In The Studio - Friday

Happy Friday! It's been an interesting week and I've enjoyed most of it. Sadly, when it rains, the Camera Goddess slumbers and this week, we've had a few gloomy days to boot. But I have managed to get a few photos of work-in-progress mosaics, all crosses to get listed next year.

The first one is 9 inches but the rest are between 4 and 5 inches. The second one is grouted and just needs a hanger attached. All the rest are in the grout pile, waiting for the magic to happen.

I put cement on my grandson's frame. The front part turned out pretty well but the back part ... not so much. I'll have to redo it and pray it dries within the next week. If it doesn't, I will rethink the way to hang it using only the front part of the frame. But I will figure it out! So there!!

I have to admit I do sort of like the texture of the whole thing. As if I could use it for an art piece just as it is. I put plastic around all the cement pieces and great markings appeared like before. However, it has been so damp due to weather, it crumbled off because it was too thick, I'm sure. I add more cement to it and try to get the same cool textures from the plastic. It's all a learning process and I'm having fun!

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

In The Studio - Part One

I'm fairly sure there's a whirlwind around this studio this week that is visible from at least 100 miles away! I've grouted, nipped, cut and created quite a bit and need to keep going!!

I shared the vase "Phases" last week but have some new photos of it (still waiting for glue to dry) that I want to share here. The Camera Goddess has been awesome!

The Mid-Century Modern Kitties vase looks great! It's still waiting for glue to dry as well but I'm really diggin' how it looks! All four sides have a different color Mod Kitty on it and the area around them is filled with really groovy scrap glass pieces. I'm looking forward to finishing it with grout and some paint to bring out the awesomeness of the kitties.

I am almost finished grouting my Snowmen. I have to do their hats in black grout and then get their hangers attached. Aren't they cute?

I took some great shots of the Small Stained Glass Corked Bottle yesterday in the sun. Oh my, it's gorgeous!! I have to clean the frosted glass I used on the top section a little bit with some vinegar to get the grout completely out of the glass pieces but other than that, this will be ready to get listed very soon.

And finally ... the "Super Secret Mosaics Laboratory" has officially opened for the holiday gift making. I believe it's cool to share what I made for my Dad and Step-Mom here as they don't read my blog, I don't think. Even if they do, I know they will enjoy it more once it's grouted and I've made a frame for it.

Here is the original photo I used for inspiration.

I have been playing with cardboard and made a small frame (not yet built but the pieces are made - see photo below) and I'm going to give it a test to see how it works out by covering it in plaster cast strips and putting a mosaic on the top part of the frame. It's been amazing how many videos on YouTube you can find about such things. Between it and Pinterest, I found exactly how to make a cardboard frame. Woo-hoo!

Here's a small frame I'll be working on first to see how it goes. Exciting stuff!! Doesn't look like much at the moment but it will become a cool mosaic frame for a doodle of mine if it goes as planned. Fun!!

Once I get used to making a few of these, I'm going to attempt to make a frame that will hold a mosaic. I'll share the results when I do!

Yesterday I shipped out the custom vase I made recently. I really love how a simple design can make such an impact. This is one beautiful piece of mosaic art. I'm quite proud of it! I hope the customer loves it!!

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

Cindy

In The Studio - Part One

It's been a busy week so far. I love busy weeks!!

I got all the scrap glass on the custom ordered mosaic vase.

The next step for this beauty is to give it a preventative measure of watered down glue brushed onto it. Although I used MAC Glue to put the pieces of glass on the vase, I used a PVA white glue and water to do this treatment. This watered down glue treatment is so worth the time it takes to wait for the white glue to dry to clear. When using MAC it doesn't take quite as long as it would had I used white glue for the entire vase because the MAC stays dry (dries after a few hours from application). I just added this mixture with a brush and can already see how much grout bleed would have happened had I not done this (see photo below). It's still possible some grout will get through. I use small pieces and all uneven for my scrap glass mosaics. In any case, this step will help the grout from seeping in here and there behind the pieces. Worth the long wait of a week+ for the mixture to dry! The art of making mosaics is patience.

If you look closely you can see milky spots behind some of the pieces. That should, hopefully, be what prevents grout from seeping through those spots. This is not 100% fool proof. There is always the chance that the water from the grout can still bleed through in spots. But this prevents much of it and worth the time and patience it takes to wait for it to dry before grouting.

The memorial plate, "Sammy", was gifted. The new owner held it to her heart when she saw it. It made me very happy to see that reaction. It was what I hoped for.

I've been experimenting with something a little bit unusual. I read recently that someone used a cardboard box and created a mosaic on it. Once treated with the proper things, it became sturdy enough to sit on.

That got me thinking about what I have around me and what I could experiment on to give this theory a try.

I am a big cookie fan. When I was able to handle wheat, it was not uncommon for this Nana to always have cookies. Once I switched over to gluten free products, through trial and error, we found the best cookies I've ever had. Aleia's Love of Artisan Food cookies are the best I've ever had. EVER. Their packaging is quite nice too. The box they package these delicious cookies in is very well made and just basically cool.

I found my substrate! Taking some mesh, I covered up a few spots. And then covered it in plaster cast strips.

Once they were completely cured the box was fairly solid but still slightly flimsy. I decided to cover it in cement, as I normally do when using plaster.

The result is a really cool shape (a house!) to mosaic on. It is sturdy! I'll be working on covering this cool house for the next few days.

And now I'm eyeing all the cool shapes around me both in box form and plastic containers. Oh my goodness ... the possibilities!!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy