Mosaic Cottage

Oh Butterfly

A butterfly's sole life purpose is to recreate to maintain life~

The Butterfly counts not months, but moments, and has time enough~ 

by Rabindranath Tagore

The Butterfly ~  the miracle ~ the end ~ the beginning ~

May the wings of the butterfly kiss the sun

And find your shoulder to light on,

To bring you luck, happiness and riches

Today, tomorrow and beyond.

IRISH BLESSING

  

Delight in the beauty of the butterfly........

Have a good one!

Michelle

p.s. just a reminder that my Mad Hatter characters will be added to my etsy this week :-) (Hard to let go of these!)

Mad Hatter's Tea Party.......Mosaic Cottage Style!

Hopefully, I can get through this post, as Typepad has now knocked me off 4 times!

Okay, first I'd like to give a Big Thank You to Miss Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist for hosting this fabulous tea party! I can't remember the last time I had so much fun!!!!!!!!!! Hugs to you Miss Vanessa!

Please accept my apology for being late this morning. You see, when I went to gather my tea party supplies this morning, they were missing! I thought to myself, where could they be, they were just here last night. I started searching...then frantically searching.....with no success. This was causing me much distress as I was looking so forward to sharing a spot of tea with you all. I decided to go outside and get some fresh air so that I could calm myself and that's when I heard it. Little whispers. These little whispers were like no other whispers I had heard before, so I decided to investigate......

I think it's coming from behind the gate..........

Who could be in my garden?????

What the??? I discovered where the little whispers were coming from! AND I also see where my tea party supplies went.....

Ummmmmm, Hello?? What is going on here?? I asked. Well, it seems that word got out about the tea party I was planning and well, these little characters were feeling a bit left out, as I had forgotten to invite them. I am so sorry, where are my manners, yes, of course, you can come to the tea party. (Did I have any other choice....they took my tea servings......shhhhhhhh, I don't want them to hear me talking about them)

 

How did you hear of my tea party I asked. The Garden Fairies told us they exclaimed.

 

Well, Hello Garden Fairies!! I see that you came with your very own cupcakes!!

Remember this?? It has since found a new home.....

but, I guess I wasn't dreaming after all.............

Well, who's all here I asked? The Mad Hatter, of course, and the March Hare. Then there is Alice, who came as a cake (this is one crazy party, I thought) where she sits upon a mosaic table. Did I mention that they set their tea party up in my china gravy boat!? What is in that tea???

  

The White Rabbit also showed up. He kept checking the time and going on and on about this and that, so the others gave him a little cupcake to eat, hoping it would occupy his time and keep him quiet for awhile. I think he's sitting in a sugar bowl or a soup tureen.

Are those mushrooms growing out of my creamer??? Check out the little mosaic mushroom....so cute!

The Caterpillar also showed up, but he brought his hookah, and this is a no smoking party, so they made him sit below, on the big mosaic mushroom, in the smoking section.

He didn't seem to mind.

The Queen of Hearts came and I'm not sure if she was invited, but they gave her a spot of tea anyway.

She made sure that the key to the secret door in the tree was safe, by hanging it around her neck. Hey, I wouldn't want to take that key from her. She's not looking awfully chummy.

The birds were in attendance also, but not to drink tea. It seems that they had a bone to pick with the fairies, as the fairies have moved into the mosaic birdhouse that I built for them (below) and have just taken over the place. (They've even taken over the bird bath for this tea party) I mentioned to the fairies that I would build them a Fairy House of their very own soon, if they would please let the birds have their home back. Agreed! I'd better get on this project. I don't want any fights in my peaceful garden!

So, no tea for you and no tea for me, but I hope you enjoyed the Mad Hatter's Tea Party at the Mosaic Cottage anyway!!

 

Make sure you leave a comment, as I will be having a drawing for a magical prize !! :-)

Hugs!!!!

Michelle

p.s. I may put some of the above items in my shop this coming week.

So Much to tell....

Have you ever had one of those days where for each step forward you take, you end up taking two steps backward???? Well, that is what the month of June has been for me. Have you heard me screaming to the universe UNCLE ALREADY!!!?? I won't bore you with the details, as I already threw my TRENCH adventure at you in the previous post.....oh, and by the way, Thank You to those who cheered me on and made me feel a little bit better about that nasty situation...It really did help! :-)

 Some good news. I am all caught up on my wholesale orders. YAY!!! It's funny how they all always come in at the same time. LOL! So, on that note, please pay a visit to the shops that sell my mosaics and tell them Michelle sent you. I'm sure they would really appreciate it. Here's a few of the cupcakes that are on their way....

Yep, that's the butterfly that needs finished that they are sitting on. It will be finished this week.

I also just finished up a flower pocket that I just listed in my Etsy. Here's a pic.

     

So, June hasn't been ALL BAD. I mean, when the owner of these shoes and those legs show up, all you can do is be HAPPY...

 

Yep, my little Fashion Diva Grandbaby (and her mom) came to visit for a week. Look Grandma! My shoes match your bench! :-)

It's a good thing we got the pool pump fixed!! With temps around 113 degrees, some pool time is just what everyone needed...

Well, almost everyone liked it. It took the little one some time to get used to the pool and her new dragon float toy.....but not too long....ooooooh, purple plastic. Note: notice pierced ears. Grandma was not too happy about that!

Mama and Grandbaby went home yesterday :-( 

So, since June has been so crazy for me, I decided that I needed some FUN! Especially when I popped over to Miss Vanessa's blogand saw that she was having a Mad Hatter's Tea Party to celebrate her 200th post. A whimsical fun tea party is just what I need!!! Do I have the time for this?? No, but I'm going to make time!! :-)

So, come back and visit me on the 28th and see how I plan to celebrate with Miss Vanessa. This should be loads of FUN!!!!

Oh, before I forget. I need to mention how wonderful some of the people are that I meet in blogland and through my website and so on. A couple of weeks ago, I received an email from a sweet gal named Lori who lives in the same area as I do. She noticed that I use vintage jewelry in some of my pieces and said that she had a box that she would like to GIVE ME. Can you believe that?? Well, we met up at a coffee shop in the area (her hubby was there too) and she gifted me some wonderful items!! This is just a little bit of what she gave me....

How cool is that!!! Well, the story doesn't end there. After talking for a bit, we discovered that she had gifted me once before. It was years ago, when I had the shop. Her and her hubby had brought me a box of vintage china. (I kept thinking she looked familiar!) Isn't that just crazy??? AND LUCKY FOR ME!!!!! Thank You so much Lori!!!! You are a doll!!!!

Okay, now that I have blogged for what seems to be forever, I will say goodbye and wish you a very happy week!!! See you on the 28th!!!!

Hugs!

Michelle

Sometimes Life Kicks You in the..........But then there are Sweet Kisses

Yep, this last week, life has definitely kicked me in the hiney. First, the pool pump stops working. After paying to have it repaired, it still doesn't work. After many hours of investigation, I find out that the power from the fuse box to the pool pump is not working and I need new wiring. The problem doesn't stop there, as the old wiring cannot be removed from the old pipe underground, as the pipes are damaged. I now need new pipe and new wiring, which means a new trench must be dug. This will cost THOUSANDS of dollars to have repaired UNLESS...........................................I start digging......and digging is what I did. I dug for DAYS, from one side of the house to the other and about 18 inches deep. Oh, did I mention that the temperature was about 105 plus!!!! By the end of the week, I was almost in tears. I think it was exhaustion.

Here's a couple of views of my handy work...

 

So, since I was feeling a bit blue, I decided I needed some Sweet Kisses.....

