Simulating stained glass....

 27th March - 3rd May 2022

After finishing up the grouting of the tiles, I began to tackle the windows. I read in the instructions that the inside windows would be installed last (the roof is all windows so that needed to be installed first) but since I was planning to add some stained glass panes to the windows, I decided to find some images to print out.

I found quite a few Googling under “window film”. There are many companies that produce these films that can be applied to your own windows to make them appear as if they have been painted or whatever. One company - Art Scape - had beautiful images. So I copied a few (yes, will tag them here)and made a trial printout on a page of acetate. Honestly, it came out better than I’d imaged! 

Trial inkjet print

But since acetate on an inkjet printer can be difficult, I decided to wait a day at least to be sure the ink was dry before trying to apply the acetate sheet onto the window. The building instructions indicated that although both sides of the window panes are protected by a sort of film, only one side is actually acrylic. I was very confused by this. But I had to trust their instruction and waited till the acetate film was dry to make a test run on inserting it between the acrylic pane and the wooden frame. Just like real stained glass, the printout has layers of color on it so I had to make sure the external image is the one giving a full color experience to the viewer. Which is opposite of what you usually find in a stain glass pane.  It should look its best from inside the structure - where the viewer gets the full benefit of sunlight filling the pane and reflecting it through to the inside. But since I plan on lighting the inside, I want the windows to look great from the outside as it'll be the first thing the viewer will see. So, a few days later I checked out the acetate sheet and sure enough the ink wasn't dry. That meant I had to spray it with the clear varnish spray I had used for the water decals. Course, it left large drops here and there. Not too stressed over it since I sort of like the look of pebble glass window. I placed the lemons at the top of the panes and glued them into place (kinda messy, I admit). I like the look honestly! Very subtle.

Cutting down to size with the Cricutter

Positioned....

...and glued in. Looks ok.

But I thought it could look better. So decided to give the decal option a go.

Total waste of time. I printed the stained glass images on the decal paper, sprayed the fixing spray with drying time over two days and cut the images to size. 

They are quite bigger than the plate decals obviously but since they were no problem getting them to slide off the backing paper I didn’t think it was going to be a big deal on these either. My idea was to slide them on to the sheet of acetate and then cut them to size for the windows. But they just wouldn’t slide after soaking. Even the smaller images of the lemons for the top were a throw away.

Soaking the page...

...failing to slide it off onto the acetate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, I gave up with the decal idea and went directly to having the images printed on the acetate sheet but using a color laser jet printer. I went to the local copy center and had them print them off for me. Two sheets €6.00 but the result looked promising. 

Professionally printed on acetate.

I used new cutter to shave off millimeters at a time from the images so they would fit into the window areas. I ran into problems getting the window panes to fit in but that was more from my previous gluing attempt which forced me to do some clean up before I could actually install the windows. Best glue to use here was UHU rapid glue. Which worked great! Using a toothpick and a tiny drop in the corners was enough. I like them but they do look more like a curtain/film than actual stained glass.  I think I’ll just leave these for now and see if they grow on me before doing more. I do want to install the lemon tree window pane though.

Positioning the acetate film.

Outside view.

Inside view.

You can see the brick “wall” I am creating in these pics but more on that in my next posting.

And here’s another article on the Bizzarria story. I actually saw a “cedro” at our local flower show about two weeks ago - and I was tempted to buy the plant. It wasn’t a bizzaria but it was a very ugly lemon! I’d just end up killing the plant anyway.

Completing the panel tiles

16th March - 22nd March 2022

I started making some trials on the foam to see how I could finish up the external areas not covered by the larger center tiles. I used the paper folding tool and made tile indents then tried some gesso on it - and some gloss varnish on top. The gesso made no difference so I applied layers of gloss on the areas that I have “carved” out of the foam. I had to do that before actually glueing in the tile image. The foam tends to absorb the varnish so I had to carefully layer it till I got what could pass for a tile that’s been in place for a while. I had thought about using the embossing sand on the foam but since it would probably melt under the heat gun I rejected that idea. I think they look fairly realistic tho.

