Yesterday I shared a coffee lid I use to put paint on when I do my dot paintings and discovered a cool little piece of art by accident on it.

Last night I painted a little scene on it and here's what it looks like now.

To me, it looks like a black cat and his shadow (with his back to us), staring at the clouds. I have NO idea what to do with it now, but obviously I can't use it to hold globs of paint any longer. I think I'll attempt to poke a hole in the top and put a piece of ribbon through it to hang it up.

I've been doing a lot of prep work getting ready for the next wave of mosaics. There's not much to share yet but I did make a sale last night that made me extremely happy. All sales make me smile, for sure, but this one was especially rewarding. I love to work on discarded items, as you may know, like empty beer and wine bottles but I also like to put mosaics on discarded microwave plates. I sold one of those and am so pleased! Not just because I made a sale (yay!) but because not only did we save something from the landfill, I added my mosaic touch to it and someone will now enjoy it in a new way. No longer useful as it was, it still has purpose in its new life. This pleases me very much. I'm feeling so grateful this day, happy that others see the beauty as I do. It's a very humbling experience.

I have gotten a little further along on the dot painting. I believe I'm going to have to figure out names for my bottles; each one is unique and should have a unique name besides painted bottle #3. Since I wasn't sure I was going to make more than one when I first started out with these, now that I'm into the 6th one, I believe I can giving them names. Now I just have to figure out what they want to be called.

Have a wonderful weekend.

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

It's HOT here in PA. I normally fuss very little compared to others about weather, it is what it is and there's nothing to do but find ways to stay cool and comfy. I wasn't prepared for the large jump in temps however, because this time last week we were living with rain and 60 degrees temps. Today it is not quite noon and close to 90 degrees. Whew. Add that to the fact that I am 58 years old and more bothered by weather changes than I used to be when I was 28. Bah-humbug.

I managed to walk to the local dollar store and found square 3 inch glass candle holders! I only had one left in a green stained glass available so I grabbed 3 more to mosaic. They are hard to find in the local dollar store and often I have to travel further to find them. So, that was kind of exciting. Then I went to the local grocery store and found my favorite coffee, normally at $6 for $3. Woo-hoo! Top it off with a bottle of red and a bottle of white in my favorite wines and that was my perfect morning. Walking home with heavy bottles and glass containers wasn't as much fun but I managed it.

I worked a bit more on the bottle last night and found some wooden napkin rings I purchased forever ago that I am going to dot up soon!

Check it out: the coffee lid sitting by the toothpicks has a black cat on it! That was purely accidental, but I may have to use another lid now because I like finding art in unexpected places. I'm painting the background and will share a photo when it's finished.

Speaking of finding art, I now have a printer (yay) and can print out Art Abandonment tags to go with the few things I want to drop off here and there. I am hoping to do that next week when the temps drop to the mid 70's. It will also give me time to make up a few more pieces to abandon. I'll share photos when I have them all gathered up, which means it may take more than a week, come to think of it ... the photos haven't been all that great lately.

I added 2 more items to Gently Loved Treasures this morning. These photos were taken months ago!

Vintage Salt and Pepper Shakers: Pink Seashells, Florida, Flamingos

Vintage Pepper Shaker: Single Shaker, Penguin

I've been photo editing a few items each day and getting them set up to list for the next day. Eventually I'll have no more to share until more photos are taken but hopefully by then, the Camera Goddess will return to me.

I made a treasury on Etsy this morning that I really love. If you have a chance, hop on over and give it some love (click on the link below the photo), favorite the items in it and share it if you'd like. I'm discovering I have a certain color preference when I make treasuries. I made quite a few last week, one for each team I belong to! It has been quite a long time since I've done that.

Peaceful Morning

Meanwhile, I have dots to make, stained glass and dish shards to glue to stuff and things and finally things to sort and gather together. And I'm having the time of my life!!

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Zibbet Vintage Shop Opens Today

I'm pleased to announce the Grand Opening of the vintage shop: Gently Loved Treasures on zibbet.com this morning.