Fish Kisses that is! Click below

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I'm happy to announce that the ugly work is all done and everything is working good. I'm a bit behind on my mosaic work now, but I'll be working hard this week to catch up. TODAY, however, I'll be recovering. :-)

See you soon!

Michelle

 

 

My Enchanted Garden

Well, that's what I like to call it. When I was a child, I would look through my mom's Better Homes and Gardens magazines and dream of having a garden like the ones in the pictures. There was something magical to me about some of those gardens and gazing at the pictures brought a sense of peace to me. My garden now, brings peace to me. Whenever I'm feeling frazzled or upset, I will go outside and walk or sit in my garden. I will sometimes sit by the pond and watch the fish blow me kisses (this is what I call it) as they eagerly beg for food. I watch the hummingbirds take a drink from the fountain and chase each other playfully as the other birds bathe in the wine barrels filled with water. I look for new blooms on all of my plantings and smile when I find one. I watch the lizards as they sunbathe on the hot block walls. These things bring me absolute JOY! Nature is such wonderful gift. So, I try to gift back by tending and planting and appreciating every piece of my garden. It truly is Enchanting to me. Therefore, I name it The Enchanted Garden. Come and take a stroll with me..........

 

Well, there is some of the garden. I haven't shown you the Secret Garden yet. It's a work in progress AND I had to dig a huge trench through it this last weekend due to a power outage in the pool pump. Still working on that!  Someday soon, I'll take you on a stroll through it. I also have the edible garden that the hubby USED to tend to, but has now gotten bored with, so I now must find the time to get it into shape. Of course, I will wait until the very HOT summer of Arizona is done. I'm wanting to build some sort of shade structure over it and of course I'm thinking of the vines that I could plant along the structure. This may happen over the summer after all.....I'm not afraid of that crazy heat ;-)

Okay, back to work.....have a wonderful rest of the week!!!

Hugs!

Michelle

Garden Party

Hello Dahlings!! I've come out of the studio for a little garden party. Care to join me?? 

We'll sip tea from the Enchanted Teapot......

 

We'll have cupcakes......which flavor do you prefer??

Strawberry??

Or maybe you like the coffee flavors like Cherry Mocha?

Or maybe you are a fan of this yummy combination??

At this Garden Party you are Welcome to have cake as well.... it's Magical Cake!

After all, it's all about Celebrating.....Celebrating Life and Fun and Magic.

So, go out and have some fun this weekend and experience some magic.

Hugs to you!!

Michelle

p.s. The above and some others have been added to my shop :-)

p.s.s. I sent out my first newsletter yesterday. If you are interested in receiving one, you can sign up here.

Hey Y'all!!

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for all of the Happy Anniversary wishes!!! We had a wonderful anniversary!! We went to San Antonio, Texas for a few days. We had never been there before, but had always wanted to visit and see the famous River Walk. It was Beautiful!!! Take a look.......

Here's me standing on the balcony of our hotel room. We paid extra to have a room facing the River Walk and I'm glad we did.

Here's the hubby standing on one of the beautiful bridges that connects one side of the River Walk to the other.

There were lots of wonderful restaurants to eat at. I really liked the colorful umbrella's at this restaurant.

We took one of these boat tours. It was fun.

San Antonio had lots and lots of mosaic!! Here's a few.....

On one of the days that we were there, we drove to Fredricksburg. I have wanted to visit Fredricksburg for forever!! We visited the famous Homestead store. I'm sure that some of you are familiar with these folks, as they have been in all of the magazines for years!

It was a treat for the eyes! So much creativity!!! However, I was saddened to see a Property for Sale sign on the window and I was told by one of the galleries that the town was voting on whether to allow big commercial stores to come in. I was like "NOOOOOO"......you can't let them in!!!! They will ruin the charm of this town and it will be like any other place with BIG BOX stores every where and everything made in some other country!!! It seems that money talks and the chains are willing to pay big dollars to the people who have owned these properties since the beginning. That really bums me out. If I were rich, I would buy a small town and only let independent stores with handmade items reside there. (A girl can dream, can't she?)

