I’m VERY excited to share the news that TileMosaicGirl will be moving into its very own space (small but mighty!) by the end of this month (March, 2012)! The new space will house classes, the Mosaic Supply Shop, and Open Studio Time! We will be able to offer a wider range of days and times for classes, the Shop, and Open Studio, which will also enable us to host Visiting Instructor mosaic artists!  The new location is only about 2 miles North on Colorado Blvd., just off Colorado on Kentucky at Birch.  It has Home Depot/Whole Foods to the North and the Glendale Infinity Park to the East.  The shop is located in a wonderful multi-use building called “The Workshops”, and I will be on the 2nd floor, which is the “Arts & Crafts floor”.  The new address (click for map and photo link) is:

4340 East Kentucky Ave, Ste. 244

Glendale, Colorado

80246-2065

It is located in a great little revitalized neighborhood, but when they built the building in 1997, they installed Intercoms for entrance to the elevator, so you will need to buzz the unit # to be let in.  There is plenty of free, lighted parking, wonderful fellow tenants, and many other amenities.  More details and photos to come soon!

Sun. 1/15-5-9 pm

Mon. 1/16, 1-5 pm     (MLK Day! 15% off in the Supply Shop!)

Mon. 1/23, 4-8 pm

Thur. 1/26, 4-8 pm

Sun. 1/29, 5-9 pm

Also; please be on the lookout for upcoming posts and registration links regarding the next Tempered Glass & Jewelry Classes in February and the next Outdoor/Garden Mosaics and Beginner’s Mosaics Classes in March.  I will be attending the Society of American Mosaic Artists’ (SAMA) Conference in February, and will be bringing back lots of good information, techniques, and updates from the world of mosaics!  While there, I will also be meeting with several other mosaic artists about coming to Denver as “Visiting Instructors” to teach us their special skills and techniques in a variety of mosaic methods!  This year will be another year of growth for TileMosaicGirl, with more instructors and more classes! Be on the lookout, GO BRONCOS, and See you Soon!

First craft show of the season, and this month I’m at Stapleton’s Sweet William Market, a great little mix of crafts, antiques, food, music, and general merriment! Sweet William has a wonderful ‘feel’ to it; on the grass at ‘The Green’ at Stapleton, on the other side of the traffic circle from where the 2-block span of businesses for the 29th Avenue Town Center ends. (The Green is bordered by 29th Ave. & 29th Place and Roslyn and Syracuse Streets).  There is plenty of free parking in the lots behind the Town Center businesses.  You can find the Town Center at Quebec St. and 29th Avenue, just South of Montview.  The Market is Saturday, June 25th from 9 am – 2 pm only; so be sure and don’t miss that little window of time!

I will have mostly NEW items including whole new, never before seen collections of Mosaic Dog and Cat Tags for your sweet babies and recycled and upcycled Garden Stakes to further beautify your space.  I’ll also have lots of new mosaic jewelry, frames, mirrors, furniture, garden items, and I can’t even think of what else! If you’ve never seen my Easy Rider gallery piece, it’ll be making a special appearance as well.  I’m happy to announce, too, that fellow mosaic artist and teacher Cristin Buys will also be displaying some of her amazing work in the TMG booth!  We’ll be at booth #S12, on the SE corner of the park.  Come on out and see us and take a gander around at all the cool stuff!

There is no entry fee for the fair and Ketring Park and the Littleton History Museum are in a great setting, complete with horses, chickens, and a lake.  Watch for the blue “Littleton History Museum” signs on Littleton Blvd. and turn South on Gallup St.
 
(Ketring Park is up the hill/East of Old Town Littleton, West of Broadway, S. of Littleton Blvd. )   See map here: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=15065483781473119321&q=Littleton+Historical+Museum,+Littleton,+CO&hl=en&cd=1&ei=Rw2lTO2hL5ncjAP5tuxQ&sig2=0xq3jNpAk3uXAHbIdl3sTA&dtab=0&sll=39.692464,-105.077106&sspn=0.205288,0.354318&ie=UTF8&ll=39.870223,-105.385666&spn=0,0&z=11&iwloc=A
 
I’d love for you  to come out and see me and all the other wonderful vendors…it’s only 2 1/2 months till the holidays; get some shopping out of the way now!

New Fair Display Walls!!

OMG! I am SO excited! I found some great stuff today on my latest trip to the Habitat for Humanity Resale Store in Denver.  (They have stores located across the U.S. and Canada, all of which benefit Habitat for Humanity’s excellent program.)  I often find great grout, caulk, and tiles at the Resale Store, much of it donated from home improvement stores when the manufacturer decides the new season calls for a new shade of ‘white’.  This time, I was looking for something to use as a fixture in my upcoming summer fair booth that I could hang my mosaics on; like a vertical wall that’s freestanding.

Well, hallelujah, I’m here to tell ya, I found the PERFECT thing for it and I am SO excited! It’s a brand new set of bi-fold doors; 2 sets of 2 doors adjoined by hinges, that can stand upright very well, but I’ll hit Depot for some kind of L-brackets to mount on the bottoms so they have some support on the floor for the weight of the mosaics.  These ones are perfect because they’re brand new, unfinished, completely flat surfaced, and 6 feet, 8 inches tall!!!  And, for a zippy lil price of $45 for all 4 doors, they more than fit into my fair ‘budget’.  I thought I would share this ‘find’ of both the display option and the Habitat stores, if you weren’t already aware.

