In The Studio - Friday

Today I want to share my progress on my Meditation Shrine. I think it's going well.

Here's all the photos from the beginning to where I am with it now. I like it!

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

In The Studio - Wednesday

I'm fairly certain I'm seeing a marked improvement in the studio this week. Lots of things still to do, goodness knows I'll never be bored!!

Here are some progress shots from "reclaiming my space" so far. I set a goal to get to the green shelves physically because I piled a good amount of stuff and things in front of them over the past 2 years. This area is far from ready for use but going at this speed (slow and steady) has given me the chance to see how to do what I want/need to do.

Improvement from what it was ... much still to do!

How blessed am I to have so much to create with?!

I found more sorting to be done of glass and dishes hiding in that corner!

And the sorting of glass continues. I've got all the colors of the rainbow!!

One of the photos above shows the Meditation Shrine I started working on. One day I moved a few pieces of glass around and the muse poked me and said: "use THAT!!". I had no idea what I was going to make or how to use it, but I put the jar aside when I was finished sorting. A few days later I found an old clock housing that I'd been moving from side-to-side for at least 3 years now. Again the muse poked me and said: "use THAT!!". Alrighty then.

Here are a few work-in-progress photos. I have a complete set of photos on my EMM Facebook Page and on my flickr photostream. Check them out!

Meditate

Meditate, Breath, Mind-Matter-Spirit, Give Thanks, Awareness

The inside is all covered in glass and fun odds and ends.

Love begins here.

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

Promo Blast!

I'm back to posting a few times a week, starting this week. Yay!!

Today's Promo Blast! is pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. The newest mosaic set of switch plate/outlet covers are featured here today.

Neutral Colored Stained Glass Mosaic Set, Single Toggle Switchplate and Outlet Cover, Mixed Media, Glass and Mirror - $48.50 + shipping

Add a bit of excitement to a small space in your home with these pieces of mosaic art on a switch plate and outlet cover. We love making mosaics in all sizes and shapes!

Done in neutrals in gold mirror and Van Gogh and light tan stained glass with ball chain. Grouted and sealed.

These awesome mosaics will definitely brighten up any room in your home. Give any room a splash of color with this small piece of useful art. Who knew switch plate covers and outlet covers could be one-of-a-kind pieces of art?

Can be flipped either way and still looks great. Sealed. Screws are included.

Custom orders available. All sizes and switch types (toggle, rocker, outlet, single, double, triple, etc.). Great for a new baby's room, your bathroom, kitchen, living room, bedroom, dining room. Any room in your home will be brighter with an EMM switchplate or outlet cover. Please contact me with the color and size. Prices vary depending on sizes/amounts ordered.

I am so grateful for your visit. Thanks for stopping by. Remember custom orders are always welcome. We'd love it if you'd share what you like with others. Visit again soon and share the love!

Come visit and say hello:
aftcra: https://www.aftcra.com/EarthMotherMosaics
Blog: http://artbyearthmothermosaics.blogspot.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EarthMotherMosaics/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/EMMosaics
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/earthmothermos/
Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/114891430568238927351/

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

In The Studio - Wednesday

It's been a fairly uneventful week as far as organizing and "reclaiming my space" goes. Sorting glass was put to a halt when I ran out of glass jars and see-through containers! It should take another week to get a few more jars and then I can continue. There are other things I can do, sorting glass and broken china is not the only thing that needs to be done. One of the goals for this week is to get the area where the jars will be placed cleaned up. I'll share a photo next week when it is all cleaned up.

I absolutely wish I could close my eyes and blink and have it all clean and set up the way I see this room in my head. I struggle with cleaning and keeping things neat. I feel more free to create when things are on the messy side. However, I understand the need for some organization. I have let it go for too long and often get overwhelmed with what needs to be done before I do it. This will be a slower process than I imagined for those reasons. However, stay with me as I journey through it. And any encouragement you wish to share would be greatly appreciated.

This photo was taken last year around this time. This is the area (which no longer looks like this --- it's got a large pile of boxes in front of it now) that needs my attention and the shelving is to be used for the glass jars and some mosaics too of course.

Meanwhile, I finished the mosaic marker plaque for our beloved Trampy. It's ready for grout.

It'll get some wire for hanging on the fence.

