I thought I would share a few tips and ideas that I have discovered while practicing the art of broken china mosaics.  Some of these could probably be applied to other art forms, etc.

1.) I have found when I am applying porcelain flowers that have been broken or cut from other items, it is always best to wash them with a mild detergent and a soft fingernail brush to remove the years of grime, dirt, dust, smoke, etc from them BEFORE applying them to your piece.  I have been working on a teapot lamp with lots of intricate flowers, beads, pearls, buttons... which brings me to my second tip.

2.) A good way to keep your piece with intricate nooks and crannies clean is a soft clean paint brush or brushes.  Simply dust those places with a paint brush.  I use multiple brushes in different sizes, firmness, etc.  They work really well.

3.) When I grout my pieces, I add a small amount of Jennifer's MosaicStone Cement to my dry grout mix and then use a wire wisk to thoroughly mix it in before adding water.  It firms up my grout, as well as giving it staying power on untiled edges. Be careful if doing a large piece as it also shortens the open time you have to work with the grout before it gets too firm to work with.

4.) One of my most indispensable tools are my painters pallet knives.  They are very flexible and thin enough to use for virtually everything.   They also work well in finishing your edges and giving them a nice clean look.

5.) For the most part, I mix equal parts of unsanded and sanded grout together for a smoother look.  Especially when working with smaller or tighter projects.

6.) I buy the thinnest, least expensive, disposable sponge brushes I can find buy the dozens and use them for everything from spreading a thin coat of WeldBond to applying sealer, etc.  Depending on what you are using them for, often they are reusable. 

Well, that's all I can think of right now.  I am sure I forgot a few, but I will add then later, as I remember them.

Feel free to add any tips or tricks you have.  I look forward to hearing them and thanks for sharing and letting me share.

Remember when shabby meant inexpensive or something given to you by your mother to use in your playhouse?  Now you practically have to have a degree to know what is shabby and what is just junk.  People are fickle, aren't they?  I am tempted to say that the whole shabby community is really like the popular girls "click" at high school.  Try as you may, one can not simply throw some dishes on a table and call it shabby.  There is a fine line between shabby and shoddy I have found by trial and error.  Likewise, too much perfection will also push it from shabby to another piece to add to the seller's personal collection.  I have found that even if it is not too shabby, shoddy or perfect, it still will not sell.  Which brings me back to the "click" thing again.  Don't get me wrong, once your in, your hooked, but be prepared to spend a lot of cash and kiss a lot of butt, before seeing a return on your buck-LOL.

I am one of the oh so many, who said "I could throw some plates on some furniture and sell it on ebay".  It is not as easy as that.  Even if you buy the precut china tiles, it is only by trial and error before you realize that you are going to have to spend some more money for tools, and some time to try to get the proper instructions before spending more time to ask the right people the right questions when things go wrong, thnen spend more money for better tools, a better camera, and then some more time on learning to take pictures that are even remotely similar to the item in "person", and then some more money for fees, improperly calculated shipping fees, shipping boxes and materials, and if you use paypal, double the shipping fees for a couple of days before they remove the hold on your funds.

In retrospect, I think it would have been more inexpensive to have just paid the couple hundred dollars on ebay for a mosaic done by someone else.  But could I have bought the stress released while working on my mosaic items?  Not on your life, I am a an addict for mosaics.  I love it and I believe that is the only reason anyone should do broken china mosaics.