Awesome Joolie

I finished another project last night, although I'm not really sure what you'd use it for. A pretty tray to, uh, hold things? Like keys, and...treasures?

Yes, treasures. I will definitely put my treasures in there. Hell, I don't know. I'm happy with how it turned out, though. 

These tiles were a pain in the ass to cut because they kept splintering, but they're really pretty so at least that aspect made them somewhat enjoyable to work with.

I like the look of the vertical patterns, and I've gotten a lot faster and more adept at laying them down. But it's time to challenge myself a little more and give the vertical tile thing a break for a while. (Unless you want something with vertical tiles on it--I absolutely take commissions!)

I'm thinking this photo would be fun to do a mosaic of. I took it on a hike last month in Big Bend Ranch State Park, the national park's less visited, more rugged sister.

While I was deciding what to do and how to do it, I wandered over to the Texas State Library and Archives Commission building, the front of which bears six beautiful mosaic seals, in search of a little prickly pear tiling inspiration.

Look at this craziness! So beautiful, right? If you look closely, you can see the artist even included the damn needles!

I'm going for a different style (and ok, I'm also nowhere near that level), but it was cool and informative to see how something like this can be done. I'll post pictures of my progress, so check back from time to time, all right?