pinkchicken

Mosaic top iron plant stand

pinkchickenmosaics — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 22:04:10 +0000

I went scrounging in the backyard for a small garden project to work on since my original idea has to be reworked. I found this little iron plant stand with a resin top which was crumbling and had seen better days. The old top wasn’t fastened to the base in anyway, so it came right out. I used it as a template to make a new top and sawed it out of a large slate floor tile.

The new top is 7 3/4 squared with ceramic tile, dinnerware, and small flat back marbles. The flat back marbles are about half the size of the regular ones and they’re so pretty when the sun hits at just the right angle. The amber has such a nice firey glow.

It still needs to be sealed and the grout is discolored in a couple areas so that’ll be tomorrow’s after-work special.

Jewelry holder

pinkchickenmosaics — Sat, 10 Sep 2011 14:25:06 +0000

Finished this a few weeks ago but haven’t gotten around to posting until now. It was a fun little project and looks great on the wall with a few necklaces and a bracelet on the bottom knob.

12″ x 6″
Plywood base + stained glass + brushed nickel drawer pulls
Back is covered in black felt

WIP – Snake necklace holder

pinkchickenmosaics — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 03:15:03 +0000

My collection of necklaces isn’t really large but what I’ve been using to hang them has become over-run. There’s only so much a 3 pt. antler can hold. So I decided the best thing to do would be make a new one and hang mosaic pendant necklaces from this one and the antler can have the rest.

It started with a doodle on my workbench. It’s not a particularly good one and looks more like a worm eating a pea.

Then I cut the plywood 12″ x 6″, primed it, and came up with a much better reptilian representation. Also, the drawer pulls that will be holding the necklaces have been put in position and holes drilled.

Finally, the mosaic fun begins with cutting and laying pieces of stained glass.

Weekend project update

pinkchickenmosaics — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 02:43:43 +0000

The bathroom stand is painted and even though I took the time to tape it off, the paint still bled underneath. Oh well, I’m just going to have to look at it as having character and love it anyway. But even with the crummy paint job, it looks so much better painted Regal Blue than it did with the Ivory. It really stands out in the bathroom and brings together the rest of the blues.

I also finished the VW car emblem and think it looks pretty cute. It just needs to be sealed and a good adhesive so someone can’t pry it off the car.

Grackle lounge time

pinkchickenmosaics — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 20:47:51 +0000

I set out the cheapie dog pool but it’s too hot for the dogs to be outside. So instead of the dogs using it, the birds do and do they ever love it. It’s easier for them to walk and splash around in than a little bird bath.

While I was outside painting the tiled bathroom stand, I saw Mr. Grackle having himself a dandy lounge time.

Three day weekend mosaic fun

pinkchickenmosaics — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 16:40:56 +0000

This Fourth of July weekend is a nice, long three days that I plan on getting a lot of fun things done.

First up is the bathroom stand that I tiled and painted over Memorial Day weekend in May. I absolutely don’t like the Ivory paint color because it looks so dull and boring. That’s what I get for playing it safe because originally I wanted to paint it a dark blue. The new dark blue paint will look nice with the shower curtain that also has a variety of blues.

Another problem with the stand was with the grout and sealer. It seems the grout has efflorescenced or something and I’m going to try to remove it with an acidic cleaner.

Very boring in a tiny bathroom the size of most people’s closets.

The fabric shower curtain with lots of pretty dark blues

The second small project is for my car. I noticed a couple weeks ago that the emblem on the trunk was kind of loose. I looked up how to remove it on my year and found it was super easy to heat with a hair dryer and pull it off. I pulled off the emblem Thursday after work and Friday, went to Home Depot for some rattle can action. But wait, it gets better: I’m not just painting it and slapping it back onto the car; that would be too easy and boring. I’m going to mosaic it with mirror and stained glass. Yeah!

Plain and all the silver color is gone. 3.25″ across.

All the adhesive strip was scrubbed off. It was really easy to remove.

Very little silver and the plastic is crazing.

A whole new look with glossy black. Next step: Mosaic!

Lastly, I messed around with a couple of ring blanks when the temps in the garage weren’t at Broil. I have a really hard time cutting this small and handling the glass and spent a lot of time looking for tiny pieces I had dropped. Or had to cut a new one because it flew off into some distant corner. Heh.

Ring of Fire and Moon
20mm

Arthouse Five by Seven Entry and Art Social

pinkchickenmosaics — Sun, 22 May 2011 15:03:43 +0000

My entry for Arthouse’s annual Five by Seven fundraiser is an orange and teal Ouroboros with 9 small mirror stars scattered across a field of black sky.

The social event for the artists was a great time with good food, fun music, and people watching.

From the Arthouse website: “Five x Seven is an art sale and exhibition benefiting Arthouse exhibitions and educational programs. Hundreds of recognized contemporary artists with strong Texas ties create unique works of art on identical 5” x 7” boards.”

Arthouse Five by Seven

Tiled bathroom stand

pinkchickenmosaics — Sun, 22 May 2011 03:01:29 +0000

What better way to display your toilet paper and washcloths? This little stand also has chrome wire baskets that slide into little groves to hold little things. It’s a piece I’ve had for a long time and it really needed a makeover. Last weekend I decided to pull it out of the bathroom and get it ready for some tiling. It’s still a work in progress and needs to be sealed and get a new coat of paint before it’s ready for it’s debut in the bathroom.

Gussied up with new tiles

Some tiles popped off after removing the paper backing

Looking pretty with sandstone grout

Green and red stick incense burner

pinkchickenmosaics — Sun, 22 May 2011 02:34:24 +0000

I’ve got these small ceramic tiles that were begging for something fun and I thought a burner would be a great way to incorporate them into something. They’re pretty tiles with high shine and look a little like candies. There are also vitreous glass tiles and some stained glass too. It’s all been sealed with a penetrating sealer and doesn’t have any matte or gloss so should be easy for cleaning.

Scrappy Pots for the Spring Garden

pinkchickenmosaics — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 00:55:10 +0000

Since the beginning of Spring, I’ve decided to try to fancy up some old pots that were growing dirt. The first two are small, maybe 4 inch pots, that I applied some scraps of ceramic tile and floor tile I inherited along with marbles. I think they’re cute for little plants like sedum or coleus.

This next pot is larger but I’m unsure of the dimensions. This is an Ugly Little Beast of a pot that gave me a hard time because none of the colors looked right and the pattern wasn’t great. I had to redo it and this is what I came up with. Again, it’s made of scrap pieces of ceramic and flat marbles. I think it looks nice with a pretty green plant in it. Spider plants and pothos always make any pot pretty.

All together the pots look cute but just need some greenery to really be nice.

I have one more potential Ugly Little Beast pot that I’m going to do and then I’d like to try something sculptural on a pot to see if it’ll work and stand up to the elements.