I did manage to make it through this weekend's grouting day with just a couple small (but deep) slices on one finger, I consider that a rousing success after my previous attempt left me mangled for a while. But I do think I will wait for these to heal up a bit before doing my next batch - I have 9 waiting to be grouted right now. It takes a massive toll on your fingers, not just the risk of getting cut on glass edges but the grout also dries out your skin violently. I've been soaking in lotion ever since, and my fingertips still feel parched.
In case you are looking to get into mosaics, but don't quite know what to get, here is what I use:
For grouting I use this Keracolor stuff, since it's what I used in my class and it works great. It's powdered and you just mix with water in an ice cream bucket, definitely worth the savings over pre-mixed grout and you can make only what you need for that "batch." They have a million different colors, so far I've only stuck with "biscuit" which is pretty much white (along with 30 other colors of white). It comes from the tile aisle in Menards - it's absolutely the same stuff you do bathrooms and backsplashes with. That's also where I found a little tool that looks like this:
This little sucker is awesome, it spreads the grout but it's rubber, so it also helps remove the grout from the glass pieces - wayyyyy less to clean that way, which is a HUGE time saver! Best impulse buy in a long time :)
I can't wait to get home and start some more BIG mosaic mirrors!
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