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!

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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!

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Pixel Emotes!

Lately, my pain levels from arthritis, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, fibro and ME/CFS have been pretty high. This means that I haven't been able to use a pen, pencil or stylus to draw as often as I would like. However, since I can still click my wonderful oversized diamonte-encrusted mouse, I have been making some more tiny pixel creations!

Yesterday, I wrote a short DeviantArt journal entry about some of the chat-friendly pixel art emotes that I have been working on of late! That post can be found here =). More of my pixel art and emotes can also be found in my pixel art gallery!

I hope you like them!!!

~Adrielle =)

DeviantArt Profile Prettification!

This is just a quick note to say that over the weekend, I prettified my DeviantArt profile, and wrote a DeviantArt journal about my profile prettification experiment =). I also designed a journal skin! I hope you like them!

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Disengaged

A couple of weeks ago, @Jules_John tweeted this on Twitter, and it really struck a chord with me.

I'm a volunteer working remotely from home (as my disability keeps me stuck in a bed or an armchair most of the time). I started volunteering with the company I'm currently involved with because I wanted to feel worthwhile, learn new skills, be part of a fun and creative team, and contribute to a project that I was genuinely passionate about.

At the time when I joined the company, I was Highly Engaged. I loved my job, meeting and interacting with people, and using my skills and creativity to help out wherever I could. I was proud to be a part of such an amazing team. The work was challenging (but not impossible), and I was impressed that I was able to learn so much in  such a short time. I felt that the work I was doing was helpful to the team, and to the project that we were all working on together, and felt that my position within the company was valued, and that my job was secure and satisfying.

However, in recent months, I've come to feel very differently. In terms of my employee engagement level, right now, I would say that I usually float between the Almost Engaged, and Not Engaged sections of the pyramid. While I still know that I'm a part of something bigger, I often feel like I'm the part that does the monotonous tasks while everyone else gets on with the fun stuff.

For a while, I tried to analyze the possible reasons why I was excluded from creative parts of the work that our company does. When I was feeling depressed, I came to the conclusion that my exclusion must have been because I didn't have the skills, the talent or the potential to be useful, and that there were plenty of people who could do those fun things far better than I ever could - without having to learn. I would scold myself for being silly and for having childish hopes, and I'd try to be grateful for whatever task I was given - no matter how soul destroying they could be. When I was feeling less depressed, I knew that time zone differences and my disability could sometimes make it difficult for me to participate fully, but I felt that I had a lot to offer. I hoped things would get better.

However, several months have now passed. I no longer get to meet and talk to other people, and my emails and chat often go unanswered by other members of the staff - which makes me feel invisible. I find myself staying away more often than I should, in order to avoid the negative feelings that this causes in me. Where I used to take pleasure in trying my best, and in encouraging others to have confidence in themselves and in their abilities, recently I've felt my own self confidence diminish as my involvement in company-related activities has almost ground to a halt. I rarely have anything to do. There is no challenge, no opportunities to use my skills, to learn or to grow. I feel like this is the end of the road for me, and I will forever be doing tasks that neither excite nor motivate me - if I'm given anything to do at all.

I miss being Highly Engaged, and busy. I want to be able to give this project my all again. I want to be a part of the team, to be motivated, and to be excited and passionate about it, rather than sitting on the sidelines.

I've discovered that there are certain things I want and need in order to remain motivated:

1. I want to help and inspire others to have the confidence to learn new things and to try their best, and to be able to do my best in every task that I undertake. 
2. I want to meet and interact with other people, using methods that are achievable given my disability (such as typing or writing), and to be a member of the team in both a professional and a social sense. 
3. I want to be kept busy doing work that is worthwhile, and that contributes to the project that the team is working on, and I want to have pride in my work, in the company that I work for, and in the work that we do as a team. 
4. I want opportunities to learn new skills, and to grow - both as a person, and as an employee. I also want to use and to share the skills that I've gained over the years to help the team to reach its goals. 
5. I want to enjoy the work that I do, and to be excited by it, and to feel that my position within the company is secure.

Yes, I know what I want. I just wish it were possible. 

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Pink and Purple Hair!

Earlier this year, I lightened the bottom of my kind of untamable hair so that I could put bright colors in it, without having to constantly redo the roots at the top. It is sort of like a paler version of the ombre look =D.

So far, I have gone with purples and pinks =)

I am thinking of trying out a rainbowy look next - when I have the energy!

~Adrielle =)

Lily and Jasper - Our Kittens!

Around a month ago, our family adopted two lovely little kittens. They were around ten weeks old when we met them - and they are VERY CUTE!

Our kittens!

Our little boy kitten is named Jasper, and is black with silvery grey. He has almost tiger-like stripes on his face and back - but his belly has black spots - almost like a leopard! He loves to cuddle, and to roll around on his back. He is a sweetie pie!

Jasper kitten!

Jasper asleep on my dad!

Jasper's spotty belly!

Jasper's silvery grey and black head! 

Our little girl kitten is named Lily, and is white with black and tan markings. She has a white diamond-like shape among the black spots on her back! Lily is lightening fast, and likes to steal paper and wrappers! She is a princess!

Lily kitten!

Lily on my lap!

The cute Lily face!

Lily with her diamond on her back!

Both of our kittens have lovely personalities! They are so purry, and they love cuddles and attention. They also love cardboard boxes, plastic lids and ripping up paper, and they are so cute when they play together! Below is a video of Lily and Jasper playing iPad games for cats!

 It is amazing how fast they are growing! We love them!

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