OHMYGOODNESS!!!!!!!!!! Spectacular work. WOW are we ever happy to have you join us. Your work is absolutely wonderful!!! I LOVE everything in your album but especially the "carpet" - it's fabulous. How in the world do you work down on the floor w/such an intricately detailed project? Makes me hurt all over to even think of doing it. Thanks for sharing.

Your work is beautiful!

Thanks so much for the kind comments. Slow, I would never be able to work down on the floor to do even a small project - back and knees would protest loudly. I am a big fan of doing the mosaic onto fibreglass mesh then cutting it up into manageable pieces, then glueing it down on ground level. I did the 'carpet' out on my back deck on top of a table tennis table that I raised by putting bricks under the legs - much better height to work on. Then when it was finished, cut it up into about eight pieces, slid each piece carefully onto a board before carrying them around to where we laid them at the bottom of the front stairs. There's always a few anxious moments when you're putting it together on the ground. Even though you tell yourself that you measured the area very carefully ten times, there's still that little part of you that doubts it's going to fit....with me anyway!
I am doing a garden bench top mosaic for my inlaws at the moment which is about half way through. Here's a picture.
Cheers, Tracy

Here is a link that might be useful: garden bench top mosaic wip

WOW! You do really nice work. I love the dancing under the stars. Thanks so much for sharing. How long have you been doing mosaics? I am still very new to this.

Yes to what every one said .I love that butterfly.

Hi fldirt, the first mosaic I did was about eight years ago of our house number. I really loved doing it and then launched straight into a much bigger project - the 'starburst' in my album. Since then I have done so many other things. A lot I have given away and only when they were gone I realised I hadn't taken a photo. I stand back from my work a lot to check how it's going - sometimes I get up on a chair to look too. Time just disappears when I'm mosaicing. It's a shame we have to stop to do trivial things like washing, cooking and looking after the family. lol. Thanks everyone for the kind comments. Tracy

My WORD!!!!! Another wonderful project - LOVE the design. Your work is very professional. I've also given away many pieces, and some I wish I had back. Have sold some pieces I wish I had back. However, I've run out of space inside the house, and that's why I am working on mostly outside projects. I love your work.

B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.L.L.L.!!!!! Love Everything and have been inspired to create similar stuff now...WOW!!! Here is an album of some of my stuff....


Visit My Photos - 10 Pics

{{!gwi}}

mosaics

Thanks once again for the kind comments. Calamity, thankyou for attaching your album. Your work is fantastic! How did you make Humpty Dumpty? I really love the flowers and butterflies in glass. Is that on a window? I have a similar shaped piece of frosted glass that we removed from our stairwell before my leadlight went in. You've given me a great idea to put it to creative use! There are so many creative and talented people on this site. I also love your cakes - yet another thing I'd love to have a go at......

Hi, Tracy, welcome! I love your work. Here's a pic of my latest, which reminds me so much of your Dancing Under the Stars!
{{!gwi}}

Here is a link that might be useful: Silva's blog

Hi Silva, Well once again I am blown away by the talent on this site. Thanks for the link to your blog. You have done some stunning work...those stair risers - WOW!!!!!!! ...the guitars - WOW!!!!!!!... The glass on glass WOW!!!!!!! Such inspiration , thankyou.

Absolutely amazing! What a well of inspiration. I just did my first two mosaics recently (starting with stepping stones). I created one design on a paper template, but when I went to move the pieces to the stone, I had a horrible time matching what I had done on paper (even though the stone was right next to the paper!). It seemed the split second I picked it up, I forgot what little angle I had on it. Is that something that just gets better with practice, or is there a trick?

Hi Loribee, my experience is exactly the same as yours when it comes to transfering pieces from one place to another ( even when ,as you say, they are right beside each other). It seems the moment you put adhesive on the piece, you forget which way way you had it! That is why I am a big fan of using the 'mesh' method of doing mosaics.
The piece of paper with your design on it goes on top of your work table. Then, on top of that you put a piece of clear plastic. Then, on top of that goes the fibreglass mesh.(cut it bigger than the design) I buy mine from one of the local 'good' tile shops. You then sticky tape, or staple all three layers together at the edges.
You'll be able to see your design through the mesh and the plastic. You then use pva glue to adhere the tile pieces to the mesh (just use a little bit of glue) This will keep them quite firmly attached.
When you have finished, cut the mesh flush with the outer edge with a craft knife. If it's a large piece, cut the actual thing up into a few pieces too.
You are now ready to glue this to a stepping stone, etc using whatever adhesive you would normally use for the project. Leave it for 24hrs as normal before grouting.
This may not be something that works for you, but I find it a great way to mosaic.

Hello CbM. Love ur work. my fave is also the floor piece by the stairs.
makes me wanna try one too. problem i have is ... what if i cut my feet walking on it?
i have done a few pieces on wood boards, like mirrors and just wall pieces (so far). and sometimes when i touch them with my fingers i feel some pieces are higher than others, etc.... and some of the cut pieces are... SHARP.
do you have any problem like that ???