I am working on my online shops, getting them updated with info. I left Instagram this week. I'm very sad about that but the photos I used to share on the site were horrific. I had to take a photo with my iPod of an existing photo from my computer which caused the end result to be grainy and often not even close to the original colors. This iPod is old, can't be updated any longer and has been replaced more or less by a Kindle Fire. Android doesn't support Instagram and the photos from the Kindle aren't much better than the iPod. In the end, I decided to let Instagram go. Should I ever get an iPhone (doubtful but you never know!), I will join up again as I've seen some wonderful photos using those cool devices. However, all my listings on all sites, websites and social media share the Instagram link. That means I need to change them all! I've decided to use my Google+ link in its place. I'm working on the storenvy shop right now and will probably need another week to get it all fixed up and to my liking. Aftcra is all set and ready for more items to be added soon. Yay!

I used to love making treasuries through Etsy. It was one of the things I enjoyed so much and still miss now that I no longer sell on the site. I've gathered up a few of my favorite things from aftcra and made a small collection similar to a treasury. I'm including the name and link associated with each item below the photo so you can head on over and take a look at all of the cool things in each shop. I might have to make these small collections a few times a month. I really enjoyed it! Let the love fest begin!!

They are listed here from left to right:

Canvas and Leather Bucket Bag by Beaudin
https://www.aftcra.com/beaudin

Brown American Leather Duffle Bag with Roll Top
https://www.aftcra.com/themadecollective

Toy Wooden Green Grasshopper Made in America
https://www.aftcra.com/mccoytoys

Baby Dragon Playing with Toys
https://www.aftcra.com/dakotamidnyght

Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Stave Bench
https://www.aftcra.com/KentuckyRustic

Wine Bottle Chandelier
https://www.aftcra.com/glow828

Reclaimed wood stand
https://www.aftcra.com/KJdesigns

Stained Glass Birdhouse - Orange with Copper Swirls
https://www.aftcra.com/DobbyStainedGlass

Personalized leather cuff
https://www.aftcra.com/JustKismet

And finally, I managed to grout a little bit this week. I'm happy and surprised I felt the pull to do it at all, so that's a great and wonderful thing from "In The Studio"!! Especially when organizing the space needed to grout properly doesn't exist. I grouted these while sitting on my bed!

Shown below, a pretty set of switch plates (which will be sold as a pair) and a new small cross. Everything was still wet from the grout when I took these photos. The grout color lightened up a bit now that it is dry.

Once sealed, this set will be given some attention and photographed then listed.

A 4 Inch Mosaic Cross Wall Hanging needs some paint around the sides and back before it gets listed.

I'm hoping these will all be listed by the end of the week! Yay!

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

In The Studio - Wednesday

Wow, look at that ... it's been an entire month since I last posted! Whew.

First it was due to spending time "reclaiming my space" and then losing the internet for three weeks made it impossible to write. However, now I'm back and ready to share some of what I've been doing.

"Reclaiming My Space" continues --- During sunny days, I sort through the jars of glass I've accumulated so far to get the colors separated (the 2nd sorting). The first sorting I did was to put the stained glass, glass gems, millefiori, etc, in jars and/or containers to get them separated from boxes filled with scraps of them all.

The next sorting, which I'm doing now, is to take each piece and decide where it belongs. The first sorting was to get like colors together: orange, amber, brown, beige, for example. Yes, each piece got looked at and a decision made. Small pieces, using tweezers, get held up to the sunlight to see the color properly. Yes, this is time-consuming. And yes, I love doing it! The second sorting I'm going through what I've done and getting color and texture separated: light blue, dark blue, mottled glass (colored with streaks or blotches of different shades) and rippled glass (an irregular, wavy line pattern).

The dish tiles will get sorted in the same way, by color then design. That sorting shouldn't take long. But the glass will take some time.

I've also put iridescent glass, Van Gogh glass, Smalti, glass tiles, mirror in separate boxes. They too will have to be sorted by color and the glass will be sorted a few times; all the examples stated will have their own container and then sorted once more: iridescent glass by color (pastels and neon colors separated as well within color), tiles by color, glitter, glass, vitreous and possibly size as well.

 I will take photos of those once I get there with the sorting part so you can see what I mean, but meanwhile, they all wait on my floor next to my bed for inspiration and sunshine.

I'm amazed at how much I've done. Believe it or not, this photo shows progress. Had I been willing to share what I had waiting for me before I started this "reclaiming my space" project, you'd be amazed, too.

Keep in mind I'm living in a 13' x 10' room. With so much around me to organize, it got very overwhelming before I started. Mosaics have a way of spreading out and needing more space. I find more substrates to use, people give me broken dishes and pottery, when I have a custom order I almost always buy new glass to work with if it is within the budget to do so. It's all got to go somewhere!

I'm so glad I've finally decided to put some sort of order back into my living space. I'm even looking forward to bringing in some new furniture once the entire room is finished (my goal is by my birthday in September).

I will be going back to work in mid-March, making mosaics and grouting, adding listings and sharing the WIP's with you here. And working on the organizing/sorting/purging as I go. I'm used to the muse stepping in and taking over, and I expect her to do so often in the next few months.

One of the main reasons I started with the studio side of the room was so I could continue the momentum to do the rest of the room (not as important to me as getting the art side of the room organized) and continue with cleaning and organizing. Getting the studio side settled first means I can go back to work on the art I love to create while working on the rest of the space to make it inhabitable for myself once more.

On a personal note: on January 30th we lost one of our beloved furbabies and my favorite napping buddy. Tramp, our old sweet ginger kitty was sick for about 3 weeks. We don't know her exact age, but my daughter thinks she was 15 or 16. That made her close to 80 years old in people years if that is the case. I think she was closer to 12 or 13, which puts her in the mid-60's in human terms. Closer to my age and could be why we connected in such an awesome way. We watched as she just slowed down to a halt. Each of us took this loss in a different way; gave her lots of love and made sure she knew it was okay to go when she was ready. Some stayed close to her, others gave her distance, but we all honored her passing and are still grieving. She made a profound mark on my heart. I miss her very much.

I'll be making a small plaque on Wediboard soon to be hung on the fence near where she is buried. One family member asked that I put a pumpkin on it because that was one of her nicknames. I'm working on the design this week and will probably start working on it soon after that.

Meanwhile, we have Gypsy still with us. Sweet as ever and happy to get the extra attention we all seem to need to give to her after her sister passed away. Here's a photo I took of Gypsy the other day, napping and hugging herself. So, so cute!!

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

In The Studio - Wednesday

Hello there!! The organizing, sorting, purging "event" continues!

I've been having a good time rediscovering all the bits and bobs I've got in my space here. That overwhelmed feeling I had before I started has been replaced with feelings of great joy. I feel completely grateful to have so much at my disposal whenever the muse wants to play. All of these beautiful colors, now slightly more organized, show me exactly how blessed I am.

Here's some fun photos of just a small section of what I've managed to sort through so far.

I have lots of colors here to keep me happy. I noticed I've gotten quite a few jars of blue and green combos so far and I've really only touched the surface. Some pieces are quite small, using tweezers to pick them up and place in the jars became a little too tedious for me. I actually did toss some very small pieces away.

The broken china is only a small sample shown here; I have bins and boxes filled. No complaints. I'm so fortunate!! At some point, when I can organize them the way I'd like, I should be able to share what I have with others. That will be awesome!

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

More Time Away From It All

Organizing the space around me has become really important to me. I'm also doing some organizing on the websites I use in which to sell my art. What does this means to you all who look for weekly blog posts and promos from the shops? You won't see any, or not much of anything, until I am happy with my surroundings. I'll be checking in a few times a week here on my page just to say hello. Look for all activities to start again around March or April. I'm excited to get through the sorting of glass and other bits and bobs to make creating mosaics as easy as possible in a small space. Finding my surroundings to be inspiring is most important to me as well.

I had to share a few photos while the sun is shining of my living space. The green shelves will be the new home for all the sorted glass, etc, once I'm finished. Aren't those vintage cookie jars cool? They will get listed some time this year. I love what I do!

I should mention here, as sort of a promo blast! that my shop on Society6 had some decent purchases at the end of the year in 2015. In order to keep the good vibes going, I shared one last photo on the site on the last day of the year that I'd like to share here.

Wish On A Star

And to end the post here, I thought I'd share some of my Christmas presents I received this year. Scarves and coloring books! It's nice to know those who love me want to keep me warm and inspired.

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