Sea Glass Blog

Children’s book aims to raise awareness of the issue of marine debris

Posted by Kirsti Scott on

Children’s book aims to raise awareness of the issue of marine debris
Etched by the Sea is pleased to introduce the children’s book I Sea: A Beachcombing Treasure Hunt, where readers are challenged to find hidden beach treasures. The book was written by Mary T. McCarthy, with photos and design by Kirsti Scott and is dedicated to beachcombers worldwide.

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The magic of glowing sea glass

Posted by Kirsti Scott on

The magic of glowing sea glass

While every piece of beach glass is special, something magical happens when you find a piece that glows. Mixed in with all the regular pieces of sea glass we find on beaches around the world, there are sometimes pieces that were made with fluorescent materials. If you shine a black light on them, they will glow a bright green, orange, red, purple, or yellow color. These are known as fluorescent or ultraviolet glass, or simply UV glass. Shine on Scientifically, fluorescence is caused by substances in the glass absorbing invisible ultraviolet light and then releasing the energy as visible light...

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Searching for a sea pottery shard's origins

Posted by Kirsti Scott on

Searching for a sea pottery shard's origins

The latest sea pottery mystery I came up against was identifying a small shard of sea pottery with just a portion of the maker's mark on it. With only a bit of content to work from, my Google searches turned up nothing. So, I asked on Instagram and Sea Glass Nation set me on the right path! First, @pearlshaynea suggested that one of the words might be "Buffalo" and @carl_edquist confirmed that it was probably hotelware. My next Google search landed me in an unexpected place that yielded the first clue. In 2003, the Yosemite Research Center published Victory Culture: Archeological...

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Where does purple sea glass come from?

Posted by Kirsti Scott on

Where does purple sea glass come from?

While some purple sea glass started out as intentionally purple pieces, many pieces of purple or amethyst sea glass were originally clear glass. They changed color over time in a process called solarization, due to the chemical composition of the glass. All glass is made of silica, but sometimes there are impurities in the sand, such as iron, that can cause a light green discoloration. To offset the discoloration, glassmakers add different ingredients to the molten glass. One of these decolorizers is manganese dioxide, sometimes called “glassmakers’ soap.” Manganese dioxide has been used for thousands of years for this purpose,...

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A little bit of local history

Posted by Kirsti Scott on

A little bit of local history

You never know what you might end up learning when you pick up a piece of sea glass or sea pottery on the beach. The other day, a couple of people (@traces.of.time and @ashes_of_beauty) posted pictures of the pottery they find along the beach in Monterey and a few other people (including me) said that we find that same pattern, too. I asked where it came from and the person said it was from the Hotel Del Monte, which operated in Monterey, California from 1880-1942. That started my search. I first googled Hotel Del Monte and found out it had...

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