Shaped fake tiles - using varnish for shine.

Positioning the larger image.

Finished image application

I then applied the other square tiles in their spaces and used my paper tool to emboss indentations to simulate the tiles’ junctures there too. I was careful not to press too hard otherwise the paper might rip (which it did a little on one tile). 

Simulating grout indents between the tiles.

I didn’t really like one of the larger tile designs but I had printed out a very large one that could be cut down to size. But, I had to emboss that one image and size it to the space. Of course being such a large design it took me a few passes with the embossing powder and heat gun to get it covered and even then I missed a spot. I mounted it onto the base and pressed in the grooves between the tiles and touched up the missed spots with my varnish. I think it looks ok. 

Covering the image withe embossing powder.

After heat gun application

Cut to size and positioned.

While doing that, I figured there had to be a way to make the tile indentations look grouted. So I ordered off Amazon some white ink ball point pens. Only after reading lots of reviews did I decide on the Uni-ball point instead of a gel pen or brush pens. I didn't care if I had to pass over the tiles more than once - I just wanted to simulate grout. These pens worked perfectly! The only down side is obviously you can see where the tiles were not spot on straight in some of their positions. But that’s ok. I like them anyway! 

Testing the grout lines on my test tile

You can see the "grout" lines penned in.

And onwards to "grouting" the rest!

Here is another blurb about the Bizzarria - and it also mentions the villa at Castello where they managed to bring it back.

Placing the Tiles

January 4th - 14th March 2022

I have been gone a while. Too much going on in real life between my annual preparations for Halloween, then our small Thanksgiving feast in November, then of course Christmas. I had been distracted a little doing other hobbies (like crochet) and then work issues. I finally got let go from my job (the Italian state wouldn’t let them fire me till 3rd January - after a year!) and promptly found another job less than a week later. That’s good. Then my husband caught COVID - that’s bad - and I managed to avoid it for a while but had to quarantine at home. Which would have been good but I had to cook and constantly sanitize everything because my 84 yr old MIL decided to do something which caused her to fall and break a vertebra - very bad - and I was helping out with her. A week or so later, I ended up with the virus along with my son and MIL (so now at least my husband could take over for MIL - that’s good). Consequently I ended up on sick leave for another week. Bad.
Anyway, brand new job and I lost a full two weeks of training in my first month. Didn’t matter anyway. I got interviewed (Zoom- I was still in quarantine) and offered another job more suitable to my skill set so I quit the job I had for this new one and should be starting it soon. Turned out I have not had a lot of free time to screw around with my mini project. Oh well, I’m back now.

I had promised myself that until I finished painting all the panels of the green house I wouldn’t embark on any other things for the project so, I can say at least, that I finished painting the panels. I made them white and decided I will age them up a bit on the outside. But I’ll do that once they have been screwed onto their bases.

Finised painting the panels both sides.

I began by cutting out the embossed square tile sheets I had made some months ago (I bought a brand new cutter - a Cricut one - that works really well and better than the circular blade type cutters) that would fit in the square spaces of each panel - 12 total. I also cut out the foam core material that I had bought ages ago (stumbled across really) to fill the spaces and give the idea of actual tiles inside the the panels. I preferred the flush kind of look instead of just the thin piece of paper against the wood - didn’t look very tile like to me. Gluing them in place I found it better to apply the glue to the foam core and then position the tile on top of it. That way the paper wouldn’t curl during application. Worked out fine.

New Cricut cutter - so far a valid purchase.

Cutting tiles down to size.

I had made a template to cut the foam core.

I used my paper craft tool to fit the tiles flush to the edges.

Next was working out the center panels. I had some larger tile images that I would use there but they really didn’t fill up the entire space. So for now, I’ve positioned them and will think about how I’d like to finish the space around them. Maybe with the foam core and simulate a plaster or tile like surface? Will mull it over.

