Springtime Garden 1!

Here are some more pictures of our garden in spring =). Everything has burst into flower, and the smell is divine!

The birds and insects seem to like this time of year as well! 

~Adrielle =)

Presents from Europe!

My nana recently went to Europe, and she brought me home two presents! The first is made from pieces of sea shells (shiva and abalone) inlaid to create a shell-shaped pendant. It is on necklace of little black beads, and has an abalone button as the clasp. The second is made from multi-coloured glass, and is hanging from a black cord =). I was very happy to get them! I am also very happy that my nana is home again - I had missed her! 

My presents! 

~Ad =)

Orchid Show Planning!

The local orchid show is on later this month. In past years, I have entered artwork, craft, needlework and photography into the show - and I have even won some certificates! I'm still not sure whether or not I will get anything together in time for this years' show, though. 

Anyway, the local paper and show publicists were looking for a "younger face" to try to entice younger people to come along to the show. Somehow (while I was asleep), it was decided that I would be that face - LOL!

Because I have been so unwell lately, the day of the photo was the first day I had worn actual clothes (that weren't pajamas) in ages! I went to a bit of effort to look nice. Sadly, I just seem to be one of those people who unintentionally (or intentionally) pulls peculiar faces whenever there is a camera around...

However, the photographer from the paper was really good at his job, and managed to get a decent picture of me =). 

My pic from the Border Mail. Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN.

After getting my photo taken, I went out for lunch with Kec and Ellenya. The apple pie dessert was amazing!!! It even hard shards of pecan toffee on top! 

My dessert!

All in all, it was a pretty awesome day! 

~Adrielle =) 

Spring Has Sprung!

Spring is my favourite time of year! It brings the nice weather, flowers, families of birds, and insects (and my birthday) - and it has finally arrived again! 

I haven't been very well of late, so haven't managed to take many pictures of our garden so far, but here are some quick photos of our cherry tree (and our sweet little cats - Lily and Jasper):

Jasper climbing the tree

Jasper

Lily under the trailer

I love this time of year - and I think Jasper and Lily do, too! 

~Adrielle =) 

My Marvelous Mosaics!

Over the last few days, I have been working on two small mosaic letters - an A, and an E (for my sister and I). I love making mosaics! Somehow, sticking little pieces of coloured glass onto something to create art is completely relaxing - and doesn't take too much energy!

I recently bought a lot of pretty glass square mosaic tiles from Mandala Art, and I used these tiles for this project. I am really proud of what I have done, and I took pictures every step of the way - so here is how I made my latest two mosaics!

Step 1 

To start with, I got some wooden letters from the craft store, and used a pencil to plot out my ideas onto the wood. I decided that I wanted to do some flowers - with a green background on the A, and a rainbow background on the E. (I also planned to do some hearts as well - but I scrapped this idea partway through, as I didn't want the design to be too busy).

Step 2

For the flowers, I knew that I would need to cut some of the square glass tiles into circles and petal shapes (a square with two opposite corners trimmed off) using a glass cutting tool - so I started with this first. I lay the cut glass pieces out on my wooden letters so that I could get an idea of what the finished design would look like. 

I also cut some extra petal shapes in green to make leaves =).

Step 3

I started to glue the flowers (and some stems and leaves) onto the wooden letters, using a clear-drying multi-purpose Modge Podge sealer/glue/gloss that I got from the craft store. 

Step 4

After gluing the flowers, stems and leaves onto my letters, my next task was to fill in the background area. I cut some of my tiles into rough shapes, and used these to fill in the background area - cutting special bits to fill in the spaces, and leaving a small amount of space between the tiles for the grout. 

Step 5 

After covering the letters with tiles, I had to wait for the glue to be completely set before the grouting process could begin! I have to admit - I'd worried that grouting would be messy and difficult - but it actually turned out to be a lot neater and easier than I'd thought it would be! 

I mixed a small amount of grout powder in a paper cup - adding water gradually (sort of like making icing/frosting with icing sugar and water) until it got to a smooth and toothpaste-like consistency. Then, I spooned some grout onto my letters and used a mini-squeegee to work the grout into all the gaps between the tiles.

The result was white letters! I then had to wait until the grout was 'slightly dry' (which was a bit of a relative instruction) before removing the excess grout from the tiles. I had a cup of tea, then wiped the excess grout off with some damp paper towel (as it proved far easier than using the suggested damp sponge). I then left the grout to harden for 24 hours.

Step 6 

The next step was to polish the tiles with a soft cloth (damp paper towel worked better, again), and to finish off the edges of my letters. I chose to paint the sides of the letters white - to match the grout - using an acrylic paint. 

Step 7 

The last thing left to do (after the white paint was dry) was to add a clear acrylic gloss coat to the sides of my letters (and clean the fingerprints off the tiles from where I had been holding them).

When the gloss was dry, my creations were complete!

Finished!

I will definitely be making more mosaic art in the future!

~Ad =)

Some More Cat Pics!

Here are some updated pictures of our two lovely cats (taken over the last couple of weeks). Jasper and Lily are five months old now, and we love them! 

Lily on a blanket on Kec's lap!

Jasper cuddled up in a blanket on the floor!

Jasper, using the cat-tree as a lookout! 

Lily in a bag! 

Lily on my lap!

~Ad =)