Living in a small community like Shetland has many benefits, as I’m sure many of you know. It is safe, there’s a great community spirit and people are usually very keen to help each other out - as I’ve been finding recently!

I’ve been making art pieces using sea glass and other beach finds for exactly three years now, and as a result am known locally for using such materials - so much so that people have been giving me surprise donations of materials!

I’ve been so thrilled and grateful to receive these. So far these have included goodies such as a bag of stone crystals left on my doorstep, a box of sea glass and pottery pieces, a box of drift wood and several hauls of mixed beach finds and shells - often donated by people who have decided to declutter unwanted childhood collections. It is great for me, and I’m always surprised when people give up their treasure.

In one box, there was a particularly rare piece in amongst the sea glass: a beautiful turquoise coloured glass, with a ribbed texture to it. I decided to take it to a workshop run by local silversmith Esme Wilcock and learn how to create a piece of jewellery using sea glass and fine silver.

After a fascinating day I managed to complete the challenge, and created a stunning pendant! I showed it to the person who donated the glass to me, and she loved it so much that she wanted to

buy it, to give to her mother. It turns out it was her mother who had originally found the glass, and as it was soon going to be her 90th birthday, it seemed like the perfect present.

It was a reluctant sale, but I decided it should go back to the person who found it. It’s funny how things work out sometimes.