Beautiful vases, gorgeous frames and unique one of a kind pieces...all adorned with seashells and other accents from the ocean. Sounds amazing, doesn't it? Well, it certainly is. And in honor of Pink Saturday....I thought I would share the interesting story and wonderful creations of Pam from Pink Pelican Designs.
I first discovered Pam earlier this year, when I purchased two shell encrusted finials (see on my living room shelf below) from her Etsy Shop and have consistently gone back and visited her shop to browse through all of her artistic and unique designs.
You can clearly see her love of the ocean in all her pieces. Pam is a native Floridian and grew up until her early teens on the East Coast, where Amelia Island was one of her favorite beaches. Her mother was born on Terra Ceia Island, a beautiful unspoiled enclave of old Florida on the Gulf Coast...and it's this heritage that Pam attributes to "the island lifestyle being in my blood". It's a place where she and her husband still visit, to kayak and fish.
Pam's love affair with all things coastal continued when she married, as her husband's family ran a wonderfully idyllic compound on Sanibel Island called Tarpon Bay. Pam describes it as "an amazing place – that included a marina, shell shop and dress-jewelry-antique shop called The Red Pelican". It was also known as “Dinkins Bay” in Randy Wayne White’s Doc Ford novels.
Her shop is named with a nod to the great times that she spent there with family and friends – out on the water exploring the many fun and funky island spots and catching grouper, trout and blacktip shark for lunch or dinner. Some of her fondest memories are going into the ‘shell barn’ with her father-in-law where shells from all over the world were in various stages of cleaning, sorting and preparation for sale in The Shell Shop. Pam says "one of the nice surprises for me in dealing with some of my local shell wholesalers is finding a family connection from the old Tarpon Bay days....it truly is a small world".
Pam works on about 8 - 10 different projects at the same time - many are custom orders from brides, where she creates pieces that will be lifetime keepsakes. She loves all types of shells...but feels sometimes the most interesting ones are the wave eroded shell fragments, worn smooth by sand and surf (I feel the same way). She opened her Etsy Shop in the summer of 2009 and feels the Etsy community has been such a positive creative force and an inspiration. She recently become a member of the Etsy All Things Coastal Team and has been amazed by the great work produced by this group of talented artists.
When I asked Pam what she liked most about the beach, she said... "I guess what I like the most about the coast is walking the beach every chance I get, preferably at low tide, stunning sunsets, sunrises and even moonrises over the water, the lure to be outside and active, rollerblading, kayaking, biking, walking and intertwined with it all, the people. It is hard not to smile at the beach!".
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| Pam working on filling a large order for starfish and sand dollar ornaments. |
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| Look at all those beautiful starfish in the background. |
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| What a gorgeous shell encrusted box. |
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| A seashell extravaganza swag. |
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| Such a pretty frame. And the wallpaper is so cool. |
Here are some of my favorite pieces
from Pink Pelican Design's Etsy Shop:
And this is my current favorite....
Hope you have a Pinktastic Saturday!
