In The Studio - Part 1

I'm working on the birdhouse and enjoying it so very much.

wall 2 - complete

I wasn't always a fan of using broken china or dish tiles as some call them. I often call them shards because of how they break when I would try to nip them. As I've been working mostly with stained glass, I thought it was time to "face my fear" as it were and work with dishes again.

wall 3 - ready for the background fill in

An interesting thing happened about the time I finished filling in the 2nd wall. I found myself starting to really enjoy what I was doing; truly enjoying the moments I could nip up old china and broken pottery and turn it into a design on a discarded wooden birdhouse salvaged by my cousin.

wall 3 - finished

This 3rd wall took 2 days to fill in. Partly due to using such small pieces but also because I slowed up the process so I could savor every moment. I was enjoying using broken china! Wow!!

wall 4

Once I've filled in the last wall, I've got the roof to tackle. I considering adding more mosaic to the bottom platform, underneath so that it's all completely covered, but I think I'll go back to my original plan to paint it and the chimney too.

Part 2 will show the results of this pretty birdhouse filled with moons and suns completed and ready for grout. Come back to see it finished next week!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Expiring Soon!

These items are expiring from Etsy this month. I know it's a little early for some folks to consider the upcoming holidays and shopping for them, but now is the time to get these awesome mosaic items through Etsy. Shop early and feel the freedom!! Enjoy your family and friends when everyone else is in panic mode.

Mosaic Cross 4 x 3 Inches - $20

Mosaic Candle Holder and/or Vase 3.5 Inches - $50

Drum Shade Table Lamp - $60

Tote Bag - 3 Sizes Available - $30-$41

These expire in October and won't be renewed on Etsy. My favorites here are the blue candle holder and the tote bag! Please feel free to let me know which you like in the comments below.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Promo Blast!

~Officially Launched on October 5th!~

This week I'm very proud to announce a new line of pendants. "Think Pink" Art Pendants Collection is being sold exclusively through Facebook and can be purchased easily by sending me a message on Facebook or through my email address.

C#1

C#3

C#5

H#1

H#2

Each pendant is approximately 1 inch. Painted in bright pink, glitter and/or microbeads were sprinkled generously over the paint. Tempered or "crash" glass, was placed on top. Grouted and sealed.

All pendants are $30 a piece plus $5.95 shipping and come with a chain necklace. 15% of each sale will be donated to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation { http://www.bcrfcure.org/ }. Message me any time to ask questions or to reserve one for yourself.

There are more pendants coming soon in this same style. I've also added some broken china to some copper pendants and they will be coming to the collection as soon as they are grouted and sealed.

Please consider buying a pendant and to give as a gift or keep one for yourself and gift one!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Awesome Finds

This week, all the "Awesome Finds" are from Etsy. I love when that happens! Each day this week I've shared one item that I love for 6 days on tumblr. Here's a week-at-a-glance of what has been shown for this week. Click on the shop link under each picture to take you directly to the item.

ShantyIrishVintage

CuriosAnCollectibles

Retromania1331

Stimulight

MidCenturyFLA

AldariArt

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part 2

I'm really excited today! My Dad stopped by this week and brought me some of the cutting boards he made around the time I was born to mosaic on.

The leather bands need a little TLC (slightly moldy from being in a damp basement for close to 50 years) but these boards are in great shape and absolutely beautiful otherwise and I am already coming up with mosaic color combos for them.

I used one of these cutting boards for quite a while for it's purpose but when it started to show obvious wear and tear, knowing that my Dad made it, I put it in a box after carefully wrapping it up to keep it safe. There it sat for 10+ years. When I moved here with my daughter and her family, I had to purge many of my possessions, but that stayed with me because I loved it.

In February of this year I decided to put my own touches to the one I had, adding stained glass and a few "atomic" designed dish shards on it.

This is a special mosaic with family history. My Dad cut the board when I was a little girl. When I moved here with my little girls, he gave me one because I really needed a cutting board, starting out on my own. Through the years I used it, knowing who made it and loving it even more because of that. And now, it hangs on my wall, with my magic touches added to it, reminding me that each generation has their own style.

I'm really looking forward to working on these boards!

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

Throw Back Thursday

Taking the popular TBT theme and adding a twist to it, I'm sharing some early year photos of mosaics I've done.

This is "Dude". I made him in 2008 for my daughter for Christmas. He's got iridescent stained glass, mirror, millefiori, marbles and a broken brooch on his head. His mirrored teeth were added after the original white tiled ones fell off as I was about to grout him.

I had a lot to learn about 3D mosaic art. There is an art within itself to prep it properly, what adhesive to use and a few other things I learned along the way. But she still has him sitting on the dining room shelf protecting us while we eat.

His name "Dude" stems from my struggle to keep stained glass and small pieces of millefiori on him while cleaning off the grout. I'd keep saying "DOOOOODE" each time another piece popped off. He seemed to respond to the name, so it stuck.

Before I finished him, I took some WIP photos with a really bad camera. However, I managed to salvage a few to show how he looked before grout. One shows the tiled "teeth" that weren't cut small enough (I know this now, after 6 years of more practice with such things).

If nothing else, sharing these photos lets us all see how far I've come over the years!

Here's the last skull I did not so long ago. I do believe I've gotten better.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy

In The Studio - Part 1

It's not quite as busy this week as it has been. It's nice to go at a slower pace and enjoy what I'm working on without feeling rushed to get going on the next project right away.

I'm working on this 3 story birdhouse and enjoying it very much. Making mosaic suns and moons ALWAYS makes me happy. This house is going to be filled with them!

I still see a shocked or surprised owl when I see the sun on the front (windows are eyes, door is the shocked expression) but I'm hoping when the roof is completed and grout is applied, that imagine leaves me. It is a funny image! Can you see it?

Lots of Blue Willow is going on this mosaic. It's nice to use what I have the most of. I have been blessed with many folks remembering I like to use broken or chipped dishes in my art and many have given me their cracked and/or broken pieces. Some are tired of the set they have and offer them up to me. My friends throughout the US send me broken pottery. It's a wonderful thing!

I'm waiting for glue to dry on some new pendants I've made for Breast Cancer Awareness Month. I should have used silicone adhesive to speed up the process a bit but I jumped the gun and grabbed the Weldbond (white glue that dries clear) instead.

These, once grouted in white when the glue is dry, will be available for sale through my Facebook Page for $30 a piece plus $5.95 shipping. 15% of each sale will go towards Breast Cancer Research. Message me any time to ask questions or reserve one for yourself.

Once they are grouted, I will share them here again.

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

Stay peaceful,

Cindy