THAT is gonna be GORGEOUS! Where did you get the Lynn's dishes?

It's a nice solution to the lip problem.

I hope you have better luck with terra cotta than I do.

Everything I've ever had or made with terra cotta has fallen aprt in less than 6 months.

What a great idea, and I absolutely LOVE the design you've created on the pot. Those dishes are a dream find. Anxious to see this filled in.

Ya know what? This is a GREAT idea for that pesky rim situation! Gonna try that with the next pot i do.
I love your dishes. Looks like they cut like BUDDAH.
I'm looking forward to seeing the finished pot!!

wow! you are painting with those dishes! WOW... it's fabulous so far. I love that you smoothed those rims - seeing as that style is the cheapest clay and when you go for smooth rimless pots they are way more dollars! very beautiful work!

ooohhhhh! I love your design and choice of dishes. Very pretty! I really like what you did to reshape the pot too.
Great project...... can't wait to see it done!

Hazie

LYNDALU: You do have a way with designs! That is gonna be one beautiful pot. I cannot wait to see how you finish it.

Looks like those plates were made to order for you.Cheeful and sunny just like you and what a great design..gonna be great with your big vase!

Great idea! And great score on those plates, I like using dishes a lot and am now anxious to try cutting some on my tile saw...Those are some colorful plates, can hardly wait to see the rest!!!

ronnie - thanks! found those dishes at our local Kiwanis Thrift Store.

slow, bama, nice, hazie, jane - thanks...and I'm glad you guys felt the same about the "pesky rim situation" :)

rosie and annie.... gosh...thank you so much.

OH Man that is just BEAUTIFUL!!!! Love your design!!! I also like your smoothing out the pot with cement. Gives a much nicer surface for design.

Good job.

Chris

Woof! That is soooo pretty!

I found there's lots of Lynn's on ebay. Nothing cheap though. I bet your local Kiwanis ts doesn't keep those in stock, does it :)

Love how you did the lip. Good idea! The plates are gorgeous & how you kept the pattern. Nice cutting!

I bought a can of spray for covering where you take branches off trees & it said it was also fantastic for sealing clay pots. I'm going to try that.

Hi! I finally finished this pot. Here's the pics. I decided to leave some of the terracotta pot showing. The color went so well, that it only seemed right. And I remembered Barb's (balje) watering can - and I really liked the way she left the top of the watering can showing - so I thought - okay - that's inspiration enough - I'll do it! (Thanks, Barb!)

Lyndalu, your pot is BEAUTIFUL!!! Your attention to detail in your design makes your work outstanding! Gosh, I just love this pot!

Please tell how you keep your design together. You've cut your rim and then cut it in many pieces yet, you've been able to keep the design on your pot. I'm afraid I would get it all mixed up. I haven't worked with dishes that much. You have mastered mosaicing with them!

Lyndalu: That is a real WORK OF ART! Beautifully executed and well planned. BRAVO! Clap, clap!!
I wish I could perfect cutting dishes; I guess that's why I've been sticking to glass.

Hey Debbi! Welcome back - we missed you!

Debbi - Rosie - gosh, thank you SO much! Your complements really mean a lot to me!!

Debbi - on keeping the design together - when I'm nipping the plate, I do keep the pieces together. I lay them out on old cookie sheets (or other miscellaneous flat-type trays) and keep the pieces kind of medium sized. Then while I'm placing the tesserae, I cut them into smaller pieces. This is a picture of one of the smaller plates laid out and ready to go (but NOT cut into smaller pieces yet).

And rosie - in working with dishes - these particular plates cut so beautifully - they were a dream to work with. Now the green, blue and terracotta solids - they were another matter - they did NOT cut easily (had ragged edges that were tedious to "tidy up") - but they were perfect colors, so what can you do.

Love the colors in your pot. Looks good with the terra cotta showing, too.

Maria

what a beautiful project. Love everything! (Design, colors, smoothing out the rim.)

Turned out just gorgeous. I love how you left some of the terra cotta showing...good job!!!!

thats a beautiful pot. i love the colors and the design just seems to flow. you really did a great job...barb

I don't believe I've EVER seen such precision worked into a mosaic using dish shards. This is absolutely first class - from the color combos, design, and shapes of the tesserae. You really have this thing nailed down to an art. Excellent mosaicing. What a great system for keeping your design intact. Gonna try that whenever I get back to shards.

