SeasideColor

I started Seaside Color to share my passion of creating art and décor with seashells. For several years, I have been crafting my own décor with shells:
- made-over a cheaply-framed mirror by covering the frame in shells
- bought an old jewelry box and 'be-shelled' in as a nautical treasure chest
- covered two sides of a simple midcentury end table in rows of shells
- strung up strands of shells across a fatal screenless window as a bird decoy
- hung shells from lamps, light fixtures, and in fishnet hung from a ceiling
- filled clear glass vases with shells to create a lamp stand or plant stand

One day, as I was working on my most comprehensive shell project yet (affixing shells to tiles to display on canvases or to hang on a wall), I considered that other people might enjoy displaying these, too. That is when I began to plan Seaside Color!

There are many steps involved in creating shell tiles. For the painted shells and tiles, I first paint them in bulk. For those with hangers attached, I then use JB Weld (auto-grade epoxy) to affix sawtooth hangers to the backs of the tiles so they can be hung on a wall. To ensure that the epoxy bond will not loosen and separate from the hanger causing a tile to drop off the wall and break, my husband tests the bond on each by pulling at the hanger as hard as possible with a nail. While normal consumer use would not force the product to endure this type of stress, we discovered that the majority of black-coated metal sawtooth hangers did not pass this test. That is why most hangers are uncoated metal.

Designing each tile is both the fun part and most difficult part because it involves careful consideration since no two shells are alike! While I would love to have a hundred of the same exact shell, I may in reality have a handful of that type and have to get creative with the rest. I try to create a balanced, cohesive design of shells on each tile. This is why there is such variety of designs; however, a handful of shells have the same design (smaller shells creating a border around the edges of the tile). After my design decisions are complete, I then go through the last step in the making process: I glue on all of the shells and other decorative items (i.e. plastic crystal beads or tiny rhinestones) with crafting glue.

Seaside Color has been a long work in progress with a treasured toddler at home and limited time to work on projects, but crafting with my favourite material - shells - brings me such joy that I endeavor to do it whenever I can!