Beautiful Blue Sky

Beautiful Blue Sky Mosaic Hanging Plaque

This is a design that I first made on a bird bath, but it was crying out to go onto a wall plaque, and I got commissioned to make it into one, so here it is. Think it's come out quite well.

More Bees (and Butterflies)!

Bees, Butterflies & Dragonflies

Following the Bees in Blossom and Bees in Blue Daisies, the next Bees Bird Bath is the Bees, Butterflies & Dragonflies. I like the way this design has come out. It has a fabric design look to it, which I always say my designs tend to either look like fabric, or ceramic designs.

Cloud of Butterflies / Butterflies & Daisies Hearts

The other new designs are these two butterfly hearts, the Cloud of Butterflies, and Butterflies & Daisies. I think these have the fabric look too. The Cloud of Butterflies is a nice one to make because I get to create a large palette of butterfly colours and mixing colours for designs is one of my favourite things.



All of these are already sold, but all could be recreated on request. Either email me with the design name on jo@josara.co.uk or come and find me on Facebook and message me there.

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.

Dragonfly Dance Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Dragonfly Dance Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

After making the Tiffany Toadstools I liked the colours so much I've used them in a bird bath design that I've made before. The three dragonflies have got iridescent blue wings that shine with metallic electric blue. The background is made using soft shades of blues and green giving the design a slightly stained glass effect. It's a lovely design that would make a great gift for anyone that loves their garden, or wildlife, or art glass designs.

Dragonflies & Daisy Mosaic Slate Garden Decoration

Dragonflies & Daisy Mosaic Slate Garden Decoration

The three iridescent dragonflies are flitting around the rose pink daisy flower. All the materials used are suitable for all year garden use so this slate decoration is great for adding a splash of metallic colour in the garden.

Three Dragonflies Jade Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Three Dragonflies Jade Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

After creating the Three Bees bird bath design, I decided to make one using a dragonfly mosaic design that I've used in the past on slate garden ornaments. I had some really nice green iridescent tiles that I wanted to use for the wings, so I created the Three Dragonfly palette around those tiles using other shades of green, including mint, and jade to tie it all together. The resulting pattern is very relaxing on the eye, like the bee design is. The muted colours, circles, and flowing design all help create the relaxing feel to the bird bath. The circles also have the look of a stained glass window too, which is also very pleasing on the eye. I really like this design. I hope you do too.

Dragonfly Reflection Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Dragonfly Reflection Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Dragonfly Reflection Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

I've been wanting to do a bird bath design with a dragonfly for a while, but I've been trying to think how to do it so it didn't look like the dragonfly was under the water. Then it came to me that you get really good reflections on still water. So this design represents a dragonfly that has landed on some rushes next to a still pool and the scene is being reflected onto the surface. 

The dragonfly has jade iridescent tiles for the wings, so in some light angles it slightly blends into it's surroundings, which a real dragonfly would do. But when the light angle catches the iridescence the wings shine with metallic gold and magenta.

Bees and Dragonflies

It's been very busy over the last few weeks. I reckon the change in weather to something looking a bit more like summer has got people thinking more about their gardens. Or it could be the Springwatch effect, which gets people thinking more about their garden birds. My own garden birds have been using my bird baths daily. I usually have to top them up in the evening so they've got water for the next day's bathing.

Had a nice order from a garden designer that was making a Japanese themed garden. I hadn't made the bird baths she chose with a Japanese pattern in mind, but when I put them together ready to pack them I could see why she chose them. Funny how different people see different things. Interesting too. I've also been working on a commission for a museum shop in The Highlands. They're now stocking a nice selection of bees and dragonflies. The lady that ordered them was so happy with them that she was the first purchaser of a slate. That's a compliment.

The selection in my shops is a bit low now, so I'm currently working on topping up with a few new designs. Keep an eye on JoSara.co.uk for them being added very soon. And be quick if you like any of them. They aren't hanging around long at the moment, and some of the designs may well be one offs.

Wildlife Mosaic

I've created a couple more of my mosaic Dragonfly and Bee designs. This time on some fab slate paddlestones. The colours of the slate really come out when they are wet. The purple slate becomes a gorgeous dark plum. The grey slate becomes mottled with a pastel green. They look really good. The mosaic dragonfly has misty grey wings with pastel pink, blue and green in some light angles. But when the light catches them just right they shine with metallic blue, magenta and gold. The bee has translucent blue wings that shine electric blue and gold.



Folksy Handmade - Pond

I love ponds. I find them really interesting, pretty, and relaxing. I have already made mosaic dragonflies on slate as garden pond decorations, and I have now used the dragonfly as a decoration on a hanging ornament too. So to go with these dragonflies I've collected together some other things you might find in, and around, a garden pond.

