Last summer I was visiting some friends who live near St. John, New Brunswick. As we walked along the beach beside the Bay of Fundy, they introduced me to the fascinating world of sea glass. During that afternoon, we found several beautiful amazing glass pebbles in varying colours and shapes and sizes.

This area of New Brunswick is a lovely part of the Maritimes in Canada that edges on the Bay of Fundy, one of the seven Wonders of Nature. The Bay of Fundy is very deep, with the highest tides in the world. Wikipedia states the Bay of Fundy tides have a ‘greatest mean spring range of 14.5 metres (47.5 feet) and an extreme range of 16.3 metres (53.5 feet).” During the 12-hour tidal period, huge amounts of water – 115 billion tonnes! –flow in and out of the bay. I sure wouldn’t want to get caught napping when those tides come in!

What actually is Sea Glass?

Sea glass is physically and chemically weathered glass found on beaches along bodies of salt water. These weathering processes produce natural frosted glass. Sea glass is oftenused to make jewelry. You’ll find wonderful unique examples of handmade items using sea glass at iCraft.

Where do the colors come from?

The color of sea glass depends on its original source. The most common colors are dark green, brown, and white (clear). The dark colours come from bottles used by companies that sell beer, juices, and soft drinks. The clear or white glass comes from clear plates and glasses, windshields, windows, and assorted other sources.

Jade and amber come from bottles for whiskey, medicine, spirits, and early bleach bottles; golden amber or amberina from spirit bottles; lime green from pop bottles during the 1960s; forest green, and ice- or soft blue from pop bottles, medicine bottles, ink bottles, and fruit jars from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These colors are found about once for every 25 to 100 pieces of sea glass found.

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How to find it

My friends explained that if you want to find sea glass, think like a historian. Glass shards can take decades (or even centuries) to form into smooth, shinysea glass.The best places to look are the beaches near old factories,centuries-old settlements, ferry runs, shipwrecks, or anywhere there was potential for glass to end up in the water. Because of the deep tides, the Bay of Fundy is a perfect site to look for sea glass.

The best times to search are right before or after a low tide, after a storm when currents may have stirred up long-buried pieces of glass, or during a full moon, when strong tides can stir up buried treasures.

Sea glass can be tricky to spot in the sand and rocks. We walked toward the setting sun so the light glinted off the pieces making them stand out. The rising sun is good too, just not overhead.

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As we walked along I was lucky enough to find a beautiful green frosted piece of sea glass! I’m going to give it pride of place on my mantelpiece, a reminder of my fascinating experience learning about, searching for and actually finding sea glass!

Own and show off your own beautiful sea glass creation from iCraft. Beautiful unique jewelry made with sea glass is just one of the many ways iCraft offers unique handmade gifts.You’ll be able to choose from a variety of items to make a one-of-a-kind gift for a special person, or for yourself to bring up visions of old and new, and the power of the oceans all around us. To find out more about buying and selling on iCraft, visit http://icraftgifts.com/sell.php.