Meet the Maker........Amanda and Paul from "Mornington Sea Glass"

Name:  Amanda and Paul

Business Name:  Mornington Sea Glass

Website:  www.morningtonseaglass.com.au
Online storefront/s:  Mornington Sea Glass madeit store
Facebook:  www.facebook.com/morningtonseaglass

Questions:

1. So, tell us about yourself......

Paul and I live in Mt Martha on the Mornington Peninsula and have two children.  Our sea glass business is a shared passion and very much a family affair.  This is something we can work on together and the kids and even our parents help look for sea glass.  It can get a little competitive at times down on the beach with everyone trying to find the rarest piece!

2. Why handmade?

Handmade means a lot of love, time and passion has gone into creating something.  A lot of the sea glass we find is very old and often originally hand blown by glassmakers in the 1800's - early 1900's.  Our sea glass designs are definitely made in partnership with the Bays of Port Phillip and Westernport - the glass is firstly reshaped by the Bay over time and then we use the glass the way it rolls up along the shorelines.  We like to think both nature and we have worked towards giving the glass new life!

What we love about sea glass is each piece is different so no two designs will ever look identical.  The challenge of finding the right shapes and colours for designs means we can never make anything in large quantities.  The Bay doesn't take orders so sometimes we have to wait patiently for months, especially to find two pieces slightly similar to make earrings!

3.  What influenced you to start your business?

When our daughter was younger, she believed mermaids in the Bay used to leave her little piles of treasure for her to find.  We initially got caught up in her excitement and then the more we researched the glass, the more we discovered how old some of the glass was and how huge sea glass collecting is overseas.  Our business defining moment was finding a beautiful tear shaped drop of white glass that I knew I just had to wear somehow...

4.  What type of products do you sell?

We like to showcase the sea glass we find in our art, jewellery, photography and home decor designs.

5.  What are your inspirations for making your products?

We are inspired by everything we love about life on the Mornington Peninsula, especially the incredible marine life.  We donate a percentage of our Marine Collection sales to the Dolphin Research Institute as they do amazing work to give Victoria's marine treasures a voice.

6.  Where do you sell your products?

Online via our website, Facebook and our madeit store.  Locally we sell a range of designs at the Frankston Visitor Information Centre, Mt Eliza Health and Gifts, Red Hill Market and local art shows.  Interstate our glass can be found at Drift, on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland.

7.  How much time do you spend making your products each week?

It take a long time to find the glass.  We spend many, many hours beachcombing for sea glass each week.  My parents spend a lot of time looking locally, interstate and even overseas.  We also have friends who keep an eye out for us.  Their support has been fabulous.  Sometimes it is hard to get a true idea of the number of hours we spend collecting and making our designs - there are a lot of late nights and hours snatched between the kid's school and sporting commitments.

8.  Do you have a dedicated craft area or studio in your home?

Yes, we have just built our house and a dedicated studio was at the top of our list as sea glass was beginning to take over every room of our last house...!

9.  Are you self taught or have you had a good teacher?

I am self taught as I prefer learning by trial and error.  It is fun to see past designs around the house - some that have worked really well and others, lets just say bring a smile to my face....they are good reminders of how far you have come!!  My only regret is in some cases we have used really beautiful sea glass shards in designs early on and we didn't realise just how old and rare they were at the time....  Paul can turn his hand to anything and is incredibly creative.  He has recently joined our local lapidary club, where he has learnt to silversmith.  We are very excited about the range of designs that can now go from the sketchpad to reality!!