Shoreline Crafts

I have always been a creative person, mostly making things for family and friends throughout my life. I have a wide variety of skills from stenciling to dabbling in watercolors, from sewing to quilting to calligraphy, to making costumes for myself and my grandchildren. When I see something that someone else has made and I like it, I figure out how to make it myself. I am constantly being told that I should sell the items I make. Many of the things I do are time consuming and would take me a long time to build up an inventory in order to sell them.

The pandemic changed all that, getting many ideas from Pinterest, started me on my way. I have always loved to work with paper, many years ago doing a technique called Schernschnitte where you cut out intricate designs with very small sharp scissors or an Exacto knife. Through my search I discovered Quilling. Quilling or paper filigree is an art form that involves the use of strips of paper that are rolled, shaped, and glued together to create decorative designs. From there I have also learned to make 3-D designs from purchased files I bought on Etsy. Using my cutting machine to cut out the various layers of paper and putting them together with small foam squares, strips or dots between each layer to give them a true 3-D effect.

While looking for something else that I could make a bit faster than the paper crafts mentioned above, I came across a wonderful craft using sea shells to decoupage beautiful decorative papers on them. Living on Cape Cod this was the perfect craft for me, The Cape is plentiful with various types of shells, oyster, clam, and scallop shells to name a few. Applying tissue paper or a decorative napkin with mod-podge I was able to achieve the effect I was looking for, using liquid gold leaf around the edges of the shell transformed a plain shell into a beautiful treasure that can be used as a trinket dish for your jewelry, to hold paperclips in your office or just as a beautiful display in your home. This is how Shoreline Crafts was created.