Backsplash Complete

Well, I have to say sorry. I've not done a very good job at staying connected this past couple of months.  I've been swamped. Of course it's the Christmas season, just as important was that I participated in a craft show for the first time in two years. It felt good. I came back with a almost entirely new product line in ceramics. It's been fun to experiment and play around, but even better to have it work out.

I started doing Ceramic Quilts. It's been so cool and they have had some great feedback. I'll have some photos posted soon, but for now if you would like, you can visit my Facebook page to have a look: https://www.facebook.com/LimegreenUltramarine

In other news... I finished it! That's right. The backsplash is finished. It feels so great to have the project  done. It turned out more amazing than I could have imagined. So, if this is something that inspires you, or if you would like to know more about this, please let me know. I had so much fun working through this, that it's something I would like to do more of. One idea that someone had was doing an inlay above the oven too. So many possibilities!! I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Just to clarify, I didn't collect plates or dishes to create this. I painted all my own 6"x 6" tiles in Duncan Concepts Underglaze. I then dipped them in a clear coat glaze and fired them. After firing they are shiny and look like regular ceramic tiles. At which point I smashed them in their colour groupings. With a pencil I drew lines onto the wall to give an idea of layout then glued each piece on as I went. Once everything was glued, my wonderful husband grouted this. It's a dark grey unsanded grout. We used way more grout than if you were tile normally. Then Voila.

If I don't get back here before the holidays, I wish all of you a very Merry Christmas. 

See you in 2013!

New Old Lawn Tractor

Who says cutting the lawn can't be a stylish thing? Last year I had the best intentions to paint our new lawn mower/snow blower. I didn't. lol. Not for lack of wanting to, but once the summer hit, Grant actually used it to cut the lawn, so that meant I would have to scrub it down and let it dry and paint it before the grass grew again. This summer has been a different story. Being that we have next to no grass because of the overhaul in the backyard and the masses of dirt we spread to even things out.
So one trip to Canadian tire for some Rust/Engine spray paint and a few hours later, we have a SWEET  looking tractor.

The Green and White Bolen Tractor is not Black with Orange and Yellow flames and Red rims. NICE.

Charlie sitting on the "Hot Car" Tractor. He loves it.

I think the best part is watching Grant and Charlie cut the front lawn and watching people's faces when they drive by. Some people have actually stopped and said "Nice Tractor!" I can't wait for the winter when the cutting deck comes off and the blower gets put on the front. It's going to look sweet in the snow! Ha! I will post a picture for sure.

Mosaic Kitchen Backsplash - Almost Done

Okay so it's been a while but I have an excuse. I've been tiling (and had some technical difficulties as my computer finally kicked the bucket, but we're back in business now) and doing yard stuff. I have gardens, finally. I guess that's what happens when you not only renovate the interior but the exterior of a house. But back to the backsplash, guess what? I'M DONE. All we need to do now is grout it. Gonna need some help with this part and now that it's summer, we'll probably have to wait for a rainy day (or a couple of rainy days). And when I say "we" I'm talking about Grant mostly. Ha!
Anyway, I am SO happy with how this turned out. It's amazing. Check it out. I'll post one final time about this once the grout is in.

My Kitchen Backsplash as of June 2012. Still needs grout.

As for me, I've got a painting on the go, and some jewellery. I will be starting to gear up for the Midhurst Arts and Crafts Home Tour this fall. Lots to do. Oh yeah, and lets not forget our big plans for Charlie's play equipment. I mean we couldn't just do something simple right? Stay tuned. Thanks for reading!

Mod Squad

So this post has taken me a while to get up here. I apologize, it's been a crazy spring. We have been going gangbusters outside to get our yard ready for grass seed. It is so great to get outside again after the winter. However, it does mean I don't do quite as much art as I should because I'm very distracted by gardening. This year is particularly exciting because I actually have gardens!
But lets get to this post. I had a request, a little while back now, to come up with a logo for a quilting group. They call themselves the Mod Squad. It's a really cool idea and I'm sort of jealous that A) I can't quilt better and B) I don't have 11 friends that quilt.
The concept for the group is that there are 12 ladies and by the end of year they will have made 12 quilts, one for each person, one each month. So on the first, lets say Thursday, of each month, the group gets together and if it's my month, I get to determine the type of quilt I want. Wether it's a colour theme or a pattern, I can decided to hand out the material or let the rest of the group surprise me. Each member quilts a square and at the end of the month, I get 12 squares back to make my quilt with. It is SO clever and when I saw some of the examples, these women are not just quilting your average pattern (kinda like what I did in a post from last year). They are doing the craziest, and coolest patterns with incredible colours.
I really can't say enough what a great idea this is, and you can be sure they are not sitting around over tea and crumpets! More like some great wine and apps.
So the name was born to call themselves the Mod Squad. They contacted me to design a logo for them. The logo will be embroidered on to the back of each quilt. Below is the logo I did. It's based on a quilt pattern they showed me called Log Cabin. I changed it around to create the square out of 12 pieces to be in keeping with their 12 members, 12 months idea.
They loved the logo and had a patch embroidered for me as a thank you. I'm glad they like it! Happy quilting Mod Squad!

