Giving Handmade Gifts

One of the best things in life for me is to give a handmade gift to someone I care about.

Recently, I made two gifts; one mosaic, one collage.

The mosaic went to my cousin who supports my art habit by sending me random pieces of jewelry and was the one who gifted the table I refurbished and shared here recently. I thought she would like a thank you mosaic.

Hippie Chick

 

It sits perfectly without any help because the wood is a fairly thick piece. And she likes it! Yay!

The collage was an experiment that went quickly and well. A birthday was a perfect time to try making a collage on a bottle. It came out so well, I made myself one!

The gifted bottle

The bottle I made for myself with the matching earring

I have recently learned of a technique using paint and glaze to cover the collage papers. That's what I've done with the bottle I made for myself. I LOVE this technique. It gives the papers a Bohemian look and we all know how much I love that!

I know I'll be making more bottles with collage papers. I'm looking forward to it!

 

Enjoy the journey.

Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

https://artbyearthmothermosaics.com

Happy Holidays!

 And Happy New Year. GOODBYE 2023!

Generally, I take this time now to spend with my family, relax and enjoy a few weeks before starting once more with art.

This year was a little stilted for me; not more than one sale for the entire year made me realize I really am making art just for myself. Guess what? I'm okay with that! I make some kind of art almost daily and it's the best life ever.

I do have a few things to share and will continue to do that next year as well. Whether selling my art or keeping it to enjoy here, I will do what I can to continue the art journey for as long as I can.

Now, there are a few things to post about this week:

First, is "The Tower of Now" mosaic shrine. Whenever I remember to use up the extra black grout I've mixed, I have been adding it to the tower. I built this in September of 2020. I'm finished with the mosaic part of it, so it's good to start grouting it.

It's been sitting in a corner of the Purple Palace for over a year. It's so very patient. The rest of the tower that's not got mosaic on it will be painted. I made this with bits and pieces of Styrofoam and lots of hand cut dish tiles, stained glass and mirror. Once it's completed, it's anyone's guess where it'll end up around here but the journey has been lovely.

I had a fun day on Wednesday, putting glass tiles on switch plate covers.

Aren't they cool looking?! These will be available once grouted and finishing touches done on my website and in the GoImagine shop next year.

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook, you may have seen the finished blue and white mosaic on canvas. I really love making these. Each piece is rounded using a diamond hand grinding tool and a wet stone. The process is time-consuming and wonderful. Zen time for sure as I study each piece, take the points off by hand slowly, plus I get to play in water. That's always fun.

Placed on the dresser leaning on the lamp base, it looks right at home.

We had a small family gathering this past Sunday and exchanged gift while enjoying homemade bread that my daughter made, as well as a lot of dipping things for it. It was delicious!!

I made a mosaic gift and gave it this week to my cousin who gives me a lot of my art supplies for free. This time around she brought me acrylics and markers, as well as a bottle of my favorite wine.

She also brought an MDF desk that needs repair and some not yet decided what kind of art love, which I hope to share the progress of as I work on it in a few months' time. And a slew of this and that's that I always love from books to teas. She's more like a sister than a cousin and I love her dearly.

I made her a small mosaic in a small dish. It turned out really well.

I gifted my Dad and Step-Mom the wine bottle I made in 2019 and had listed for sale for quite some time. It was meant to stay here with me until I was ready to gift it.

Does anyone remember it? It's been shared every now and then. I have about a dozen+ bottles waiting for mosaic treatment and I do believe I might use these blue and white flowered dishes on at least one more bottle. These come from my every day stash of dishes that I actually use. As they break, and they always do either by my own clumsy hand or with the help of a cat or dog, I seem to have a good supply of pieces ready to use. The blue and white circle I shared above was made using these dishes.

I'll share more art in a few weeks when I return. There's always something going on in the Purple Palace Art Studio!

I'm wrapping the last gift and getting ready for the laid back days ahead. Now that we have teenagers in the house, there will be a small gathering with breakfast foods and then a frenzied activity of paper ripping but never for very long - their gifts are usually game and/or clothes related. Lots of gift cards are given to them. Once the teens are fed and have gone through their pile, they head back to their rooms to enjoy their time off. Briefly we might have a visit from family who will bring young ones with them. It's nice to see them and for a little while, the excitement they bring with them is wonderful. It's also as wonderful to enjoy the quiet once they leave us at the end of the day. Life is filled with noise and quiet. A good balance for me.

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! I will be back!!!

Enjoy the journey.

 Cindy aka EarthMotherMosaics

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

Tesserae Tuesday

This star box is kind of cool because of all of the different techniques I used, so I thought I'd share. I made this in February of 2013 as a gift.

Here, I used dish tiles, stained glass, mirror and a ceramic heart. And I used acrylic paint and glitter too on this star box. Wish I had more of these boxes. They aren't easy to find. Ironically enough, I call them "Wish Upon's". Putting a special wish inside the box after writing it down or even whispering into it and closing it tight, I like to think it holds our wishes until we've received them. Magical!!

I painted the top and used a clear purple glass that looks blue and purple depending on the light with mirror around the heart in the center. The bottom has purple and gold dish tiles. All hand cut to fit, of course. One piece of glass I showed in the first photo was not used. But I never know when I start where I'll go, so having more than I'll use is always a good thing.

Once the grout was dry, I painted glitter on the top using a water wash of glue. The heart can be used as a handle of sorts, to open the box.

I gifted this to one of my step-granddaughters for her birthday. I'm pretty sure she no longer has it as they've moved quite a few times over the years, but I like to think she got some use out of it and enjoyed it a little.


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

WIP Wednesday

Do you remember where the Magical Mosaic Unicorn began?

From a coloring page drawing, I transferred the design onto a board and began to build.

 Using stained glass, broken juice glass pieces, mirror, ball chain, the mosaic started to come together.

After grouting in white, I thought she needed something but I wasn't sure what.

Although I loved how she looked, she blended in too much with the background.

The final decision was to paint the unicorn in purple and sprinkle her in glitter.

The Magical Unicorn was gifted a few days ago to the little girl I made it for (who happens to be in the house at the moment) and she loves it. I neglected to get a photo of her with it, but maybe I will in the future.

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

From The Studio - Wednesday

Happy Wednesday!!

I've gotten the surprise mosaic I was working on, grouted and gifted!

This was a broken wine glass that said "Happy Birthday" in bright and colorful letters.

You can see more photos from the previous Wednesday's post here.

Bright orange grout to pick up the colors in the lettering was used.

I was very pleased to be able to get all the lettering of "Happy Birthday" on this cute little sphere.

The base is the bottom of the broken wine glass and I added some wooden beads to the top.

On the table now are 4 pastel colored dishes shaped like a flower. Each one is getting the mosaic treatment. With some help from my oldest daughter's step daughter - Asuka, who comes up to work with me on occasion for a few hours during the weekends when she's here, we're getting them finished quickly. We're adding tempered glass and clear glass 1/2 circles on the dishes.

This is the one I'm working on.

This is the one Asuka is working on.

She doesn't have a lot of experience with mosaics, but she's taken to it easily. I enjoy spending time with her and sharing some of what I do with her.

We each have 1 more to work on after these are finished. Then grouting! Of course!!

Last week I mentioned I was going to use black grout on the large candle holder I made (photo below) but I've since changed my mind. I'm going to use grey grout. I still want the drama but I don't want it too severe. It'll be in a room that has a grey lamp in it, so I thought that would be a nice complementary choice.

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

 

Stay Peaceful and Let The Sun Shine In.