A2SEA COMES TO EBAY!

Today we, at A2Sea Creations, brought our seaside treasures to eBay for the first time! We wanted to combine our intense love for the sea with our appreciation for vintage designs. So we combined the two in our new and delightful 'Vintage Inspired Seaside Glass Pendant'. And the best part is, you can pick out your favorite design out of all the wonderful choices of vintage pictures we have on display! So cool! Click on the picture below to view larger and click here to see our eBay listing. Perhaps you'd like to even place a bid!!

At our online shop, we create and sell unique, beautifully handcrafted, ocean-inspired treasures designed to bring the West Coast into your home. We take pride in the fact that we use primarily local, organic, recycled, upcycled & eco-friendly materials that we collect with our own little hands from the beaches of Vancouver Island, BC. Canada. We bleach all the shells we collect, wash the driftwood and dry it with the seaweed in my oven (interesting smell!) It is truly a labour of love and we love what we do. Wish us luck on eBay and tell your friends and family!

Memories and Music

CANNON BEACH, OREGON - PHOTO BY MICKI FINDLAY

Holy cow! I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! I have been very very busy finishing a huge wedding song contract so I have been a little preoccupied, to say the least. But today I finally got it all finished and packed up ready to ship to Ontario. What a great feeling... especially because the recipient is so happy with her song! It is very creatively fulfilling for me.

As for my trip to Oregon to visit my son Matt, his wife Cristina and my adorable and funny baby grandson Levi, what a treat that was for me! I took the slow way down to Roseburg, along the Oregon Coast; a breathtaking part of the world. The ocean is crazy wild and there are so many quaint, old, interesting towns along the way. I took in the Sea Lion Caves which amazed me... so much so that I stood in one spot for over an hour because I could not pull myself away from the sight of hundreds upon hundreds of sea lions sitting, playing and nuzzling. Some of the males challenged each other on the rocks as the violent waves came crashing over them. It was a memory I will never forget.

I so enjoyed getting to know my grandson. I feel so blessed that I was able to be there while Levi did some new things for the very first time. He had changed so dramatically over the course of a year and I have missed so much, sadly. But he sure made up for it while I was there!

As far as A2Sea Creations is concerned, much of our work has been put on hold during the summer months as Cheryl and I have caught up on time with our families that live so far away. However, I did make some new wire-wrapped sea glass pendants and one is now for sale on our site. Cheryl has been making magnets for our upcoming Nanaimo Farmer's Market. (Sept 29th) I will be posting more info about that soon. We sold a couple of items and I just mailed them off to Iowa today. I love how the internet makes our world so 'small'! I get to talk with people all over the world and know that our creations are being enjoyed in so many faraway places. So cool!

I hope everyone is having a great summer and spending time catching up with loved ones also!

Off to Oregon!

Well I have to say, I am terribly excited about my trip to Oregon to see my son Matt, his wife Cristina and my darling, funny, delightful grandson, Levi. I am leaving tomorrow for Victoria, bright and early, to take the Black Ball Ferry Saturday morning. What a great way to go! No long waits at the border; no having to drive through crazy, scary Seattle. And I have decided to go the scenic route all the way down the beautiful Oregon Coast. Good thing I have a battery charger for my camera and two extra batteries. I learned my lesson the hard way when I was in New York to see my other son Gord, and ran out of juice. No more!

My grandson was born in November of last year and he has changed so much and I have missed all that. What a sad thing. So now it's time to get down there and become re-acquainted with little Levi and enjoy being a grandma. What a gift that is! I hear he throws up an awful lot so I'm thinking that it's a good thing I have a few more clothes this time. Oh well... all part of the fun! lol

I am having a great summer. I hope that whoever might be reading this is having a great one, too! Off I go!

Happy Easter Everyone!

I must admit, I love the chocolate bunnies, the Easter egg hunts, the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy and the pumpkin pie. I love the gathering together of family and friends. I love the fresh spring air, the sunshine, the sign of new life everywhere you look... the buds on the trees, the crocuses and daffodils poking their heads out of the ground.
I love everything about Easter and the spring season.

But these things I feel are simply gifts to us by and from something and someone far more important than all the things we love. I am able to enjoy these things because I was given life by a Creator who decided I was worth giving life to. And, more importantly, by a God who decided I was worth dying for. The bible says, "Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends."

I am not stupid... I know that this life I am living and enjoying will not last forever. There will come a day when it will all pass away. But I also know that because of the price Jesus paid for my life, I will be able to live again and it will be a life far better than this one.... there will be no more pain, no sadness, no sickness, no stress, no bloodshed... just joy and peace forever. Easter, to me, is a reminder of that fact and I feel I need to take the time to acknowledge the amazing thing Jesus did for me by dying on a wretched cross for all of my sins, past, present and future. And even if you don't believe in Him, he still died for you regardless because he loves you so much. He never forces us to believe. He is a gentleman. He waits patiently with open arms.