Shop links below the gallery, and ongoing Pinterest board here-

*** Folksy Handmade - Pond ***

Top Row (Left to Right) -
Waterlily Fused Glass Bowl, by BlueFairyDesigns
Water Lily Fabric Art Quilt Kit, by Quilt Routes
Water's Edge Bowl, by chocolatefrog
Middle Row (Left to Right) -
Birthday card. Little blue frog, by HelloWilson . illustrations . prints . cards . bags
Dragonfly and Bullrush Original Watercolour, by Art By Jools Yasities
Original lino cut print Newt Love 2, by handprinted by a. deegan
Bottom Row (Left to Right) -
Little Green Frog Key Holder, by wonkipots
Koi Goldfish Necklace and Earring Set, by sami sparkle fae
Handmade Kitten or Cat Safety Collar - Goldfish - White and Orange, by Tabby Cat Collars

Mosaic Garden Hanging Decorations

Going back to my roots with these three items. The very first handmade things I sold online were a set of hanging garden mosaic decorations. I had the idea to try and come up with something a bit different for the garden because I could never find any garden ornaments that I liked for myself in the garden centres, or on the high street. That then led on to me setting up my handmade shops and website for selling the garden items I created.

The first hanging decoration I've listed is the Turquoise Blue Double Mosaic, which has a beaded join meaning both decorations can turn independently. It's tiled on all sides so it can be hung to be viewed from all angles. This one could be used as a suncatcher too as it's got squares of mirror in that catch the light and throw it around the garden as the decoration turns in the breeze.

The idea of the design on the Amethyst Dragonfly Mosaic Garden Decoration was to have dragonflies looking like they were flitting around as the ornament turned around. It's got the same design on both sides of 2 dragonflies with their misty grey iridescent wings, and slightly raised (which gives a slight 3D effect) shiny black bodies. The background tiles are two shades of dark plum / amethyst / violet purple tiles.

On both decorations the tiles on the sides have had their edges left ungrouted so it creates a border for the face tiles and when the light shines through the edges you get a lovely effect of the tiles lighting up like opalescent stained glass.

The last of the hanging decorations I've called Tutti Fruiti because of the fruity, bright orange and red tiles used. This one also has mirror used so it could be used as a suncatcher to cast dots of reflected light around the garden. The other colours used are pastels and white, and the hanging filament has been beaded with complimentary colours. All these decorations can be left out in the garden all year so are great for adding colour and interest all year round.

All these hanging decorations can be found in the Garden Pots & Decor section of my website.

Folksy Handmade - Insects



Slate Mosaic Dragonfly Garden Decoration




This Folksy Friday has been inspired by my Slate Mosaic Dragonfly, which in turn was inspired by the Monthly Theme Challenge on the Folksy Forum. There's nothing not to like about that challenge. It gets you thinking laterally on a subject to start the creative juices flowing. Which usually leads to more ideas, like I ended up making a Slate Flower Pot Decoration, and I get a Folksy Friday theme too.

The dragonfly gave me the idea to collect together as many different insect as I could find (no spiders though, I hate spiders). As usual the lovely sellers on Folksy haven't let me down and there were loads of lovely bugs to choose from. Have a look at them all here -

*** Folksy Handmade - Insects ***

Wales, Slate, and Dragons (sort of).



Mosaic Dragonfly Slate Garden Decoration



February's Monthly Challenge theme on Folksy.com is Wales / St. David's Day. As luck would have it (again, my entry for last month was something I was creating anyway that happened to fit the theme), I had just got some slate to make another one of my Mosaic Dragonfly Slate Garden Decorations. It occured to me that the slate was perfect, with Welsh slate being world famous. It was only when I was typing up my description that the dragon bit struck me too. It's a bit of a cheat, but on the other hand, it is a dragon. Of sorts.

Here's the Pinterest board with all the entries so far - Folksy Monthly Challenge - the colours are fab. I love egg yolk yellow and tangerine orange.




Slate Mosaic Flower Pot Garden Hanging Decoration






I've added another piece of slate to my shop too. I happened to end up with a bit of slate that reminded me of a plant pot shape. So I chipped away at it to develop the shape and made it into a Slate Plant Pot Mosaic Hanging Garden Decoration by adding a rim to the top with some more slate, then decorating the front with an aqua glass heart surrounded by a pale aqua mosaic. The aqua glass heart stands proud of the mosaic so the light shines right through it from the side and makes it sparkle. I think it would look great hanging on a shed. All from a shard of slate that reminded me of a flower pot. Inspiration comes from allsorts, doesn't it.