My Newest Mosaic

I have been working on a new mosaic for some time now as I couldn't quite figure out what I wanted to do with the background. 

The mosaic is made of different patterned dishes that I cut to make the pinwheels and then added various accents such as half marbles, glass tiles and ceramics.

I knew the theme would be blue because I had so many pretty dishes with blue in them, but trying to decide whether to continue the blue theme or just use white took a while to decide.
As you can see, I chose the baby blue glass tiles and a soft custom made lavender grout for the backgound. I am happy with the affect.  Now if I could just get a good photo.

What Happened to the Flag?

Memorial Weekend has always been filled with movies about war, news programs covering parades and interviews, people are out at the parks and lakes barbecuing and enjoying themselves, but there is something that has changed over the years that disturbs me. 

I don't see our flag displayed in any one's yard anymore.  We were the only one's on our entire block that had their flag out in memory of those brave soldiers who died for our grand country. Why is that? Are we no longer proud to be an American?  Are we no longer honoring special celebrations of our country? What happened?

I am more than disturbed, I am angry.  America is like no other place in the world. It was founded by blood, sweat and tears of every race so that we could enjoy the freedom of not being under the rule of one government;  so that we could pursue the American Dream. Nothing stood in our way as we fought for our belief in freedom.



When I see news clips of people burning our flag or principals of schools suspending students for wearing the flag on a shirt I am appalled.  Our flag represents all that we stand for; all that we have become.

Maybe I am wrong, maybe because it doesn't appear that we stand for much of anything anymore our flag is just one of many symbols that no longer have meaning. Even many of the schools don't want it in their classrooms because it "divides the students" and doesn't fairly represent each heritage.  What about our heritage?

When you are in the United States of America you use our flag.  When you are in some other country you will see that country's flag.  Have we become so confused that we allow the complaints of a few determine the outcome for all?  I certainly hope not.

Team Fest May Daze Blog Giveaway

The FEST Team proudly presents our May Daze BLOG GIVEAWAY selection from Laura of Tierrasolpaz. Laura is an accomplished artist who enjoys creating mixed media art, jewelry, photography, zines, stationary, decoupage pieces, paper crafts - anything that materials may inspire her with. Laura uses recycled materials, or follows an upcycle philosophy whenever possible helping to keep the final cost of her creations affordable to the buyer. She is proud to be part of the etsy community of independent designers, creators, artists, and crafters alike.



Her giveaway is a stunningly beautiful and glorious sunset over water with mountains in the background of Lake Mead in Las Vegas, Nevada. The photograph will be delivered as an 8 x 10 glossy professionally printed picture.

HOW TO ENTER: Visit the team blog post May Daze BLOG GIVEAWAY to enter to win the lovely and colorful photograph by visiting Laura at Tierrasolpaz or any of the FEST Team Members listed in the Member Section. Find your favorite item, share it with us and tell us why you love it. Remember to leave your email or contact info so we can reach you if you're the lucky winner. The winner will be picked on June 4rd. Simple and Easy!

Good Luck!!

My Newest Mosaic

I just finished a large mosaic mirror for my shop on Etsy. I just love the golden iridescent tiles around the border because they make this mosaic shimmer in the light.

The fan design is a fun one to do and allows me to incorporate some of my dish tiles as well as glass tiles.

I call this one Golden Rays Upon the Water.

 I must have taken 20 photos of this mirror before I had one decent picture.  Trying to take a shot of a large piece like this one (24x24) with a mirror in the middle takes some time. The colors are so much brighter in person.

More Etsy!

Some of you know that I have 3 shops on Etsy. I run a  finished mosaic shop called Memories in Mosaics,  a mosaic supply shop called Memories Mosaic Supply, and a vintage shop called Memories of Yesterday.

I am currently running a 20% OFF Sale in my supply shop. It is on everything in my store so if you know anyone who uses dish tiles, half vases or focals please let them know.

Here are a few items from there.

Sue Zipin Pattern

Laura Ashley Print

My vintage store  really didn't get up and running until my sons started adding merchandise they found at estate sales. Some great buys to be had.

Here are a few pieces of what you will find when visiting MemoriesofYesterday.

Johnson Brothers Creamer from 1930's

Erte Bronze Statue

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



How to Build A Light Box for Taking Photographs

  I finally took the plunge and decided I could use one of these homemade light boxes to photograph my jewelry for my vintage shop on Etsy.

Materials needed:

2 sheets white poster board (additional one in black-optional)

tape-I used scotch tape

scissors

ruler

cutting knife

muslin

sturdy cardboard box

small desk lamp

packing tape or duct tape(for bottom of box)

The first step is to determine what it is you will be photographing so that you will know what size tent to make.  This one is a 14x14 that I bought at Walmart for 74 cents.  The first thing I did was to lay the box flat so that you can cut 2 windows at the same time as you will need 4 windows cut in all.