Working out the center panel placement.

Here is another site with info about the Bizzarria lemon. The more I read about it the more I am sure I want to call my tea house/limonaia Bizzarria.

Lessons learned. Plates done (finally).

12th - 28th September 2021

Crochet project....

Sorry for they delay in the final installment of the lemon plates (finally, right?). Are you sick of these yet? I was distracted by making a crochet pouch and a handbag. Learning new stitches is fun too.  Yes, I have too many hobbies

...had learned a new stitch.

I ended up buying the decal paper off Amazon after looking at more reviews of different kinds of decal paper for inkjet printers. Altho this one cost a bit more, the reviews were better.  

The tips were pretty simple and I’ve added my own here :

• Print the images to the size you need (look up how to size your images - I use Pages on my Mac which gives me the exact dimensions of an image when clicking on it and sizing) on optimum dpi (at least 300) and high quality paper setting (they even say use glossy setting if you have it). Remember that any part of the image that is white will remain clear on the decal. So if you are applying a decal on a white surface it will be white - if you are applying on a surface that is off white or a different color, it will be that color.
• Spray a finishing clear acrylic sealant on the image. Be sure to let each coat of sealant dry thoroughly. Make at least 3 coats and be sure to spray moving in opposite directions between each coat. Be sure to let it dry even for the day after to be sure the colors will not bleed out. Try not to have droplets form. I sprayed my sheet inside a box so as not to spray everywhere in my attic room. Make sure you have windows open as the spray is quite smelly and toxic.
• Cut the images as close to the edges as possible. I made my first test on the tiles and the edges were easily turned overlapping on the bottom edge (if you don’t let it dry a bit, the decal will rip so be careful).
• Drop the decal images in room temp water wrong side down (the paper I bought has the brand logo on the wrong side). The decal will curl while the underside paper absorbs the water.  I expected from feedback on the product that it would be very difficult to remove the decal but it wasn’t - just wait long enough for the paper to become softened and unattach from the decal side (I noticed the whole decal just starts to sink). I did notice a little bit of bleeding in the water but only when I had moved on to the next step.
• Cover the surface where the decal will be transferred with water. I used a brush and made sure there was enough water on the surface to be able to manipulate the decal into position. Course it matters how you position from the get go - do your best to get it right the first time so you don’t have to manipulate the position of the decal so much. It took me a few tries.
• Use your moistened fingers to delicately push down the image a bit to get it to confirm to the plate and remove any air or water bubbles that may have formed on the underside. If you put enough water on the top of the decal while doing this, there should be no bubbles eventually under the decal. Be careful no to push too hard on the surface as it will tear.
• Let the decals dry sufficiently before adding any kind of further sealant or gloss finish.
  

Printed page of plates on decal paper.

Spraying the page inside a box to minimize the mess.

 

Floating the decal

Decaling each tile.

Finished tiles. Will use them somewhere in the house.

Plates. Less successful ones on top.

First trial. You can see where the decal rips and folds in places.

I did my best on some of them trying to get them centered but not all went perfectly. I am using permanent colored markers and acrylic paint to finish the edges a bit and the backs where I want them to be colored. I brushed some a gloss varnish for shine front and back.

Painting the back of one. The plate was not smooth anyway.

I’m fairly pleased with the final result and now have a bunch of ideas of things I can do in the limonaia house with decals.  Perhaps on the windows or even sections of the walls? It was worth learning this. I had a lot of fun with it.  Next, back to the painting and construction of the limonaia.

Finished plates thus far.

Three that I like the final result.

More lessons - making my own inkjet water decals....

August 29th - 1st September 2021

Continuing with the plates.

Now trying to figure out a way to make water decals. Why you ask? Because I only need them for this project and spending up to €18 euros for a package of water decals seemed excessive.  So, attempting to  manufacture my own decals.

