gift from the sea

I'm winging my way south!

Our local beach has some wickedly good beachcombing some days. When the tides get really exaggerated for a while, low tide will frequently drop to 1 or 2 feet below sea level. The trick is to get a very low tide occurring during the daylight hours, and then you're all set. I've found a couple of complete clam shells while I've been here, which has been terribly exciting.

I've been wanting to replace the drying, crackly animal's natural/muscular hinge with something more permanently flexible on dry land. This is my first experiment, so it remains to be seen how well it holds up: I made the hinge from some heavy copper wire (salvaged from a mirror that it framed) and used superglue to attach it. This one is a gift for a special friend that appreciates found objects and this kind of recycling/experimentation with nature. Fingers crossed that she likes it! (and that it holds up okay!)

I also decided to line the interior with purple velvet, so now it is like a pretty cushioned box:

... oh, and what's this inside? well, that's something for next time ...