This place was also in Fredricksburg. Lots and lots of stuff for the garden.

Check out this barbecue grill that we found. Only in Texas!!!  Also, check out the charming house in the background. There were lots of these kind of houses (cottages) in Fredricksburg. Love them!!!

Anyhow, that was our Texas trip. We had lots and lots of fun. If you've never visited the River Walk before, I highly recommend it, however, you might want to go in the winter months, as the humidity was a killer!

Also, for those of you asking, I will have a shop update this coming Friday. So, you know what that means.....into the studio I must go and get to work!!! :-)

Take care Everyone!!

Hugs!

Michelle

Happy Anniversary

It will be 20 years tomorrow, that I have been married to this man. It really seems like just yesterday, when we were set up on a blind date at a barbecue. It makes me giggle thinking of that first date. Him with his dimples and me with my Farrah hair.................and 2 small children. I would have never guessed that day, that 22 years later, I would be celebrating 20 years of marriage with this man. It hasn't always been easy, but I don't think marriage is meant to be easy. We've both grown alot over the years.....inwardly and outwardly (LOL!!). All I know today, is that I can't imagine spending the next 20 years with anyone else.

What a couple of goof balls!!! (a picture of us from last year)

We're doing something fun to celebrate our 20 years. I'll share with you soon!!!!

Hugs to you all!!!

Michelle

Back from Louisiana and new mosaic table

Hello, Hello, Hello!!!!!

Well, I'm back from Louisiana and I must say that Louisiana is one Beautiful State!!! It was sooooo GREEN and there was so much water everywhere. The beauty of it all almost made me forget about my very turbulent plane ride there. Our plane unexpectedly flew over a huge storm.......a TORNADO storm! Matter of fact, the town that I was heading to was one of the towns hit by the tornado, which meant No Power and lots of broken trees and flooding. The plane ride was so scary that I felt a bit nervous getting on the plane to come back home. Whew! Anyway.............here are some pictures from my trip.

There are beautiful driveways like this.

That lead to beautiful places like this

 

I could see myself spending a lot of time on this porch

I met new friends Darryl and Stephanie who took me down the river to their camp. The views were just BEAUTIFUL!!!!

My wonderful hosts fed me well!!!  Yep, those are craw-fish. Best craw-fish I've ever had! YUM!!!!

And then crab. They were still alive!! YIKES!!

After they were cooked. They were really good, but tedious to eat.

Thank you for such a wonderful time Darryl and Stephanie!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now, onto mosaics.

There is a wonderful little neighborhood in East Mesa, Arizona where a number of my mosaics reside in the homes of a few of the residents. The most recent mosaic now resides in the home of a very lovely woman named Deanna. Below is a BEFORE picture of her table.

And here are a few pictures of the table AFTER.

 

Here is the table in Deanna's bathroom. I think it really adds a special touch to the bathroom.

I really enjoyed working on this table. It has been such a long time since I've actually done mosaic furniture and I think I missed it. There was a time when I was really burnt out on it, but no more. Maybe I'll talk to my favorite boutique Melrose Vintage and see if she wants to carry some pieces. What do you think????

Well, that's about it for now. I've got lots of projects that are at different points of doneness, so I must work, work, work so that I can show them to you. I'm supposed to be in an Art Show on Friday at Mesa Riverwalk, but they are now calling for a BIG rain storm on Friday, which is really, really weird for Arizona in May, so not sure if it's going to happen or not. I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Love to you all!!!!!!!!!

Michelle

This goes to Australia

Hello Dahlings!

Stopping in real quick to show you my newest mosaic that is traveling all the way to Australia!

Sorry this post is so short, but I'm soooooooooo busy! Also, I'm heading to Louisiana for a few days for business. I'll be back soon with more mosaic projects to share with you. :-)

Hugs!

Michelle