That's me holding my Silberschnitt pliers — one of my favorite tools in this post. More on those below. In Part 1, I introduced the tools I hand every student on day one — the kit that, once mastered, gives you everything you need to mosaic a church floor in Italy. If you haven't read that one yet, start there. This post is for what comes next. Whether you've taken a class and caught the bug, or you've been making mosaics for a while and are ready to invest more intentionally

Every mosaic class I teach starts the same way — before anyone touches their project, we spend time with the tools. I introduce them in order and everyone practices on scrap glass I provide. The looks on their faces when it clicks — when they realize how simple this actually is — never gets old. And that's usually when I say it: "You now have everything you need to mosaic a church floor in Italy." I mean it. The basic mosaic toolkit is small, affordable, and surprisingly powe

If there were a 12-step program for glass collectors (because "hoarder" sounds too judgmental!), I might need to sign up. There's just something irresistible about a vibrantly colored sheet of glass calling my name. This issue, I'm sharing where I find my favorite materials — and why my students secretly benefit from my problem. My Local Dealer I can't say enough good things about Big M Glass in Tacoma. There's always a great variety of colors, brands, and types of glass, an

By the time you're ready to grout, you have hours of time — and possibly a decent amount of money — invested in your piece. So it makes sense that grouting feels terrifying — you're about to smother the whole thing in dark goo. I compare it to going around the dark side of the moon. You lose contact with ground control, and everyone just hopes it comes out okay on the other side. Here's the good news: you don't have to guess. Test before you commit The dry grout test is exact