More than sea glass

If you found me through a sea glass video, a beach list on Instagram, or one of my art posts - hi. I’m glad you’re here.

The internet tends to show the shiny parts of things. The perfect sea glass finds. The finished mosaics. The peaceful beach walks. And those things are real - but there’s a lot more behind Kell Bell’s Shells & Sea Glass than what fits into a reel.

I’ve been picking things up off the beach for as long as I can remember.

When I was growing up, my family took trips to Fernandina Beach, Florida, where my grandmother lived. I would come back from the shoreline with my arms completely full - shells, sea glass, little bits of pottery, anything the ocean had decided to give back that day. My grandmother started calling me “Kell Bell Shell” because I could never carry enough of it home.

The nickname stuck. Years later, it became the name of my business.

Back then I had no idea that collecting these little ocean treasures would eventually turn into something bigger. It was just something I loved doing. Walking slowly along the shoreline, scanning the sand, noticing tiny details most people walk right past.

That instinct never really went away.

What people don’t always see is that this business didn’t start with a polished plan or a perfect studio setup. It started with curiosity, trial and error, and a lot of late nights figuring things out one piece at a time. Learning how to turn loose sea glass and shells into mosaics. Experimenting with framing. Packing and shipping artwork. Setting up at markets. Answering messages. Trying to grow something meaningful out of something that started as a simple love for the shoreline.

Some days I’m creating art.

Other days I’m answering emails, packaging orders, applying to markets, or reorganizing bins of sea glass that have somehow multiplied overnight. Running a small creative business means wearing every hat - artist, photographer, shipper, customer service, social media manager, and sometimes professional sand remover from the bottom of my car.

Through all of it, the ocean has always been the constant.

The materials I work with weren’t manufactured. They weren’t designed in a factory or bought in bulk. Every piece of sea glass, every shell, every small treasure I use in my work was shaped by the ocean first. Time, tides, storms, and saltwater did the first part of the work long before I ever found it.

That’s what makes sea glass so special to me. It’s not just a material - it’s a story of transformation.

These days, beachcombing often happens with my daughter at my side. Some days we find sea glass. Some days we find nothing at all. But the act of slowing down, looking closely, and being present with the shoreline is something I hope she grows up loving the way I always have.

The beach has a way of teaching patience. You can walk for hours and find nothing, and then suddenly the tide shifts and the sand reveals something beautiful that’s been there all along.

In a lot of ways, building this business has felt the same.

Over the past year especially, things have grown in ways I didn’t expect. More people are discovering my work. More people are following along with the beach hunts, the art, and the stories behind the pieces. What started as something small and personal is slowly becoming something bigger.

And I’m incredibly grateful for that.

But at the heart of it, the process is still the same as it was when I was a kid walking the shoreline with my arms full of shells. Slow steps. Careful searching. Appreciating the small things most people overlook.

Every piece I create begins the same way - with something the ocean left behind.

If you’re new here, welcome.

I’m Kelly, the person behind Kell Bell’s Shells & Sea Glass. And if you ever see someone walking slowly along the beach staring at the sand like they’re searching for buried treasure… it’s probably me.