And so it begins...



Alas!  The lil' red one is probably gone for good,
following the overeager participation of an 8 year old.



FINALLY!  I left seven Curious Pebbles on the beach in Carlsbad today.

A lovely afternoon, just perfect for the beach.... packed up the kids and the husband, grabbed my bag of pre-made Curious Pebbles and crochet thread and hook and off we went.  The Curious Pebble Project has officially begun!  Ooh!  So exciting...

As soon as we hit the beach, I realized that it was going to be difficult to leave the crocheted pebbles on the beach and document it at the same time without anyone seeing me.  But, I figured it out pretty quickly (pretend to pick up a rock/shell/beach treasure, but actually place a crocheted rock there instead), and we are in business.  



The red one where it was originally placed before being
"hidden" in a pile of rocks on the bluff by my son.



Some observations and lessons learned about the Project from this afternoon:

1. People WILL stop to look at a crocheted pebble on the beach IF they can see it (see #3).  However...
2. Just because someone stops and picks up a crocheted rock from the beach, they might not KEEP it or even take it home with them.  Five out of seven rocks that I left on the beach this afternoon were looked at or picked up at at least twice... and then put back, right where they had been found.  Only TWO people pocketed them and took them home.  Weird.  My husband and I were watching all of this from afar, both bewildered and cracking up about it (see pictures below).  Are people thinking that someone left if there on accident and might come back to find it?  Are they hideous?  I know I'm not the only person out there making these things... there is a entire Flickr Group devoted to Covered Stones, so I'm not the only one out there... But, I digress.  We then discussed writing "KEEP ME!" or "TAKE ME HOME" on the pebbles, but I've already covered the back of them with http://www.curiouspebble.com/, and I seriously don't think I can write any smaller and still have it be legible.  I'm pushing it as it is... I could maybe add a number to each rock (i.e., "#7")... and perhaps, that would signify that they are a collector's edition or something and that would make people WANT them?  Any ideas?
3. Crocheted Rocks blend in on the beach even when they are made with colored crochet thread.  Silly me, I'd mostly tried to use "beachy" colors so as not to have them completely obvious... yeah, moot point, genius. Even the bright red one was nearly impossible to spot if you didn't know it was there.  Next time, I'm going Day-Glo Orange.  No? Meh, ok.  No.



This one was picked up by at least two different people.
I think it's still on the beach.   

4. Small children, namely my own, will often sabotoge the best laid plans even if (especially if?) you've explained it to them beforehand. 
• Little girls, age 3 1/2, will bring BACK a carefully placed and documented crocheted rock, explaiming proudly for all to hear, "Look Mommy!  I found one of your rocks!" 
• Little boys, age 8 1/2, will interpret you asking them to place the rock somewhere random as a direction to HIDE THEM so well that they may never be found.  Me:  "Why did you HIDE it?"  Son:  "uh.... I guess I thought it was too obvious where it was..."   Hmmm... kinda defeats the purpose of "Found Art", eh?  Poor 'lil red rock is gone for good, I'm afraid...          

Here are the rest of the pics from the official launch of The Curious Pebble Project.
Did YOU Find One?



Anonymous girls checking out the green one, laughing and looking around.
Then, they just left him there.  Alone.  Sad.  Hungry.  Sniffle.





Still there?  Or did YOU find it?



 

This one found a home! 


  

Left the Turquoise one on a large rock... One person picked it up and put it back...
and then someone else picked it up, shot some photos of it, and took it home!
I have pics of that, too, but I was afraid to post them, even though you can't
see any face detail... I dunno... should I post them?






Purple... Purple moved around once or twice becasue he was hard to see
and people kept walking by him.  Then he got soaked by a rogue wave.  He'll survive.



Purple's original spot... I eventually moved him into an open space (below), where
he'd be SURE to be seen... then watched at least 10 people nearly step on him
(not to mention get run over by the Lifguard Jeep)without so much as a glance.  Sigh.

  

This is where I left Mr. Purple.  He's still there.  Come and find him!
See how tricky it is to spot them?






This one is kinda wonky, but I made it while I was at the beach and trying to

keep my kids off the bluffs... so... so be it.  BUT!  Watched a nice lady (who

smiled at the kids as she walked by), pick it up and ponder it for a moment

before she put it in her pocket!  YAY!