So far, I've put up 8 items. I have quite a few photos to edit and list. As the weeks progress, that shop will become fairly filled with treasures. It's not just geared toward vintage. It's also geared towards those who do mixed media art and mosaics. Stop by anytime and take a look as items continue to be added.

 McCoy Flower Pot - Robin Egg Blue

Good news on the "Back to Basics" mosaic. #4 in the series, this has been grouted and glued together and looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself.

I haven't decided if I want to let this one go and list it just yet. But listing it doesn't guarantee a sale immediately which means listing it today just means at some point it might leave me, so chances are good that it will be on Etsy soon.

I sold a candle holder a few days ago that surprised me greatly. It is heading towards Switzerland! Wow!

Sold!

I also took a weird turn at continuing to grout the 3-D elephant, Luna Nuren. I hadn't really thought of this crazy thing for a while but had leftover grout and decided to add it to that. It is a lighter color, however, so chances are good I'll be grouting over it to appease myself. Also, someone took an interest in this piece of art on the same day! I'm not sure it's headed anywhere unless I can get that wonky ear to behave. It was nice to have a mutual family friend contact me on Facebook, asking me for photos of it because they know a person who collects elephants and they were interested in seeing it. It's nice to have such a wide network of people to share my art with. I'm so grateful for that!

Tail and a bit of hindquarters were recently grouted. Will possibly re-grout those areas for consistency and my peace-of-mind.

I have a few mosaic things to do now, which means the organizing of my living space has stopped for now. It is in a bit of chaos, really, so there will be days when I'm waiting for glue to dry or grout to cure where I may take the time to continue with cleaning and sorting. However, it's been a great deal of fun to see the small section of the crafts area come back to life a bit. I need to find a sturdy bar stool so I can sit at the crafts table instead of stand and I'll be able to work there again! Yeah buddy!!

I'm never sure where the muse will take me each day. Today I think she may lead me towards painting the bottle I started and grouting a little more of the elephant. One or the other may happen, or something entirely different. It's always wise not to get too attached to a plan!

 Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Hooray! I've finished gluing the glass-on-glass mosaic, "Back to Basics - #4" yesterday. I am pleased with the black frame so I'll give that another coat of paint later today or tomorrow. The only thing left to do is grout and glue all the pieces into the frame. Woo-hoo!

I started dot painting on one of the bottles I've covered in thin set. I actually painted over my design on this one a few times. I've done that before; start in on a design and then it goes way off track and I have to start over. Thank goodness it's easy to paint over it - black paint covers it all!

What was tripping me up was looking at the waves in thin set on this one. The drips look similar to eyebrows or a hat and I kept wishing I could paint a face on this one. I'm not sure it would look like much if I had tried and I probably should have done it anyway to get it out of my system so I could move on to something else. Obviously I got over it and got a fairly nice design going. Since I start in the center and work out from it, it did take 3 or 4 tries before I got it right.

I've no plans once this is finished because I can't seem to make up my mind on what I want to work on next. I'll allow the muse to take me where ever she wants to go!

I'm taking a few days off from blogging and will be back on Tuesday. I want to focus on the vintage shop for a few days and get that ready to open.On Tuesday, I should have some progress photos of whatever it is I'm working on.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

 Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

I had a surprisingly creative day yesterday for about 1 hour! Yay!

Seriously it came out of nowhere and I held on tight and went with it! It quickly disappeared but boy, howdy, was I happy to feel that old tug from my muse once again! Sometimes inspiration hits me in my face, sometimes it sneaks up on me. It never matters, honestly, as long as it arrives.

I started the 5 x 7 inches glass-on-glass mosaic I mentioned I might do a few days ago. I wasn't sure I would do one after seeing how nice the dots looked on the 1st frame. Instead of dot painting the frame first, I left it alone and allowed the mosaic part to come first. I thought the dot painting, if it will be done, should happen after the mosaic this time around. As far as I can tell, the back will go on it so it can sit on a table or shelf. I might have to glue it all together to keep it from harm as it will be much heavier than normal. Time will tell.

