Mosaic Artists! where do you get your tiles?

[iggaboo]

I have just completed my first 2 projects, and am so excited to do more.. I made a vase, and a candle holder bowl thing with glass beads.. when you put a candle in it it glows so pretty!

I have been wanting to do mosaics forever now, my dh got me tile nippers for my birthday last year, and I want to use them.. I went to the thrift store the other day, hoping to find some good plates, and not only were all the plates ugly, but they wanted between 1-2 dollars for each plate! Guess I'll just have to keep looking..

In the meantime, I was wondering if anyone could tell me what their favorite place to buy mosaic tiles online is.. I've never bought any before, so I am not sure what is a good deal.. kwim?

TIA for your help! I can't wait to make something else!

[AdinaL]

Hey there - I do stained glass stuff and my two faves online are
Warner Crivellaro

and

Delphi Glass

They have lovely stained glass and great mosaic stuff as well as tools!

Good luck!

[AnnaReilly]

I do mosaics with ceramic tile that I buy at Home Depot and other home improvement stores. If they have any damaged or broken tiles and if they do they will usually sell them to you at a very reduced price.

And garage sales can be great places to get plates.

[OneTrickPony]

OK, you asked so here's my answer! I made a big mosaic mirror with tiles that my dh and I picked up during our travels in Morocco. Morocco is known for its tile industry and the wide use of tiles, so I found lots of broken bits here and there. (It did seem kind of funny to bring basically garbage-picked stuff home as a souvenir, but that's what we did. The mirror looks great and is a wonderful reminder of our trip, which was our honeymoon, btw.)

The place where I made my mirror was a store here in my city called "Garbage Palace." She holds workshops and sells stuff that is reused and recycled. I asked here where she got her tile for mosaics and she said from the garbage cans outside large tile stores. (I think it is those large industrial garbage cans...and all they are throwing out is tile...I'm not totally sure and I didn't ask her for details.)

So where do I get my tile for mosaics you ask? From the garbage, I respond!

[iggaboo]

Thanks for your responses everyone!

OneTrickPony ~ My dh and I are Huge fans of what we like to call "Garbage Pickin" too! Only I haven't found any worth ceramics yet...

As for garage sales... well, I can't wait to go garage saling... the weather has been too awful still though, I am not sure there has even been any yet! Can't wait to look...

I was thinking about checking out Lowes here in town.. Thats a great idea to look for damaged tiles.. thank you!

and thank you AdinaL, for the websites you posted.. I had a lot of fun looking at them last night... so many ideas.. I did order a pound of red tumbled stained glass chips last night.. I can't wait til it gets here...

Thanks again!

[madison]

I also am a mosaic artist ~ and I can't wait to begin doing mosaics again once my babe is born. Why, oh why, do all the mastic and glues say not to use during pregnancy

Anyway, I use a lot of stained glass - check out glass shops for bins of "ends" - usually they sell them by the pound! I've found lots of neat glass there.

I'll see if I can find the addies of the companies I've used online. I've gotten some nice glass and tiles! I'll be back.

[madison]

OK, after doing some research, here are my favorites online ~ I've ordered from two of them, but I can't remember which two!

Mosaic Tile Supply - near my part of SoCal
mosaicsupply.com
They have TONS of neat items, not only the basic 3/4" tiles: tiny 3/8" tiles, absolutely stuning Monet Glass Shimmer tiles, precious metal tiles, China sets (broken plate sets), soft edge stained glass pieces, porcelian flowers, polished abalone shells, beach glass, sea shells, and bulk mixes of both random tiles and glass. Decent prices.

Monster Mosaics
www.monstermosaics.com
Stuff to mosaic ON - plaques, mirrors, frames, clocks, vases, candle holders etc. Also sells mosaic supplies like colored grouts (which I personally have a difficult time finding locally for some reason), adhesives etc. Also has tiles in the shapes of hearts, rounds, gems, funky tile mix (you gotta see it!), really neat clear glass squiggles, glass stars etc. I think they have decent prices.

Mosaic Mercantile
www.mosaicmercantile.com
Lots of tiles and stuff, but expensive. You can also find their stuff in craft stores like Michaels in little tiny packages that cost big bucks

Mosaic Tile Arts
www.mosaictilearts.com
I think they have good prices - between $2 per lb/200 tiles and $3 per lb/300 tiles; or 2 cents each. The tumbled glass is a good deal at 1 lb for $2.90 or 5 lbs at $12.50. It's an easily navigatable site, where the tiles are organized according to color family ~ I like that

And at www.mosaic-witsend.com you can get nice glazed freezeproof & waterproof outdoor 1"x1" thick tiles. 1 lb/57-tiles of a single color is $10. Kinda expensive, but if you're doing outdoor work large-scale and want some neat pieces, this would be the place to shop at.

Have fun tiling!

[iggaboo]

Madison ~ about colored grouts... I read in a book that you can just add acrylic paint to white grout.. I tried it and it works beautifully! and thanks for those links!

edited to add this link I just made!
what do you think? these are my first mosaic projects ever!

http://esplynn.tripod.com/mosaics.html

[hydrangea]

Those are beautiful, Stephanie. I love the way the light shines through. Your son is sweet too

You have me inspired to try this myself.

[iggaboo]

Thanks hydrangea
I definitely recommend trying it, it is a lot of fun..

I would love to see other's mosaic projects too, if anyone has any pictures they'd like to share!

[ladylee]

OneTrickPony-neato!

I have a place in LA that imports Moroccan tiles. My next project is to do some arrangements on our garden walls, and on the entry slab outside the patio door.

[madison]

Neat, Stephanie! Those look great! And your kiddo is a cute little bug

I wish I could post pictures but I don't know how!

[Chelly2003]

I've been just dying to do our bathroom - Counter top and around our mirror.
Our bedroom is following a Morrocan theme (kinda) we have a HUGE four poster Queen Anne bed, and I recently hung beautiful lanturns on each side of the bed - they are cut out metal and we put little candles in them (beautiful patterns on the walls and roof when the lights are out)

I need to practice first, but I'd LOVE to do the bathroom counter top in blue glass.......

[smarmie]

If anyone is interested...
I am in school for pottery, and am willing to send broken pieces of pottery. You just pay cost of shipping. Let me know!


Laura

[madison]

Laura, that's really nice of you. Unfortunately for me, I think shipping costs would be cost prohibitive but THANK YOU!!!

[GiraffeLovin'Mama]

Okay ladies. This looks like something I'd love to do on top of all the other crafts I love.
How can I get started and where to buy instructions and supplies??

[madison]

I posted some of my favorite sites to get tiles and glass from.

Do a google search on "mosaics" and you'll get a ton of sites to pick and choose from - go look at pictures, get inspired