Still Unfinished

I'm still working in chronological order through all the mosaics I've made (sort of) and I want to show you one that I started and will someday finish. I started it right after the pickle jar and I was making it the same way. I used a picture like the one below:

I printed it out and taped it to the inside of a votive candle holder and started to mosaic over the picture, onto the glass.

As you can see, I taped the image onto the inside of a curve so that's why the inside of the candle holder is stuffed with tissues and a toilet paper roll. I wanted to push the image into the curve.

I'm not quite done with the petals of the poppy but even when I do that, I'm not sure what else to fill in the spaces with. Maybe more poppies or maybe leaves. I don't really know what I want to do and that's why this project stalled. I do know one thing. I want the grout to be black. I bought some black grout from Michael's and I've never used anything like it. It seems like a sanded grout so it shouldn't give me trouble when I get to that poin. Fingers crossed.

Now let's skip the rest of the mosaic talk. I have told you all that I have a cat named Emma but I also have a cat named Artie. He doesn't usually get in the way when I make mosaics so that's why he's not mentioned but I'll bring him into this. Here he is trying to sleep:

Isn't he cute? He's my little, stinky boy and I love him. He's an old, stubborn boy too. He likes to fight with Emma and this chair he's in is a prime poin of confrontation. Looks like Artie's won.... for now!

Complete, yet Unfinished

My project is all done, sort of. Voila:

I used a glass cleaner and I shined it up nice and then I used a tile sealer over it all. I didn't feel the need to take pictures of that process because it's rather simple and boring. You don't need to see me put sealer on a sponge and dab it over the grout. All the sealer does is adhere the sand in the groat together so it won't come off and water won't ruin the surface. It's all sealed up good and that's hard to show so you'll just have to trust me. And I am trustworthy!

If you haven't noticed already, at the corner of the keepsake box I dripped some primer paint. Someday I will get around to sanding that spot off and maybe repainting it. I'm not in a hurry to paint the rest of the box. All this project was really about was to practice cutting the plate and gluing it to the surface of the keepsake box. I think it went well because I learned tons about using a wheel cutter and what I would do differently. Go me!

My next project that will be fun and I will totally document it for the blog. I will be reorganizing my glass collection. I've been steadily collecting mugs, plates, stained glass and other stuff and I was keeping it in my basement. Over the summer the basement flooded so I have to organize the slightly muddy stuff and the stuff that was piled on top of other stuff. I just know that during this process I'll be rediscovering awesome stuff that I forgot I bought. I'll get cool ideas and we'll all rejoice.

In the meantime I will still be showing off other completed projects but I do have one uncompleted project I can show you now that I found a few days ago stuck between some magazines.

I put it in the window to try and show off the light going through it but there it's much light outside right now. I'm too lazy to take the picture again so I'll explain what you're seeing. This was technically my first mosaic. In class, my teacher was trying to show us how easy it was to cut glass with a scorer and a wheel cutter. The lesson wasn't just about learning to use the tools but it was also about not being afraid of being cut by the glass. She told us that if you have a fear of being cut by glass then you should leave class now because you will get cut. A lot. And I did. I was first student to draw blood while making this pear and I proudly showed it off. Not to be outdone, the lady who cut herself after me actually held up her finger and grunted like Tim Allen on Home Improvement. Several times. We all moved away from her.

As you might be able to see, I drew an outline of a pear on the glass and then cut pieces to fill it in. I used a lighter green for the leaves, a darker green for the pear itself and then I used a peachy colored glass to give the pear an accent. It looks like the window reflection you'd see on an apple. I don't really care if most pears don't do that. I like it. It has character like me!

Someday I'd like to find a picture frame to glue it into and fill in the space around the pear and use it as a suncatcher. If I ever do that, I'll be happy to blog it all. :o)