In The Studio

In The Studio this week, I've been working on small projects. I finished up the last of the pendants I wanted to work on, although I do have more blanks when the spirit moves me to continue.

Switch plate covers are the new fun things right now. Paint, stained glass and broken china have all had their turn.

I love how the plate above looks so different just by turning it. Cool! I don't know how much to sell these for and I'm not sure I will. I think the ones with grout need resin and I don't have any of that here at the moment. I'm not real good with it but once I practice using it, I'm sure I'd get better. I do need to get some first, though. What price? Does $10-$15 range sound right? I truly have no clue. I did some searching and the range is $10-$40. Because I'm just now experimenting with them, using the lower range in price seems right to me.

 

I also made a quick mosaic on a piece of wood. It had a hook at the top, which is long lost now. When I can find something here in the studio to replace it with, perhaps an extra sawtooth hanger if I can find one, it should hang up nicely. Meanwhile, it looks find propped up next to me on my shelf.

And finally, I got through the last of the Christmas gifts. I did want to get this finished on time but I couldn't find a place that had the shape I wanted. When I finally did, it was very close to the holiday and shipping took a while. But, it's finished now and might even head out later today if I can remember to give it to the girls to take with them when they go back to their Mom's tonight. This is for my step-granddaughters' half sister. Confused yet?

In other news, I'm adding a few more items to my Zibbet shop now that the Earth Mother shop on Etsy is temporarily closed. The 2nd shop, CindyWhitePhotoArt is still up so far, although I had to change my policies for payments to PayPal which means I had to refund the first sale I had recently when I had Direct Checkout connected to it. I had to take that away because I pay a lab to do the printing on the items and need the sale money in order to do that. With Direct Checkout, you get the money only after you've marked the item shipped. That won't work for me and might cost me even more sales but it is what it is.

It's all good, though, because I can at least still be part of the Etsy community I love so much.

I found a new place to share my mosaics too at shophandmade.com. I have no idea how long it's been around but it's new to me! Nothing new or different has been added, but it is another venue and one I hope will generate a few sales from. Check it out: artbyemmosaics 

And here on the blog you can shop direct. Use the tabs above to see what's available. I'm adding items a few times a week to all places, depending on the day.

We had snow, lots of it, here in PA over the past 24 hours. It doesn't look like much from the window, but the schools are closed and the children are here enjoying their snow day. It is so very quiet outside. That's the best part about living where there is snow. It makes everything stop. No truck noises, no one is shoveling yet (it's very cold at the moment) and everyone is inside who can stay home. Gotta love Mother Nature!! She makes everyone stop and enjoy her handy work!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio

I've been in and out this month having very productive times and not so productive times. That is what recouping is about for me. Energy comes in waves, stays only a short while, and heads on out again so I can rest a little before the next wave.

I'm excited to share the news that I'm working on selling my mosaics directly through this blog. Each day I add a few to it's own dedicated page and once I am happy with how it looks, I'll share and promote/market and post often about what's new on them. I've started with new pendants I've been working on. Some are shown below.

I realized at the end of last year that I've been searching for new venues to share my work and I've missed a great opportunity to set up shop right here on my blog. When I write daily during the week, I share my blog with all my favorite social media sites. The chances are just as great to make a sale this way because someone sees the shop tabs as it is when I share new listings on Etsy.

I made my first sale in my 2nd shop yesterday. I am so excited about it!! My first customer ordered two mugs which go to a lab for printing very soon. I opened the 2nd shop in November 2013 and am so glad it didn't take a year, like the 1st shop, to make a sale!

When I've worked, I've been painting, putting mosaics on switch plate covers and pendants too. Small projects are okay to do; the muse is happy, I don't get overly exhausted and I'm creating which is the most important thing for me to do when I'm tired and/or in pain.

Here's the paintings, done on 2.5 x 3.5 inch MDF in acrylics. You can purchase them directly from me if you are interested. They aren't listed anywhere yet but are available. Each one is $25 a piece. If you're interested, want more info or have questions, shoot me an email at earthmothermosaics@yahoo.com any time! I always respond within the first 24 hours of receiving email. If you don't hear from me within 2 days, let me know through here or on Facebook. You can also send me an email at cindywhitephotos@gmail.com which is dedicated to the 2nd shop.

"Poppy"
3.5 x 2.5 inches
Acrylics

"Pansy"
3.5 x 2.5 inches
Acrylics

"Iris"
3.5 x 2.5 inches
Acrylics

Double Switch Plate Cover - Blue

Single Switch Plate Cover - Scrap Glass

These are waiting for grout
Top Row: Single Switch Plate Cover - Blue
Bottom Row: Double Switch Plate Covers (L) Scrap Glass, (R) Green

Lots of pendants are being made for people who want handmade Valentine's Day gifts.

All pendants are $21.50 now through the end of February.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy of Earth Mother Mosaics and
Cindy White Photo Art

In The Studio

Busy with gifts but having a blast making them! I love to make mosaics. The more I make, the more I love it.

