Ballard Inspired Mosaic

I REALLY love this picture from Ballard Designs:

SOOOOOO, I was thrilled when I found another blogger who was inspired from the same print and made her own version. http://hopestudios.blogspot.com/2010/07/paint-chip-mosaic-tutorial-tuesday.html
As a matter-of-fact, my crafty friends and I are getting together and making one ourselves. However, my friend Lisa and I agreed we like the variation the original has a bit more and I was determined to get closer to the 'original' look. So, I began making a mini version to test some ideas out.
I followed the guidelines that Hope Studios gave. I laid out my paint chips then numbered them on the back so I knew which order to put them in. I used Elmer's spray glue to adhere them to my almost 12 x 12 scrap wood piece I found.
Hope Studios mentioned they had a problem with the edges of the paint chips curling up. I didn't. So, I don't know if it is the spray glue I used or the pine wood board. Once the glue chips were in place, I scratched up the chips using an X-Acto Knife and sand paper.
I applied my decoupage glue and let it dry. Once that was done, I painted on the Plaid Antiquing Gel that I have mentioned in the Metal Frame project on March 27th. I still didn't have the effect I wanted. So, after the gel was dry, I got out the sand paper again. OH YEAH! It was perfect. Once sanded and roughed up a bit, I then decoupaged again. I LOVE this soooo much, I am going to make another, 24" x 24".

Double Cloche

It's common in the craft/blog sphere to see a zillion different cloches people have made. I have created my own little design using globes from 2 light fixtures. I found this globes at the Salvation Army for $4 each and knew exactly what I wanted to do with them. I had candle holders I wanted to cut down for a base. I just needed wooden platters/plates to make a platform. I was surprised how much a round piece of wood is $10+. Sooooo, I was on a hunt. We went to a rummage sale and finally found them! Yeah! So, here is what I started with: 2 Domes, 2 wooden plates and 2 candle holders:

My husband cut down the candle holders to make them a more stable height. I sanded and painted my wooden plates. Only to discover they were from Pier 1 for $10 each. (Did I mentioned I paid a whole BUCK each for them??)
Anyway, I painted them green and then applied my favorite antiquing gel from Plaid.
I also painted the candle holders. I had a much harder time. The finish was difficult to sand, and quite frankly, I am just a little too impatient. Soooooo, I the end result is equal to the amount of effort I was willing to put into them:

I then screwed the plate to the candle holders and tah dah! I've got my cloches. NOW, I jut need to figure out what goes inside them. You seeeeeee, the beveled glass does make things distorted a bit. So my birds just look like white balls. So, that again, requires patience from me. But, I couldn't wait to share my little project with ya!