Free tutorial! Polymer clay mosaic tiles galore...

Hello fabulous,

For years I used to make polymer clay mosaics.  I don't know if you've heard of Laurie Mika and her fabulous book, Mixed Media Mosaics?  I was smitten and used some of her techniques for making my own boxes and frames.  I have made many, but I got burned out on making them.  They make great gifts!  I took photos of the process, but I struggled to get good pictures.  I will post them anyway since the mirror I worked on is done.

 

I didn't get pictures from the tile making process, but you knead a block of polymer clay and roll it flat like cookie dough with a rolling pin.  The slab should be about 1/8" thick.  I then use rubber stamps, old buttons, charms, and found objects that make good indentations.  I cut out the tile with a polymer clay blade.  I put the tiles on a baking pan and put a same-size pan on top, bottom up, like a lid.  I secure the pans together with binder clips and bake in the oven per manufacturer's instructions.  Carry the pans outside, release one of the clips and slide top pan open to release fumes.  I like to use Sculpey III, but I'm sure Fimo and other brands are good too.  I tried self-drying clay for a batch and it was very difficult to work with.  You can use any color clay since you're going to paint over the tiles, but black will make the tiles darker. 

 

Here is a close up of the jewelry charms I baked into the clay.  They add bling!  These are the tiles after one coat of paint where I usually fill in all the indentations and wipe off the rest.  Looks messy at this stage....

This is a mirror frame.  I took out the glass part and painted the frame front and back with black craft paint.  It seals the wood and also adds "tooth" to the surface, which makes it easy to adhere the tiles.  Attach a sawtooth hanger on the back before adding the tiles.  There are sometimes holes for hanging, but it's difficult to use those and get the mirror straight on the wall.  (At least I find it so..lol.)

 

Same two pictures in different light.  This is the second coat of paint.  I usually smear it on with my fingers.  I try to vary the colors to get more tiles to choose from for my project.

Third coat of paint, which is embossing powder in different colors that I also smear on with my fingers.  I use Perfect Pearls.  See how it all came together?  Now the tiles don't look messy at all, but handmade for sure.  Embossing powder smooths everything out and adds a nice highlight to any ridges.  Where there is white shining through from the tile, I usually go over it with a paint pen or a fine brush, or fill in larger areas, like the purple star and sun with more of the same paint.

 

A basket of yummy tiles!  Now my mirror frame is dry too and I sand the edges.  Then it's time to match up the tiles for the design. This is the fun part...  It can be painstaking, but I have never done a project that didn't come together just perfectly. :)

When the design is done, I put the tiles in order on the table and spread LOTS of glue on one area at a time.  I use Aleene's craft glue, which works great, but Weldbond is also a good brand of glue for mosaic tiles.  For the wings and heart on the center piece, I used E6000 jewelry glue, which is heavy duty.  I really like my pieces to be solid.  Where there are small gaps between the tiles, I pour in a string of seed beads.  It adds bling and gives the piece a finished look.

Finished!  I painted the edges with good black acrylic paint.  I also like to paint the back one more time to make it really look good.  I sign it on the back.

Are you willing to try one of these?  It's not hard, but it looks hard. :)  What are you working on now?
I have a sale going on in my etsy shop, 20% on everything until 12/31/14.  Check it out.. http://etsy.com/shop/greeneearthoriginals
xoxo
Maria

Mosaics galore!

There are many ways to skin a cat as they say (what a nasty saying anyway...)  There are many ways to put together a mosaic.  I'm a "controlled" addict of mosaics. :)  Some will mosaic anything as long as it doesn't move.  Christmas is coming so I've been making boxes after a long hiatus, and also some mosaic mirrors.  Some are with stained glass, some with broken china.  The boxes are going to a local shop, and the mirrors are going up on etsy.  Not easy to ship mirrors since they are both heavy and fragile, but maybe?  I need to make more boxes to put on etsy and artfire, but I have to say I've been lazy keeping new things in the shops, due to the writing frenzy that I went through lately.  Well, rewrites are A LOT easier, so I'm on the home stretch with those, and I'm really happy with the story. 
The weather finally "broke" here in Florida and the evenings are cool.  Yay!  It's weird to wear pants again.  It was so nice today that I washed my car and detailed it, yessiree.  I deserve a medal or something. :)  It's something that doesn't happen often enough--car washing.  Never ever received a medal, but I remember a few gold stars.
It was a gold star kind of a day today, no procrastination, no excuses, no whining or swearing, a "just do it" attitude.  Aren't those days great?  They should happen a lot more often.  By the way, my car looks like new!

What a deal!  The small boxes are only $32.  Can be personalized.

Smoky blue....

Live from the heart!

Follow your heart!  The only way to live...

More stuff...got really busy all of a sudden...

Gotta deliver some boxes and mirrors to a shop locally where they sell pretty well. Also got a project done for one of the chapter prompts from Taking Flight, Kelly Rae Roberts' book on collage and mixed media. I belong to a group of creative souls on a ning network: On The Wing and we work the projects in the book. Great fun and also challenging! Everyone's style is so different even if we're "sparking" off the same project.
This latest mirror states that "all we need is love," --to take a line from The Beatles. I made a rather large picture frame as well "sisters" "friends." We are all sisters, and hopefully friends as well. :)

I'm seeing stars...

Did another star mirror with polymer clay tiles, and this one proclaims that You Are A Star! We all are, one way or the other. I've been busy doing anything BUT art lately. I did knit another handbag, this one in reds and yellows. Will post a picture soon.

I had a leak under my washer and it destroyed the subfloor, so now there's a smelly mess in the laundry area... aargh! Not fun, but things happen.

Arabian Nights...

As opulent as any palace mirror comes my purple and pink mosaic mirror. I like over the top colors and mosaics, could you guess? Sorry about the pictures, but the full picture is not good.

I've been busy researching print making of my originals, and it's interesting. I haven't really found any print that has come out just the way I want it, but I keep trying... If you have any great sources for prints let me know.

TIME FLIES...WHERE DID THE LAST WEEK GO?

Time really does fly, doesn't it? I've been moderately creative in the last week, mostly painting polymer clay tiles. I've made two smallish mirrors, and here's a picture of one: It has many of my preferred colors: blue, turquoise, purple, silver, bronze, gold. Gaudy, well, duh! I like gaudy (on mirrors.) :)

I made some new cool tiles by blending several colors of clay, but I don't have a picture of that yet.

It's been raining like crazy here in FL, so I'm happily looking at the weather from my cozy studio rather than to be drenched. It does happen at times, though. Got my rubber flip flops for those times when I have to wade through 5" of water...

Ciao!

BAILEY SAYS: "LAZY CAT WHO DOESN'T CREATE..."

.....BAILEY ACTUALLY SAYS: LAZY CAT LIKES TO SLEEP"...

Well, at least he knows what he wants. I think he's lazier than Garfield. However,

I have not been lazy this weekend. I created a polymer clay tile mirror and a inspirational box! Bailey slept through the whole thing... Did you know you can use cool buttons to make patterns in polymer clay? Anything that has a dramatic surface makes a good imprint. Sometimes I even embed small charms and figures in the clay. As long as it can be baked safely, the sky's the limit! The paint adds dimension and interest to the surface. You can't go wrong, really, as long as you stay with colors that compliment each other to cut down on the "busy" look that can come from too many mixed patterns and colors.