Everything requires grout now. I'm fairly sure I've shared some of these things here before, but I'm doing it again in case they were missed earlier.

First up are the crosses I've done. Not all are gifts. Some will get listed on Etsy.

And there's the owl that will get listed.

Some gifts my grandson made.

Some pendants for a few tweens and a little one.

The birthday gift for my son-in-law who has to share Christmas with his special day.

A wine bottle (can't wait to make another one of these!) using the way I dot paint as inspiration.

An elephant for my grandson.

A little ATC sized mosaic that combines dot painting and mosaic (first attempt). I want to make a few more of these and abandon them here and there and every where. They will be magnets when finished.

"Wedding Day"

A Day of the Dead Skull for my grandson's Aunt and Uncle.

And last, the only one that is grouted and ready to gift, the TARDIS.

There's one gift that will be late this year only because I needed to wait for a sale in order to get the materials needed. I'll share that when it arrives (which could be in 3-6 weeks).

Next Wednesday I'll share all gifts grouted! It's gonna be a messy week. But fun!! :)

I can also now share the 2 photos of the gifted items I made for the kind folks who donated money towards the fund raiser to get this new computer I'm using. Many thanks and lots and lots of love go out to each and every one of you who donated.

vase

magnet

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters this holiday season and all year long. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy of Earth Mother Mosaics and
Cindy White Photo Art

In The Studio

The studio should be buzzing with activity but we've all taken a bit of break to enjoy the freshly fallen snow. I don't play in it, but I enjoy taking photos of it.

The creative muse enjoyed the break as it often takes a lot out of us both to make detailed mosaics. My brain stays well toasted after working on more than one mosaic as I have this time. But now I'm ready to get back to work!

Before the snow arrived, I made a mosaic for my daughter and son-in-law. Entitled "Wedding Day", it's waiting for grout. This is one reason I've been needing rest ... this was a challenge to create.

Here's the original photo taken by the wedding photographer on their special day in 2012 that inspired to mosaic.

And here is my mosaic, not yet grouted.

Wedding Day - 10 x 10 inch

Wedding Day - using Stained Glass, Broken China, Mirror

This mosaic will have a few different grout colors. The dress will be done in white, the skin will have flesh tones, their hair will be brown, the suit will be black and the background will be gray. I'll use black and white grout and acrylics. I have more control with a paint brush than I do with a grouting tool and paint gives the same effect once finished.

My Grandson and I were talking this morning about making the gifts we were supposed to work on last week. We need to make key chains for his teachers, bus drivers and his great-grandparents. I think I'll get everything ready after he gets home from school today and we'll make them. I'll share photos when they are finished.

My son-in-law (the one shown above) has a birthday on Christmas, poor thing, so I always try to make him a birthday present in addition to a holiday gift. This year I've been stumped as to what to make for him until I remembered they went to Hawaii for their honeymoon and he might like a glass-on-glass beach scene trivet. I'm going to use that as my motivation and go for it later today.

I've got a few people to make gifts for yet before I can rest the muse again but I am positive I'll have most if not all finished by the time we gather together for holiday gift giving. Nothing compares to giving a handmade gift. I love to give them and I love to receive them!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters this holiday season and all year long. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy of Earth Mother Mosaics and
Cindy White Photo Art

Trendy Tuesday

This week I'm adding items to my wish list. It's a great time of year to dream. Enjoy, "Yes Please" my Trendy Tuesday Treasury.

Yes Please

Here's a few items from my shops that might be fun to add to your own wish list.

Butterfly Mosaic

Framed Art Print - Star Shine

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters this holiday season and all year long. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy of Earth Mother Mosaics and
Cindy White Photo Art

In The Studio

Most of what is being worked on the studio this week is being done in the "Super Secret Mosaic Lab".

Shhhhhh ...

But the good news is as I've said before, I'm fairly sure very few of the people who are getting the gifts I'm making read my blog. That means I can share work-in-progress photos here. Yay!

The TARDIS is just about ready to be painted on the back and a little glue needs to get cleaned off the front. I'm happy with it.

TARDIS

Gluing the paper onto the mosaic worked perfectly. It's not easy to get a good photo of this one for some reason, but here it is below all grouted and hanging up.

I finished up the wine bottle for my grandson's Mom-Mom and Pop-Pop. It's almost ready for grout!

I think it's pretty cool. I would love to make more like this.

Yesterday I was in a little bit too much pain to do much work thanks to the cooler temps in our area and my 59 year old arthritic bones. I still worked on a "just because" mosaic to use up some nipped pieces of glass and mirror. I think this owl is very festive looking!

On the list next is making quick gifts for my grandson's teachers and his bus driver. Mosaic key chains are easy to make and he will help me make them, which is always fun for us both!

Support Independent Artisans, Designers and Crafters this holiday season and all year long. Thank you!

Stay peaceful,

Cindy of Earth Mother Mosaics and
Cindy White Photo Art