New Designs

It's been very busy at JoSara HQ. A couple of new designs have been and gone from my shops already, and I've just added another.

The two that have new homes are the bees with flowers designs. One was Bees and Blossom, and the other was Bees and Blue Daisies.

Bees & Blossoms / Bees & Blue Daisies Mosaic Garden Bird Baths

The other new design I've just added to my website and Etsy shop is an abstract design that represents land and sea. The colours all match perfectly and make a lovely calm design.

Land & Sea Mosaic Garden Bird Bath 

Bee & Butterfly Cafe Signs

Bee & Butterfly Mini Mosaic Garden Cafe Sign (comes with bee & butterfly flower seeds)

Now available on my website, mini Bee & Butterfly Mosaic Cafe Signs, complete with bee and butterfly flower seeds to 'open' your garden cafe.

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.

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.

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.

Fairground Flowers Garden Bird Nest Box

Fairground Flowers Garden Bird Nest Box

The flowers on this bird box have been handmade with wire, then hand painted with weatherproof paint in bright fairground colours of red, yellow and blues. Each flower has then been randomly attached to the bird box. This nest box is practical for the birds as it can be left in the garden all year round so can be used for nesting in the spring and for roosting out of bad weather in the winter. The bird box also makes a great garden decoration for you to look at too.

Vintage Fabric Effect Mosaic House Number

Vintage Fabric Look Mosaic House Numbers

Vintage Fabric Look Mosaic House Number

These house number mosaic plaques have been designed to look like they've got a vintage Liberty style fabric background. The mosaic is made up of small flowers, and butterflies, filled in with small leaves. The grout on the front design has then been overpainted with weatherproof paint to create a rough texture to finish the vintage fabric look.

Delphinium Reflections Bird Bath

Delphinium Reflections Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The idea of the mosaic design in this bird bath was having a spike of mixed delphinium blooms and the mini butterflies flitting around them as if they are being reflected in the water of the bird bath. The blue butterflies are iridescent and the plum butterflies are transparent to add interest and depth to the design. Each delphinium flower has a mini white daisy with a lilac centre in it's centre.

Vintage Flowers Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Vintage Flowers Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

The lovely neutral, natural palette used for the mosaic in this Vintage Flowers bird bath give the flowery pattern a fab vintage fabric look. The neutral tones are used in a graduated style on the border of the bird bath. It's a bird bath that would suit any style of garden, contemporary to cottage.

Blossom & Butterflies Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Blossom & Butterflies Mosaic Bird Bath

Blossom & Butterflies Mosaic Bird Bath

This Blossom and Butterflies design has a random pattern made with white blossom flowers, tiny blue butterflies and jade, apple and mint green leaves. I seem to either go fabric or ceramic with my mosaic designs. This one is definitely a fabric style pattern.

Cream Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Cream Roses Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Another new design. Cream Roses. This time I wanted to add to the flower bird baths that I've got. At the moment I've only got daisies, so I thought I'd add some roses. I also wanted a light, airy feel to the design, so I used cream for the roses, and two light shades of jade green for the leaves and background. The rest of the design is finished with pastel aqua blue which has the feeling of a summer sky. It's a lovely shabby chic looking bird bath that would look great in a border, or used as a feature ornament.

Rose Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

Rose Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Bath

I made a mosaic for a bird box recently with a pattern using the smaller, lighter coloured porcelain daisies. I liked the end result so much, I've decided to add it to a bird bath. The porcelain daises are a light matt rose shade, and the larger daisies are made with glass tiles and have a deeper slighty more translucent pink tone.

I've got other bird baths designs in my shop with the larger daisies on them, but on those I've used them like a fabric pattern so they are evenly spaced over the base of the birdbath.

On this Rose Daisy version I've randomly placed the flowers in a semi circle spray, and filled the border and background with one colour, a pastel aqua shade. It's created a lovely, soft effect to the design.

Folksy Handmade - Blossom

Rose Daisy Mosaic Garden Bird Box
JoSara

This Folksy Friday is inspired by my new bird box, which has a design inspired by the colour of the rose pink porcelain tile that I used, which reminded me of blossom. And with pink blossom I always associate pale blue skies, and light, fresh green leaves. So the palette I used was pretty easy to put together. So was this Folksy Friday, because there were some great blossom inspired items to choose from, and they were just the colours I was after too. Hopefully this will be a common sight soon. As soon as a little bit of warmth happens, the blossom must be bursting to come out. Hope you like the selection.

For more info or pictures on any of these items, click on the pic to go to the shop.

Painted Cherry Blossom Cuff
Claire Gent

Blossom - A Blank Birthday Card
Artisan Designs Stationery

Cherry Blossom
Caroline Grigg

Pink Purpe Blossom Greeting Card
Clare Sherwen

Cherry Blossom Machine Applique
BlueberryBlossom

Cherry Blossom
Gaynor Henaghan Original Art

Cherry Blossom Fridge Magnet
Heartland Designs

Liberty Print Fabric Washbag
Love To Hold

'Modern Vintage' Apple Blossom
FizzStudio

Folksy Handmade - Summer Garden

Summer Border Suncatcher Cards
JoSara

This week is a feel good Folksy Friday with a selection of garden views. I have just completed a set of suncatcher cards that are designed to let the sun through to light up the colours, and light up the recipents day too. Just making these cards gave me the feel good factor that a flower border in summer brings. So I thought I'd share that and collect a whole page of summeryness. I have tried to select things that have had the garden design totally created by the designer/artist. That way there's a great selection of styles, and crafts.

To see more pictures and get the full details on any of the items, just click on the pic to go to the shop.

After the Rain Watercolour
Dancing Cat Studio

My Garden In June
Suzi Whinder-Cartwright

Abstract Poppies Original
Art by Mr P

Summer Meadow Tea Cosy
Gertrude

Cottage Garden Pin Cushion
Lynwoodcrafts

Summer Meadow Cuff
Claire Gent

Gated Garden Lino Print
Zebedee

Secret Garden Fibre Brooch
By Sally

ACEO A Summer Border
Brushes and Bodkins

Flowery Machine Embroider Brooch
Chocolatefrog

ACEO The Walled Garden
Bluebeezy

Embroidered Flower Garden Picture
Busy Blue Cat

Ditsy Daisy Mug and Flower Pot Set

Blue and Yellow Ditsy Daisy Mug and Plant Pot Set

I had the idea for this Ditsy Daisy set after I wanted to put together a set as a gift for a gardener which would include a handpainted mug. Actually, this set could be used by anyone, anywhere. You could put the pot on the kitchen table with a house plant in it, and drink your tea at the table with the paper. Or you could put something like a geranium, or a small strawberry plant in the pot and use it outdoors on a garden table where you can sip your tea in the sunshine.

Purple and Orange Ditsy Daisy Mug and Plant Pot Set

It would still make a great gift for a gardener, with it's daisy flower design that I designed to have the look of a stylised flower border. The set currently comes in two colour versions. One with blue, yellow, mint, and lime flowers. The other has  magenta, orange, purple, and mint daisies. The design has a vintage feel to it with it's ditsy flowers, but it's also got a very contemporary look with the design being restricted to a band of colour. It would suit lovers of traditional. or modern. So, everyone.

Ditsy Daisy Suncatcher Cards

Blue and Yellow Ditsy Suncatcher

Blue and Yellow Daisy Card

Pink and Orange Ditsy Suncatcher

Pink and Orange Ditsy Daisy Suncatcher Card

Back in stock for Spring, these suncatcher cards are designed to let the sun shine through the handpainted ditsy daisy design, making it light up and spread colourful shadows.The design has a vintage fabric look, and is available in Pink and Orange, or Blue and Yellow versions. Something a bit different and perfect for brightening the recipients day.

Folksy Handmade - Ditsy

Ditsy Flowers Suncatcher Card

After I created my Ditsy Suncatcher cards this week, I thought I'd put together a collection of other ditsy print items. Ditsy shouldn't really be my thing. I'm not a great lover of florals. But I like stylised flowers. I like folk style (see last week's Folksy Friday), which uses stylised flowers. And I like vintage which uses stylised flowers a lot too. I suppose the smallness of ditsy flowers makes them more like spots of colour, so it's probably the combination of colours that appeal to me, rather than the actual flowers. Or it could be that the patterns remind me of Spring and Summer, my favourite seasons. Whatever it is, I've found some great items.

If you want more detail on any of them, click the pic to visit the shop.

*** Folksy Handmade - Ditsy ***

Beermat Notebook Orange Floral
Kate Bowles

Retro Orange Yellow Floral Peg Bag
From Rags to Bags

Cross Body Bag Summer Festival
Beledien

Floral Vintage Cosmetic Pouch
Crimson Cuttlefish

Drum Lampshade Floral Fabric
GoodGraces

Dachshund Dog Cushion
The Sherbert Patch

Ditsy Print Crinkle Shawl
Talulahblue

Vintage Style Full Apron
Cute in the Kitchen

Vintage Floral Cameo Earrings
Josephines