Oozing Spring

The grass is greening up....and I don't even mind the dandelions and violets in my side yard. 

It's still slow in coming...but spring is oozing out all over. There is something so special about the ways each tree and shrub leafs out. All the little pieces and parts are beautiful and interesting.

And who doesn't love a patch of grape hyacinths. They're one of my favorites!

I had a special gift waiting for me when I got home. Tracie made this fabulous fused glass sun-catcher for my birthday...and it just oozes spring. I am smitten with the design.

It's a perfect addition to my colorful kitchen window. It pairs so well with my large fused piece...and the other rainbow Tracie gave me.  

Creative Catch UP

I'm playing a little creative catch up today. I've been preoccupied with gardens, tulips and shadows...but there has been so much more I've wanted to share!

Like this beautiful fused glass piece that Tracie made for her daughter.  

It hangs by Ariel's front door and is an alternative to a hanging flower basket.  I think it's just fabulous! Well done Tracie!

Tracie gave me this delightful little fused piece for my birthday and I'm enjoying it in my kitchen window next to a larger fused piece. Along with a glass mosaic piece from my sister Nancy it makes for a pretty happy window!

And Susan shared these delightful little charms she made with paper tubes, wire and beads.  Aren't they fun! 

I also started a little creative catch up in my studio. I have four projects I need to work on before anything else...and I started all four today! That feels good! 

I have two orders for scrappy trees and I did the hard part today....fusing the striped fabric to the edges of the foam core. They will be very similar to this tree: https://joyfulputtering.blogspot.com/2023/11/indigo-blues.html and are for the same person. Now it's time for the fun part! 

Time to Put the Balls Up!

One of the very first posts on this blog over 9 years ago was called "Time to Take the Balls Down."  

Inspired by my friend Laura...I used to hang my glass ball collection from my dining room chandelier every Christmas....and enjoyed them for months.

I reinvented the arrangement every year...and never minded putting them up and down.

But when I chose the dining room fixture in our current condo....I didn't think about the balls...and the drum shade doesn't accommodate them.  So they've been tucked away....waiting for the vision in my head to come to reality.

But it was time to put the balls up!  I finally got the ladder Jim built installed against the ceiling in in my dining room window....and the balls are up!

It took me a good chunk of the day...and it was trickier than I thought. If they need a tweak...it's going to have to wait because my arms are tired. I think they all could be an inch or two higher. 😳

The ladder was inspired by the one my sister Angie had hanging in her bay window in Missouri.  She had all kinds of interesting and colorful things hanging from it and I always admired it.

I couldn't believe I didn't have a better photo of her window...this is the only one I could find....and you can just barely see the ladder there in the back.

It will be interesting to live with it a few days and see it in different light.  And it's not lost on me that the window valance has polka dots....so the balls are a perfect compliment.  All the colors are represented.

I'm pretty tickled that my vision is finally realized....and I'm pretty happy with it.

I think I'll be on the lookout for a few colorful vases and bottles at thrift stores and trade out a few of the blues and greens.

Late afternoon light.....I'm going to enjoy the shadows and reflections!

Just before sunset.....they had a whole different feel.

The balls are up!

Resorting

 I don't know what I love more....

...this rainbow garden stake that Becky made....or the wild and colorful garden in the background.  

Becky took a fused glass class while on a getaway with friends....and this was the outcome. I wonder if she would notice if I snuck it home to Maine next time I visit. I absolutely love it!  There is just something about glass....especially in rainbow order.

I almost gave up on this latest puzzle....I just wasn't making any progress. There was no joy in that.  But after a little resorting....I think there's hope. I need to apply that in other areas of my life. 

I sorted out all the pieces that had the light blue background....and the pieces that have the neon green circles into their own boxes.  

So far...this has made a big difference...narrowing down where I have to look for a piece. Now....if I sort each box by shape....that should help even more.

I hated the thought about giving up.....but I don't think I need to go there yet. This may look not look like much....but based on how slow going it was...this nearly finished corner is huge progress. There's joy in that!

It Was Time....

....to hang the balls in my dining room.  These are one of my favorite holiday decorations and I've written about them several times. Every year I put them up early and take them down late...and every year they make me smile.

It takes me a little while to get them to look OK from all angles....with a little music in the background it makes for the perfect joyful puttering project.

Grout Lessons

I spent all morning cleaning up and polishing my glass projects.  The goal was to get the grout off the glass leaving it just in the gaps. 

Mostly I used this stiff brush...but I also used a knife for a little scraping and fine sandpaper.  It was tedious and messy.  The grout comes off in a fine black powder....it was everywhere. Remember...I'm learning as I go. This is my first crack at mosaic.



When I made that first glass piece....I wasn't happy with the off white grout.  After doing some research I found some helpful tips.

1.  Contrast is key...you want the glass to stand out and the individual pieces to stand apart.
2.  Think of it as an outline.
3.  When in doubt...use black.
4.  Avoid colors....leave that for the glass.
5.  Avoid white...unless you want it to look like a summer camp project.

