Grouting Gurus

We followed up our mosaicing weekend at the lake with a grouting party.





Laura, myself, and Abby grouting Abby's mosaic






Full disclaimer that I am not a Bears fan





Hat tip to Carol for the pictures!

It wasn't love at first sight

I delivered the mosaic and after an initial lukewarm reaction, "Oh yeah, well I like that," Grandma did seem to actually like it.

I base this on the fact that we ended up having to adjust placement on three different pictures before finding the right spot for the mosaic. The right spot ended up being on the wall she faces while sitting in her recliner - a sure sign that she actually wants to see the mosaic. (Although I was worried when she asked me if it was supposed to be a tree - was that not clear?)

Another comment she made, "It's about time I got something new in here - everything is about 40 years old." Gotta love Grandma!

Just needs grout

Grandma's piece is done except for grouting. I don't think it turned out too badly. The plan is to grout this week and then give it to her this weekend.

A mosaicing weekend

My cousin Laura requested a mosaicing lesson so what better place to have it then at the cottage? We set up a cutting glass station amongst the trees, used the deck as our work area, and had sheets of glass spread across the front yard. We got a ton done and I think that Abby and Laura will be able to continue without me - it's all about having the right tools!

We also took a field trip and liberated some windows that had been propped up against a fence for a few months. We didn't go in the dark of night, but we were in and out pretty quickly. All in all, a very fun weekend.

I've got a design

Started to mosaic my Grandma's picture. It's a tree with some leaves and is only using four colors. I finished the stem and the leaves are up next. I'm not feeling that motivated, which is why I don't have a picture to share. I'm at a, "it will be okay" stage but who wants to make something that is "okay."

I'm really not a gold frame kind of girl

My Grandma gave me a gold frame from an old picture that she used to have hanging in her living room. She asked me to put a mosaic in it for her. So you appreciate this task, let me tell you about my Grandma:

• It takes her at least six hours to adjust a vase of flowers on the table so they are angled perfectly.

• If she doesn't like something she lets you know - repeatedly.

• Her living room is all pastel and floral.

I asked Grandma what kind of colors or design she would like and she said, "I'll like anything you make." My Grandma is an 87 year-old liar. This is a high pressure situation people! I've been thinking about designs for a few weeks now and have yet to settle on anything. I really don't want to end up with a mosaic that neither of us like.

Moving on from Big Guy

With Big Guy complete I have two projects on the docket.

1. A four pane window that I'm going to attempt to save from a really bad initial design by adding a second layer of glass.

2. My Grandma asked for a mosaic. I love my Grandma but man, I don't want to make her a mosaic to match her pink floral living room. It will take some thought to figure out a design that we can both live with.

All done

Well, here is Big Guy, all dressed and ready for a night out on the town. He is already hanging up in my living room - which was a project in itself considering he weighs in at about 45 pounds.

I'm happy.

Almost there

I woke up at 6 this morning and despite my best efforts could not fall back to sleep. The good news is that I decided since I was up to actually do something productive. So, I finished grouting the last five squares of Big Guy. The frame still has to be painted so I'll hold off on posting a picture at this stage so that he can have a big ta-da moment.

Now I'm off to have a nap.

Marble

Okay, I'm posting this photo of a piece I made years ago because I have yet to finish grouting Big Guy and am feeling like a slacker.

The circles are marble cubes and the background is window glass cut in small squares and laid on edge. It looks really pretty when the light hits.

As an aside, the window glass I used for this piece and for Green Circles was gotten for free. Businesses consider it scrap and usually just throw it in the dumpster. They are more then happy to give it to you instead - no dumpster diving necessary. My normal tile cutter works for creating the small squares.

Big Guy turns black with grout

I am halfway through grouting Big Guy. Here I am with grout all over me in my garage. I didn't have any sponges so had to use old t-shirts to clean off the grout. Since he is so big I didn't have time to finish all of him. I think he is looking pretty good.

Thanks to Matt for taking the photo!

Amazing what the sun can do...

Yellow Spider - Measures 27" x 42"

Put away the glue

I've been slacking for the last week and haven't mosaiced at all. But I am now pleased to announce that all of the pieces are glued on Big Guy. Two steps remain: grouting and painting the frame. Since he is the size of Montana, grouting should take about two hours. All of the glue needs to be super-dry before grouting so he'll be resting for the next week or two.

In the meantime, I've got a piece that I'm trying to salvage from disaster. I'll introduce you to her in the next post - that is unless she takes a turn for the worse and I just have to put her out of her misery.

"I don't have the vision"

My Mom is at my house. I told her she didn't seem that excited about Big Guy and her reply was, "I don't have the vision like you do." When I started to laugh, her follow-up comment was that she can't get excited until they're grouted.

I have a clean slate - I need opinions

Back to working on the last corner of Big Guy - for real this time!

Leave a comment about any suggestions on what color to make the frame - I'll be using black grout.

Rinse and repeat

The pieces of glass that I removed from Big Guy's corner have been cleaned of glue and are ready to be reapplied in a new and improved design.

Here they are in the rinse cycle.

Unfortunately a hand wash and dry was necessary.

In the washing process I got a wicked cut on my foot - long story. I'll spare you the picture of toes and blood since I actually like it when people come to the blog, but man, Big Guy is causing a lot of trouble.

I'm insane

I finished the last corner of Big Guy this weekend (yea!) and then decided that despite the corrective surgery I just wasn't happy with the one corner (not so yea!). The three other corners had a swirl pattern so the non-swirling corner was totally bugging me.

This leads me to the picture. I basically saturated the glue with water and then used a screwdriver to pry up the pieces. I only ended up cutting myself once so that was exciting. The pieces of glass are now soaking in water to get the last bit of glue residue off.

A little more structure than my normal style

Measures 20" x 16"

Nip & tuck

Maybe I'm the only one this is noticeable to, but here are the before and after surgery pictures for Big Guy.

He looks better in person

I finished the third corner of Big Guy this weekend. I think he has at least 25 hours of work in him so far. This of course doesn't include all of the time that I spend just staring and debating what to do next, if he looks cute, if he doesn't look cute, why I chose these colors in the first place...

I'm still not in love with the corner that already underwent surgery but we'll see what happens.

The right tool for the job

For those of you asking questions - I'm a big fan of the Vitrex tile cutter to score and snap larger pieces of glass. I currently own three of them. Other brands/types just don't measure up for me - seriously, I've tried many.

"As Is" is good

This mosaic is directly onto a cabinet door from the as is section of Ikea. It works perfectly as a frame. Not sure where the rest of the cabinet ended up...

Thanks Bethy for the find!

Corrective Surgery

Big Guy just underwent surgery to fix his right angle. It involved water to soften the glue and a flat head screwdriver to pry up certain pieces of glass. He looks better, but plastic surgery is a slippery slope so now I'm eyeing up some of this other flaws.

A bit of whimsy

This piece uses just about every color of glass that I own. I think it could look really cute in a kid's room because something about it seems happy. The navy frame also gives it a touch of playfulness. My nephew Santiago might be the recipient, I just have to figure out how to get it to Seattle. (thanks to Jack and Hester for the window!)


More pictures

Measures 22" x 45"

Big Guy is coming along

Rainy weather in Madison means lots of mosaicing time. The blog is also a motivating factor because I feel like I should be showing progress - we'll see how long that lasts.

So, here is Big Guy at the moment. I ended up with a right angle in the corner that I am trying to withhold judgment on (but I'm really not a fan). You have to, of course, imagine grout.