Mosaic Tiles Done A NEW Way!

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting another mosaic artist & mosaic tile seller. Michelle is offering tiles for mosaics done in a TOTALLY new way! I've never seen tiles done this way before & I was very intrigued. I contacted Michelle & asked her if I could get a sample of her work so I could see it. She asked my for a picture of my cat Zipper & THIS is what she sent me!

I was touched by Michelle's generosity as well as her ability to make these cool custom tiles so I wanted to introduce her (& her AWESOME MOSAICS!) to Blogland.

Here's what Michelle had to say about herself. I've also included some pix of Michelle's tiles and her finished artwork.

"I am 39 years old & I live in Southern Calif with my husband of 14 years (15 next month) & our 13 year old son named Joshua. Our home has four of our best friends living here too. "Apple" & "Cooper" are toy poodles & we have 2 cats that the dogs love to chase around named "Stormy" & "Josephine".

Hubby is in the Navy, & for reasons that are way too long to go into, we have been here in San Diego for his entire carrier so far. I'm from here (actually, originally from Long Beach) & hubby is from Kansas.

I'm blessed to have one of my sisters living just about 3 blocks away. She is also my best friend.

For years I was crazy into Miniatures. I built 2 dollhouses & many other things. I was the project coordinator for San Diego Miniature Crafters for 2 years & I loved it.

About 3 years ago I wanted try out mosaics. I didn't have any idea what it would lead to but I have dropped out of Miniatures completely & mosaics have taken over my life (typical story from what I am reading! Ha!)

Unfortunately I also have to work outside the home :( I waitress at a local restaurant & sports lounge. I enjoy it a lot but always wish I didn't have to stop working on mosaics to go to work. Such is life!

At this time, I have many finished pieces of mine in an adorable store in La Jolla called "Something Special". I decided to start selling mosaic tiles on Ebay because I realized what a great product we had for making tiles with our sublimation machine. We bought it about a year ago mainly for my hubby's business, but it wasn't long before I figured out what a great asset it would be to a mosaic artist. So, I started making tiles using sublimation. I wanted to make sure it worked without any problems first so I experimented with all sorts of pieces & designs. To my delight, mosaic tiles made from sublimation have been better than I expected!

You can create a design using the computer or transfer an image, print it out & sublimate it on to your tile. I have been using hardboard tiles instead of ceramic tiles because I have found that the hardboard goes almost perfectly next to stained glass & other nipped tiles & plates being just the right thickness. I still love to use nipped porcelain plates though. There is a beauty among some china that cannot be duplicated & I don't dare try.

When I first started mosaicing, I was discouraged about the problems created when I used thick ceramic tile next to stained glass, which is rather thin. I loved them both but found that I couldn't combine them very well without a noticeable difference in depth from the tile to the glass. This was frustrating for me because I loooooove to use stained glass in my projects. Using the hardboard tiles eliminates that problem because they & only 1/8 inch thick. The hardboard is very strong & durable & it's very lightweight making shipping cheaper for my customers.

I've been selling my mosaic tiles on Ebay about since October 2008. I am working on designing several styles that will mimic plate edges. You know how the prettiest artwork is always around the edge of your plates? I have a program that has tons of designs. Just wish I had more time!"

I know what you mean Michelle! Being addicted to mosaics is a full time job!

If you would like to view more of Michelle's mosaic tiles, click here to visit her Ebay store.

An Anger Management Flunkee

Well, I had to go & open my big yap! In yesterday's blog I mentioned that I kinda (sorta) almost (but not quite) nearly got kicked out of anger management class. So many people have asked me to explain what happened that I figured I'd do it here.

Ok, I'll be the first to admit that when I get behind the wheel of a car I turn into another person COMPLETELY. Remember the cartoon we all saw in driver's education class where Goofy gets behind the wheel of a car & turns into a raging maniac named Mr. Wheeler? Well that's me, except that my feet are smaller than Goofy's & my ears are not quite as floppy.

I HATE, HATE, HATE to drive but I must do it in order to get to work. However, like most things I do in my life, I do it FAST. Everything would be FINE except for the IDIOTS who get in my way! My feeling is if YOU aren't in a hurry then get the heck outta my way. I've been known to be (how can I say this?) somewhat VOCAL at people who irritate me. The Hubster suggested that I might want to "consider taking a class on dealing with my little problem". It sounded more like "Take the class if you ever want to drive with me in the car again" but I'm paraphrasing. My first reaction was to punch him in the head but then I thought maybe Anger Management class COULD be beneficial. But only just a little bit.

Anyway, I signed up for Anger Management class at our local hospital & went to the first class. That first night all the "students" had to introduce their self & tell why they were taking the class. I kid you not, I was the ONLY person there who voluntarily signed up! Everyone else had to take the class because they were ordered by either a traffic court judge or a divorce court judge.

One man was a jerk from the first night. For the purpose of this story I'll call him uh........Jerk. Jerk told the class that he was ordered to attend by a judge because he had PHYSICALLY assaulted his boss. He went on & on about how his boss was a weiner & deserved it & how he wasn't sorry at all. It was OBVIOUS Jerk didn't want to attend because his attitude was HORRIBLE.

So, as the weeks went on, Jerk was constantly making snide comments under his breath every time another student was sharing. He would roll his eyes & just act like a general asshole. The teacher had made it clear on the first night that the class was a "safe place" to share & nobody would be ridiculed or berated for sharing. I think the teacher might have been a little intimidated by Jerk (remember I said he was violent!) because she never told him to knock off the comments. Needless to say, I liked this guy less & less as the weeks wore on.

There was a woman attending the class because she was going through a bitter divorce & the anger she felt against her soon to be ex-husband was causing problems. She was usually quiet but one night she shared something personal about her divorce situation. Well, Jerk rolled his eyes & said something like "Typical woman! Never happy & always blames the dude!". Except he used the b-word instead of woman.

At this point, I'd had ENOUGH of Jerk's snide comments. I LOST IT!!! I stood up & yelled at him that he was A JERK & A BULLY & I WAS SICK & TIRED OF HIS CRAP! I've cleaned up the language for this blog so as to not offend any sensitive ears.

The teacher quickly quickly recommended that we all take a break which angered me even more because Jerk could make provoking comments under his breath for weeks & she says NOTHING! But I stand right up to defend another student from his verbal attacks & we all SUDDENLY need to take a breather!

So we all took a break, came back & finished the class with out any major incidence such as say, for example, me ripping Jerk's arm out & beating him with it. The teacher had me address what had made me & I said it THE JERK DID! She informed me that people can't MAKE us angry because its our CHOICE to let ourselves become angry. Or some crud like that. Blah......blah......blah.........

After class everyone was walking out of the building & I heard Jerk say to one guy that he wasn't going to let "some woman" (again, he used the b-word) keep him from coming back because he needed to complete this class to keep his job. I just kept walking but like 5 or 6 people came up to me to tell me they were glad that someone finally put Jerk in his place.

I wasn't about to let Jerk intimidate me so I came the next week, which was the last class. Guess what I see? Jerk & the woman I stood up for were talking, laughing & acting like everything was all good!! I guess they had "kissed & made up". WHAT-EV-ER........

So Hubster likes to tease me about ALMOST being kicked out of anger management class for getting mad at at a fellow student. I tell him to shut up before I slug him............