Sometimes Christianity seems ridiculous, outdated, narrow-minded and arrogant. There are good reasons for that and I don't blame people for thinking that way. I have watched some evangelists on tv who I wouldn't trust for a minute. I know that wars have begun based on religion. There are Christians who have almost turned me off Christianity. Horrible things have been done in the name of religion throughout the ages. But I think Jesus addressed all of that in one sentence right after he had been whipped and beaten bloody, hung on the cross with huge nails driven into his hands and feet, his clothes ripped off and sold, when he was parched with thirst and only given vinegar to drink... he said," Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Now that is love. He understood how humans are; how they can act, how they fail. But he loves us anyway.

So today I feel the need to say, "Thank you God for loving me, such as I am... one who fails. And thank you for what you did for me and for the life you have prepared for me after this one... where the spring air will always be fresh, the sun will always shine, where new life will flourish everywhere you look... the buds on the trees, the crocuses and daffodils poking their heads out of the ground. And most importantly, where You will be. You and me forever..."

POCKETS FULL OF SEASHELLS

Story and Photo by Micki Findlay - 'I Sea Art' (Series) - (To purchase click here) A2SeaPhotography

One of the kajillion things I love about my husband David is that he's up for almost anything, especially if it's something that makes me happy. (You gotta love a man like that!)

A few weeks ago, we traveled to Victoria. BC, which is on the south end of our island. We went there to help a friend move. When we were done, I asked David if we could stay in Victoria awhile as it happens to be my favorite place to be. "Where would you like to go?" he asked. "I don't know. Can we just drive around a bit? I just don't feel ready to leave quite yet." So, to no one's surprise, we ended up on Dallas Road which runs all along the ocean. "David, can we stop and collect some seashells for my crafts?" "Sure", he replied. So that's what we did. And instead of just watching me do my thing, (which would have been fine with me) he crouched down beside me and got right to work. I never asked him to. He just did it. And, because he has eyes like a hawk and is so patient, I soon had all of my pockets stuffed full of seashells, various colours and shades of sea glass and bits of driftwood. And I have huge pockets.

I love the way David approaches marriage. He gets that when you help fill your partner's pockets with seashells, you fill up her heart with love. But is it really that simple?

Absolutely.


A2Sea Creations

MEMORIES

Story and Photo by Micki Findlay - 'Herring Season' - (To purchase click here) A2SeaPhotography

What is it about the ocean that beckons us? When I close my eyes and think back to some of my favorite memories, so many involve the ocean. To me there is no aroma so intoxicating as fresh, salty sea air blended with that of a distant campfire. I am instantly transported back to a time when all was perfect with the world in a wonderful place called Gibsons, BC where I had been asked to serve as a volunteer chaplain for Cub Scout Camp.

That was a precious time for me on so many levels. I had prepared all my lessons ahead of time so I could take part in as many camp activities as possible and thereby develop relationships with the boys. I went there to teach some life lessons but they ended up teaching me just as much, if not more. For instance, I learned to cook an entire meal over a campfire in a foil pouch, (gotta love that...no dishes), how to steer a canoe (well, almost), how to build a lean-to in the forest, how to catch a fish (and an old boot!) without a rod or reel, how to take part in homemade boat races down a stream, how to sing a hundred silly camp songs, many of which required me to use every muscle in my body and, most importantly, how to discover the best parts of myself.

During the day I played hard and at night, I slept like a baby. I grew to love each and every boy there as they opened their hearts and lives to me. We learned from each other; lessons that were life-changing and eternal.

So now when I go down to the sea I remember. And smile.

A2SeaCreations.com

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE - Bottle Design by Cheryl

Story and Photo by Micki Findlay

I have always had such a fascination with the whole 'Message in a Bottle' concept. I mean, how romantic would it be to find an abandoned bottle laying on the shore with a love note inside it from a mysterious stranger? There is something about it that just warms the 'cockles of my heart'... the fact that someone, somewhere, at some time wrote a note to a loved one they had lost track of and, thereby possessed enough faith to dare believe that if they stuffed their message in a bottle and threw it out to sea, that there could be a possibility that their loved one may one day find it and return.

It makes me think about the power of hope. Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese monk once said, “Hope is important because it can make the present moment less difficult to bear. If we believe that tomorrow will be better, we can bear a hardship today.”
So true! I believe that courage is a by-product of hope. Is this the ramblings of an idealist? Guilty as charged. I do have my practical side as well. But I believe that how a person looks at life determines how they survive through the devastating times.

So is the whole Message in a Bottle idea silly and frivolous? Or is it empowering to the one sending the message? When I think of how I met my husband David, I know there is such a thing as miracles, but that is a story for another day. Figuratively speaking, I guess you could say that I threw a bottle into the sea in hopes that I would one day meet someone like him: my soul mate, at last.

A2SeaCreations.com