Closer-up of new display walls

I also scored an awesome wooden display cube that I can use as a riser or a double shelf for displaying tabletop items.  This one’s great because the depth on it is at least 12″, which is much larger than most riser-type fixtures.  And, at $5.00, ya can’t beat that!One more thing I found myself not being able to leave at the store was the most awesome, super-duper, cool, yummy-rific, bright baby blue, ceramic, completely in great shape, TOILET!  Yes; you heard it here; I AM going to mosaic a toilet and put it in my backyard!  The tank’s going to become a planter and the bowl will either be a birdbath or have a fountain in it!  It was only $35!  I canNOT wait to be able to start gluin’ on that baby after the fair and get it in the yard for summer!!!

'Fish Bowl' by Jean Wells

Barbie Pink Toilet

Garden-y Mosaic Toilet

Fun Sunny Mosaic Toilet!

New jewelry blanks at Hobby Lobby

New Bracelet blanks at Hobby Lobby

Yep; you read that right! Last week I found some awesome new jewelry blanks (or ‘bezels’) at Hobby Lobby and this week they’re on sale for 50% off (through Sat. 5/22 only!)!!!  YEY!  These ones are GREAT for mosaic jewelry cuz they have deeper bezels than just a flat plate.  I’ve included some pics here; they include pendant blanks, super cool bracelets, earring blanks (incl. clip ons), and, esp. some awesome new hair pins, barettes, and ponies w/ deep bezels!  The price range is only $ 1.47 – $2.99 and that’s BEFORE the 50% off sale this week!

This is GREAT news for those of you that can’t afford to make a big online order or don’t qualify for wholesale prices, or just need some jewelry blanks last minute.  So; head on down to your local Hobby Lobby; I looked it up and they have stores in 35 states (but, alas, no West Coast states; sorry my many wonderful friends there!)!  Grab some, get ur tube of E6000 (epoxy) glue if you don’t have it already, their ear wires & chains are also 50% off, and some millefiori, tile, glass, polymer clay, or paper designs & resin, and GO TO TOWN!

New Hair Jewelry Blanks at Hobby Lobby

Here are the details:

Come join me and several other fun folks to craft your own garden mosaic art piece! Choose from a birdhouse, stepping stone, flowerpot, or plaque, and learn how to embellish it with colorful bits of tile and glass. In the first class, students learn the basics of making mosaics for an outdoor environment and work to complete an original design on their piece. In the second class, students will grout their piece and bring it to life. Leave the second class with sealer to take home and apply later. A wide variety of materials are provided to complete one piece, but students may “upgrade” by purchasing more elaborate supplies. (NOTE: I will have vitreous glass tiles and stained glass tiles to use in this class!!) Information on garden mosaic basics, great sources for materials and supplies, and next-level mosaics will be included in this fun, hands-on course.

Absolutely no previous mosaic experience or ‘artistic ability’ required; come see how easy it is to tap into your creative spirit and learn this wonderful craft!  TERRIFIC stress reliever; you will get ‘lost’ in the work and have a great time!  Make something colorful and fun for your garden or patio so that we can welcome the SUN back to the Front Range this year!

Class consists of (2) 3.5 hour sessions; 7 hours total over two Sunday afternoons; 1-4:30 pm, May 16th & May 23rd, at Colorado Free U. in Lowry (between 6th Ave. & Alameda, off 1st).

Safety glasses are required; bring your own or purchase from instructor for additional $5.

$69 Member (nominal annual membership fee; see www.freeu.com)

          $81 Non-Member

$26 materials fee (without safety glasses); $31 (if need safety glasses); payable in class

         $7 optional materials fee payable in class for upgraded materials

Sign-up at https://www.colofreeu-registrar.com/sdc/regclass.html?class=255572

OR www.freeu.com OR call 303-399-0093.

Wanted to share; went to a super cool wholesale bead show in Denver last week; Rings ‘n Things bead Spring “Road Show”; found some terrific Mexican Day of the Dead things to use in my mosaics & mosaic jewelry; SO glad I went! I’ve already used a bunch of their stuff on two mosaic pieces; a candleabra and a frame, and am working on a mirror! Also got some great ball chain and other chain and cord for my pendants.  Find their show sched. at http://www.rings-things.com/Show/show.php  Great prices, free catalogs, and coupons!  And, they are wonderful people out of Spokane, WA, one of my favorite corners of the country!

BTW:  Have you heard of “The Day of the Dead” (“El Dia de los Muertos” in Spanish)? Wondered what it was all about? Wondered why there are so many skulls and skeletons in the artwork associated with the holiday? There is a pretty good, comprehensive description of the holiday on wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Day_of_the_Dead

I think we can learn a lot from this wonderful holiday and tradition; honoring our loved ones who have passed; remembering the good things about them, seeing death as a more natural part of life and something to not be so feared, etc.  I have been to Mexico many times and visited the wonderful cemetaries, which I feel have a completely different feel than in the U.S. (more positive) and I have seen several of the wonderful altars to the dead, which are incredibly touching monuments to their loved ones.  Check it out and let me know what you think!

Day of the Dead display in Ocotepec, a town outside of Cuernavaca (from Wikipedia)

http://www.thejoyofshards.co.uk/projects/pr2mirr.shtml