Ep. 115 MAKING FRITBALLS FOR MOSAIC MANDALAS, a few Wearable Mosaics, and an Easy Mosaic Tray!

Ep. 115 MAKING FRITBALLS FOR MOSAIC MANDALAS, a few Wearable Mosaics, and an Easy Mosaic Tray!
I start by organizing for the mandala community project. Fritballs are the name of the game at the beginning. I decide NOT to put fritballs on the six smallest ones, then dump them in specific areas to make sure I have enough and then glue a few in place as a visual reminder for me. This process is five times more complex than last year's mandalas, because there are so many designs to figure out. I need to figure out what fusible rounds are... I show the glass that will be used for the mandalas. Then I select some COE 96 glass to make into fritballs. Then some cutting and nipping of stained glass happens to build up a supply for new fritballs. The dark blue irridized Wissmach is one of my favorites! I use my Breda wheeled nippers to give my hands a break. The Breda's use less effort to cut the glass.
Next, I make another ring/pendant set with ladybug murrini chips and white filati in a flower base. I have one more pendant to make from a bezel I purchased on Etsy. I mixed up some golden Apoxie Sculpt from yellow and orange to have behind my bee and the 24k gold smalti. I ended up trimming the extra clear glass around the bee so I could fit more gold in.
I found the fused glass rounds - not fritballs, so not for the mandalas. Nice for a different mosaic though! Also - who doesn't like a sweet donation like this?
In the kiln room, I load the kiln with my small bits of glass. I start by stacking the purple cathedral glass on top of white glass so I can see the color better. Then I load in my dark blue and all the other colors. It is scorching hot in the kiln room - August in Atlanta + running a big kiln = SO HOT!!!! The important thing to do is separate the little pieces so they don't touch and accidentally fuse together. Not shown in the video was the two times I dropped an empty container on the purple and had to restack it while sweat dripped into the kiln!!!! I take advantage of every last bit of kiln paper to make fritballs.
Back home I reward myself for this summer's mosaic projects with an EASY MOSAIC TRAY! I bought the tray at Target for $5? or maybe $3? I seal it with 50/50 Weldbond water mixture. I repeat step 1. Seal it. It is a very simple crazy paving design from tile I have in my bathroom. Step 2. - I use sidebiters to break the tile. Step 3 - I use Laticrete 254 thinset as my adhesive, and begin laying in pieces that I dry laid on the opposite side while my thinset was slaking. There is the tiniest bit of keystoning to fit around the curved ends, but not too much as I want to keep the design irregular. It goes together very quickly and is an excellent beginner project. I show the importance of scraping away thinset that has skimmed over and is no longer very good for adhesion. Then I use a meat tenderizer to make sure the pieces are relatively even.
Two days after loading, I'm back at the kiln to unload. It is a WAY more pleasant temperature. The kiln lid is heavy! Jury is out on the purple ones as they seem rather dark. Then I show the existing mandalas where we used fritballs. When I get home, I use a colander to rinse the kiln paper off the fritballs and WOWZA - they clean up nicely! The green fritballs look great! The blue is great! The light blue is great! Oh yeah, FRITBALLS ARE GREAT! I can't wait to see these go onto the mosaic mandalas.
Then it is time to grout my tray. It is a pretty quick job using the Pre-mixed Laticrete grout. In fact, there is more time spent waiting between the steps than actual grouting and buffing. Next, I adhere four thick glass tiles to the bottom of the tray with E6000 to keep it off the counter where it might get wet. Then I set it up in the bathroom and show the lovely tile wall behind the toilet that inspired the simple mosaic tray project!
That's Putting It Together Ep. 115. Thanks for watching. See you next time!
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[@pmanzano4474]

This requires so much patience! I’m glad to learn about fritballs.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

It was hot and a bit back breaking to be leaning and careful at such a task! Easy but time consuming.

[@yvonneschimmel453]

You have tons of patience lol. You never cease to amaze me! Way to go!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

More like a crazy obsession!

[@lisabroussardjanuska6774]

Always wanted to know what fused glass entailed. I love how they are rounded on the tops and sides, so cool! Thank you for the Mr. Eraser tip!!! Your tray turned out lovely!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Glad it was helpful!

[@sundaysunshine2925]

You are an incredibly patient person ! Just loading the kiln look so labor intensive . Your work Is so pretty

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you!

[@cherylnull9890]

Wow! I love those frit balls.I had no idea they were that much work! The Mandalas are going to be Amazing! Your tray is pretty,looks great in your bathroom. Thank you again for sharing with us .♥️♥️♥️

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much! If you purchase frit balls online, you know the price comes from labor!

