In The Studio - Wednesday

I'm enjoying working on the candle holders this week. I hope the momentum continues because right now I'm going at a pace I like.

So far I've gotten 1 candle holder in the grout pile but by days end today, there will be a new one added!

snowflake candle holder waiting in the "to be grouted" pile

wip - snowman candle holder

one more side to finish

As I was working on the snowman candle holder, filling in around him with this awesome glass, it occurred to me that it looked like an "Ugly Christmas Sweater". The colors remind me of knitted material. And so it has been named!

soon to be tree ornaments

A few years ago I made ornaments for the kids in my family with their first initial on one side and a tree or star on the other. After that I offered them up as a custom made item but no one was interested in purchasing them. Meanwhile I decided I do enjoy making them, so instead of a made to order item, I'm going to make up a bunch of ornaments using some of the materials you see here and offer them on Etsy.

We'll be celebrating my birthday, another family member's birthday AND the Autumnal Equinox this coming weekend! It's an exciting thing for me to share my birthday with the first day of Autumn.

About a month ago I was given some dishes to use in my mosaics that belonged to her mother by the family member I mentioned above. I thanked her for them and asked her if she'd like a mosaic ring and/or pendant with some of the dish pieces. She thought that would be awesome! Although it won't be a complete surprise, she doesn't know I've already made her a ring which means I can give it to her when we have our gathering this weekend! Yay!

The color of the flowers are steel blue. I can see a lot of uses for dishes like these in mosaics of all kinds, so I'm very happy to have them! They will definitely get used!!


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



Stay Peaceful and Enjoy the Moments.
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

In The Studio - Wednesday

It's been a semi-lazy week so far. I have bursts of energy but they quickly leave. I am assuming that is due to the changes in our PA weather. The cooler temps are rolling in slowly. The afternoons are still toasty and I will admit to putting the a/c on some days. But only for an hour or two. Way different than a month ago!

Meanwhile, I thought I'd share this awesome artists painter box my Dad gave me recently. I'm not sure where it came from; it might have been a garage sale find of his. He asked me some time ago if I could use some brushes and maybe, if the paint was still good, would I be interested in it as well. I'm always looking for both and with no real budget, free supplies are always welcome!

Imagine my surprise when I saw this beautiful box. It's weathered and worn. Definitely well-loved. And it might get a bit of a face-lift if I feel the urge to mosaic it. Nothing is safe around a mosaic artist! Isn't it something?

I surprised myself and decided to grout late in the afternoon yesterday. I had done a lot of social media stuff in the morning and thought I'd just chill. However, the muse leaned in and whispered in my ear to get going on that giftie that will be needed this weekend. And so I did that, a coaster my daughter made many years ago when I was still teaching basic mosaic classes and a cute Halloween themed mosaic ornament.

I won't yet share the gift which is shown at the bottom in the photo above. But here is the coaster and the ornament after grouting.

I think my daughter did a great job on her coaster. I'm sorry it took me so long to grout it but it got shoved in a box in storage and just resurfaced again. Isn't that little house funny? It makes me smile each time I see it. Ghost House, I guess should be what it's called. This was going to get an orange paint/water wash on it but I like it just as it is right now. I might paint the back orange, and it will get a hanger.

Recently my daughter helped a friend move. In turn we got a lot of unopened boxes of pasta and tomato sauce plus a few odds and ends she wasn't sure she wanted anymore. She gave me some dishes to smash and my daughter thought it would be nice to use them on a coat rack to give her friend. Sweet idea and I really love making gifts like this for my family and their friends.

After all the grouting is finished (I still have the mosaic letters to grout) I will get right on this cool project for my daughter.

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

Promo Blast!

3 Inch Round Ball Ornament - Custom Made - One Initial - Made To Order Item - Christmas In July - $40.00 each

Custom Made To Order Item - 3 Inch Round Ornament - Initial on one side Dancing Star or Holiday Tree on the other. Your choice in colors.

These spheres with a tree or dancing star on one side and an initial on the other make a great one-of-a-kind gift for everyone on your holiday list this year. How about that new baby in the family? Traditionally, these ornaments should last a very long time. Order a few and get a jumpstart on your holiday gift giving.

The glass/dishes color for filling in around the design can be any you'd like. Just let me know!

They have a ribbon for hanging and some cool details like ball chain around the ribbon. They may be covered in broken china or stained glass.

These are custom made to order. The price includes prep work and materials on one styrofoam ball for mosaic use, glass and the talent to make the magic!

The photos shown are the ones I made last year to give as an example as to how these will look when finished.

