Bonkers waves churn up rare sea glass find for newbie Archie’s hand-finished designs
Every storm cloud has a blue lining may not be quite the usual phrase but it’s certainly true for newbie card publisher Archie Archer of Seaglass By Archie as the turbulence of storms Dudley, Eunice and Franklin have done her a big favour in the shape of rare pirate glass.
Archie and her dog, Bolt the Labrador, forage beaches around Folkstone, Kent, for sea glass – tumbled shards of Victorian debris – which she uses on her hand-finished greeting cards and, after being stuck on her houseboat waiting out the worst of the weather, they were wondering what the elements had churned up.
While most people were cursing the recent wild and windy weather lashing the country, it was a blessing in disguise for Archie, who said: “The waves were bonkers but, when I went through my finds from Sunday, I discovered I’d found blue pirate glass. I’ve never ever found this before, it’s so rare!
“I also found fossilised teeth, milk glass that was used in ponds cream and toothpastes, bonfire glass which is two colours mixed, tiny bits of cobalt blue from Victorian medicine bottles, large pieces of aqua from the Victorian soda bottles called Torpedo bottles, shards of Victorian pottery, a teddy bear eye, large pieces of opaline which has a yellow/blue hue and is from France 1800s-1850s, galaxy pebbles, and black sea glass which is also pirate glass from bottles that held booze.”
Calling herself a “proud litter picker of Victorian rubbish” Archie and Bolt go beach combing regularly to find the thin shards she uses in her work, as well as bigger pieces which she sells for jewellery making and craft projects. Every piece of sea glass is unique, having been tumbled in the sea for 20 to 100 years plus.
Sea Glass By Archie made its debut at Spring Fair recently, and picked up fans including David Robertson, who placed orders for his JP Pozzi and Bijou stores in Buckie and Elgin, in Moray, Scotland.
Archie usually checks out the Kent beach daily, near where there were two Victorian rubbish dumps and a glass factory in the mid-1800s, but she said: “I thought last Thursday was going to be a good day due to the crazy storms, and the winds would have churned up great finds but I was only down at the beach for an hour as the tide was so high – never seen it that high before so it was slim pickings.
“I had planned on going on Saturday but my poor Daddy, who’s 83, sounded horrified I was attempting to be sea glass hunting. He reminded me we lost 80 trees in the garden in the 1987 storm! “I was on strict batten-down-the-hatches orders having had six calls from friends and family imploring me to be sensible and stay home – it was blowing a hooley and my little boat was bobbing about a lot, Storm Franklin seemed equally ferocious and we were being blown about a lot in the boatyard.
“After a Meet The Maker event at Produced In Kent, in Bluewater Shopping Centre, on Sunday, we headed straight down to the sea glass beach as beachcombers live for big storms as it churns up the sea, and it really paid off with the blue pirate glass. I posted it on my Instagram and only one follower has found blue, this really is very rare indeed.”
Now Archie and Bolt are hoping Storm Gladys, which struck yesterday (Thursday, 24 February), will help the English Channel deliver up even more glass treasures for them to discover on the Kent beaches.
Top: Beauty can be found in Victorian litter
