Zodiac Constellation Mosaic Hanging Garden Heart

Zodiac Mosaic Constellation Hanging Heart Decoration

Miniature mosaic zodiac star sign constellation hanging hearts. Now you can gaze up at the stars whenever you like, and wherever you like as these hearts are suitable for indoor or exterior use. Each constellation has the starlights highlighted with tiny millefiori, with the constellation shape picked out with white lines, all on a deep sky blue background finished with blue grout.

Finished!

And, relax. For a few days over Christmas anyway. It's been super busy this year, which has been great. And I've got a load of ideas for new designs for the new year, which is great too. I should think some of the old favourites will appear as well, like the Summer Meadow, and the bees. And if you think your garden birds deserve a des res to set up home in come the spring, then keep an eye out. Best way to see what's new is to follow me on Facebook where I share things as they come together, so you get a sneak peak before they're on my website, or in my Etsy shop. So, that's Christmas 2015 at JoSara done and dusted. Have a good one whatever you're up to.

November in Pics

Due to an extremely busy November, I haven't had time to blog about any new things I've managed to make, so I'll just add the pics. They're the good bits, after all :)

Top left: Summer Meadow Bird Nest Box and Mini Hanging Heart / Top Right: Mosaic Succulents Large Hanging Heart, Bumblebees and Yorkshire Rose Mini Hanging Hearts / Bottom Left: Gypsy Earth Bird Bath  /
Bottom Right: Summer Meadow House Number 1 

Summer Meadow Design

Summer Meadow Bird Box

A couple of new items with the Summer Meadow design on them, and with new colours of grout used with it too. The mosaic decorated bird box has a lovely blue grout used with the wildflowers to give a hint of blue sky behind them. The roof is painted a very pale sky blue too. A touch of summer all year round for the birds to use too.

Summer Meadow Coaster

The other Summer Meadow item is a home or garden use mosaic coaster which has a black grout used. This gives the design a slightly folk art feel to it. Great for using on the garden table as a decoration with a practical use too.

Gift Sets

New to my website, a couple of gift sets for garden and wildlife lovers. The first is the Bee Lover's Gift Set which includes a mosaic heart with a bumblebee decoration that you can hang in the garden, and a bee on a daisy mosaic coaster for you to rest a tipple on while you watch the bees visiting the garden. Both of the mosaics are made on slate bases so are suitable for all year garden use, and both the bees have iridescent metallic shine on their wings. There are also 3 hand-stamped envelopes with a pinch of bee friendly plant seeds so you can use containers or a small garden border to create a lovely display that the bees can enjoy too. And all these items come in a honeycomb cell shape box which would be great to use to store the seeds collected from the plants you grow.

There is also the Owl Lover's Gift Set which includes the owl bird bath and an owl bird feeder for all your garden birds' needs.

Mosaic Bumblebee Bee Hanging Heart Decoration

Daisy and Forget-Me-Not Mosaic Bumblebee Hanging Hearts

Been really busy over the last month, so the blog posts have been a bit sparse. If you want to keep up with new makes and new ideas that I've got, the best way is to follow me on Facebook - josaradesign - I also show new things I've made on there first and my page followers get first chance to buy them too.

Like these Bee Hearts, a daisy version and a forget-me-not version too. All sold out now, but when I make some more you'll see them on Facebook first.

Mosaic Bird Box

Spanish Farmhouse Mosaic Garden Bird Box

After adding a couple of bee houses to my wildlife range, I thought I'd add some bird nest boxes too. The first one is called Spanish Farmhouse. It has a geometric blue and white design mosaic which, with the wooden roof gives a lovely rustic feel. The sides of the mosaic have a line of metallic copper and the sides and back of the box are painted with a muted putty colour which gives a fresh, modern feel, so this bird house will look great in any style of garden.

Summer Meadow Mosaic Garden Bird Box

The second bird box is using the Summer Meadow design that I've used on garden ball decorations before. It's a lovely bright design with poppies, buttercups, cornflowers, daisies and butterflies, that will add some colour to your garden, while being practical for the birds to nest in, in spring and roost in, in winter. The roof and sides of the mosaic are painted with sky blue, and the sides and back are painted white to keep the whole box looking light and airy.

Coral Reef Mosaic Bird Bath

Coral Reef Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Now your garden birds can take a dip on a Coral Reef. There are brightly coloured tropical fish swimming against the shimmering water made with four shades of aqua blues and see greens. A bit of fun for the garden, and great for adding a splash of colour.