So I bought a dark charcoal gray grout for the rest of the projects and....I'm sold!

I was a little worried about this one after it was all glued down....but dark grout made a big difference.

And that first one I wasn't happy with...

...the grout sunk in enough so I was able to add a thin layer of the dark gray grout and it's much better now. 

Contrast, definition, outline....lessons learned.

Glueing and Waiting

I glued the glass onto the wooden base today for my second glass stack experiment.

The cutting and gluing went pretty fast but it took most of the day because there was lots of wait time while each side dried.

          

The focal layer is bright and happy and I kept the the rest of it pretty simple....I think it's going to be OK.  I really have to think about the grout color this time....all I know is it can't be just white.  

Anita and I also went to a quilt show here in Lexington this morning and this was my favorite.  It's made with many of the same Kaffe Fassett stripes I've been using in my stacks.  It reminds me of all the ways this fabric can be used to create a completely different look.  I think the transition of colors through the spectrum is very nicely done.  I thought I would be able to zoom into the name to give the artist credit....but it's too blurry. 
 

It was fun to see a postage stamp quilt by a friend of ours...Shirley Bergey.  It contains 6,715 pieces and is both hand and machine stitched.  Kind of mind boggling!

October

I love October! You get days like today when there's a hint of summer....but clear signs of fall.

I went on a fall color collecting walk this morning and especially loved the trees that were both summer and fall.

I decided to give another glass piece a try....this time much smaller and more in keeping with the fabric pieces. 

I cut a variety of 1/4 inch strips of glass that I am going to chop up to create a "stack" pattern as a focal point. I'll add these tiny mosaic squares for interest and the pattern will wrap around the sides of a 5 X 10 deep wooden canvas.  Once I have this accent layer glued down I'll audition glass for the rest....keeping it simple and monochromatic.

I'll cut these pieces to fit as I glue.

Harder Than I Thought

Over the past couple of days I kept moving along with my glass stack experiment. I will admit it ended up being harder than I thought...or at least trickier. 

I glued the side pieces on....that went OK. 

And I grouted....and that seemed to go OK....but I sure made a big mess.  I took the photo below right after I took my gloves off....it had to sit for a few minutes before I started cleaning it up.

I still need to do some more cleaning and buffing...but this is where I left it today before I headed to Maine. It's OK....but as usual I've learned some lessons and there are things I will do differently next time.

One of my problems is that I may have made the wrong decision about which edge of the glass to expose.  I chose to have the side glass edges exposed on the front creating this pinstripe frame. I could have had this line on the sides which I think would have been better.  Some of the edges of the glass have a very grainy texture....especially that top blue piece so it looks a little rough. 

I also don't really like the white grout....it should have been tinted and I may still be able to do something about that.  It is an off white and looked darker when I put it on....but it sure dried brighter.

I'm not loving the neutral glass I chose...it's too tan. It should have been more on the creamy white to gray side or I should have just stuck with the blues and greens.  So I need to plan my color scheme a little better next time. I really just jumped right in and didn't really do much auditioning or planning at all.  

Grouting is a little harder than I thought and probably just takes practice....and maybe some better tools. I think the general concept is good...so I'll do a little more research and planning and try it again on a smaller scale.

My favorite part of getting back to the glass was wearing these white cotton gloves.  My sister Becky, who passed away several years ago of breast cancer, gave me a whole bag from her time working at a factory.  They are especially useful when you are soldering glass because of the heat and they protect my fingers when I cut glass. And when I need to grind a piece of glass it gets wet and I have a built in towel right on my hand.  I actually got a little emotional when I put them on this time....I miss her!

How Hard Can It Be?

I want to have more than just fabric in this next show....so I'm diving back into an old hobby and giving glass stacks a try. I've done a fair amount of stained glass using the copper foil and soldering technique...but I've always wanted to try mosaic. How hard could it be? I have lots of glass...and several years ago even bought Welbond Glue and grout.  I was ready to go.


I'm using a long wooden canvas as my base....it's about 6 by 26 inches. All the glass is opaque so no light source is needed. The spaces will be filled in with grout which will accentuate the lines....I just hope I haven't left to big of a gap. In hindsight it might have been smarter to start on something smaller. Too late now!

I'm going to let this dry really well then cover all the edges.  I want it to look like it's wrapped right around the canvas.

I was really into glass for a while so have all the tools I need including this great work surface that catches little pieces of glass and allows you to set up rulers and jigs to make even cuts. Here I cut a long pice of blue then set up a jig and sliced off smaller squares all the same size.

And here I cut longer strips of green.

Once the glass is scored I have this handy dandy tool that breaks it along the score line. It's like a big plastic pliers. Bigger pieces I can snap with my hands....but these tiny pieces are hard to get a hold of. This tool works well.

Glass is messy work so I have a makeshift shop in the basement and have a nice view of the water heater and furnace. It was kind of a gloomy damp day....so I was OK being in the basement. 

How hard can it be? So far so good...we'll see how the rest goes.