PiP = Project in Process: Glass Mosaic Tray

Posted by Crystal

A few weeks ago, I told you all about my newest creative endeavor: a glass mosaics class at the Flint Institute of Arts.

Well, feast your eyes upon my Project in Process...which I am now calling PiPs!  As you can see, I decided to incorporate the red glass.  :)

using craft goop to adhere the glass tiles to the tray

close up of the glass tiles

my two-fifths done tray

I'm using reclaimed materials, so I don't have enough matching glass to cut tiles for the rest of the tray.  I'm trying to think of other ways to finish the project.  Here are the three options we came up with in class:

#1 - Tile the left side of the tray in an entirely different pattern and/or color scheme and create some kind of dividing design down the middle.

#2 - Use up the rest of my already cut tiles to finish exactly half the tray and then tile the left side in a different style.

#3 - Use up the rest of my already cut tiles to create a border around the sides of the tray and then tile inside the border in a different style.

I think #3 is my favorite idea, so I made a mock up to see what it would look like:

option #3 mock up with triangle tiles

So, what do you think, blog readers?  Which option should I pick for my PiP? 

And, if you have any PiPs of your own, email some photos to us at flinthandmade@hotmail.com!  We would love to blog about your PiPs, too!

TRY A NEW CRAFT: Glass Mosaics at FIA Art School!

Posted by Crystal

For the next 8 weeks, I am taking a class at the FIA Art School on Glass Mosaics.  Our first class on June 8 was amazing!

I took various scraps of turquoise, green and white glass (shown around the edges in the picture above) and used the tools to cut small rectangular tiles (shown in the center of the picture above).

These are the tools we used: (l-r) glass cutter, running pliers, nippers, and pliers.  The glass cutter resembles and exacto knife and it used like a pencil to score the glass.  The running pliers are used to snap a piece of glass in half along a straight score line made by the glass cutter.  The nippers are used to nip irregular shaped pieces of glass from the edges of larger pieces of glass.  The pliers are used to break apart pieces of glass that have a non-linear score line or that aren't quite large enough to work with the running pliers.

I'm using the running pliers to snap a piece of glass in half that I already scored with the glass cutter that's sitting on the table. 

This is the grinder. If your glass doesn't break cleanly and there are some jagged edges, you can use the diamond bit grinder with water to sand down the sharp or uneven sides.

 

At the end of the 3 hour class, I had a ton of new knowledge from our instructor, Amy Black, as well as a small container of rectangular tiles and a bunch of pieces selected to cut next week.  At the last minute, I saw the red glass and thought about adding it to the turquoise, green and white for an extra pop of color.

So, what do you think, blog readers?  Should I use the red glass?  :)