US Army Unit Crest: 65th Engineer Battalion - Motto: FIRST IN - LAST OUT

Here is one of my recent mosaics. It was commissioned by a lovely woman in Hawaii whose husband is in the 65th Engineer Battalion. Someday I hope to have a picture of the major and the crest, but for now, it's just me in my working garb. Too bad I didn't keep my fingers off the letters. Which, by the way, were the hardest part of the mosaic to create.

I didn't realize that every unit in all branches of the armed services has a crest. And they all seem to have tiny little letters on them. This mosaic is 14" tall. I cut the squares and rectangles by hand and used my ring saw to create the rounded pieces, the knife and the letters.

Oh, and she requested the piece on a Friday and it had to be mailed by the next Friday so it could be presented in a ceremony the following week. Very exciting!

Pat McElderry and letters P A T

Here is dear Pat McElderry on the left with her mosaic letters at the Westchester Begonia Show and Sale. She could give Princess Beatrice a run for her money when it comes to beautiful or unusual hats.

And it was a day for wearing hats to honor Pat so here are Jan Brown and Stephanie Rose with Pat.

Pat, Jan and Stephanie

Mosaics AND Cats

The letters P A T for my friend Pat's party are all glued. An interesting thing to notice. When the dichroic glass is in the sun - second picture on left - the colors are green but when taken in the shade they are yellow. And it took many tries to get pictures of P A T because Biscotti wanted to be petted. Now I'll grout them with charcoal grout, maybe add even more sparkles and they'll be ready to go.

The lower right picture is Prancer with my almost finished Frolicking Sea Creatures. I still have to do a little color work on the grout.

You can probably tell these two cats are related. They are brothers about two years old. I've had them since I adopted them from a neighbor.

The Letter "P"

Today I began working on the word "PAT" for a friend who is being honored next month at the Westchester Begonia Show and Sale in Westchester, CA. Pat is always the one who does the decorating for the show, and she has a flair for color and style. She also likes bright, sparkly things! So I am making the letters "P", "A" and "T" for her with Van Gogh glass, mirror glass and dichroic glass in pinks and purples. I'm throwing in a few green pieces also.

Here are pictures of the "P" before grouting. I was tempted to throw in some glitter glass but held myself back.