neptune’s necklace

Josie Cotton of Bremen, Maine, can’t remember her first piece of sea glass, but that’s because she’s found so many in ten years of hunting.

“I love to find things that the sea and nature have created from what we humans have left behind,” she says.

As anyone around her knows, Josie’s fascination with sea glass is contagious, and she shares her passion through her delicate, elegant jewelry.

Josie has a strong work ethic, having grown up in the family knitwear business. She serves as a product design consultant and assistant business associate. She is thirteen years old.

A fifth-grade math project challenged her to start her own business in which she learned about expenses, profit, and loss. Josie advanced her sea glass jewelry based on this business plan.

Sadly, the cobalt blue pieces she finds are often unseasoned and premature for her jewelry. But light purple and green glass are her favorites.

“It is like the sea has perfected a discarded piece of our lives for me to create something beautiful out of,” she says. www.christmascovedesigns.com

Materials

Small tuna can

Small block of wood

Sea glass

24-gauge silver craft wire

Silver necklace chain

Tools

Dremel rotary tool

Drill press stand

Diamond-point drill bits in a variety of sizes

Jeweler’s pliers

Wire cutters

Safety goggles

Drilling Tip: Water must slightly cover the sea glass while drilling in short pulses. This keeps the glass from overheating and shattering. If you don’t have a Dremel tool and would like to create the same effect, start with Step 3 and follow to the end, leaving out all references to “the hole.”

Safety Tip: Always wear protective goggles when drilling sea glass.

1) Place the wood block in the can and fill it half full with water. Position the can under the drill bit.

2) Place the sea glass on the wood, so that the water just covers it. Turn on the drill and slowly lower the drill bit onto the glass with short, pulsating movements. Continue drilling until the bit has passed through the glass.

3) Leaving 3' on one end of the wire, thread the wire (use pliers if necessary) three times through the hole.

4) Tighten the wire and turn it in a spiral. Thread the other end of the wire through the other side of the hole.

5) Thread the wire through two more times. Cut the wire on the back, leaving an additional 3' to bind it by twisting the ends firmly in a loop.

6) Attach a chain to pendant by threading it through the loop.