NAHANT -- Mermaid tears, and fairy glass or sea glass are pieces of glass that have been worn down by the waves and are found on many area beaches.

Celtic legend has it that if you look through the sea glass into the water, you will see a mermaid, but one Nahant resident sees jewelry, not mermaids, when she looks at sea glass.

Linda Tanfani, who has lived in town for more than 30 years, makes sterling silver jewelry out of pieces of sea glass and pottery found on area beaches.

"I've been walking the beaches with my dogs and collecting sea glass for about 15 years. About three years ago I started making jewelry. I'm not sure how it happed but it became a full-time business," Tanfani said.

"I was retired and the market fell apart. I needed money. I had all this sea glass and thought about making a table but couldn't bear to part with years of collecting in one piece, so I made a piece of jewelry. I didn't work this hard before I retired."

Tanfani, who frequently walks on Black Rock Beach with Gabbi her Puli (a Hungarian herding dog) likened finding sea glass and shards of pottery smoothed by the waves to a treasure hunt.

"I am always amazed and delighted by the varying colors, sizes, and shapes of sea glass and antique beach china - each piece has its own special history. I'm a collector by nature and I would fill cups and bags with the treasures of the day. It's like finding treasure, " she said.

Tanfani said she doesn't drill, polish, shape or cut the pieces she finds.

"I work with what the sea gives me. I see a piece and immediately visualize what I can do with it," she said.

She said one of the most challenging aspects of her work is making a piece of jewelry out of a piece of sea glass or pottery someone gives to her.

"I love it when people bring me a piece they found to make something out of. It is a challenge because I don't get to choose what I am working with.I'm taking something that is really precious to them and creating something for them," Tanfani said.

Tanfani said the bits of pottery she finds on the beach fascinate her because of the wealth of history in each piece.

"There was a ship from England that went down in Boston harbor. It was coming from England and a lot of the shards I find in Nahant are antique china that may be from that ship," she said.

Tanfani, who creates her own designs, said one thing that makes her creations unique is the way she makes them. Instead of setting the glass into a setting, she wraps and solders the mounting around the piece.

"It's almost like stained glass. You can see through the glass. There isn't anything solid behind the glass," she said.

Tanfani admits it's hard to part with some of her pieces - like the jewelry she made from a piece of beige and green pottery with just a hint of turquoise.

"I have never seen a piece of pottery like that so I kept that one. I love the pottery pieces. I have sold pieces and then had sellers' remorse," the Foxhill Road resident said.

Her pieces range in price from $20 to $150 and numerous New England galleries sell her work, including the Picklepot in Salem and Tulips in Portsmouth, N.H. Her work is also available online at www.treasurebeach.biz.