A smashing mosaic time!

Sunday was Father's Day, and although this is never going to feel the same again for the last two years we have made sure to still celebrate Dad (Ray) on Father's Day and to have a 'gift' to mark the day. Last year, we visited a garden center and selected some beautiful flowers to plant up Dad's area in the garden. This year, we stayed with the garden theme but with a craft twist.

I've always liked the idea of trying to make a mosaic and last year I saw some mosaic stepping stone kits online. Mum bought me one and unfortunately time has run away with me and it has still be sat there. So this Father's Day we decided to make a start on it as our 'gift' to the garden this year.

The original stepping stone kit design from Tracey Cartledge

After having a read through of the kit I realised that the design was actually really hard to mosaic as to be able to see the flower petals you'd have to be really precise with tile cutting - surely not the point of a mosaic! So the design was promptly thrown aside. Cue an enjoyable session with a hammer smashing up the tile pieces into even smaller tile pieces!

Once the last piece was smashed and the pieces gathered it was time to play around with the shapes and see what design appeared. It's funny that the pieces seem to make their own design, at one stage Mum's fiddling produced a bird, the next a leaf. Anyway, after a bit of time a design appeared that we liked.

And this is as far as we got! Having started quite late in the afternoon it was too late to then start mixing concrete and mortar to make the stepping stone, before then transferring the pieces into the top of it. So at the moment, the design is nicely laid out - with everyone under threats not to knock it or touch it, and tonight may the stone making commence! Fingers crossed this all goes well now!

A special cross stitch kit

Recently my boyfriend's Grandma has been very unwell and I was given some of her crafting materials. In amongst them was a lovely cross stitch pattern that she had adapted to use for someone's birthday. It was a beautiful design with a cream heart and wild flowers. We'd been looking for a picture with some meaning for Dad for a while and this seemed perfect. For Christmas, Mum turned the pattern into a lovely kit for me - complete with a beautiful storage box!

We've changed the colours on the design so that the roses are yellow which have a significant meaning for us. The design is already well underway and I think it's going to look great once it is completed. More updates to follow!