Oh, SLOW, I LOVE LOVE LOVE this!!! That is SO wonderful! I have been wanting to go to HD and get more of the mesh to make another project. I spent about an hour last night with my 8 yo DS's help, washing up a 5 gal bucket of sand to make more concrete with. I set your bb pic as my computer background for continued inspiration! Just wonderful! I know Shea must be thrilled.

Oh Slow.. (that rhymes)

i do LOVE it too, that is so so so fantastico, colorful, eye candy, and on and on. I could go on forever with this.

I just LOVe the idea things of beauty can be made from scratch and so artistically too. You did this just right. It is over the top.

Is the toad abode/bb stand made the same way?? How in the heck do you do that?? Must attend one of Riana's classes!!

Great Job!! YOur slump has gone to the bottom of the ocean, and now you are on the top of a mountain!!

Oh my... the toads are going to be singing songs and fighting to stay there

Oh, that's wonderful! Totally charming! I love the colors and can't believe how many petals and other pieces you cut for it. I especially appreciate this right now, as Flag is helping me through my first "real" mosaic project other than birdhouses, and my hands are feeling it from cutting flower petals from that huge box of red plates I have.

Having information on the colorant is helpful too, as I'm sure I'm going to be mixing some color for this one. Thanks for posting the tip!

HOLY DAWG SNOT!! The queen is in the house!!
This turned out amazing! LOVE how you did the bowl.
Looks like you were a nippin' fool on it.
Mr. Toad looks happy in his new abode!

Wow oh WOW! I don't know what else to add! Just stand back and admire your artistic creative awesome talent!!
I bet you daughter just loves this and is soooo proud of you! I say again, WOW!!!

WOOZER OH WOW!!! That is more than awesome! I love everything about it!

Be Safe, Rach

wow, that is sooooo great! I totally LOVE THAT!!!! wow

you really make me want to break plates!!!! WOW!!!

You did it again...another double drooler! I absoutely love this.........Shea is so lucky.............this is one of my favorites of yours........I gotta go back and look some more.........I LOVE IT............it's so a work of art............!!!!

'morning y'all, and thanks to everyone. What an honor, LADY. What do you mean about "washing" sand? Anxious to see what your next Riana project w/be. MER: The stand is made w/the wire mesh also. How you do it is basically to sculpt an object w/wire mesh, then add another layer of mesh to it (two layers of wire mesh). W/tin snips you cut darts in the mesh to help you sculpt your subject. Use 19-guage wire, bent about an inch at one end for the point of your needle to stick through the holes to stitch your mesh together. Then you can either use the ready to mix mortar or you mix three parts sand to one part Portland cement to make your thinset. Using the rubber-palmed garden gloves, you use the heel of your hand to push the mortar between the two layers of mesh, smoothing as nicely as possible. Cover w/plastic overnight to dry. You don't have to cover ALL the wire, but on the bowl, of course, I used two layers of mortar to cover any tiny holes in the wire to make it smoother and to hold water. Then mosaic as any other subject. It's really as easy as that. This technique w/hold up in any kind of climate. You REALLY would enjoy a Riana workshop. Some day, I'm going to visit her home and gardens. NT - If I could find colors, I'd use plate shards exclusively. Ye old hammer works well to, but all these pieces were hand-nipped. Oh, forgot to mention that another benefit of using mortar for grout - other than having a more durable piece - is that in my haste, I sometimes miss a spot and leave a little hole, so as I'm grouting, I can stick a shard into the hole and don't have to come back later and grout it. Thanks again for your compliments.

Wow, awesome, Slow. That is the cutest birdbath, one of a kind in design as well as the mosaic part.

Wow! When you get going, you go!
Great job!

Wow! I soooooo LOVE that!!! Love the shape of the BB, and the toad house!!!!I've never seen anything as lovely as that! Great job and such an inspiration!

Slow, what an attractive birdbath and frog house. I love the combination - so clever! Beautifully done and fits right in a garden with all those pretty flowers. Love the heart shaped bath.

slow - gorgeous as usual! Love your wonderful style....the heart turned out so perfectly!

May have mentioned it before, but one day when you're down here visting Shea, take a trip to the Goodwill in Garland (sort of on the Garland/Mesquite border - on Saturn Rd, I think). They've got TONS of plates, so many last time I was there that they were stacked 2' deep on the floor in front of the 8-10' gondola that also housed stacks and stacks and stacks of them! Don't know what it is about that area, but nice/pretty/patterened plates are abundant.

Pat

Now HERE's a compliment. DH saw this on my computer background, wanted to know who did it, and how, and "I really like that," and "We could make those and they would sell."

High praise :)

LADY - **smile**. You gotta check the thread about your glob first. CURB - thank you so very much for that tip. I'll take a run down Saturn road on my next trip to the Big D. Plates are so boring around here, and I REALLY like working w/them.

Gosh Slow, that looks just wonderful. So cheerful and full of color. What a wonderful project,
cindy

This turned out so great, and while I was there I looked at a table I missed before, & fell for that too!

Slow, so many thanks for the tutorial. Yes, I gotta take Riana's course.

So, where's the picture? I want to see it!

WOW! You do amazing work. I love the birdbath. The Fantasy fish is totally Cool!

that is too cool, love your flowers, what kind of saw did you use to cut the petals on your flowers? i have 6 boxes of tile comin in and i don't really like the look of the edges when they are broken, i like the nice smooth edges.
bonnie

MIZ: The pictures are on the second and fourth row of pictures - the heart-shaped bowl to the bath sits on the toad abode. Thanks, y'all. LA - those flower petals, and everything else, are hand-nipped. I'm too lazy to grind, and I like the look of broken edges. I do have two tile saws, a ring saw and a grinder, but seldom use the latter two. It's such a production to set it all up outside, and it's too hot now to work outside.