Gingerbread House!

How cute is this Gingerbread House?!

I can't wait to list it in the Holiday Section on Etsy on Monday. I think it came out really cool.

I have done a little work on the tray. I slowed up a bit on it because I couldn't decide what to use on the inner side of the tray around the wavy mirrored part. I actually think I'm going to use dish shards. Although I had a whole other idea when I woke this morning, thinking I'd go with similar colors in stained glass, I noticed a yellow piece of dish left over from the butterfly and the last blue and white chintz saucer sitting near me. They will make a nice addition to this.

Pretty!

My Grandson and I spent the morning together while his Mom left early for her shift, his step-sissies went with their Dad to catch the bus and he onto work. On Friday's, I usually call it "Malachi Day" because we usually do something special, even if we're all home, that he likes to do. Today because it was just us, I gave him a breakfast of waffles, ice cream, whipped cream and sprinkles.

Waffles and ice cream because it's "Malachi Day"!

After this yummy breakfast, he watched a bit of his favorite "Yu-Gi-Oh!" and then some "Toy Story 3" on DVD before lunch. Lunch, by the way, was grilled cheese with a side of pineapple ... because it is "Malachi Day" and those are all his favorite things.

I can't get him a lot of stuff but I can give him my time and love. In the years to come, I hope his memories are filled with days like today. I enjoy my time with him, one-on-one like today, even though we all live together and bump into each other, are in each others' way and have boundary issues (like walking in on someone when they are in the bathroom), we are a family and when we have this special time together, we make it count!

Make your days count too. Enjoy it! Have waffles with ice cream for breakfast! Yay!!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Your Help Is Appreciated

Oh no ... Nana needs a new computer! Yikes!! My business is in crisis mode.

I was awakened at 3:30 AM this morning to a horrific sound of a computer crashing. It was running updates and had a hard disk error. CRASH ... beeeeepppp ... like the life support system sounds heard on my favorite doctor/hospital/drama television shows ... then silence ... it wouldn't come back to life or in computer terms: reboot. 2nd time this month ... ugh.

Luckily, I was able to (after hyperventilating) get it back up and running. By 5:30 this AM, I stumbled back to bed secure in knowing it at least was breathing on it's own for the moment. I do a deep cleaning of all the important software periodically to make sure it stays in good shape for a while longer. But it only helps for bit before it crashes again. I'm thankful I can get it come back to life, even if it's just to share a few photos or a new listing.

On the plus side, I've had this computer for 5+ years and it's served me well. On the negative side, this computer is my one and only life line to my business and my social life. I have no other forms of communication; i.e. cell phone, iPad or what have you. My PC is it.

That means I need your help to get a new, perhaps upgraded, computer soon. I set up a link to donate money towards helping me get a new computer. In return, you'll receive a handmade mosaic gift as a thank you.

This is not something I do lightly. I am fiercely independent even though I live with my daughter and eek a sort of living from my craft. I keep myself in pistachio nuts and a bottle of wine here and there, pay for the monthly fees of the online sites that I use, and purchase more supplies to keep the craft thing going when I need it. Life is pretty darned good for the simple things in life. But the major things, like a computer, I cannot do on my own. I would like to be able to get myself what I need without anyone's help but thank goodness there are ways to ask for it because I truly do need it.

My 59th birthday is in a few weeks! What a great birthday present it would be!! Woot!

Please go to the link below, share it if you are inclined and kind. Donate if you can, as much as you can, to help keep me in business so I can continue to share my joy online.

Remember, you'll get a mosaic thank you gift when you do! Yay!

http://www.gofundme.com/49qepk

From the bottom of my heart, I thank you so very much.

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

****ANNOUNCEMENT****

Do you have a shop on Etsy or Zibbet? Would you like to have a featured blog post sharing your art or vintage items?

Once a week, every Wednesday or Thursday (depending on holiday weeks) starting in October 2013 and running through the end of January 2014 (if I can find enough interest) I will write a review of your shop and its items.

This is a busy time of year for shoppers; take advantage of the extra exposure with a featured blog post.

Take a look at this blog post from December 2012 to get an idea as to how your shop could be featured:
http://artbyearthmothermosaics.blogspot.com/2012/12/featured-shop-natural-selection-studio.html

Provide your shop's link below in the comments.

I am looking for specific shops that have good quality photos of their items. No fuzzy photos will be featured. I'm looking for#Handmade items such as #woodworking, #pottery and #jewelryand #Vintage items that gear towards #midcentury #modern and#retro designs but will not rule out any even if they don't fit into these categories until I've had a chance to look at the link you provide below.

This is a great opportunity to get seen by new folks. If chosen, your items will be shared on Pinterest, Wanelo, Google+, Facebook, Tumblr and Twitter. I'll send you a link to the written blog once it's been posted. I share my blog on many of the sites mentioned as well. More exposure equals more sales!

If you have a shop or know of an artist that fits into this request but has a website only, share the link below!

Once I've looked over the shop and items, I'll be in touch!

Questions? Send me a message here or email me at: cw.earthmothermosaics@gmail.com any time!

Thank you!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Most Productive Week EVER!

It was a great week away from posting. Productive plus spent a little more time with the fam which was necessary. My grandson started Kindergarten and we had a birthday party for him over the weekend.

Malachi saying "cheeze".

Last minute jitters about leaving Mom before the bus arrived.

Enjoying some quality time with his "ride".

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a favorite for him and he got cards from his aunt and uncle. They rock!

My handmade gift for Malachi's 6th Birthday

Malachi admiring the gift from Nana

A Cartoon Network Show called "Adventure Time" was the party theme. My daughter did a lot of awesome drawings of the characters and placed them on jars, made a cake and other really cool things.

Tie dyed cake!

Finn from "Adventure Time" decorated by my daughter.

Hand drawn decorations of the cartoon characters done by Malachi's Mom. Isn't she the best Mom on the planet?!

I was still able to do a few mosaics and got a few listings ready to go on Etsy other than my decorative pillows and art photo note cards, which are being admired quite a bit. That makes me smile because I enjoy photography a lot!

Blank Note Cards

Decorative Pillow Cover

The shrine is completed and I listed it today. It is so awesome. I know it would help if you all had a frame of reference to see what it used to look like, so I did a quick search online and found one similar to it. Here's the before and after shot:

It's official name is "Sun Shrine In A Box". I loved some of the other names given to it, but that was the one that made me smile.

Mosaic Shrine

Pretty cool, huh?

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Sun Box - Work-In-Progress

Today I should be working on the mosaic for my grandson. I'm having a bit of trouble finding the energy to work on it although I had a late night placing china and stained glass on the sun box, I couldn't seem to switch gears and start on the gift. I couldn't stop working on the sun until the inside of the box was finished. The muse insisted on it. That's all there was to it.

Wish me luck! As a reminder, this gift is due in 3 days. No pressure. I'll share the finished project here but there won't be a work-in-progress photo, I don't think. I do believe I won't have time to take many pictures between now and then!

Meanwhile, because I got a burst of energy on the sunshine box and was up late getting the inside completed, I can now put it aside.

Now ... for the outside ... the colors will be different but the wave pattern will continue. And the finial on the top will be painted but not with dots. I don't think ...

Have a great weekend - it's the last one of the summer - make it count!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Solar Flare - Sunshine In A Box

The other day when I shared a photo of the latest work-in-progress mosaic on Facebook, one of my online buddies called it Solar Flare. I was calling it Sunshine In A Box but hers is much better! That's a keeper.

It's coming along but not exactly as I thought it would. Often when I start something I don't have an exact idea as to how I want it to see it once it is finished but I do have certain thoughts. I have no problem with going with the flow or changing direction and because I ripped up some of the tess on this earlier, it feels like my original vision isn't exactly what it should end up with. That's okay with me, the muse rules me and I know it, but I am a little unsure as to what to do. I lost a little confidence with it. When that happens, sometimes it is best to put it aside for a day or two and think about it.

The photos show the progress so far. I'm using more blue and white china than I thought I'd use. I like it here and will put it at the bottom wave and top wave but the outer edges will get something different. I think ...

Meanwhile, my grandson's 6th year on earth is arriving next week! I decided to put this awesome box of sun aside and work on something for my own little ray of light.

I am not sure what I'm using as a substrate, but I'm going to make him a SpongeBob mosaic. No photos to show yet and until I know what I'm putting it on, there won't be. But, it shouldn't take very long to do. He normally is very interested in my mosaics and has, in the past, requested I make him some (which of course I have!) and he's made some of his own as well. Because I'm not selling it, I feel okay about using a patented trademark like Mr. SquarePants as my inspiration.

I'll be figuring out what to do and how to do it with all of that this afternoon. The next post should have something to show.

I listed a few things this morning. Love the pillow covers so much. I've been having fun making up collections too both in gift ideas and home decor.

I love making these collections! I'm positive next week I'll share a few more.

Meanwhile ... it's time to figure out what to put the SpongeBob mosaic on ...

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics

Wild Wednesday

Well, perhaps "wild" is a bit of an exaggeration but it has been a bit of a crazy day for me.

Be that as it may, I do have a few things to share but not much. I'm shocked that I have some "play time" available on the computer at all right now. I am making the most of it!

More collections have been made from my Etsy shop. LOVE the fact that as I'm gathering these together, they can also be used as featured items on the shop's page as well. Bonus!

All items can be purchased from my shop at Etsy. Woo-hoo! Notice there's note cards added now. It's pretty cool to see some of the fine art photography as note cards and pillows. I like it! You will be seeing more of both pillows and cards as the weeks continue. And of course new mosaics as they are made. Always and forever, there will be mosaics to share no matter how many times I change my shop's appearance - mosaics will be listed. :)

Yesterday was spent fixing what I took apart with this mosaic. I also added the small screw eyes you see in this photo. Once the mosaic is completed I am going to add charms and beads onto the screw eyes. They are so very small. You need to see this photo to realize how small they are.

It took me about 2 hours to get 20 screws into this box. Jewelry pliers and patience were needed. They are 8 mm as you might be able to tell from the photo, extremely small. I had thought I'd use these for the small MDF crosses I've made so far but they are way too small. They won't hold the heaviness of a mosaic. Using them here in this project seemed like a good idea.

I haven't yet started working on the mosaic today but I'll get to it soon. It's fun to take something that is no longer useful as it is and create something artistic with it. Recycling at its finest!

Stay peaceful,
Cindy, Earth Mother Mosaics