It will be my "Back to Basics" design I mentioned last week. 3 colors blocked out in sections. I'm so happy I started this. I really didn't think I'd be doing any mosaics at all for a few more days. My thumb is in good shape too! Life is good and getting back to normal! Yee-haww!!!

I hope once I finish this the dots will go on the frame but if I'm still in "mosaic mode" I'll get going on the flowers for the bookcase or I might do something entirely different I haven't even thought of yet. And of course I could decide to continue with the organizing of the studio/living space too. There's still much to be done. I have learned not to force the creative stuff nor second guess where it'll take me on any given day.

My brain doesn't have the power right now to do a full day of anything but I can do a few things in small clumps. I'm not quite sure how I let myself get so burned out so quickly but I am. It felt really great to hold the nippers and cut glass again, though, I have to say. Even if it was just for an hour.

I'm also still editing the vintage goodies for the new Zibbet shop. I do a few items and leave it for a while. Check this cool planter that's going into the new shop for sale. It's a wooden souvenir planter from Bald Eagle Lookout, PA. Awesome!

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Yesterday I worked on dot painting the 8 inch peace sign and zipped right through it. This broken earring was the inspiration for the design and colors I used.

I wasn't sure I would sell these dot paintings when I started experimenting on the bottles, but there are items like the frames and this peace sign that seem to look fairly good enough to sell. With that in mind, I listed this one this morning on Etsy.

These photos are temporary because the sun wasn't out when I took them but they are good enough to share. I often update my photos and will probably take many of this pretty thing before I'm happy.

I have a bottle sitting next to me to get started on today. That should take longer to do and my enthusiasm for dots is waning only because I've been doing them at a fevered pitch for so long. It is time to slow down and enjoy the process and I'm ready for a mosaic or two in between.

I have discovered I truly enjoy doing this technique and will continue to make dot paintings on things for a long, long time. I now have 4 bottles, 2 frames and a peace sign made with dots and I love the way they all look! I have a few oddly shaped pieces of cement board and have considered doing some dots on them at some point. It's good to grow as an artist in a direction I hadn't planned. It feels right.

The muse is ready to work on a flower for the bookcase and my thumb is about healed enough to give it a try. I have no energy to sift through boxes or sort anything just yet, which means the organized room will have to wait until I feel the pull toward that process.

Whatever I do, I'll share here tomorrow, I'm sure!

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Welcome to a new week filled with possible potential and exciting discoveries!!

I've been having fun with dot painting while my thumb is still healing. It should be in great shape by the time I've finished the 2nd plastic frame, 2 thin set covered wine bottles and an MDF peace sign. Once I've painted those, I'll get to work on a few mosaic projects such as the flowers for my bookcase and a custom ordered gazing ball I'll be working on next month. Yeah buddy!

I did a dot painting on one of the old plastic pink frames I've had for quite a few years on Saturday. It truly only took me a few hours to dot but it took many hours to prep.

First I scuffed it up so the black paint wouldn't bead off of the plastic. I did 2 layers of black paint on them because I wanted all signs of pink to disappear.

I watched Netflix, as usual, while I did this project from start to finish. I think that's why I can do them without too much trouble. I just mindlessly make dots while I'm watching something on the computer.

The results is a frame I really love. I had planned on using the glass inside these frames and adding a mosaic to each one, giving it a complete overhaul but I love it just as it is, for its intended purpose. It's probably going to be gifted to my daughter because I think she'll like the colors of it. Added bonus, she is the one who gave me the frames to begin with, so I think she'll get a kick out of seeing their reincarnation now.

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Happy Saturday! I'm so glad I decided to write a post every day for a while; it seems the more I do around here, the more I want to share, even if it's just me who will read this, I'm glad I'm doing it.

Work came to a halt yesterday as I reached into a box to get something and sliced my thumb open from a broken bowl. I'm used to getting hurt by glass and dish shards but this is on the tip and hurts so badly I actually cried when I first did it. I NEVER cry ... there's no crying in making mosaics, it comes with the territory. My left thumb was out of commission for the day and because I'm left handed, so was I.