Calin in Romania

Here are some of mine :) just so i can brag a bit LOL

http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2341439320104010362fkyYdH
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2941160980104010362FKJoAQ
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2800050920104010362FwRoug
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2792710730104010362ToOvoj
http://home-and-garden.webshots.com/photo/2313494940104010362IZacKf

Hi Calin, Your work is really lovely. The designs are so alive and the way you combine your colours is wonderful.
With regard to the mosaics that I do which will be walked on, I am very, very careful when choosing the tiles that they are all the same thickness. Sometimes, I have a tile which is the perfect colour for a project but is the wrong thickness and so, to be on the safe side, I don't use it. I find by doing this, once the project is grouted, the sharp edges are minimised ( hint - don't wipe too much of the grout away, that helps to protect the edges too.)
You'll notice in my album that I have only done tile mosaics. I've never actually done a glass one even though I think they look more beautiful than the tile ones. One day...
Anyway, I can't speak from experience if a glass mosaic would cut your feet. Maybe someone else on the forum could answer this question for both of us.
In the meantime, thanks for sharing your pics.

thanks for the nice words and i take them as compliments.
well, i use mostly vitreous glass as it's closest to my pocket :D
i guess it would work out if i use full squares as they are when i buy them, 1x1 or 2x2 cm, without cutting them but then the designs would suffer. i could only do geometrical stuff...
for floors, that is also just cool.
i know what you mean wiping too much of the grout when cleaning... hmmm.

Your work is beautiful! Thank you so much for posting pictures. Your butterfly has inspired me to add a butterfly to my about-to-be-started outdoor shower mosaic. Not only that, but you inspired me to start TODAY! Thank you!

Thanks so much for the tip on using mesh to create mosaic designs. I am definitely going to give it a try!

Thanks for the hint about the mesh.....was working on a cross and the same thing happened ...the pieces didn't seem to fit when I transfered them from table to cement.

Creativebutmessy, what is pva glue? Seems as if you have lots of experience. Would you mind giving me a little advise? Mr crosses stand veritcal, in the beginning I used Loctite water proof adhesive to attach my glass, still in the wait and see how long it lasts in the weather stage. After more reading, last night I attached glass to 2 crosses using thin-set. Most of my crosses have been gifts, but I still would like for them to last more than one season. Thanks for any guidance.

Hi Oldcrafty, I'm very happy to help in any way I can but there are two things I don't have a lot of experience with and they are (1) mosaics using glass and (2) the amazing extremes of weather that a lot of people on this site experience. eg We are in the middle of Winter where I live in Australia and the temperature at the moment is 25 degrees celcius. All of my outdoor mosaics don't have the problems associated with freezing etc..... That, I'm sure is a whole different ball game!
However, to answer your question, pva glue is the opaque white glue that is quite cheap to buy.(in Australia anyway) It's used a lot in woodwork and is water soluable. I only use it to keep the ceramic tile pieces adhered to the mesh. It is definately not strong enough to be the 'final' mosaic adhesive.
It's a little tricky when different countries call things a different name. For example, we don't have a product called Thinset. From reading lots of info on the internet, I've deduced it's equivalent to our cement based tile adhesive. I could be wrong (I'd love to be corrected if I am) If the thinset you are using is the same as our cement based tile adhesive, then I have used it a lot in outside projects (some verticle ones) and find it is just fine. Some projects have been out there for many years. But Oldcrafty, it may just be because our winters are so mild. Can anyone else on this forum answer this for really cold winter areas?

OMGosh!!! I am so overwhelmed with all of the beauty and talent in this single thread! Creative, your work is AMAZING...all of it! My favorite is the butterfly..it is gorgeous! It's obvious you have a real talent for this stuff!

Calamity, Thanks for sharing and I love seeing your newest stuff too! Your shower door is BEAUTIFUL! Do you have a yard light behind it that kicks on after dark?

Silvamae, you just amaze me girl with those guitars. I've been watching TSs forever now for an old guitar I can try my hand at but I know I could never match your imagination....LOVELY!

Addiesue

WOW your work is so beautiful - precise, clean, but not stiff or formal - The sense of movement is wonderful.

I work on fiberglass mesh too, so I can move it around for convenience and glue up onto the wall later - I don't use a paper template because I make the design up as I go.

But when I'm using tiles that are of similar thickness, I press clear contact paper (adhesive) on top of the tiles, lift it all, put it onto wet thinset, smoosh it down, wait overnight, peel off the contact paper and grout. I do this with my summer art campers too.

Welcome!

Thanks for the welcome Betty. Thanks also for the tip about the clear contact. I'll definately give that a try.

Addisue: The shower door is a mirror!! So is very blingy when the sun hits it! I am concidering a special new place to set it in the garden, where the sun will hit it big time!lol!