty bowl and proceeded to pile my favorite, perfect shells on!

I love the Florida Fighting Conchs and my Horse Conch!!!!!!!

 

And a vase.... I made this vase in ceramics class at school and put it in my room. But, then I realized that I didn't like it to much empty, so I took all my sea whips and made a bouquet.

 

Next, a shell basket. This is like a bigger version of the shell bowl. Any extra shells that you have, any imperfect shells, any shells that you don't know where to put- put them in a basket!

This is such easy décor and gives your room a beachy feel. :D

 

Another Shell arrangement. I made this one just a week or two ago. I had been searching for another clear bowl for the longest tiem and finally when my mom found this I was super happy!!!

 

Oh, and I just wanted to tell you guys that my family and I are going to spend our Spring Break in April on Sanibel Island again!!!!!!!!!!!

So happy!!!!!!

 

Well, and on that great note, I will leave you once again.

Yaroshelllava :D

"Shellart"

So hi guys.........
I promised you a Marginella post, but I think that all the ones that I have are the same species.

I found them all on Oak Island, NC and they sure look like Atlantic Marginellas. These itsy-bitsy shells are mostly scavengers. Also, they get their name from their wide margin (or aperature lip).
 And here's another photo of these cuties....

 

And now I'd like ot show you the cool stuff that I made a few weeks ago.

I got a glue gun and immediately made a few projects.

 

Here's a flower pot for my mom for March 8, International Woman's Day.

There are pieces of broken pen shells around the rim and full shells toward the bottom.

 

And here it is but with flowers in it.

After glueing on all the shells a ran into the woods in my backyard found some snowdrops ( the first flowers of the year!) and some other greenery and put it in the pot.

 

This is how the pot looked when I presented it (ooh fancy word!!!) to my mom.

 

And then I made a "shell plaque". I just played aroudna nd tried to make a design.

These are left over/ broken shells that I wanted to return to the beach anyways.

 

Well that's all!!!

Hope that you enjoyed my "shellart" :)

 

See ya soon,

Yaroshelllava :D