That means there's not much to share that's new or exciting from the studio this day. I do have some pretty photos to show you of the frame. I pulled out 2 more plastic ones this morning and roughed them up a bit so I can paint on them. These particular ones have glass with them which means I may do a glass-on-glass mosaic with one or both once the frames have been painted.

This one will eventually get a piece of Wediboard or cement board sized for it and I'll do a mosaic to be placed inside. The "back to basics" designs I like to do using 3 stained glass colors horizontally may be what I do here and possibly for all three frames.

I also got the supplies gathered to do the mosaic flowers on mesh but with the cut on my thumb, I'll have to wait another day or two before I start that. It still hurts to hold glass to nip it, darn it.

I'm excited because I just got a few peace signs in MDF on Thursday! I love getting new supplies; I am grateful for the sales and custom orders that gets the supplies. It's such a blessing!

I am trying to decide what to do on them now that I'm on a painting kick. I would love to do a dot painting on one of them, so I'm fairly sure I will. I think I might give the other one to my daughter for her birthday in June after I put a mosaic on it or I might give her one of the frames I mentioned above.

Tomorrow I'm taking the day away from blogging to spend some time with the fam. My daughter and her husband want to take me to see the new "Star Trek" movie for my Mother's Day present. I'm really excited to see it. They took me to the last one too. Gotta love my kids! I've been catching up with every single episode of every reincarnation of the series on Netflix. So far I've seen the entire collections of the original "Star Trek", the animated series, "Star Trek: Next Generation" and I'm almost finished with the 3rd season of "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" which I never saw any of and LOVE it! In truth, I have to say, I love them all! I got involved with life around the time "Voyager" was running on TV and never got to see any of "Enterprise". I'm catching up, thanks to Netflix (and making sales to pay for it!), and it is a wonderful thing!

Enjoy your weekend and I'll be back on Monday with more photos to share from the studio!


Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Wait until you see this!

The bookcase is in place and at work! Woo-hoo! I am so excited about this. I know it seems like no big deal to those who have space but to those of us who are limited by it, this is a dream come true! Isn't it awesome?!!

I found another awesome close-up of the shelves with the water marks on it. As someone who never plans the art, I think this is beautiful.

 

It's almost a shame the shelves are so badly needed and are now covered up, isn't it?

I started drawing a design on the side of the bookcase and will get out the mesh sometime today and start in on the mosaic for it. It would have been a great idea to wait to put it in place and work on the mosaic while it's turned on its side making the job a lot easier, however it is now nailed into the wall and as permanent as I could make it. That means working with mesh and attaching the mosaics on it as I would a wall. I'm okay with that decision because I truly needed to get out from under so many boxes around me.

This case now holds jewelry, polymer clay, stained glass and substrates. I still need some plastic containers for more glass that is sitting on the floor. The substrates will be moved eventually from this spot and placed in another but for now, they are visible and out of the way. A wonderful thing. The small drawers at the top hold some millefiori, charms, small odds and ends. There are a few drawers missing from it so I've used that area to place belt buckle blanks. They fit perfectly!

The side of the room where the grinder will go will be the area for dishes and dish shard materials plus a few things like river rocks, shells and buttons. Styrofoam balls and a few other things will be placed in the middle in an old blanket chest that my Dad refinished for my Mom when they were engaged. It was her hope chest and I have used it through the years to hold a lot of things, but now it will hold some items for my artistic endeavors. I will share photos of all of these things once I've actually started on them.

Cleaning the crafts table is next. I'm excited that I'll have a place to work again soon.

Although I have many other things I probably should be doing, my body needs a few days to recover from moving so many boxes (not yet shown in photos) from one side of the room to the other that I have to give myself a few days off. I'm okay with that. And of course I will be working on the latest dot painting or mosaic mesh flowers I mentioned above.

Here's the latest bottle I've painted. It's a beer bottle and was primed a few times and then painted black. There's no thin set on this one. I used it yesterday as an incense burner. :)

I'm working on a frame now. It's almost finished. I'll share photos tomorrow!

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics