Promo Blast!

Did you see it?!! Did you see the newest listing for a Custom Made, Made to Order, 10 inch Peace Sign?!! After all these years, I'm finally offering them up as a listing. Over the years, the peace sign has become one of my favorite shapes to mosaic and I try to have one or two available to work on to list in the store at all times. Here's something that many have taken advantage of and is now offered up to all my lovely customers.

Mosaic Peace Sign - 10 inches - Custom Made To Order - $185.00

Who doesn't love the peace sign symbol and what it stands for?

I've put mosaics on this shape and sold them for about 6 years. Now we offer a custom made peace sign especially to fit your needs and color choices.

8 inch and 10 inch peace signs

Measures 10 inches and is offered in the traditional circle design and the square design while available through the supplier.

Want your very own peace sign using some broken china you may have or a favorite color in stained glass? I can take your broken china and mugs to make them into forever keepsakes giving something old a new purpose once more.

A broken earrings and a little bit of ball chain help add interest to this retro peace sign

These photos show some of the peace signs I've done in the past and does not represent exactly what you will get when ordering. Each mosaic I make is slightly different due to supplies and materials on hand. No two are alike making your custom order the actual definition of one-of-a-kind wall art.

A fiesta of color for the kitchen!

Place them in any room in your home. Past customers have placed them in their kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, guest room, covered porch.

Gift your favorite hippie with a beautiful work of art made especially for them.

These can be made using dish tiles or stained glass and mirror. Often a combination can be used as well. Broken jewelry as a focal point, if you have something to use, can be added.

The most unusually shaped peace sign I've made to-date (this particular one is still available and for sale in my shop however you can order a square one of your very own)

Please read: Made to order mosaics are not eligible for a refund or exchange. I work very closely with each customer, sharing photos as I go of the progress. Before I start I will make sure you are happy with your choices.

Half of the cost is used entirely for materials and supplies needed for your mosaic peace sign.

Want to work on a layaway program? No problem. We can work out monthly payments until it's paid-in-full. Need to have the amount split into 2 payments? I can send you monthly invoices through PayPal. No work will begin until the custom is entirely paid.

Contact me for further questions and information.*

I love making peace signs. Each one I do is filled with love and lots of good vibes.

There are different sizes available: 8 inches, 12 inches and 18 inches. Please contact me for pricing information if you're interested in one of these sizes.

*FREE SHIPPING FOR MULTIPLE ORDERS!! Order 2 or more custom peace signs, get FREE shipping within the US.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part Two

The week has proven to be a productive one. All the materials arrived for the custom ordered peace sign, so I set to work!

10 inch peace sign covered in bright and beautiful Fiestaware

The outer edge will get dish tiles on them very soon. Lovely black grout will be added to get it all finished up and beautiful. It's gonna POP with color! The customers, a high school classmate and his wife, are putting this in their kitchen. That's so awesome and I'm thrilled to work with yet another classmate! I've done custom work for 5 other classmates and they've all been a joy to work with.

I found a photo Wednesday evening while looking through a computer file that I thought would work for the #TBT (Throw Back Thursday) fun done on Facebook, etc. I thought some of you newer folks who follow the blog might find it of interest.

Here's what I posted on FB along with this photo: "I don't usually do the #TBT thing but I found something that would fit and thought I'd share. This photo was taken in 2010, probably in October or November. My first time teaching a class on basic/intermediate mosaics was at Keith Valley Middle School! Funny to look back on it and think I actually had confidence enough to do them. Not sure I could do them now. Shortly after providing basics/intermediate classes for a year and a half, someone I admire greatly told me I shouldn't teach anything without proper education myself and to stop. I am self-taught in all the art I do. I thought about it for a few months, doing classes in between, finding them harder to do, less people signing up, etc. I believed the person who told me to stop was right but felt maybe some day I could take a few classes myself and get the education part that this person felt I needed. That never happened and I lost my energy for sharing the love of the craft. As things worked out, stopping classes was the right move for me. So please no pity or sympathy --- the Universe is taking good care of me and I know it always will. I still believe I'll have a big room of my own, a warehouse kind of deal - locally would be awesome, with tons of tables all around, different mosaic goodies on the walls for everybody from 1 to 100 to come in and play. Classes could be given by those who had a proper education if they would like to give them but those of us who have a love for what we do enough to learn all we can (and I'm still learning!) and then share it with like minded peeps can do them too! Note to self: gotta get the sciatica and muscle spasm taken care of first so I can walk and move around better! In any case, here I am in this photo, longish hair, looking over my glasses talking about how to make a mosaic mirror (intermediate class) for the very first time. Awww - what a sweet memory!!"

On Father's Day, I talked to my 83 year old, Dad. Almost always he asks me if I've been busy; meaning paid artistic work. And almost always I am. He really loves my mosaics and told me I should be in high demand! What a great Dad, eh? However, he mentioned the portraits I've done in the past; only a few, and how much he loves those particularly. He suggested I share them often and let people know I can do one for them taken from a favorite photograph. Many do portraits and traditionally thinking, I can see why he'd want me to share what I do when I make a portrait because I use all kinds of tesserae and interesting bits and bobs in my mosaics. In honor of his pride in me, I gathered together the few mosaics I've done over the past 2 years that were taken from photos for people I care about.

Wedding Day - A Christmas gift - Capturing a moment in mosaic between my daughter and her new husband at their reception - 12/20/2013

Discovery - A Birthday gift for my daughter - Little Dude's first experience with the vastness of the ocean - 04/21/2014

Mark and Tara - A mosaic taken from computer generated characters my daughter made - A Christmas gift for them both - 12/24/2014

Sammy - A memorial mosaic plate for a family member - 01/10/2015

If anyone would like to have a mosaic portrait made like these shown above, contact me to discuss sizing, pricing, etc. They take approximately a month to complete from start to finish. These make an excellent gift. My Dad thinks so, anyway.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

It's been a rough week here so far for me physically. That usually means nothing much gets accomplished.

No grouting is getting done yet this week. I have 5 things to do plus the 10 small gifts yet to grout. This week is mostly about pain management.

There is good news on the horizon, however. I have worked on a Christmas in July Event or CIJ for my shop and customers. Those who signed up with the newsletter will know all about it by now as you all got the news before anyone else. Stay tuned because in a few weeks everyone will know all about it! Woo-hoo!

I made a mosaic for a family member and it's under wraps at the moment in the "Super Secret Mosaics Lab". Shhhhhh. I can't share it just yet but will as soon as I can.

I was recently approached by a high school friend and his wife about making a custom ordered peace sign for them. This is exciting!! You will see more info on that when the materials arrive and I get to work on it. Remember these can be ordered in 8, 10, 12 and 18 inches. Contact me for pricing and more information. Here's some of the last peace signs I did in 8 and 10 inches.

I'm getting better doodling and drawing things that can be adapted into mosaics. Check some of these out! The butterfly, for sure, is headed to the "to be a mosaic one day" pile.

I'd love to see some of these framed and then listed. That goal has been added to the list!

Meanwhile, the auction came and went for my Ink and Watercolor Pendants and not ONE pendant was bid on or sold. These things rarely work the way they do for others but I thought I'd give it a try. Maybe it was because I never had done it before, or kept it within the US due to shipping fees OR they just don't have the appeal like pendants used to. I always say I like my jewelry way more than anyone else!! The bidding started at $15 so maybe that was too high?? In any case, I'm going to list these for $25 each (all except the fern on on the bottom row - that's being held for a friend) on Storenvy soon! What do you think? Is $25 too low of a price or about right? Charging on time involved, amount of experience, I think it's exactly the right amount but my daughter says I should charge double that amount because of the talent involved. She could be right and if that's the case, I'll consider it for a few months. Meanwhile, consider these listed at half price!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Promo Blast!

Lotus Flower Mosaic Tray - FREE SHIPPING Within US - $75.00

A large 13 inch plastic gold serving tray or charger has been given a facelift with some cut up pieces of dishes shaped into a lotus design. Pieces of souvenir plates are used and some great pieces of vintage fruit plates are added along the outer rim. Manufacturers marker stamps are used to dot the the tray here and there along with the rimmed edges of an old plate adding depth as well as interest.

Caution: Not to be used with food. Chemicals in the grout and sealant could harm food placed on this tray.

This looks great sitting on a table, would make a great hostess gift. Give the gift of handmade art to those you love. Don't forget to treat yourself!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Auction Time!

Remember the ink and watercolor pendants I recently made?

Before listing them next week I'm holding an auction on Facebook from Friday-Sunday, June 19-21. Each pendant will have it's own post and bidding will start at $15 and will be invoiced through PayPal. Shipping is $3.00. These will be listed for $25, so get in on this auction while you can! The auction will start at 8 AM EST, Friday, June 19th. Have fun!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

It's grouting time from "In The Studio". The last mosaic to go into the pile for grouting was the hot air balloon.

Now the process of grouting and cleaning begins. I'm mindful of my limitations physically and have the patience (I can't believe it, but I do!) to only grout one or two mosaics every other day. Cleaning and photographs happen in between.

Celestial Delight - Stars, Moon and Sun

This tray needs a touching up with more grout here and there. Soon to be listed.

Dream Boat Wall Art

I had fun working on the square peace sign. I definitely want to get more of those substrates some day.

Square Peace Sign - retro style mosaic

I've been busy with doodles also. I don't have any photos to share of the newest ones done but I have watercolor drawings, ink doodled Zentangles and some colored marker drawings too. But in the meantime, with much encouragement from a few wonderful online friends, I decided to make up some PDF files of a few of my drawings and sell them online as an instant downloadable coloring page. As time goes on, I'll get better with the photography which will help with the clarity of the PDF files themselves. For now, there are 4 files ready for anyone wanting to color them at an affordable price of $2 each.

Coloring Pages

Stay with me and see how these evolve as the months progress. I'm sure the Camera Goddess will decide to cooperate and allow these to be less grainy. Using the paper I do causes that as well. It's all about the journey. I'm learning constantly.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Promo Blast!

Sun Flower Mosaic Stained Glass Trivet or Candle Holder - Orange, Iridescent Amber, Yellow - FREE SHIPPING Within US - $40.00

Gorgeous stained glass mosaic sun flower plate done in orange, iridescent amber and yellow. Wonderful to look at through a sunny window. Can be used as a suncatcher, trivet or candle holder. Has been sealed to protect grout from stains but is not waterproof.

We call this design a "sun flower" because the center looks like a sun and the rays could be petals from a flower. It truly doesn't matter because we love it!

Measures 6 inches round

Makes a great housewarming gift, perfect for a special friend or co-worker, add to your den or guest bedroom/bathroom, college bound students love them for their dorms.

This plate is meant to be shown in sunlight. I used to call these plates suncatchers, but traditionally suncatchers are hung in the window to grab the light. My plates are heavy and hanging is not recommended nor do I craft them for that purpose. They look fantastic sitting in the window in a display dish holder.

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part Two

I've got more to share of doodles and mosaics! I'm really hoping I can handle the grouting process this weekend so I can get a few of things I've done over the past few weeks listed on Storenvy.

mandala - watercolor (pencils)

spheres - watercolor (pencils and crayons)

"The Watchguard of the Faery Kingdom" - ink (look closely you'll see small windows and houses within the tree and branches)

"Sweet Sleep" - ink

Mr Owl has keyes for eyes and ears and is ready for the grout pile! Isn't he cute?!

Watercolor pendants all finished!

Ink pendants - I really like these a lot. :)

Watercolor pendants - wip - These still need sealing and bails added. Not as much in love with this set. Next set will wait for the new supply of ink pens to arrive.

Hot air balloon - wip - 8-1/2 x 6 inch wooden plaque -
nipped stained glass, mirror and dishes with ceramic nano tiles

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters for your gift-giving needs all throughout the year. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy