I'm Baaaaaack!

It has been months since I last blogged.  I put it aside for awhile so that I could concentrate on my 3 shops on Etsy. I just opened a vintage shop and had 100's of items to list and I honestly just couldn't sit any longer to post to my blog.

I also have been having a lot of trouble commenting on other blogs, so if you haven't seen me in a while it's only because Blogger won't always let me comment and tells me I don't have permission. What???

I hope to get back to posting at least once a week.  In the meantime I will share some of my new mosaic pieces and some of the new listings in my vintage shop.
The first one is a small guitar.  I have always wanted to mosaic a guitar and it was quite a challenge to do so, but I would definitely do it again.

 This one was a fun piece to do. I like to do some ultra modern pieces sometimes. I call this Orange Sunburst.

 This piece has some elements from a 120 yr-old home in rural Colorado. I did a mosaic for my sister and had some things left over so I used them in this piece. I also have my signature piece of jewelry in the tear shaped copper pendant right next to the mirror. It has a small piece of real turquoise in it. All my mosaics are One-of-a-kind and you can see them all at http://www.memoriesinmosaics.etsy.com/

 I just love dishes of all kinds, especially vintage pieces. The artistry is amazing and I always wonder who owned it and where it's been. This first one is a hand painted sugar bowl.

 This is a lovely plate with "courting scenes" all around the rim.

 This i a wonderful cameo that was carved from a shell. If it's held up to the light you can see through it.

You can see these and many other fine pieces at http://www.memoriesofyesterday.etsy.com/

Until Next Time :)

My Newest Mosaic

Some time ago I bought this ceramic plaque (lower right hand corner of mosaic) knowing
that I would use it in a mosaic one day.

It has sat on my shelf now for nearly a year and I finally found a lovely rustic metal cross to go with it.

I kept the theme more organic and used earthy colors for a more subtle appeal.

Until Next Time :)

Chris



March Sale on Mosaics and Supplies

I am having a March Madness Sale in my mosaic shop as well as my supply shop. Everything is 10% off for a short time.

Be sure to use the code shown in the announcement of each my shops as it will automatically deduct 10% at the time of purchase.

If you have been waiting for a sale...this is it!  I won't be having another one until much later this year.

I hope you will stop by.

Little Pink Pitcher Mosaic

I found this cute little blush pink pitcher on one of my shopping journeys to the various thrift stores and couldn't resist buying it. I just loved the rose bud at the handle and thought it would be a perfect size to do a small mosaic.

This was a fun piece to do but ended up being a lot more work than you might imagine. Getting those tiles to fit around the handle took a bit of patience, but I managed to get it done.

I wanted to keep the scene light and airy so I stayed with the same color scheme as the pitcher except for the blue and white checked "table" it's sitting on.  The rich blue gives some contrast without being to brash, I think. 

I must get some better photos before I list this one. The glare from the camera flash is bouncing off the tiles.  The pink in here is also a very subtle blush color that matches the pink of the pitcher and this camera of mine doesn't pick it up that way.

Help Me Decide

I could use some input on the color of grout to use in a new mosaic I am working on.

Originally I planned on grouting the entire thing in white but now am thinking of using the white at the corners and a lavender in the body of the piece. The lavender would make the lavender triangle tiles fade into the color rather than stand out.

Let me know what you think. I appreciate any input.

My Newest Mosaic

It's hard to believe we are halfway through July already.  The heat here in Florida is hot, hot, hot, so I have been staying in my room more and fooling with different ideas for my mosaics.

I just finished this one called "Innocence in Pink" because the cotton candy pink glass tiles along with some of the little focal tiles I used just makes my heart feel light. It's wavy, curvy shape is whimsical and the colors of pink and gray together are always a good combination so I just had fun with this one.

3 DAY SALE in My Mosaic Shop

I am having my bi-annual sale through the 4th of July in my mosaic shop.  Most of my inventory is marked down 10-20%.

Here are a just a few of the pieces that I have placed on Sale.

Only for 3 DAYS so if you want anything be sure to get it before the sale ends.

Happy 4th of July to all of you.  May each of you have a safe weekend.

God Bless,

Chris

Does This Look Like a Bird to You?

I haven't been on the computer much lately so I thought I would at least post my newest piece.

My husband thinks this looks like a bird with white tail feathers.
I guess it can be anything you want it to be.

Hope everyone is well.

My Newest Mosaics

Here is one of my newest mosaics. This is a rustic metal tray that has a distressed expresso brown finish.

I love to combine the patterns of dish tiles with the various glass and ceramic tiles so that is what I did with this one.

My signature jewelry is embedded in here as well. It is the muted sage green earring with a little silver criss-cross over it toward the bottom.

My husband thinks this looks southwestern because of the rustic metal and the turquoise and copper colors used. What do you think?

As promised, I have taken a picture of the blue floral mosaic mirror and am posting it for you to see in the white grout.
Personally, I think it could have gone either way, black or white. Black grout would have given it an entirely different look and I wish I had two of them so that I could do one in black just for fun.
It would have defined the mirror more but I like the airy feeling of the suttle blue floral tiles. I also like that the black mini mosaics on the corners show up by using the white.

I changed out the glass tiles around the focal piece at the top for the 3rd time.LOL

I thought the black would be much better with the white grout.

It was tough to get a good picture, not only because this is a very large mirror, but the skies are overcast and dark and didn't lend any light to the situation.
So here it is:

I place a cute little cobalt blue lady bug on top of one of the tiles for whimsey.

The black circles with gold around them are parts of a bracelet. The round knob was handpainted and can be used.

Grout Picked for New Mosaic

Experimenting can be fun but also very time consuming. After I so carefully grouted the edges in white I still had to let it dry and pick out the overflow with a toothpick as you can see in this picture all along the border tiles.

Another time I will plan this in advance and make a more definite border to hold the grout.


I didn't want to do a huge area with the black grout powder so here is what my experiment looked like. It's hard to tell in this small shot, but it was looking too busy for me along with the edges done in white.

In this photo I tried the white powder and feel the overall affect is better. It keeps the body of the mirror more solid and the edges more "lacey". The dishes have enough colors to carry off the white in my opinion.

I will be finishing it today and will have pictures for you.

I also just finished a cute metal tray that I will put up on my next post. I would love any comments as to the tags I might use.

Using Two Colors of Grout

I have been working on a new mosaic that I am ready to grout but I decided that I would try using two different colors. I think I will use white around the edges where all the black tiles are so that they will stand out, but I prefer to use charcoal on the interior part of the piece.

The dishes I used to make the tiles for this one are primarily various shades of blue flowers with green leaves on a white background, however, there are also hints of black so I chose to use that color as my contrast.

I originally used black glass tiles around the focal piece on top, but when I decided to grout that portion in charcoal I changed them out for white so they would show better. We'll see.

My signature jewelry is used in the focal piece and here and there around the mosaic. I also handpainted a knob for a little fun but it could actually hold something too.

This is a large mirror (20x24) so I put it on the floor to take this picture so that I could get it all in.


Here are a few close-up shots so you will be able to see the difference once I grout it.

This is a new thing for me so I am anxious to see how it will look.

Garden Harvest Mosaic Mirror

This is one of my newest mosaics that I call "Garden Harvest". I just loved the saying on the plaque and had been waiting for some time to use it. Deciding to keep to the garden theme I chose all the colors you might find in a garden starting with the rich brown tiles that represent the soil. The green and brown beads are my version of seeds and I liked the added texture.

This piece took me twice as long to complete as any other mosaic I have done, and I honestly don't know why, except that "things" just weren't coming together. Added to that was probably this crazy virus I picked up that kept my mind in a haze. One rule I try to live by is "Never push the creative juices" as they come when and if they want to.

I love to add whimsey to my pieces so I chose the tiny ceramic straw hat and cute little knob just for fun.

My next mosaic will be a tribute to the state of Florida and one of the birds we are famous for: the flamingo. I plan to show you step by step how I work and hope you will journey with me through my creative process. Any comments will be much appreciated so don't be shy.