Mod Squad logo for a quilting group. By Andrea Taylor

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

Wow, now that I'm actually getting stuff done, I'm having a hard time finding a gap in my day to write about it. I posted this painting on my Facebook page (Check it out) a few weeks ago but haven't put it up here yet. It might look familiar as I posted a pic of it partially done a couple of months back. Since then, I changed the type and worked out the colour a bit more. I really happy with how it turned out. Don't hesitate to contact me if you're interested in it. Or if you have some words of your own that you would like made into a painting.

Sitting on the Dock of the Bay, Andrea Taylor, 2012

Charlie's Quilt

I know I posted last year that I had plans for a quilt. I even finished the top of a king sized quilt but was side tracked by Christmas and Charlie's bed so never got around to finishing it. I was inspired by his bed to make him a quilt to so I quickly went to work cutting up all his old t-shirts that don't fit him anymore with hopes of giving it to him for Christmas. Ha! Yeah right, who was kidding. So I had two quilt tops finished and was at a stand still as I've never made a quilt before. I asked my sister for some help and went to work on Charlie's as a sort of "test" before I did a huge king sized one for myself. So a shout out to my sister Melanie who is a quilting maniac. She is at home with a buggered knee and although that is terrible for her, it gave me a chance to use and abuse her and her wicked sewing machine (did I mention that in the middle of all this, mine broke. Frig!). It was great to hang out with her and have her give me advice on how to finish this quilt. I'm proud to say that I officially accomplished my goal. It looks really cool (from the front, please if you ever see it in person don't turn it over!), and I got to spend some quality time with my little sis, albeit swearing and cursing the entire time. Needless to say, I will be asking Mel to finish my king size quilt. The one that started this whole thing. Hey, I reached my goal, I didn't say I had to finish that quilt! So, here it is and Charlie loves it. That's all that matters.

And Mel, thank you so much for your help. I hope you're knee gets better soon. But not too soon, I have a quilt for you to finish. ;)

Charlie's Bed is FINISHED!!!!

So, first of all, Happy New Year everyone! Hopefully you had wonderful and somewhat relaxing holidays. Ours was fantastic and Charlie was so excited. He got so many cool toys that the trains he asked for (and got) from Santa have sort of slid off the radar for the time being. We've managed to put away all our Christmas gear and get the house put back to a state of organization for the time being. It took two days before Charlie realized that the tree was gone. "Mom!" he yelled, "where's my christmas tree?" I laughed. Then going to be the same night he wanted to leave milk and cookies for Santa. Oh boy, could be a long year!
He did however have one final surprise gift in store that has been in our basement for a couple of weeks being varnished and getting some finishing touches. Grandma and Grandpa (or Papa as Charlie calls him) gave him a bed. A Big Boy Bed. In order to get it assembled in the room without him knowing, Mom and I took Charlie out for a drive, to Tim Horton's his favortie place. Apparently only if you're going to the Drive Thru though. He didn't want to get out of the truck and go in and had, what I would say was, his first huge public meltdown. Not even Timbits could make this better. That's right, not even Timbits. This was serious.
Anyway, after driving around we went home and he got some new pajamas. He knows they should be washed so he went down the hall to put them in the laundry and opened his bedroom door. Mom and Dad and Grant and I were following him so giddy we could hardly stand it. Charlie walked in and froze. You could just tell his was stunned. He turned around to look at all of us, chin to the floor. "New bed for me?" he asked. Yep. Priceless. And of course the video camera battery died and missed all of it. For the next while we all sat on the floor while he explored his new bed, Lightening McQueen sheets and all.
Thanks Mom and Dad for this gift! It's great. He has slept like a baby in it. Oh, and I love it too now I don't have to be a contortionist to have a cuddle with him in his toddler bed.
Here are some pics!