Solitary Bee Houses for the Bees, and You

Des Res Mosaic Garden Solitary Bee House

As I've got a lot of solitary bees using my bee houses this year I thought I'd make them some posh houses to use, that are totally practical for them, but are also a nice bit of colour and design for you to look at too. The first one I've called the Des Res Solitary Bee House and it has a slate roof with a mosaic design of a bee against blue skies on both sides. The wooden tube is painted in pale sky blue with a white face. The tube is totally handmade and is specifically cut to be the exact size to hold the perfect length of tube for one solitary bee to make one whole nest in one tube. The bee will lay an egg at the far end, then gather some pollen to leave in with the egg (so the baby bee has something to eat when it hatches), then the bee creates a chamber for that egg using either a piece of leaf, if it's a Leaf Cutter Bee, or a plug of mud, if it's a Red Mason Bee. It'll repeat that process right up to the end of the tube where it'll plug the end and you'll know there's a nest in the tube and which bee made it. Fascinating.

Coastal Mosaic Garden Solitary Bee House

The second version of the posh bee houses is called Coastal Solitary Bee House. This one has a fully mosaiced striped roof using the colours of the coast with sea blues and greens, and sky blues, and pastel painted wood. All the bamboo canes are removeable from both designs so when the nests have hatched in spring, the tubes can be replaced. You can buy exact size replacements, or you can cut some yourself, ready for the bees looking to make their new nests in late spring / early summer.

Tudor Rose Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Tudor Rose Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Can you smell the topiary? Hear the lute playing as you stroll round your garden? This evocative design bird bath will help transport you there. The mosaic Tudor Rose in the centre with a deep blue background with stylised leaves and buds is a lovely clean, crisp look that would suit any style of garden.

UK shoppers can shop here.

International shoppers can shop here.

Customer Commission Mosaic Bird Baths

Yorkshire Rose Mosaic Garden Bird Bath Sky Blues

Yorkshire Rose Mosaic Garden Bird Bath Team Colours

I've managed to complete a couple of customer commissions for mosaic bird baths recently. The first was a design that a couple of people had asked me to try, a Yorkshire Rose. I made the rose, but couldn't decide on a background. As soon as one of my customers saw the rose she knew exactly what background she wanted to match her favourite Yorkshire team. I also wanted to try a rose on a graduated sky blues background, so that was the second version.

Blue Sheep Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The other customer commission for a mosaic bird bath was a lady in America who said she really liked the hedgehog designs that I do, particularly the blue one, and asked if I could try a blue sheep. So, I thought I'd try a sheep in the same layout style as the hedgehog, with the face and legs as one element and the rest of the body filling the base. A few attempts later and I got the design to where I wanted, and the customer was very happy with it too. Think I might try another version of the sheep soon.

Mediterranean Pool and Heather Tartan Mosaic Bird Baths

Mediterranean Pool Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Two new bird baths added to my website shop and to my Etsy shop (for international buyers) both made just using straight lines. The first one, Mediterranean Pool, has a design that was inspired by pools, and the tiles and colours of the Med, with it's blues, turquoises, and sea greens.

Heather Tartan Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The other mosaic design, Heather Tartan, has a tartan pattern and uses purples, greens, and sky and grey blues which remind me of heather moorland. 

So the bird baths use the same method of making the mosaics, but the colours and pattern give them totally different looks. Both are great for adding colour to the garden, and both can be used as bird baths by your garden birds, and also as water dishes by other wildlife, including hedgehogs. They make great gifts for wildlife and garden lovers too.

Old English Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Some design ideas come from customers asking for tweeks. This time a customer asked for the Canal Folk Roses Design (left), but with red and pink roses (middle) . I thought that created a really different feel to the design so I expanded on it and came up with the Old English Rose design (right). It's got a lovely cottage feel to it, but it's also quite modern with the blousy flowers that are quite on trend at the moment.

The Pool Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The Pool Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

A fun new mosaic bird bath design that's called The Pool and is a mini swimming pool complete with 'paved' edge for the birds to have a splash around in.

Mosaic Garden Ball Sphere Decoration Ornaments

Mosaic Garden Ball Sphere Decoration Ornaments

I've made a couple of new garden ball decorations using some bird bath designs. The first is a Canal Folk Roses one which is a lovely bright design to add colour to a border. The other ball is the Daisy Bee and has a design with a combination of bird bath motifs on it, including daisies in 2 sizes, a bee, and mini butterflies. Another one that would look great in a container, or on a patio as part of a pot display.

Rainbow Hedgehog Mosaic Garden Bird Bath Water Dish

Rainbow Hedgehog Mosaic Garden Bird Bath Water Dish

A new hedgehog has joined the gang. Rainbow Hedgehog is now available along with Moonlight and Harvest. They all make great bird baths and water dishes to leave fresh water out for your garden wildlife, which if you're lucky includes your garden hedgehogs.

Water Lily and Mini Bee Garden Mosaic Spheres

Water Lily Mosaic Garden Ball

I made my first garden sphere ever recently and straight away I had the urge to make another one in a different design, then the butterflies are joined by bees, on large and on mini balls too. It's gone sphere mad round here.

