Art By Earth Mother Mosaics

I hit the ground running this morning!

As soon as I got out of bed I gathered materials and paints for the 12 x 12 inch mosaic I'll be working on for the next few weeks.

I am using Wedi board for this mosaic. For those who don't know, Wedi board (pronounced "weedy") is a preferred substrate for many mosaicists. It is sturdy, yet very lightweight and can be cut with a utility knife. Wedi is made of styrofoam that is surrounded by mesh and cement. Unfortunately, it isn't available at my local DIY stores. I order what I need through Maryland Mosaics when I need it. They have a GREAT turnaround time and often ship out my order on the same day I've placed it.

I thought you might be interested in how I transfer words onto my substrates. I do not have tracing paper and sometimes I don't have newspaper either (a good transfer material) so I use this method below. I didn't create it and I'm sure if you do a search on sites like Pinterest, you'll find many ways to do it. This is my favorite way and the easiest for me.

~~TUTORIAL: HOW TO TRANSFER DESIGNS/WORDS ONTO SUBSTRATES WITHOUT USING TRACING PAPER~~

Here's how I transfer words to substrates. It's quite easy to do. All you need is a printer, pencil and marker.

1) Print out the words you are interested in using.

2) Take a handy pencil and scribble where the words are, on the back of the paper.

3) Turn the paper over and with the pencil, fill in the words, going over them a few times to make sure they "bleed" through onto the substrate.

4) This gives you a light transfer but it is enough to see the words, which is the goal.

5) Use a marker (I prefer black Sharpie's) and darken the word to make it easier to see.

That's all there is to it! Really!!

These words are going to be challenging to mosaic but I've done it before. It will take small, small pieces!!

When I first looked at this, I felt a surge of excitement about getting stained glass and mirror on this. Some might say it's finished not needing any glass or mirror on it, but I say, it's only the beginning of the fun I'm going to have for the next few weeks. Yippie Skippie!!

I didn't get the bottle finished last night, but I did get a lot more accomplished on it before I stopped for the evening. I wasn't feeling good yesterday and kept having to rest a lot. Rain does that to me sometimes, causing me to have ear/sinus problems and vertigo too. It is best, on those days, to rest and relax which is exactly what I did. Today, the sun is shining so far, so I got a few photos of the painted bottle on the windowsill with her sisters.

"Black Night" - painted bottle - work-in-progress

Be warned ... for the next few weeks I may skip a day or two with posts and most of the posts might be mostly about this newest mosaic. "Grow, Bloom, Fly".

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics