About Surfergirl’s Seaglass

Seaglass and silver jewellery handmade from beachcombed Llangrannog shells, pebbles, sand and sea-tumbled glass.

paddle board

I am Kat, a surfer, writer and jewellery-maker who lives five minutes from Llangrannog beach in West Wales. I spend as much time on the beach as possible, hunting for seaglass, pretty pebbles, shells and other washed-up wonders. I also spend a lot of time in the water surfing, paddle-boarding, swimming and sailing. When I was younger, the local surfers called me Surfer Girl because I was the only female surfing, and it has stuck for over 20 years…

Sharing my passion for the ocean playground and the wonderful marine life it supports runs through everything I do, from surfing to jewellery-making.

I started making jewellery because I wanted to wear pieces that reflected my interests, used the beautiful things I had collected over the years, and tied into the Welsh landscape and culture that I love.

Simple shell pendants turned into more complex pieces, and after some lessons with the wonderful Rose Wood I began to get more into silversmithing. http://www.rose-wood-jewellery.co.uk

sea and slate

A village market allowed me to sell some of my wares – I realised there was no way I could keep everything I made! When the market closed down, a group of enterprising local women set up the Sea & Slate Gallery – Oriel Mor a Mynydd, which we run as a collective. You can see some of my work on the S&S website and visit us in the Gallery, but do check the opening times out of season. My studio is based a five-minute walk up the hill from the Gallery.

Seaglass is sand-tumbled, wave-tossed pieces of glass, discarded then made beautiful by Mother Ocean. Some pieces can be very old. Emerald green and rare cobalt blue are my favourites; sea-foam green (often from old Coke bottles) reminds me of winter storms in the bay. Each piece is totally unique, and I let their shapes and colours dictate what they will be made into.

sea glass

If you have collected your own special pieces, I can turn them into something that will forever remind you of your time in Llangrannog. I can often suggest the ideal present for a difficult-to-buy-for loved one!

carreg bica
Carreg Bica, the Devil’s tooth
carreg bica pendant

The Carreg Bica range is inspired by the guardian rock of Llangrannog Bay, known as the sore tooth that the Devil ripped out and threw down. I make silver pendants with Carreg Bica etched into them, and rings and bracelets with the co-ordinates of the beach stamped around them.

I love turning trash into treasure, and complement the natural materials I find on the beach with eco-silver, which is recycled and scrap silver certified as high quality. I also melt down and re-use my off-cuts, helping to keep waste to a minimum.

workshop
Stamping on a chilly day!

Some chains and charms are sourced from my annual visits to Moroccan souks’ jewellery quarters. I cannot resist the tiny, sparkly shops crammed with things new and vintage that you could never find in the UK!

The Atlas Mountains
Fanstastic traditional Moroccan beads