I measured 2" from all sides and drew a line using my fabric ruler, then proceeded to cut out the windows with a straight-edge knife.

 The next step is to line the inside of the box in white. I already knew the sides were 2" and started cutting strips the length of the poster board.  It was real easy to measure using my fabric ruler.

Before you attach your strips you will need to tape the box at the bottom to make it stand up. Be sure to tape just the bottom as the top will remain open when you are finished.

Here is one strip in place on the inside of the box. I used scotch tape to hold it. You will need to cut enough strips to cover the entire inside of the box (16 total).

The next step is to cut squares of muslin (purchased at Walmart for 3.00) to fit over the squares you cut out for the back and sides. I found it real easy as I used my cutting mat and rotary cutter from my sewing days. Cut the square 2" larger than your openings. My openings were 12" square so I cut 14" squares out of the muslin.

Attach the squares of muslin using whatever tape you have on hand. I used scotch tape for now but may need to strengthen it later with duct tape or packing tape. I decided to just drape the remaining muslin over the top until I decide how the lighting works. You may want to put this box "over" a vase or taller piece and keeping the top open allows you to do that.

The last step is to cut a strip of your 2nd piece of poster board to fit inside the box as the backdrop to your photos. Be sure to cut it lengthwise.  You want to cut the width about 1/2" smaller than the width of your box so that it will slide right in. My box was 14" so I cut mine 13 1/2" wide.

Slide it in from the top of the box making sure that it does not crease.  You want your items to appear to be floating and a crease would show up in your shots.  The board should be gently curved then taped in place at the top of the box.  I bought a black poster board in case I wanted to change it out for a different background.
If you look at my finished box photo you will see the curved piece in the box at the back.

Here is the finished box sitting on my bar. I have my tripod in position and a bowl for the photo.  All I need now is to set my lamp up to shine in from above and I should be ready to go.

Here is a photo of a vintage creamer that I took.  It appears to be floating in space.  I will continue to adjust the lighting, but I am thrilled with the shot.  Now I need to make a larger light box to fit my bigger pieces.

TIP: I might try eliminating the step where you cut the strips of poster board to fit on the inside 2". When you take a photo using this box you are only capturing the background piece of poster board.  It may help the lighting to line the entire box with white, but I am going to see if it really makes a difference as that step takes the longest to do.

Until Next Time :)

Chris

Trip to Georgia, Part 2

Our next stop was Marietta.  We parked by the old locomotive that's right by the Marietta Museum of History and I took a shot of my husband standing next to it.

1940's style kitchen

This is a very old sausage grinder.

Bedroom in the Museum of History



This is a shot the park in the center of the Historic District from the upstairs restaurant where we had lunch
 called the Vineyard Cafe



After lunch we headed over to another museum for the movie "Gone With The Wind". This is a personal collection of one man that was donated to this museum. I liked this one better than the one in Jonesboro because there was a lot more authentic pieces including scripts, letters written by the stars, costumes, dishes other memorabilia.

Scarf worn my Olivia DeHavilland as Melanie



Photo of her wearing the scarf hat

One of the chairs used on the GWTW set

Chair in the background

This is a mosaic that was on the side of one of the buildings.

The above photo is one of the rooms in the Root House museum. This is also in Marietta and was one of the better tours. The woman took the two of us around by ourselves and showed us everything.

A photo of the family room

Up to 10 people lived in this very small home and the grandmother had her bed in the dining room.

Families vegetable and herb garden.

This garden was amazing! It wrapped all around the house and was full of herbs for medicinal use as well as vegetables and decorative flowers.

A rope bed

Mattresses were held up by ropes that were tightened with a wooden pin with handles, as shown in the photo above.

Family tub and cradle next to fireplace

How would you like to try and fit into that tub! Mostly they spot washed when necessary.

Our fabulous docent

Our Trip to Atlanta, Part 1

My husband and I just came back from a trip to Atlanta.  We spent a week going from city to city to see the sights and I have some photos I wanted to share with you.

Most of our friends can't understand why we didn't do the normal tours such as CNN and Coca Cola, but truthfully, we just love the museums and old plantations and decided to see as many as we would in the week we had.

 

The gardens were stunning and I took a picture of this old statue.

This is the back steps to the Swan House. That's a waterfall in the middle.

This home is in Jonesboro, Georgia called "Stately Oaks". It had it's own small village in the back with a blacksmith shop, an Indian Village, a smoke house, and a tenant farmers home.

This is the home.  You can see Ralph up on the porch with arms folded.

Entrance to GWTW Museum.

Under drawers worn by Vivien Leigh



Worn by Olivia De Havilland



Miniature of Tara. Said to be worth $70,000

Part Two will be our trip to Marietta and Athens. I hope you will come back.

Until Next Time :)