[@rupashukla5916]

Great job Julie though back breaking laying all those pieces in the kiln and then washing the beautiful outcome 👌👌👌👌. The blue tray from leftover tiles and grout was a splendid idea and added a touch of class to the sink counter!!! Can't wait for the Mandalas to start 😍

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you Rupa! The mandalas start this week!!!

[@j.c.7555]

I am thrilled to learn of frit balls. Always wished I had a kiln but I’ll look on Etsy. This video was so interesting as always. Thanks again Julie..you are always busy which I love seeing all your projects.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Sometimes a glass studio will let you pay a firing fee and let you use their kiln.

[@KC-fd3lt]

Love you tutorial videos. I always learn so much from you! Your artworks are beautiful!!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much!

[@carolhellmers465]

Huge mandala project ... I hope you have some good helpers! I love revisiting your videos to reminded me of some of your wonderful tips. Thanks so much for this amazing resource.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Aw, Thank you Carol! The 15 mandalas are much more work up front than the 3 last year. We have volunteers register for free so I have a good idea of what to expect as far as turnout!

[@yvonneschimmel453]

Those mandalas are breathtaking!

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thanks Yvonne!

[@yvonneschimmel453]

@@mazzonimosaics8222 yw

[@petertwining5729]

Enjoyed the video and your tray is perfect for the bathroom. 😊

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thanks so much Peter! I needed a fun project. 😊

[@laurafrustable]

Sooo much patience!!! But the fritballs look amazing! Loved seeing you break tile, because the project I am working on right now is tile. I always see you working with glass, so was nice seeing you use tile for a change.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I love using all the different materials, but I have so much stained glass that it has become my most used material.

[@maryp536]

Julie you are a patient woman, great job on the fritballs! Just getting started with mosaics. Thank you for your tutorials I have learned so much. BTW I’m right up the road in Suwanee.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thanks Mary. So happy they are helping!

[@RachelFields-if4bg]

You are diligent ❤ Beautiful artwork ❤

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Thank you so much 😀

[@debbieschoop-wilson3612]

What a great informational video! I have loved frit balls for years and amassed a collection of them until my aunt told me how to make my own. I don't have a kiln, but am wondering if I can make them in a microwave kiln? I am just getting started making mosiacs. Thanks for the tip of the magic eraser to get off the haze.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

Yes. I had a microwave kiln a few years before I bought the regular kiln. I never used mine very much as it was so finicky and batches were pretty small. I suspect others have had better success than I did though.

[@hotwireman49]

omgosh that tray is soooo cute! May i inquire about the kilns? are they yours? I'd love to make some frits too, but no kiln here.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

The big kilns are at an art center where I teach classes. I did purchase a small used kiln about a year ago.

[@elainefuehrer5739]

im a fused glass artist, and i was thinking u were gonna fuse the whole Mandalas. I do love how they came out. I work with Bullseye 90. I have a frit maker and pour them out of it into my kiln washed shelves. Still clean up of the balls is a must. your Kilns are awesome. i have 3 but nothing as big as yours. ive done a powder mandala in one color with a stencil. Where do u find your mandalas?

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I am using kilns from the art center where I work (I don't have a kiln right now.) I designed the mandalas using Adobe Illustrator.

[@ingriddean5333]

What substrate material did you use for your outdoor mandala project? They are very beautiful......

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I used Wedi board. I start them here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/robSZYhtbseZj7csi=LsLteZ0YLGXr1Tb7

[@timeenuf4200]

As always so creative. Didn't know what frit balls are so I'm glad you showed how they are made. So for those of us without kilns, can you recommend someplace to purchase frit balls? Again thank you for bringing all of us into your mosaic mind.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I have seen them available on Etsy - you can search and see what comes up. www.etsy.com/shop/ArtGlassandCrafts?ref=simple-shop-header-name&listing_id=1120311801 I've also seen some at Luna Mosaic Arts in the past. Lisa Bonin carries dichro frit balls, which are amazing!

[@donnadiesburg7451]

your music is too loud. I had to turn my volume down then up when you talk. So I unsubscribed.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

I’m sorry for your experience. I have set it at 70%. Maybe I’ll knock it down to 65%.

[@kathiekarancz964]

do you use double thickness glass for your fritballs? I did see that you did it for the purple ones but it almost looks like you didn't for the rest. Thanks again.

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

No. Single squares. I experimented on some of the purple because it was cathedral glass and I wanted opaque. So I put white down first and stacked it. It was somewhat successful in producing some usable purples.

[@tomjohnston7596]

What kiln temperature do you use for the fritballs? Can regular glass tiles be used or only stained glass?

[@mazzonimosaics8222]

To get the best results, use glass for fusing. COE 90 or COE 96. Otherwise the glass might devitrify and lose its gloss. My fusing colleague set the kiln for me, and she used a full fuse schedule for COE 96. Each kiln is different…