Monday resolutions

Those selfish animals of mine forced me to get out of bed just before 5h00 this morning.   Jessie  starts a sort of wild ride on one of my hips, which is a bit odd but not terrible, but Choco has started reaching up next to my bed and swatting my face.  It’s not nice to be woken up that way, especially when it’s dark and cold.

Anyway, as I trudged down the passage to feed the vermin and get my coffee going, it struck me that I could turn this into a positive thing: since I was up, I may as well use the time to get going with my day and tackle the Big Item on my list – tidying the lounge.  I have a friend coming for tea tomorrow and there is no way I can let her into the flat the way it is now.  Literally or figuratively.

In order to reach the Tidy Lounge state, I need to finish a mosaic mirror frame that a friend has commissioned.  It is round, nearly one metre in diameter, so I am working on the lounge floor to give myself enough space with it.  Happy to say I have now completed the first stage of grouting, and tonight it will get the second. (I know not all mosaicers do it that way but I prefer it, I think it gives a smoother and better finish.)

I chose iridescent glass in shades of mother-of-pearl through to a soft peachy shade. It picks up the light in different ways, and looks amazing.

Right, enough of that, I’m off to continue with my resolution.

To be continued…

Advertisement

Goldberg and Goldberg

Alex did this picture when she was in Grade 5, so she must have been 9 or 10.  A few years later, I found a grotty old frame in a junk shop in Salt River (I think it’s called Charms), so I cleaned it up and added some tiles.  I’m not a very good framer and I think the picture is held in at the back with prestik, a bit of sticky tape and the top of a shoebox, but I am extremely fond of it. It’s on my bedroom wall.

And if that girl carries on the way she is going now, it might be worth a lot of money one day :-)

To be continued…

 

Bowled over

The fog is lifting. Actually, it must have lifted during the night because I woke up today feeling like my old self. I’m grateful and happy and up-and-running again, and to celebrate have decided to go into work a bit later than usual (I get paid by the hour now, so I’m not stealing anyone’s time) and spend extra time on my own stuff.

I started this bowl yonks ago, and it got buried beneath a pile of newer projects. One of Alex’s friends said how much he liked it so, when I unearthed it the other day, I decided to take up where I left off. It just needs a final grout for over-all smoothness, then a final hard rub, but I stuck a little heart underneath so that’s drying right now.

I am also working on a mirror for a colleague; she’d seen a photograph of a turquoise and yellow one I’d done that was sitting in a gift shop in Harfield. Now it’s sitting in someone else’s lounge because, when I went to collect it last weekend, it had just been sold. Which is great, of course (wonderful, in fact!) but I had to put a new one together more quickly than usual. I couldn’t get exactly the same glowy yellow tiles that I had originally used, but I think these work even better – the difference in size adds interest. At least, that’s what I’ve told myself. Hopefully she’ll agree.

To be continued…

 

 

mini mirrors

That old black dog has been hanging round my door again, and I’ve noticed that he often comes on a Sunday.  I’ve been trying to keep him at bay by forcing myself to stay busy, doing one thing at a time, grocery shopping, reading my book, tidying the lounge, and making these mini mirrors to give to the three people I see once a month on Sunday afternoons at Cubana.  I am meeting them in half an hour. In the worst of a really bleak stretch it is almost impossible to even get out of bed, but I think I’ve managed to nip this one in the bud.  It has certainly lifted my spirits to make gifts for people who are always supportive and encouraging.

To be continued…

feeling blue

After lots of ideas all day Friday about the things I wanted to make and experiment with over the weekend, the stream of inspiration began to wane on Saturday morning with the onset of a headache. So, instead of starting anything new, I kept myself busy finishing off things I’d started a while ago…like this blue and white crockery mirror, which I’d forgotten about temporarily and left languishing on the patio table. I sanded and painted the edges and the back, and one more thin layer of grout is all it needs.

And then last night, as my headache finally wore off, inspiration struck – what I needed to cheer myself up was … blue sparkly nails :)

To be continued…