Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook - A Giveaway!

Oh! A new sea glass hunter's guide to finding elusive sea glass.... Imagine my surprise when my friend Suzanne, at Liberty Bay Books,  gave me a copy of the new  "Sea Glass Hunters's Handbook"  last week when we were in the Pacific Northwest.  It's now been added to my "Beach Reads" on the Liberty Bay Books website!

I like this book so much, that I thought more sea glass fans should know about it too!  I also thought it would be fun to have a give-a-way contest to share a copy with our blog readers.

As you all probably know, I am a sea glass fiend.  I hate to admit that I don't have a clue about its' origins or any of its' history.

This new Sea Glass Hunter's Handbook is a fun guide, perfect for those of us collectors wanting to know just a little bit more!   Some of my favorite pages in the book are quotes and stories from other sea glass collectors about their favorite finds. Many of whom I have met on Facebook and on Twitter. (Sharon Sand, Tami Ewing, and Melinda Vahradian)

There is a section on beaches around the world to find sea glass - by no means complete, but there are some great locations, and hopefully a beach near you.  (I know that there are a few near me!)

The handy "lexicon" for us sea glass obsessed beach combers, is also a fun chapter.  I had no idea that there were so many words to describe sea glass hunting and beach combing!  Did you?
Some of my favorites;

*"Clinkers, Clunkers: fragments that need to be thrown back into the ocean"
*"Flotsam: odds and ends, usually from wreckage or cargo spill, that float on water; not to be confused with jetsam"

The online recommendations guide compiled by the author, C.S. Lambert,  is also a great resource.  She has included some of my favorite networking sites to connect with other sea glass lovers.  Here are a few of the examples that are included:
*www.northeastseaglassociety.ning.com
*www.seaglassassociation.org

I would love to share a copy with one lucky give-a-way winner!  

The rules - 3 ways to enter:

1.  Leave me a comment about your favorite sea glass find  - 

Don't worry,  you will NOT have to reveal your secret sea glass beach!

2. Join our Facebook page, http://www.facebook.com/caronsbeachhouse;
and post a pic of your favorite sea glass find on our wall

3. If you are not a follower of Everything Coastal, join our page, +

let  me know that you are a new follower.

*PLEASE make sure that we have your correct e-mail
*contest ends September 10, 2011  at midnight, and the winner will be chosen by random.org

Good-Luck. And wishing you especially good-luck with your sea glass hunting!

Hope you enjoy some of my sea glass adventures....

 I might even tell you where I found the pieces if you ask nice!

A Creative Sea Glass Lamp!

Wow - August has been such a whirlwind! I am so glad to be home for a few weeks and get caught up.

We just got back from our summer trip to the Pacific Northwest to see friends and family. So much fun!  Crabbing, beach walking, sea glass collecting, oyster eating, bbq'ing salmon, beach fires and sticky sweet smore's.....

My friend Cami (another Aries girl!) surprised me with an awesome Seaglass lamp. I LOVE it!  She is so darn creative.  I am not exactly sure how she put it together.....

All I know is that it started out as an innocent bottle of wine at Cami's house in May when I was in the Northwest for "Viking Fest" (that's a whole other story!)  hanging out in her hot tub in the rain with my Poulsbo girlfriends...



An empty pretty wine bottle, a string of lights and a collection of pretty sea glass -

Voila'!

Thank you Cami and John Hattrick!

Holiday Stress....

Crazy week in the life of an online retailer!

When I used to have our "brick and mortar" store, the planning for holiday merchandise and our store layout started clear back in May.  I used to think that our online business was not quite as time sensitive.  Last year, I was proved wrong, and was not ready for anything!

It was a great holiday season, but boy were we behind schedule the whole season.  This year, I am determined not to be in the same position as last year.

 It can't EVER be as bad as wrapping gifts for customers until we finally shut the doors on Christmas Eve (one year I ended up in the emergency room - it wasn't pretty...), but we will definitely have our act together better this year.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVED our customers, but I somehow always forgot about enjoying the holiday season for me.

We have been attending trade shows,(walking miles - I had the blisters to prove it!)  pouring through trade magazines, looking at tons of independent artists to feature, ripping out pages in catalogs, and generally spending hours, upon hours of research so that we can make a Coastal Christmas really happen this year!   (These stocking were a HIT last year!)

I know that our online customers are going to love the new holiday products that we will be adding over the next month, as well as all of the new beach house decor and gift items we've already added.  Here's a sneak peak of a few of them....

Beach House Holiday Stuff!

Coastal Home Decor and Gifts...

We are very excited about a holiday campaign that we will be running with Emily Henderson, from HGTV's  Secrets of a Stylist fame.  I do like her HGTV show, she seems like a real sort of person.  And I am super excited about exposing our growing little business to a wider audience.  Check out her blog, which is more like a magazine - Style by Emily Henderson.  What do you think?

After spending this week in front of the computer - I am ready for a break!  Tomorrow we head home to the Pacific Northwest. Can't wait to see our families, especially my kids, spend some time roasting smore's  and chasing crabs on beach.