Beautiful job lynda like all your jewels.love how you left part of the pot showing...Annie

Thanks for the info on how to do this! I'd really like to try this! You did an outstanding job!!!

How lovely, and precise! These are the prettiest pots I've seen. New spin on using china. ~: )

Lyndalu, what an inspiration! I have a terracotta pot that I'd like to try and you've given me some great ideas. I haven't cut up any plates yet cuz I'm scared to, lol. How did you cut them so nicely - any tips?

Your pot is absolutely beautiful, thanks for sharing!

Cindy

Thank you all so much for the very sweet comments. It means a lot to me.

Cindy  to answer your question on tips on cutting plates  the technique I use is very much like the one described on the "Happy Craftn" site. She gives really good directions and even has pictures  IÂll put the link below (others here have referred to this site in the past  I think it has a lot of good information). Even though her directions are for the wheeled nippers, you can still apply most of what she says to the other type of nippers, too. I think the most important thing is just catch the EDGE of the piece in the nippers. Think "nibble", not "chomp". And pay attention to the direction the nippers are pointing  aim in the direction you want to cut. IÂve learned to "nibble" away at a piece to get it the shape I want, or to clean up a ragged edge.

And some plates cut beautifully, some donÂt. And itÂs really hard to tell before you cut into them. (Ha! WouldnÂt you just love to take your nippers with you to the TS, and whip them out and see how that puppyÂs gonna break?!) But a couple of little things IÂve learned is that some of the plates that IÂve found that already have nicks have also been ones that didnÂt break easily (or had a ragged break). DonÂt know if thatÂs ALWAYS true, but I think IÂm starting to see a trend. Also, I havenÂt had good luck with thicker plates. If you have the good luck to find some LynnÂs china, grab it  theyÂve got some gorgeous patterns  and all that IÂve used have been really great to nip!

Thanks again, itÂs so much fun sharing things here  you all are always so kind and generous with your compliments.

Here is a link that might be useful: instructions for nipping plates

I can not believe how much detail you have in your pot! I love the colors and I can't believe how evenly spaced you have your dish shards! Simply fantastic!!!!

Barb

HOLY DAWG SNOT!!
What a wonderful pot. I mean it, really wonderful. You left such a clean edge to your grout too.
Of course the precision in your plate pieces is amazing.
Thanks for sharing the info.

GORGEOUS!! I am going to try this. And everyone knows it, too. I go to people's houses and scope out their dishes and coyly ask, "So...didn't I hear you say you wanted to get new dishes? They're having a sale at Macy's! I'll go with you!" Because, who doesn't want new dishes? And then they have to do something with the old ones. Tee hee hee. I see it as a win-win situation! I am also paying closer attention to dishes to "antique" stores thanks to you!

Lyndalu, did you use thinset mortar, or adhesive? If you used adhesive, what brand do you use? I don't have much luck with most types of glue, including Silicone II

great pot girl! I am googling those dishes right now I really need some pink colored for my DD nightstand.

I can't see the pics. all I get is blue boxes and no pics...Help!!!!

Thank you guys, so much.

mdunkin - I use the cement based mortar mix to adhere the tesserae - and this is the brand I always use - MAPEI - Ultraflex 2 - Professional Grade Polymer Modified Mortar. I've never tried anything else, since I've always been satisfied with this.

coppertop - sorry you couldn't see the pictures. I wonder if photobucket was just down temporarily or something. Maybe you can see them now? In case you're still having a problem, I'll put a link to my album below....maybe that will work better for you?

Here is a link that might be useful: lyndalu's album

OK, got to see the pics this morning. The pot IS beautiful!! Love those dishes...

You truly are the Plate Queen!! I Enjoyed your whole album and found it sooo inspiring! Your bird houses, birdbath (red one) Just Everything is very well done! And your wood box is a great first project! You definitely have an eye for great nippable(is that a word?) plates! Jane

WHEW! wow Lyndalu... wow

that pot came out FABULOUS! wow... I can't even find words, wow...

Lyndalu I'm so sorry! I thought I responded to this already :( Thank you so much for the tips and the great link. I read through it and it all makes so much more sense now. I was definitely chomping, lol. Good to have an idea of what kind of plates to look for too.

Thanks again,

Cindy

copper, calamity, nice.....thank you so much.

Cindy...glad the tips helped. Yeah, I was doing the chomping thing before, too.....it really helped me to learn to "nibble" instead of chomp. :)