Tile Experimenting (continued)

1st May - 9th May 2021

Tile trials - embossing tile lines.

I continued experimenting with the tiles that are going to fit the inside panels under the windows. I put one tile on a piece of corrugated cardboard for backing and painted some glossy varnish over it.  I think 3 or 4 layers. The ribbed corrugated cardboard shows thru (so that will not be an option for the backing) but luckily I was in a dollar store and found some white foam type material which should work better. I had to use a ball embossing tool to bring out the tile lines and press a little into the cardboard so I needed something that wasn’t too rigid to allow me to simulate that these are like single tiles and not just one big one. I think the white backing should work better than the cardboard.

Corrugated backing shows too much.

Anyway, it just took so long to make one tile I decided to try and find clear embossing powder. Easier said than done. There are no more stores dedicated to crafts around where I live.  Given that it’s still semi-lock down here, it’s not like I could wander around trying to find embossing products. No luck on line either. Amazon had one but it was like €16 euros which is amazing considering these things cost like under $10 in the USA. Talk about a rip off!  So, I had an idea - I had bought thru Amazon Germany in the past. Even with the cost of transport from Germany it would still cost less for a 25gr container of transparent powder.  So I ordered it off of them and it was delivered in under a week. Crazy! You would think during lockdown that stores that sell craft supplies would be stocking up. Weird.

Test fitting in the panel.

My idea was to use the clear embossing powder since it would be quicker than the varnish method and would look more interesting because it would not be a perfect surface. The idea is that these tiles are old and have been in place a while. So they cannot look new. I printed off all my tiles on a piece of photographic paper to get the colors as intense as possible.  I made a few tests on the crappy color prints just to see how the colors responded (the ink pen I have leaves a slight light blue tint so it’s not perfect for light colors) but I figured it would work.  

Printed tiles ready for embossing.

Clear powder on blue looks great.

 

 

You can see the blue hue on the white.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The transparent powder does a great job keeping the color but the blue hue in the glue pen was obvious. So, back to ordering another pen off Amazon.  This one is going to take a month to get here. Go figure. No problem - the time spent waiting will be filled with painting the panels white, something I am realizing is taking longer than I thought. 

I did finally receive the miniature cribbage boards I ordered though.  Pretty fun! So here is a pick of all the different board games I’ve managed to collect so far.  The baseball board game has been the most costly thus far.  It has all kinds of little game pieces inside.  And I have no idea yet how I am going to set up the Chinese Checker game - it comes with all the little colored rounds pieces! Maybe I will just have to fashion a miniature bag to hold them. Still missing checkers and backgammon board. Will keep my eye out for them.

Board games for the games cupboard

Cribbage !!

I’ve been making blueberry muffins lately and would like to try some different ones. Setting my sites on this lemon muffin recipe with buttercream frosting. Decadent.