Making Bits & Pieces Mosaics: Creative Projects for Home and Garden

Rating:
Summary: Crafty Saturdays will never be the same!
Review: I love the challenge of creative household projects and bounce back and forth between several different ones, but by far, mosaic tiling is my favorite! I used this book for the ideas & know how. It has great pictures and well thought ideas I had never thought of. I tiled my porch walk way with a wonderful mosaic tile design & I receive complement after complement (even from the mailman!). Everyone wants to know who did it!

Rating:
Summary: Crafty Saturdays will never be the same!
Review: I love the challenge of creative household projects and bounce back and forth between several different ones, but by far, mosaic tiling is my favorite! I used this book for the ideas & know how. It has great pictures and well thought ideas I had never thought of. I tiled my porch walk way with a wonderful mosaic tile design & I receive complement after complement (even from the mailman!). Everyone wants to know who did it!

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book for inspiration...
Review: I wish I hadn't spent the money on this book. While it does give you the basics of doing mosaics, there's maybe 6 pages of it. If you've ever done any tile work, then its useless. The rest of the book is centered on doing specific projects. Frankly, the example pieces in the book were downright ugly. Most of them looked like they were just a smashed plate re-assembled. There's really no color or design patterns. The rest had doll heads all over them, which I found pretty creepy. If you're a beginner, this might give you the basics but there should be better books out there. If you're looking for inspiration, there HAVE to be better books out there than this one.

Rating:
Summary: Great Book!
Review: Marlene has me successfully doing mosaics on everything I can put my hands on! I was a quilter for 20 years, and this has become my new addiction. Thanks a million Marlene....my kids even love the breaking plates part! It's turned into a family project...especially hunting down all those delightful treasures at tag sales, thrift shops etc. See you at Brimfield!! B. Garvin, Connecticut

Rating:
Summary: Step aside Martha Stewart!
Review: Marlene Marshall is a gifted artist and writer. From her book, one can easily learn the beginning steps on the road to making unique pieces of art. Her style is straight forward and holds the reader's hand through the process without telling them how to be creative. The photos are wonderful and give the reader many ideas. Thanks to Marlene's book, I decided to tile a exposed heating duct in my dining room and it came out fantastic! It is often the subject of many dinner conversations with friends. This is truely a great gift for any craft person or budding artist. I can't wait for her next book!

Rating:
Summary: Don't buy this book for inspiration...
Review: This book has a lot of finished pieces that I found to be almost ugly. The techniques as instructed are not as in depth as I have seen in other books. I recommend you purchase to accompany another mosaic book, but I would not make it my primary instructional book.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful down to earth mosaic art of all levels
Review: This is a wonderful book on creating mosaic art. It is in full color with many photographs of the artwork. The instructions are easy to follow and accompanied by step-by-step illustrations. The book starts out with a brief history & some impressive examples of mosaics throughout the world. Many great tips are then given on collecting materials including commonly found objects. Next developing a color scheme, matching shapes, & adding highlights to your artwork are discussed. Then, equipment & materials are covered and basic techniques are demonstrated in detail. Numerous projects follow including a flowerpot, mirror, birdbath, birdhouse, watering can, plant stand, garden walkway, small garden wall, & jewelry. The book even shows you how to restore china that has been chipped.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful down to earth mosaic art of all levels
Review: This is a wonderful book on creating mosaic art. It is in full color with many photographs of the artwork. The instructions are easy to follow and accompanied by step-by-step illustrations. The book starts out with a brief history & some impressive examples of mosaics throughout the world. Many great tips are then given on collecting materials including commonly found objects. Next developing a color scheme, matching shapes, & adding highlights to your artwork are discussed. Then, equipment & materials are covered and basic techniques are demonstrated in detail. Numerous projects follow including a flowerpot, mirror, birdbath, birdhouse, watering can, plant stand, garden walkway, small garden wall, & jewelry. The book even shows you how to restore china that has been chipped.