As predicted, I have a few photos to share of the progress on the salon piece I'm working on.

I decided to try a few different things with the words. I had thought I would use mirror and cover each letter but after looking at the font I used and the size of the words, I knew it would be frustrating to try that. If the size had been larger, I probably could have attempted it. At first I tried tempered glass but it broke up the words way too much and they weren't easy to read. Actually, they were impossible to make out.

Thank goodness I have a nice supply of stained glass at my fingertips. After digging through my stash of clear glass, I found some nice, thick scraps that worked really well.

As you can see, I used ball chain for the flowers, bird and sun. Very time-consuming to glue down, but worth it for the look I wanted. When it comes to grout, this chain will be cleaned many, many times before I'm happy with how it looks, but again, it's worth it.

After all the ball chain was glued down, I added some glass to the first flower. I will work from the bottom and go up. That means the area where "Grow" is will be filled in today.

I'll share more progress tomorrow.


Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

I hit the ground running this morning!

As soon as I got out of bed I gathered materials and paints for the 12 x 12 inch mosaic I'll be working on for the next few weeks.

I am using Wedi board for this mosaic. For those who don't know, Wedi board (pronounced "weedy") is a preferred substrate for many mosaicists. It is sturdy, yet very lightweight and can be cut with a utility knife. Wedi is made of styrofoam that is surrounded by mesh and cement. Unfortunately, it isn't available at my local DIY stores. I order what I need through Maryland Mosaics when I need it. They have a GREAT turnaround time and often ship out my order on the same day I've placed it.

I thought you might be interested in how I transfer words onto my substrates. I do not have tracing paper and sometimes I don't have newspaper either (a good transfer material) so I use this method below. I didn't create it and I'm sure if you do a search on sites like Pinterest, you'll find many ways to do it. This is my favorite way and the easiest for me.

~~TUTORIAL: HOW TO TRANSFER DESIGNS/WORDS ONTO SUBSTRATES WITHOUT USING TRACING PAPER~~

Here's how I transfer words to substrates. It's quite easy to do. All you need is a printer, pencil and marker.

1) Print out the words you are interested in using.

2) Take a handy pencil and scribble where the words are, on the back of the paper.

3) Turn the paper over and with the pencil, fill in the words, going over them a few times to make sure they "bleed" through onto the substrate.

4) This gives you a light transfer but it is enough to see the words, which is the goal.

5) Use a marker (I prefer black Sharpie's) and darken the word to make it easier to see.

That's all there is to it! Really!!

These words are going to be challenging to mosaic but I've done it before. It will take small, small pieces!!

When I first looked at this, I felt a surge of excitement about getting stained glass and mirror on this. Some might say it's finished not needing any glass or mirror on it, but I say, it's only the beginning of the fun I'm going to have for the next few weeks. Yippie Skippie!!

I didn't get the bottle finished last night, but I did get a lot more accomplished on it before I stopped for the evening. I wasn't feeling good yesterday and kept having to rest a lot. Rain does that to me sometimes, causing me to have ear/sinus problems and vertigo too. It is best, on those days, to rest and relax which is exactly what I did. Today, the sun is shining so far, so I got a few photos of the painted bottle on the windowsill with her sisters.

"Black Night" - painted bottle - work-in-progress

Be warned ... for the next few weeks I may skip a day or two with posts and most of the posts might be mostly about this newest mosaic. "Grow, Bloom, Fly".

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

I hope your day is going well. I have lots to share today!

The hand painted star box was gifted over the weekend. Yay!

Birthday gift for a brand new 3 year old (it was filled with barrettes) using Minnie Mouse inspired colors (her favorite).

My Grandson playing a game with his Mom. Can you guess who won?

The Chuck E. Cheese philosophy is awesome.

I'm waiting for the frame to arrive later today so I can start in on the 12 x 12 mosaic wall hanging but while I wait, I worked on painting dots on the last bottle I'll be able to do for a while. Here's the progress so far. In spite of its name, it will be covered completely in dots.

"Black Night"

The sun was out for most of the day yesterday and I managed to make friends with my Camera Goddess long enough to get 145 photos in total of many different things. I have some wood fruit for the vintage shop and pulled that out to use as a prop for the bowl I grouted recently.

I like it! If you're interested in either or both, this bowl will be headed towards the online shops some time this week and the fruit will go in the vintage shop. Here's another shot without the fruit. LOVE the eggplant color inside this bowl!

I also got some great shots of the napkin rings I dot painted. They've been put on Etsy this morning.

Wooden Napkin Rings: Hand Painted, Dots

As I was leaving the birthday party for the 3 year old on Saturday, I noticed the sky above me. By the time I got home, the dark clouds had arrived and stayed all afternoon. I like to say: "Always look up". If I hadn't, I'd have missed this beautiful sky.

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Look what I got in the mail yesterday!

Twenty-five 6 x 9 inch MDF crosses! Woo-hoo! I'm planning on doing a holiday craft fair in November at a local church and thought it would be a great idea to get some of these and mosaic them for it. Because my muse comes and goes and I like to have time with my mosaics, I thought it would be best to get these now and work on them throughout the summer in between other projects. These are so well made, perfect to take right out of the box and mosaic on them, no prep needed! Thank you, Mr Woody Crafts!

I did a small dot painting project yesterday and made a set of 4 wooden napkin holders. I love how these turned out. I really hope I can make more soon.

I also got the glass down completely on the candle holder and it is now ready for grout.

view from the inside

I have no more vintage items photographed at the moment, so I will share them as I list them next week. I hope by then the Camera Goddess returns and the sun comes out once more. Meanwhile if you haven't yet, head on over to Gently Loved Treasures on Zibbet and take a look around.

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Yesterday turned out to be a "down day", which means no actual work was done but lots of planning and prepping for the next wave to come.

I don't have any WIP photos of mosaics or dot paintings but I do have the newest Vintage item to share from zibbet.com.

This is called "two salts" according to my Dad. I think it's pretty cool, whatever it's called. Apparently the two glass containers were filled with salt and placed on the sideboard or side table next to the dining table. Then each container and it's spoon went on each end of the dining table so all guests could have access to the salt if they needed it. Makes sense to me!

I should be finishing the candle holder soon (maybe today) and will share photos, of course, when I do. Up next in the studio is a 12 inch framed mosaic headed towards an All Artist Salon in Cape Cod in July. I've yet to start it because I'm waiting for the frame to arrive. Once it does, I make sure it fits the Wediboard, mark off what areas I will work on and then draw a "sort of" design on the board. I will share more on that as I work on it. If you live near the Cape Cod area you may be interested in this event.

And in there somewhere I'll be working on the custom ordered gazing ball, metal tins and taking photos of the vintage items and pendants that now have suede cords to go with some of them. In other words, it is becoming a busy time in the studio once again! Yay!!

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

When I went for a walk this morning, I saw this awesome amber rock on the road. How cool is that?!

I'm not sure where it came from or how it got here but I know where it might be headed! The life of a mosaicist is always fun! I never what I'm going to find to use in art in any given day.

I'm working on the candle holder but am not happy with how the glass is fighting me to get placed on it. It's rippled glass which is often difficult to nip because it shatters. I'm putting the rippled side against the glass of the candle holder so that when sunlight or candlelight come through it, you'll see not only the ripples but the colors from the flat side. Often the flat side gets lost when the rippled side is used. This is thick glass and a bit of a challenge to cut and use.

Once the last flat part is covered I'll then start working on the sides which is also challenging. Putting flat glass on rounded anything is always harder than we think it should be!

I ordered some gold mirror for the next custom 6 inch gazing ball! Woo-hoo! My favorite place to order this mirror is from www.mosaicsbymaria.com. Prices are great, you can order pre-cut tiles or sheets and they have a great turn-around time!

The newest Vintage item was listed this morning. I only have one more ready to list. The Camera Goddess might have to be put to work this weekend!

Vintage Salt and Pepper Shakers: Vase and Wheelbarrow, Made in Japan

Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

What a beautiful day we're having. I spent a little time outside this morning, going for a walk and breathing the fresh air deeply. What a treat for those of us who live with humidity. It is a welcome relief!

I finished up the gifts and took photos of them this morning. The pendant photos are before grout was completely dry. It will become lighter once it is dry.

Minnie Mouse inspired star box

Pink Pendant with Matching Tin Box

Pink stained glass and ball chain tin box to hold the matching pendant

I almost always mix up too much grout when I do it and this morning was no exception. Thankfully I had a bowl that needed grouting.

Discarded eggplant colored bowl now has new purpose.

 

 

The next project is waiting for me. A candle holder with some really gorgeous stained glass, gifted to me by a very talented local artist who does stained glass windows and inserts in doors.

 This stained glass panel is about 22 inches. I cut it into 3 sections so I can focus on which one to use for the holder. Choosing only one section is not going to be easy! It's all simply breathtaking.

I have 3 square candle holders and one round vase I can use these pieces on. And I have 4 more large panels just as exquisite that are from the same large piece of glass. I'm very aware of how blessed I am to know I can contact this guy and be given his scraps. Especially when they look like this!

The new shop has a few more items in it. Gently Loved Treasures on Zibbet is dedicated to all vintage items. Here's the latest listing. I really love the colors of these!

Vintage Salt and Pepper Shakers: Jamestown, VA Souvenir Shakers, Nautical

 Stay peaceful.

Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics