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Big Hammer!!
Protective Goggles
Some stained glass
Piece of material such as an old curtain

A hammer can be used to create randopm shaped stained glass mosaic pieces easily!

Method

1. Take the glass outside, wrap the material aroud it underneath and over.

2. Put on goggles

3. Pretend to be a fighter pilot for a few minutes…. ; )

4. Use the hammer side ways on and gently but firmly tap the glass all over, increasing the strength till you can feel the glass breaking under the material. Cover the whole area of galss before carefull removing the shards. Be careful, you will probably need to either use glass ‘nibblers’ to take off the really sharp bits, you can then use a handheld glass grinder to smooth the sharp edges of all the pieces.

5. Rinse off any glass dust on the pieces and hey presto your own home made randomly shaped stained glass mosaic!!

This method is much cheaper than buying precut glass mosaic, especially if you can get cheap offcuts from your local stained glass supplier!

Martin Brothers style Wally Bird

Here is a picture of a recently created piece of pottery (2011) A Wally Bird inspired by the famous works of the English eccentric potters: the Martin Brothers grotesques. Currently being auctioned on Ebay. Not sure if it an owl or duck or what but he certainly has character.

Glass tiles come in sheets usually 12″ by 12″ with each tile glued to mesh to hold them in place. This makes installation easy.
Buying premixed thin set tile adhesive is the easiest way to both save you time and effort. It needs to be a water proof type if it is in a wet area.

Spread the mortar carefully on the wall to be tiled.
Then line up the tile sheets and press them firmly in place , making slight adjustments so all the tiles are equally spaced. Once you are happy with the line up of the edges and all the tiles are well pressed in, just clean the top surface with a damp cloth and leave to set overnight. If you want edging round the mosaic tiles this must be cut to length and fixed at the edge of the tiles, BEFORE they are set!

Once fully dried take some premixed grout (again waterproof if going in a bathroom or kitchen) and press it into the gaps between the tiles, smoothing off the excess with a damp cloth and hey presto you have finished.

Find out more about paper mosaics here

paper mosaic heart

In Israeli, some  archaeologists have today said thatr they have unearthed an old church  of an estimated age of  1,500-years.

The site also shows clear ebidence of very well church, including an preserved mosaic floors including images of  fish, lions, foxes and birds.

The ancient church is situated in the hills to the SW of Jerusalem and was active between the 5th and 7th centuries.

One of th archaeologists who uncovered the mosaic floor said it was  “unique in its degree of craftsmanship and the good  level of preservation”.

1500 years old church in israel

Journalists have only been given a very brief glimpse of the mosaic today . I was then covered up again until funding becomes available for  proper preservation.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/republic-of-ireland/1500yearold-church-discovered-in-israel-15071627.html?r=RSS

Round metal mosaic tiles

To Buy Metal Tiles in the UK

To Buy Metal Tiles in the US

Metal tiles will certainly be a talking point, as long as you go for ones with a good stainless finish then cleaning should be just the same as for standard ceramic tiles.

iridescent glass tiles

Irridescent Glass Tiles are a great way to add another dimension of interest to either your kitchen or bathroom. Basically they have a special reflective quality which is made during production, that gives a rainbow like gleam to their surface as the light reflects on them.

They can be a little more expensive than standard opaque glass tiles, however the effect can be well worth the extra cost, if used in the correct place. Often just a few tiles can look better than a whole wall of these.

 It was used in the highly prestigious churches and cathedrals, such as the main altar of Westminster Abbey, which is decorated with a cosmati influenced marble and stone floor.

Cosmati Floor Example Santa Croce Cosmati Floor

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