Sister Craft Day ~ Mosaic Bird Houses

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Today is the last day of April already!

Wow! Time is flying by this year because we are having so much FUN!

Melanie and I just completed another easy and FUN project that we picked to do together for a sister craft day!

I LOVE doing crafts with Melly!

She always has the best ideas!

It all started with two wooden bird houses she found at Joann's for us to make into mosaic treasures!

After she told me about them, I quickly went to etsy.com to shop for tiles and glass pieces for us to glue onto them.

I found a great shop called Glass by Sarah Allen and purchased the little ceramic tiles and broken pieces of stained glass.

We glued them on with Elmer's glue and then after the glue dried we simply grouted and painted them!

Melly found us some wool spun mushrooms and little gnomes to glue on the grassy area around the house and Voila!

They were done!

I just LOVE how they both turned out!

This one is mine...

...and this one is Melly's!

Here are some photos we took of the process for you to enjoy!

It is so easy and FUN to do!

Thank you Melly for thinking of this great project for us to do together!

What FUN things are you up to as the weather warms up outside?

Have you started gardening or planning any Summer trips?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

We cannot wait to hear all about it!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Fabulous Friend's Art ~ Eggshell Ornaments from Germany!

 

 

Happy Wednesday everyone!

 

R-Chee and I are so excited because our new Eggshelll Ornaments have arrived from Karen Cruz in Germany.

 

She recently relocated from Guam to to Germany with her family and now sells her wonderful art from there too!

 

We have collected all of her pug dolls over the years and I just love these new pugs she has made to share with all of us from her Etsy Shop, Paddywak Pugs.

 

She even made us a wonderful card that we will save forever! :)

I hung them on my wool bulletin board that is right above my favorite chair where I crochet all of the time.

Aren't they fabulous?

You can follow Karen on her blog and Facebook Fan Page and shop in her Etsy shop anytime!

Please stop by and say hello!

 

I know she will love to meet you!

 

xoxoxo

Melissa & R-Chee

Things that make me SMILE!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Melanie just made this new mohair teddy bear and it made me smile!

I had to share him with you!

and my new yarn storage cart I just found at costco for only $20!

That makes me smile!


Yarn + Organizing = my two favorite things!

Melanie and I just made these mosaic address signs from kits we got at Hobby Lobby!

I just loved making them and how they both turned out!

They make me smile too!

What fun things made you smile today?

Please leave us a note and let us know!

xoxoxo

Melissa & Archie

Fused & Slump Glass Class

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Melanie and I just took another wonderful class through Boulder Valley Life Long Learning.

We tried something we have never done before!

We made coasters and a platter in a fused and slumped glass class.

It is a process very much like creating a mosaic where you use a special kind of fusable glass and put it in a kiln at very high temps to get the design to fuse and then slump or melt into the shape of the ceramic mold you place it in.

Here are Melanie's coasters before they were heated in the kiln.

... and here they are completed!

I love the wildflower designs she created!

I made all 4 of my coasters look similar and cut lots of different shaped glass and glued them down to fuse into a sea of color!

The second week we made our platters that also got slumped into a mold to make them curl instead of stay flat like the coasters.

Mel and I had so much fun making them and now we each have 5 little pieces of art that we just love!

We have signed up for another fiber art class in November at our favorite yarn shop.

I cannot wait to show you what we make!

Are you taking any classes this holiday season?

Please leave me a note and tell me all about them!

I cannot wait to hear!

xoxoxox

m & e

Mosaic Birdhouse Workshop!

Happy Monday everyone!

Melanie and I had the best time at our first workshop of 2010.

We learned how to make mosaic birdhouses on Saturday with instructor, Shelley Goddard.

Here is what the table looked like when we arrived.

There were 6 people in the class and we all got to create from an infinite amount of broken pottery and glass.

Melanie and I were so excited to use our special pug and corgi tiles we purchased on Etsy just for this very afternoon!

We purchased them from a wonderful artist on Etsy, Fauna Couture.

Here is the back side of my birdhouse which is the first side that I completed.

and here is the back of Melanie's birdhouse!

Here is the second side I did. I like how the green piece of glass reminds me of a chimney covered in ivy like at my grandma's house.

I did not think about what I was doing when I was creating. I just intuitivley picked up or cut pieces of glass and glued them down. It was a very fun and magical process.

Here is Melanie working in the flow!

The next few shots are of how the houses progressed throughout the afternoon...

How can you not be creative with Chewy the bulldog keeping you company? :)

What a great studio buddy!

I love how Melanie used pieces of a ceramic plate for her roof and round glass beads cut in half for the sides!

It was an absolutely fabulous day!

Melanie and I will definitely be taking more mosaic classes!

Please come back tomorrow to see the fun new crochet project I just finished. :)

What did you do this weekend? Please leave us a comment and tell us all about it!

Spring is definitely in the air!

xoxoxo

Melissa