Muni's Outdoor Mosaics Workshop

Hi guys!

You may remember that we attended one of Muni's workshops back in August (here's a link to the post in case you missed it - Muni's mosaic workshop). We had such a good time that we put our names down for her outdoor mosaics workshop, which we attended a few weeks ago. 

This time, the workshop was held at the Thistle Drive Centre in Stanground. The workshop room was spacious and bright; perfect for crafting! And it had a cool shabby-chic-style little café there too, along with some other outbuildings where other craftspeople have workshops. 

There were nine participants, including four mother & daughter pairs, which was nice.

Once again, Muni was very prepared for the workshop and also made sure she brought along some biscuits - just has to be done 😀to keep us well fuelled throughout the workshop, which ran from 10.30am through to 4.30pm. 

In this workshop, we were able to choose slate hearts, stones and terracotta dishes to decorate. Muni explained that she had already provided the porous items with a sealant beforehand (diluted PVA glue) to ensure that the tiles would stick to the surface. Again, Muni brought along some of her own pieces for reference purposes.

Samples of Muni's work

Muni went through all the equipment that we'd need and explained how to use it all. It was pretty much the same as for the previous workshop we attended, but instead of using PVA glue to stick down the tiles, we'd be using silicone sealant, as this is waterproof. You can also use an exterior-quality tile adhesive or cement.

Some of the equipment

We then set about choosing our first piece. I chose a terracotta dish for my first piece, and Zakiya chose a rock. 

Terracotta dish and rock

Muni then provided us with some tile cutters and some tiles on a paper plate. These are the tiles that we practised on. This part was very similar to the last workshop, but it was really good to go over the techniques again - especially the one for cutting petal shapes, where you have to cut and then "nibble" the pieces into the correct shape. It is harder than it looks!

Tile cutters & a selection of practice tiles

We set about practising our cutting. First cutting simple straight lines, then diagonals and then creating petals, and finally a circle. Zakiya is really good at cutting circles; I'm not so great at it.

Some practice cuts - nibbled circles and petals

Muni then explained the various types of tile she had brought along to stock her tile "sweet shop". It really is like picking out pretty little sweets, and there was a lovely selection to choose from.

Tile "sweet shop"

Having selected the items we wanted to decorate, we then worked out our designs and chose the tiles we wanted to use. Zakiya opted for some pastel shades for her rock, and I pushed myself out of my comfort zone (I usually head straight for the blues and ocean tones) and went for some autumnal colours.

Zakiya chose pink, green & white for her rock

Throughout the day, Muni kept us topped up with tea & coffee, and there were plenty of naughty biscuits to be had. It was nice to chat with the ladies and find out what they did for a living, and what other hobbies they pursued. There were also times during the day when we were all concentrating so much that chatter was at a minimum and you could have heard a pin drop. 

Zakiya makes a start on her rock

I did cheat a little with my first project, the terracotta dish, as I didn't have to cut many tiles! I was able to use some of the tiny squares for the rim, the larger squares for the upright edge, and then a combination of large and small circles for the majority of the base. I did have to cut a few of the circles into semicircles in order to fill some of the gaps, and I managed to find a few autumnal-coloured millefiori beads to squeeze in there too. So I was able to finish my dish quicker than expected.

The first section of my terracotta dish

Adding the circles to the base

Speeding along with the dish

During the workshop, Muni walked around and provided assistance or advice where needed. Muni's been creating beautiful mosaic pieces for many years now, and she is able to envisage how the piece will look once it has been grouted at a later stage. She is therefore very quick to see where there is too much space on your piece, and, just when I thought I'd finished, she would swoop in and inform me that I'd actually have to cut some extra tiles to fill the spaces ... hmm. So I had a little more work than I thought and duly cut some extra little pieces to fill up some of the spaces. We had a good laugh about Muni being on the lookout for those extra gaps that need to be filled - you can't hide them from her 😂!

Hard at work - but there are biscuits, so that's all good!

It was very easy to lose track of time, and lunchtime was upon us before we knew it. This gave us the opportunity to take a look at some of the other studios and craftspeople on the site. It was also nice to see some of the artwork that had been created in the room the day before, as there had been a batik workshop there which had resulted in some really lovely pieces of art.

Having completed our first mosaics, or at least to the stage where they would need to dry for 24 hours prior to grouting, Zakiya and I decided to decorate slate hearts. Zakiya chose a design that followed the heart shape itself, and used an interesting combination of pastel oranges, white and blue - which worked really well! I reverted back to type and chose my favourite seascape theme, decorating my heart with two swathes of round tiles made up of various blues and white, and including different sizes. I even managed to pop in a few millefiori beads again 😉. 

Zakiya drew on her design before she started adding the tiles

Zakiya's design was simple but very effective

Zakiya's completed heart, just waiting to be grouted now

I do like the blue palette with the odd drop of white

My heart ready to be grouted

I did have enough time to quickly decorate a stone, but I'm not all that happy with the outcome, as my petals are a bit on the sharp side! It's more of a weapon than a decoration!

Needless to say, we'd had a thoroughly enjoyable time. Zakiya and I did have to leave before the grouting demonstration; but we'd seen that at the previous workshop, so we knew what we needed to do at home. 

If you remember from the last blog about Muni's mosaic workshop, you have to leave your pieces to dry for 24 hours before you can grout them. Therefore, Muni provided us all with little bags of grout in our preferred colours, so we could take them home and do the grouting (the messy bit!) once they were dry.

Ready to take home and grout - not sure why Zakiya's slate
heart isn't shown here, but you'll see it completed in a later shot 

The grouting process was pretty much the same as before, and we made sure that our table was covered with plenty of newspaper, we had ready a jug of water, some recycled take-away tubs, a few spoons (make sure you wash them off quickly afterwards), some rubber gloves (we use nitrile gloves, as they are thinner than standard washing up gloves) and a couple of old credit cards.

All set for grouting

The process of grouting requires you to mix your grout powder with a little water, to achieve a toothpaste-like consistency. Unfortunately, as I'm used to mixing glazes for ceramics (which require a cream-like consistency), I got a little carried away this time, took my eye off the ball, and managed to create a soup! This meant that I had to apply my "soup" to the piece and then let it dry for way longer than the 20 minutes you're supposed to leave it on for before you start cleaning it off again 😐.

Powdered grout

Zakiya did hers properly (of course), and achieved the perfect grout consistency. I must remember not to put too much water in next time ... 

Zakiya's slate heart covered with grout

You are supposed to leave your grout on your piece (it looks hideous, but don't worry!) for around 20 minutes to set. After that, you need to get a damp sponge or cloth (Muni cuts up old T-shirts for this), making sure that you rinse it out thoroughly so that it is just damp and not wringing wet, and then start to clean the grout off the surface of the tiles, and also along the sides, so that there is no evident residue. You also smooth down the grout lines at the sides of the piece. You must NOT dispose of the water down the sink or toilet!!

Once you've left your grouted pieces to set for a further 24 hours, you take a little neat floor cleaner and use the green side (rough side) of a dish sponge to polish the pieces and make them look lovely. Muni also suggests that you varnish the edges and backs of the pieces with coloured or clear woodstain or varnish. Although the grout is exterior quality grout, once it is set you can also spray the grout with a sealant for extra protection.

As before, Muni provided us with very clear instructions on how to grout our pieces, but also gave us a link that has details and pictures to help us if we needed extra guidance.

Here are a few shots of our finished, grouted pieces. I love Zakiya's slate heart and rock. They are so neat!

We've got the mosaic-making bug, and we'll definitely be enrolling on Muni's next outdoor mosaic course, as this time we'll be making a bird bath! Can't wait!

For more information about Muni and her workshops, you can follow her on Facebook, on Instagram, and on Twitter. 

One of Muni's stunning pieces

Keep crafting x 



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