The Water Lily Pond Ball has two goldfish, two dragonflies with iridescent wings, and white water lily flowers all on a jade green background. It would look really great next to a pond. Or it would be great if you can't have a pond in your garden as a replacement.

Bees and Butterflies on Mosaic Garden Spheres

A couple of designs I have made for customers are variations of the original butterfly ball with bees added too.

Mini Bee Mosaic Garden Spheres

And these are the mini balls with a single bumblebee on which are very cute, and great as plant markers or to use in a container as decoration.

If you've seen anything you like, you can always message me on Facebook and I'll see if I can make what you're after.

Summer Daisies Mosaic Garden Sphere

Summer Daisies Mosaic Garden Sphere Decoration

I've been meaning to make a garden ball for a while now after it was suggested that one of my rose designs would look good as one. In the end I decided to adapt another of my designs to make this Summer Daisies Mosaic Garden Sphere. It's come out really well. A perfect little ball of summer to add colour to your garden in a border, as a lawn ornament, or on a patio, you could even use it as decoration indoors. All the butterflies are iridescent to add metallic shine to the design as well as the bold red and orange colours. I think I'm going to end up making one of these for myself. And I can definitely see me trying more sphere designs. They are actually very relaxing to make, considering the shape.

Succulent Modern Moorish Mosaic Pot

Modern Moorish Mosaic Succulent / Cactus Plant Pot Set

Modern Moorish Mosaic Plant Pot

I've had these terracotta plant pots for a while. I really love the simple shape of them, but wasn't really sure what to use them for as they are fairly small for most plants. But then I realised that succulents and cactus would be perfect in them. Which then got me thinking about dry, hot, desert, ancient culture, and I came up with a mosaic design that I hope has a feel of all of that plus is a little bit modern too with the shiny iridescent tiles and translucent tiles giving depth and interest, hence the name Modern Moorish as a nod to both styles. They would look great in the garden or in the house. I really like how they've turned out. In fact, I'm going to make a matching bird bath using these shapes too.

Pastel Anemone and Peacock Jewel Bird Baths

Pastel Anemone Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Two new mosaic bird bath designs. Both came from making a shape from a tile while I was making other bird baths and then it sparking an idea for a new design. And I've got ideas for more designs from making these too. The first design is the Pastel Anemones. I've used this colour palette quite a lot lately because it looks great with the black grout. The flower centres are slightly glossy black so show well against the grout. Some of the flowers are iridescent to add metallic shine to your garden.

Peacock Jewel Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The other new design is the Peacock Jewel. This bird bath has a slight feel of India about it with the colours used and the stylised peacock design. The jewel bit of the name refers to small squares of iridescent tiles which give the metallic shine to certain areas of the bird bath.

Bumblebees in Blossom Mosaic Hanging Heart

Large Bumblebees in Blossom Mosaic Hanging Heart

Mini Bumblebee in Blossom Mosaic Heart

I think spring is springing. I saw my first bumblebee of the year a few days ago and I got all inspired to make some hanging hearts using my mosaic bumblebees. Two sizes, large and mini, and both are made to commission. This is a bit different to made to order, because the made to order designs I have the materials set aside for so when the order comes in I can make straight away. With the made to commission designs, I may not have all the materials to make in stock so will order in anything I need. I'm running a Made to Commission album on Facebook, which will have all the designs in it with the sizes and use info, and the way to order anything in that album will be to message me on Facebook to let me know which on you're interested in, then I can send you a price and a making time too.

Little Lions Mosaic Garden Water Dishes

Little Lion and Little Lioness Mosaic Garden Water Dishes

These Little Lion, and Little Lioness water dishes were designed with the idea of leaving water out for outdoor cats. They can look into the dish and see themselves as a lion or lioness. The dishes are also perfect for leaving water out for birds, hedgehogs and all your other garden wildlife too.

Butterfly Love Mosaic Garden Bird Baths

Butterfly Love Mosaic Garden Bird Bath (two tone hearts with hidden butterflies)

These two versions of a new design have a hidden secret. The design name, Butterfly Love, gives a clue. One way up the design is two tone rows of hearts, but turn the bird bath 180 degrees and the hearts become single colour rows of butterflies. Not everyone can see these butterflies, so if you can it's your secret. It comes in two colour palettes at the moment, the blues and greens, and the pastels.

Butterflies and Hearts Mosaic Water Dish

Blue Butterflies or Hearts Mosaic Garden Water Dish

This was spotted by one of my eagle eyed Facebook followers when I showed a work in progress shot of this dish. I was aiming for a neat pattern of butterflies in the base of this water dish, but she thought it was showing some upside down heart shapes. It is actually a reversible design, which is great. So you can either have Blue Butterflies, or Blue Hearts as your water dish decoration.