Last year in early December, I made some mosaic ornaments with an alpha initial shown in the photos here for each of the grandchildren and some extended family members' children for Christmas. They were such a big hit with the fam and I thought they turned out fairly well. Many customers asked if any were available for sale but the time necessary to make them can be up to 3 weeks if materials/supplies have to be ordered. And I couldn't offer them.

This year, I'm taking custom orders NOW for ornaments you'll want for Christmas, as part of the Christmas in July event happening in many online shops.

These ornaments will look slightly different from the photos shown here as all of my mosaics are not easily duplicated but the basics will be the same.

The only thing I will probably change in the design of these wonderfully unique ornaments is the bead attached to the hanger. I will work on a better system for hanging this year and probably won't use the bead but a small hook for the ribbon instead. Everything else should be the same!

Aren't they cool?!

Plan now to get handmade gifts for the holidays. These OOAK mosaics take time to create. Need more than one? No problem. Discounts available on multiple orders. Contact me for more details.

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 hope you all are having a nice holiday and are enjoying the season. We are enjoying the relaxation time on the 26th that comes after the chaos on the 25th. It's definitely a day to stay in my jammies!

Santa brought some wonderful goodies for us this year. Nana's stocking was filled with gluten free treats (including brownie mix)!

We got a visit from my folks who came over to enjoy Christmas dinner with us. They know me well and gave me a bottle of wine and some chocolate. They loved their snowflake ornament from Little Dude as well. He beamed with pride when they said how much they loved it. He said: "I made it. Well ... Nana helped ...". He is the best part of every day for me but especially the best part of the holidays.

Little Dude in his elf pj's. Christmas morning excitement!

My folks also gave me a picture I drew some time around 1960-61, which would put me somewhere around my Grandson's age now. I love it!

I gave it to my grandparents and drew myself, Mom and Dad, Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop plus the animals Tommy the cat and Pepper the dog. How fun is this?!

The mosaic gifts I made were well received. Tara and Mark loved their mosaic very much.

window light

sitting on a white table (3rd cleaning)

The 4 inch mosaic tree ornaments are going to be available for sale as custom orders for next year. How to order yours on Storenvy will be posted here soon. You'll be able to order by color, give me an initial to be put on one side and a tree or dancing star for the other side. I'll take orders all year up until December 2015. If interested ordering early is the way to go!

Over the weekend I will head back towards the making of the mosaic sign. It is going fairly well but I'm struggling to find in my stash the right colors in stained glass to finish it. I'm almost out of that pretty light amber color I used for the center. I'm fairly sure the bottom section will have to be a different color. I'm just not sure what I have that will work with it but I'll figure it out!

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

My grandson has begun to give out the snowflake ornaments he and I made.

Don't you love little kidlet handwriting?!

I have grouted all the ball ornaments and they look really awesome. I hope as the children grow they will appreciate them a little more each year.

I glued a bead on top of each one. Really hoping they are secure enough to stay put. But if not, it is easy to glue them back on again.

The background glue is drying on the gift for Mark and Tara. As soon as a few more spots are dry I can grout it. It might cloud up again after it's grout but will dry to clear in time.

I'll share it once it's grouted and share the progress of the sign I'm working on for my daughter and son-in-law in IL. That one will definitely be late this year!

Happy Holidays and enjoy the moments!!

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

For those concerned about my back, it is slowly healing. We're to have snow this weekend, so hopefully by the time it arrives, the pain will be minimal. And thanks so much for the well-wishes throughout the social media sites. I appreciate it very much.

Now, here's the latest news from In The Studio.

I finished up the last of the ornaments for the kidlets! I'm happy with every one of them too, thank goodness.

I'm adding ball chain to them as a final step before grouting. I have done one row and am going to try to do a few more on each one. Once grouted, I may add a bead to the tops of each one. I'm still undecided about that.

Now that they are drying, I picked up the caricature portrait of my daughter, Tara and her boyfriend, Mark and set to work. I finished filling in their faces in 2-1/2 days (from the comfort of my bed!). The background needs to be done and then it too can sit for a few days until glue is dry. This might take a while because I used a white glue that dries to clear but Tara's side is almost dry so it won't take too long, I don't think.

When I was working on Mark's eyes, which took me close to 2 hours because the pieces were so very small, I realized they looked a little like an aliens eyes ready for battle! Changing them was the only thing I wanted to change with this. I think it looks much better now. The background will be done in an opaque white stained glass.

Grout will pull this portrait together nicely. I like how different it looks in the window from on the table. That's my favorite thing about glass-on-glass mosaics.

My skills have much improved over this last year. I can no longer say I just do abstract mosaic art. Not bad for someone who is self-taught. Not bad at all.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy