Incredible Inspiration for your summer coastal decor....

I first gazed upon this amazing coastal summer mantle from Finding Home about a month ago.  It literally took my breath away.  That's how much I love this creative masterpiece of mantle decor.  As soon as I discovered it, I've been trying to figure out how to duplicate this look in my house...even though I don't have a fireplace and therefore, much of a mantle.  

I still haven't figured out how to re-create this look...but have continuously re-visited this post - just for inspiration.  It really makes me so happy to study the closeup details....the mason jars, the branch and bottle, the starfish and urchins...I could go on and on.  

I was so inspired that I asked Laura, the author of Finding Home and the person behind this magnificent mantle if I could share it on my blog.  So onto the photographs....  

I hope you've been as inspired as I am.  Please go over 

and visit Finding Home to learn more 

about this amazing piece. 

Have a great week!

Christmas is coming early....thanks to a giveaway from Beautiful Details by the Seashore....

If you recently read my post "Loving Beautiful Details by the Seashore"  you'll recall how much I love the bottles that Carol features in her Etsy Shop.  Well, not only does she create beautiful bottles, jewelry and other keepsakes - she makes amazing sea inspired coastal ornaments.  

These colors are so vibrant.

And she has graciously offered to host a giveaway....for the winner to select an ornament or two (up to a $40.00 value) from her Etsy Shop.....

Such vibrant gold sparkles. 



This etched silver is a holiday keepsake.



This sea urchin looks like a vibrant jellyfish. 

This etched brass with a slight patina is a work of art.

  The steps to enter the giveaway is simple...all you have to do is:

• Visit Carol's Etsy Shop and leave a comment here on Love of the Sea on what ornament(s) you would select if you won and;

• Become a follower of Carol's Blog, Twitter or Facebook    

I love the colors of this sea urchin ornament. 

So stop by for a visit at Beautiful Details by the Seashore Etsy Shop, leave a comment on your favorite ornament and follow one of the following:  

• Beautiful Details Facebook Page
• Beautiful Details Twitter 
• Beautiful Details by the Seashore Blog

These are soooo beautiful. 



I will pick the winner

on Thursday evening, December 2nd

using random.org. Good luck!!

Loving Beautiful Details by the Seashore.....

For those of you that have followed my blog for a bit - you know that I love Etsy.  Everything about it....I spend hours and hours just meandering through the vintage pieces and one of a kind creations.  It's so inspiring to browse in the wonderful shops....and consequently, many of my posts include my favorite finds.

Some of you may remember my first Etsy Shop feature....My Shabby Chateau...From Paris with Love which described how much I love including little hand made touches into my home and how I like it even better when I know a little bit about the person who created the piece. 

So with that, I wanted to share another one of my favorite shops,  Beautiful Details by the Seashore.  Just the name alone conjures up all kinds of wonderful thoughts - especially for an ocean lover like me.  Once you spend a few minutes browsing through Carol's shop - you'll see why I have included some of her pieces into my sea inspired home.   

Carol has loved the ocean for as long as she can remember - and you will see & feel that in her work.  She spent her childhood summers on the coast of North Carolina and those memories, especially discovering shark teeth on the beach, remain with her today.  She loves sunrises and sunsets and the smell of salt air (me too!).  One of her passions when she is at the beach... is to get up early before anyone else and go beachcombing for  seashells, sharks teeth and seaglass.  It's no surpise that she and her husband, who started surfing at 8 years old, were engaged and also married on the beach.... and Carol has him addicted to searching for sharks teeth too.  They try to visit the beach as often as they can and their dream is to one day live on the coast.

She usually works on two or three different projects at a time;  making bottles, painting cast iron pieces or creating  jewelry for her other Etsy shop, silverbeadsandclay.  She and her husband spend the weekends searching for the vintage bottles that she uses in her pieces.  She loves researching the background of the bottles that have markings - and includes the details in her shop so that the buyer can learn about their history.  Her favorite type of bottles are the aqua ones...which are hard to come by. She was lucky enough to find a few in September, some with incredible patinas on the inside. 

When I asked Carol if she ever regretting selling any of her pieces, she said... "Yes and no.  If I didn’t love everything I make, I wouldn’t sell it.  I think my favorite bottles so far were the set of three aqua glass bottles that went to a lady in Seattle, Washington.  But she does love them, so that doesn’t make it all that bad.  It’s wonderful when your customers appreciate your creations". 

Well...I can assure Carol that I LOVE & appreciate the bottles that she created...

I think that these three look great together on a shelf in my living room.



Love the coral on the vintage beer bottle.



This abalone shell is so beautiful.



The vibrancy of the pink urchin is amazing.



A future Pink Saturday post in the making.......

When I see this display...it makes me so happy.

I love this vintage bottle with flowers. I just purchased this to work into
my holiday decor so stay tuned....
.

Here are some of my current favorites that are in Carol's Shop...it was so hard to narrow it down....



Vintage Aqua Medicine Bottle.  So pretty.



These trio of vintage bottles are darling.



Vintage 1950"s Wine Bottle with Pearl Nautilus Shell.



I am thinking I have to have this amazing Sea Coral Fan Bottle.

Gorgeous details on these bottles.

Coral and Milkglass - two of my favorites.

I hope you have enjoyed getting to know Beautiful Details by the Seashore as much as I have putting this together.  And in celebration of the upcoming holiday season, Carol has generously offered to host a giveaway of three of her holiday ornaments....details coming later this month!

Aren't these beautiful? The giveway will be a set of three. 

Dressing up my favorite Giga.....

Linking up with Completely Coastal

I love decorating with clam shells.  And with that - I've always wanted an authentic, giant giga clam shell to be the centerpiece of my clam shell displays.  I recently stopped at this wonderful coastal decor and seashell shop in Key Largo - that was filled to the brim with gorgeous giga clam shells of all shapes and sizes.  I was mesmerized by the variety but really was quite shocked at the prices.

At first, I thought it was a mistake when I saw that the one I liked best was $1500 dollars.  So I moved on to the next one and after looking at about 15 different ones varying in price on the low end starting at $500 and the high end - $2000 - I realized these clams are crazy expensive.  So I asked the sales person - why are the clams so expensive - the first thing she said was "they never go on sale, either"...with an annoyed tone - because she obviously gets asked this question frequently.  So I asked again.  She said they are rare and very hard to come by - (based on the quantity at the store...it appears they must have the world's largest inventory because there were giant clams all over the place) and that the better the form and shape, the more expensive it will be.

Armed with that information, I clearly had to go in a different direction - but did not want to abandon my vision for a coastal clam centerpiece.  Determined to create my masterpiece - I ordered this resin one from ZGallerie for $59.99:

I was very pleased with the size - 12" by 20" and also the quality. As soon as it arrived, I began the process of collecting my favorite things to fill it.

Sea biscuits, sea cookies and sand dollars.....

Pink and Green Sea Urchins.....

Pink and Green Shells......

Starfish and seashells.....

Lovely white and blue coral....

Anchor pieces of coral & sponges

Moss from Michael's & "The Shell"

I set the anchor pieces first....

Mixed in the smaller coral pieces

Added the assorted shells....

And here is the finished piece.....what do you think?
 I call this my "coastal" flower arrangement.

I didn't dress this up for Fall - but I definitely plan on re-mixing the pieces for the holidays - so stay tuned  for future posts on "Dressing up my favorite Giga".  

I'm linking this up to:

Show and Tell Friday with My Romantic Home

Feathered Nest Fridays with French Country Cottage

Saturday Nite Special with Funky Junk Interiors
Motivate Me Monday with Keeping it Simple
Show Off your Cottage Monday with The House in the Roses

Make it for Monday with Cottage Instincts