Commissions

A couple of commissions that I've done recently. This first one was to design a new heart hanging strand with 3 insects on to match a butterfly set that the customer already had. I knew I'd put the bee and dragonflies on because I use them a lot in my work, but I had to create something new. So I made the ladybirds and painted on the fiddly decoration that I could never make with mosaic. They look great.

This second commission was for a door plaque to compliment the customers lovely stained glass door panel in her new house. Not something I usually do because I like to come up with completely unique to me designs. This was borrowing from another design. But I think I've put my own stamp on it with the leaf shape background.

Copper Verdigris Wirework Daisies Bird Nest Box

Sometimes, I like to do something a bit different from mosaic. I like to create effect and textures, which is sometimes hard to do with tiles. So, I make decorative wirework bird boxes. This one had a lovely brown wood stain on it already, so I thought a light whitewash would suit it, and I really wanted to make some daisy decorations that looked like they were made from copper and had the verdigris starting to happen on them. I think it turned out quite nicely.

Time To Update

January and February are my time to start getting some of the designs I've thought of in the Xmas run up created. There's no time to make anything new in those weeks before Christmas, but when I'm really busy that's when inspiration starts hitting. So I've got a scrappy bit of paper with a list of designs I want to make, and I've started working my way through them.

First up are these two updated version of designs I've made before. I wanted to try the Elements design with a black background as I've started to use black grout a bit on certain colour palettes. The idea was to have a super contrast of rainbow to make it look like sparkly layers of crystals in rock. Like diamond seems in coal.

The second updated design is the Fish Shoal. I've made this before just in blues and  greens, this time I wanted to add splashes of bright colour in, and what better to do that with than bright orange goldfish.

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Most Loved Hedgehogs

Oh look, I made one of the Folksy 2014 round-up charts. In the 'Most Loved' chart, that's very nice. The hedgehog water dishes have been very popular on all my selling sites, which is great for the real hedgehogs, me, and the people that have bought them seem to be pleased too. What could be nicer? I love my job.

Roses Mosaic Topiary Standard Tree Garden Plaque

The idea and the reality. I've had this idea for a while, to make some sort of mosaic topiary, and I've finally managed to try it out and I think it's worked out quite well. Very close to how I visualised it and first made a graphic to explain it on Facebook for feedback. The mosaic plaque is designed to be hung on a wall or fence, then you get to be the designer after that, making a unique display by adding your own choice of pot, filled with whatever plants and flowers you choose, and then you link the pot and plaque with a stem of your choice (I've used a cut down bamboo cane). No pests, no diseases, no pruning, and permanent full bloom roses, what's not to like?

Canal Folk Art Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Canal Folk Art Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

This is the last (for now) colour choice in my new for 2015 Roses range of bird baths. This one was inspired by narrowboat Roses and Castles are with the bright roses and sky blues. The roses are made with matt and iridescent metallic shine tiles to add extra interest. It's a lovely, bright design to add colour to your garden.

China Blue Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

China Blue Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

I'm on a bit of a roll using the rose in a new design for this year. After the Pink Roses, this is the China Blue Roses. The idea behind this version was to have the roses in blue like they are a pattern on china, then the white background is a nod to the china being broken, as if the design is made out of pieces of blue and white china. I used grey grout on this one so it tied in the white a bit, and because it reminded me of the rough edges you get on some of the stoneware blue and white plates. Another version of this design is in progress, it's proving to be very adaptable. Keep an eye on my Facebook page for when I will be adding any of these designs to my website, or you can message me there to request any of the designs as a made to order too.

Roses Mosaic Bird Bath

Pink Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

After making a hanging heart with this new design on, I thought it would work well in a bird bath too. And it did. A few people are saying this design has a Mackintosh feel about it. I think that's the black grout I've used this time because the tiles are quite pale in colour so would get a bit lost in the usual grey I use. So, after the heart and bird bath in pink roses, I think I can feel a different colour version coming next. I love the new year. I think it's when the Xmas rush of making lots of current designs is over, and I finally get a chance to think straight, then all the new ideas I had half thought out when I was in a making frenzy come flooding out. Follow me over on Facebook to see these new ideas taking shape and get notification when they are added to my website too.

Pink Roses Hanging Heart Garden Decoration

Pink Roses Hanging Heart Garden Decoration

The first new design of 2015 from me, the Pink Roses Hanging Heart Garden Decoration. I had designed the rose and used it in a bird bath a few months ago, and I fancied using it to create a fabric look on a hanging heart. I used some very delicate iridescent and plain pastel pink tiles for the roses, and used fresh greens for the leaves to give a nice bright background. It's worked really well with the black grout popping the colours out. So 2015 has started well with this design, which I like so much I am going to use it in a bird bath, and I'm going to try more colourways of it too. You can either follow me on Facebook to see these new designs take shape and find out when they get listed on my website, or you can follow this blog.