MIssed Me?

I am sorry life took over and i had to take a break from all the pressure and stress of being on the web . I am back now and doing much, much better.

It has been a long and wonderful summer without pressure of work or stress of making mosaic tiles and mosaic art.

Just relaxing summer days, swimming in the pool, sunbathing and working in my flower beds and garden. Visits with my folks and playing scrabble once a week with my mom has made me realize how fast my life is passing by.

But back to the daily grind of work lol, slowly getting back into my studio and making mosaic tiles, but i purchased a used Singer Serger machine and have been getting back into my sewing, i did not realize how much i had missed it until i finally purchased one. So will be taking breaks from tile making and doing some sewing for my mom and myself.

Hope all my friends and readers have enjoyed my writings or postings.

Enjoy the rest of the summer fall is coming in with a roar.

Some photos of our summer bounty and my gardens.

Handpainted Glass Ornaments

I finally taught myself how to paint roses! One of the many things I have always wanted to be able to do. So I bougth myself some folk art paints and set my self down and played with my paints and brushes. Each day I grabbed those paints and bushes and practiced those brush strokes. I credit Donna Dewberry for helping me learn. No,I did not do hands on learning, I just watched her videos and purchased her book. Ok so here is what I have finally got the nerve up to paint.

Mosaic Project WIP

I have finally gotten in the mode to do some more mosaic projects, with the Terra cotta flower pot challenge in AMVS group on eBay I have been working on two flower pots , a large lamp base and a small turtle. the lamp base and turtle are ready to grout. I have noticed lots of folks dread doing the grouting, but let me tell you it is really nothing to fear.

Just make sure you have plenty of working space, lay down some layers of newspaper, or a old vinyl table cloth, if your working outside on a porch, or deck all the better. But I tend to do it on my kitchen island.. I like to be cool while I grout.. No sweating here.

I do all the above and lay out my pieces. I normally only have one or two pieces to grout at one time, since I spend most of my time making those mosaic tiles for other artists to use.

Things have been a little slow right now and I have had spring fever, been working out in my flower beds pulling up weeds, and planting lots of blooming flowers, not to mention my large tomato plants, I picked a ripe tomato yesterday.

Back to the grouting. I tend to mix about a cup of grout really thick and let it slack , or sit for around 10 minutes, leave it and about my business, but yikes if you forget your grouting, time it. come back in and spread it with a gloved hand and press it into the spaces between the tiles..

I tend to wipe some of that off and keep spreading it around until i know I have all the spaces filled in really good..

I let that sit around 10 minutes or so depending on how small or large a project it is.. come back in and wipe off with a gloved hand again, making sure i am not taking out any grout .

Take a damp, really damp heavy duty paper towel and wipe the tiles off , rinse and wipe off until I am happy with the way it looks. No grout on the tiles or on the back of the project.

Then I put the piece up and let it stay there for a week to dry, come back in and use a grout sealer called Tile Lab. wipe off in between and do this 2 to 3 times until I do a water drop test , if it beads up it is sealed if the water drops soak in, I put on more grout sealer.

The piece is set aside again to dry, I give it a week to dry.

Once dry I come in with some vinegar on a paper towel and wipe off the tiles to give them shine. it takes off the haze left behind from the tile lab.

Bird nest and Baby birdies

I am finding it harder and harder to stay indoors and work in my studio with all the wonderful sunny weather we have been having lately. I have been painting tiles and finishing up some custom orders of handmade tiles today and finally loaded the kiln up and got it fired..

I found a bird nest nestled in the basket of roses I have by the side door, peeked in and saw little yellow beak and peeked farther in and saw not one but four little faces staring up at me.. Not a one of them moved! All eyes were on me. I snapped a few photos. They will be leaving the next soon from the size of the them. Each time I exited the house the momma bird flew off the next,I don't understand that, guess I frighten her when I walk by? While I am by the kiln loading the tiles in and out of the corner of my eye I saw a movement, the mommy bird had returned to her nest. I believe it may be a wren, as she flew away I noticed her back was a rust color. If you peek closely you can see one of the yellow v shaped mouths..