I meant 16 inch sphere, not 16 foot. My bad!

Ohhh, nice sphere!!! Lookin' good so far!!! How did you make the sphere??? Those blue tiles look nice in the background!!! Happy Mother's Day to You and Everyone!!! Jane

Can't wait to see this done. Sometimes I get stuck on what design I want to do. It usually works out. Happy Mother's day to you and all mothersin this forum.

Kat

Very Cool! I def like the start of your design ad the globs look awesome with the silver paint. and yes, some blue would look awesome with that!

Very cool. I too am interested in how U made it. I think lots of color, the more color the better!!!!
Happy Mother's day to U!!!

I am so impressed!!!! How will you display your sphere?

If you have a 99 cent store it would be economical to bust up some of their plates. I covered a bowling ball and the plate pieces seem to be easier to me than the mosaic tile squares. HOWEVER, I AM A NEWBIE. Everything I do is challenging at this point. LOL In my area people are always giving their bathroom mirrors away on Craigslist and Freecycle. I have seen dozens and dozens. The builders install them and the homeowner adioses them. Also yard sales are excellent sources to buy boxes of dishes. I can send you my Husband to 'help out' with washing your china. I guarantee he will chip some for you which gives you the excuse to recycle them for mosaics!!!!

Thanks for all your ideas and encouragement. I am busy this week writing grants so I don't get to play and work on my ball until this weekend.....wahaaaaa.

Calamity, Cathy, and anyone else interested in making a hollow cement ball, here is the directions: I made the hollow cement ball from a 16" dodge ball. Here is a link to a little pictorial of sorts of the process: http://s7.photobucket.com/albums/y297/SereneSeen/16%20inch%20Sphere/

Other supplies needed are acrylic resistant scrim, QUIKWALL® Surface Bonding Cement (available at Menards), small container to mix cement, and a wide paint brush. Cut up scrim in 4" squares. Before you start, make sure the ball is completely inflated.

Mix cement with a little water so mixture is a peanut butter consistency. Smear a thin layer of cement on ball and place scrim square on cement. Continue smearing cement on ball and laying scrim so that the scrim over laps each other by at least of half an inch. Use paint brush to smooth out cement mixture over the scrim. You have to work a quarter of the ball at a time letting it dry before moving on to the next quarter or everything slides off the ball. Leave a 6" diameter hole open at one end of the ball.

After the first layer is dry, add a second thin layer of scrim and QuikWall. After this dry, deflate ball and remove. Cover hole with quickwall and scrim. To smooth out ball further, if needed, mix another batch of quickwall and use paint brush to paint over ball.

I am thinking about making a giant cement ball out of one of those large exercise balls. That would be really cool!

Hope this helps.

SS: This is really cool. Anxious to see how you mosaic it. Thanks for the instructions. FLAG and I are planning to make a giant one too, if we can ever work it into our long list of first-to-dos.

Thanks much for the info. I think I may have to try it. Please post when you finish, anxious to see it done!!!

That is so neat, you have done an excellent job. What Slow means to say is we are going to do one when we get an exercise ball to do it on. LOL..Where did you get the skrim, is it the same thing as fiberglass or sheet rock mesh? I am not familian with that name for it. Thanks..keep us posted.

Flag, Slow, Cathy, et al

I messed up when I typed "acrylic resistant scrim". My brain must have been in another room thinking about something else because the scrim is actually called Alkali-resistent scrim. Flag...I think it is the same thing you called fiberglass mesh. I use the alkali resistent stuff when making 3-dimensional sculpture type bases. I don't want to go through all the work of making a substrate and then have the alkalidity in the conrete eat away at my finished product. Here is a link that shows a picture of the scrim I use. I'm not promoting the company, just showing a look-a-like: http://hlx-wiremesh.com/wire-mesh/Alkali-resistant-fiberglass-scrim.htm

I bought one of those long 4' rolls a couple of years ago. I probably only used three yards of it and have a ton more left over.

Two more days and I get to play again! ! ! !

SS, this is a very neat project! Thanks for the mini-tute. On getting mirror glass...I went to a glass shop to have them cut something for me, and happened to notice scrap mirror in a trash barrel. I asked about it, and he helped me load it into my car and pointed me to another pile of it in a corner. I haven't had to look for mirror glass since. Worth a shot! I can see a double row of mirror outlining your glass globs.

I started tiling the concrete ball with one design but didn't like. I scrapped it off before it dried. Now I have started another design and I'm not sure I like it either. Not sure waht I'm going to do. I think I need to chisel out the center part of the blue are and replace it with more yellow. It doesn't look like I have a clear border between the blue and checker board. Anybody have any ideas on design and how to salvage it.

Oh this is cool. I like what you're doing, and the only suggestion I'd make re your questions is - on the second white tile up, I'd cut it in half and make the left side blue. Then just below your blue triangle near the swirl tail top, cut those squares in half- making them the same - blue/white. In other words, make all those blue tiles triangles, keeping the blue line intact, and thereby keeping the design clean. Hope that's clear.

Great project. I think it will look great when you're through. I can't wait to see it. Thanks for explaining how it was done. I would like to try one myself.When you say "You have to work a quarter of the ball at a time letting it dry before moving on to the next quarter or everything slides off the ball." What is the waiting time frame between sections? Just curios how long did it take you to finish coating the ball?

Oh, this is going to be so cool!! Perfect timing because i was googling large spheres or molds so I think I'll have to check out the scriim stuff.

Looking forward to seeing you progress.

You know i think Sherri Warner Hunter uses that stuff and has it available on her website, but not sure of comparable cost.

oh when i looked at her site i saw she also calls in fiberglass mesh, so maybe that is what we should be looking for.http://www.sherriwarnerhunter.com/Price%20List%20and%20Order%20Form.htm