I found a tutorial eventually (forget the english language errors in this video) and basically the idea is to print out the design, seal it with nail polish (normal polish, not gel), let dry and then scrape the paper off the back. The nail polish hardens into a sort of film. The other option was using clear packing tape (which I did find but will have to try out - seems too thick for what I need) so I’m going with the nail polish test.

I had some clear nail polish already in my hobby stash so after a few others posters online giving me tips I started covering the plate designs with layers of polish. The Della Robbia plate (dark green) was probably going to be easier since there is no white in the plate but the other designs have white in them and when I get to the point of removing the paper backing - which is white - it may not look right.  So I was curious to see how much detail and color is left in the design. 

Applying clear nail polish on the printed designs (normal paper)

After covering the images with many layers of nail polish, I soaked them in warm water and tried to scrape off the paper from the back of the image with a tool. Didn’t work at all really. I scraped one of the della Robbia designs this way and most of the color came off with the paper, so I used just my fingers and rubbing worked better. The only problem there is that very little detail remains. So, I tried a design with lots of white in it.  

Soaking the designs, paper side down.

Crappy scraped result....

 

 

 

 

 

 

It had soaked up quite a bit of water and while “scraping” the back with my fingers, I realized that the image was getting very soft and malleable. 

You can see how thin the decal can get.

This means that I don't even have to clean all of the paper completely off the back - the “decal” is flexible enough to try and apply to a plate.  Basically, it softens up and dissolves out a bit of the paper backing so I can mold it into the plate.  I used varnish on the first plate test and applied the design - but it was so quick to dry I couldn't even adjust or center the decal the way I wanted to.  I let it dry a little, then tried a bit of clear nail polish to see if that would stiffen and make the plate solid enough to sand. But the reaction between the varnish and the polish wasn’t a good idea - I picked up the plate and a layer of the nail polish stuck to my finger… OK, will just let that plate sit untouched and harden as much a possible.  

The Della Robbia plate decal.

The della Robbia plate was working out much better till I tried to rub the decal into the plate’s indentations - I had used the nail polish to apply the plate here and it softened the first layers of the decal. So a little of the design scraped off a bit while trying to get it to conform to the plate.  Still, the nail polish is the best bet - I could center the design no problem before the decal started to dry in place. The designs are a little bigger than the plate (millimeters) and I thought I should trim them but turns out, it’s better to just fold them around the edge when they are still a little wet. 

You can see the messed up one and better version

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The finished Della Robbia plate

And so, here is my learning curve :

Left side yellow one is decoupage, middle is using varnish for glueing, and last one using nail polish.

Left image is before soaking. Middle is the decal.

And after all of that, I am still considering buying a sheet of decal paper.  The whole process washes out so much color (or maybe because I didn’t “seal” the inkjet paint before layering over the nail polish) that decals may be the only way to get the intense color I want. You can see how much color comes off the decal during scraping in the foto.

I did find someone who sells pages instead of packages - course, by the time I purchase it and pay for shipping it’ll cost just as much as a full package.  And the more I think about it, I realize I can probably use the decal paper to decorate some of the smaller tiles instead of decoupage. I just may end up being successful with these little limonaia objects (which will be so small that no one will realize all the testing I’ve gone through to make them ! Haha!)

UV Gel Plate tests

 August 9 - 15th 2021

Continuing with the UV gel plate tests and have had quite a few failures.

First thing was to try and find some cheap semi-permanent nail polish that hardens with UV light. I did find some white paste like gel at the dollar store (altho it cost €8.79 euro for 30ml - not a dollar) and still needed to be mixed with the clear gel I bought specifically for this (10ml for €9.00) so that product is not quite the right thing, but the plate test did come out a bit better. So my next test involved using some nail polish that I found at the local mall. I bought some white polish and made a plate from it no problem. Didn’t even need to add any of the UV clear gel. It hardened under the UV lamp in under two minutes. Next was to try and add in the design.

First thing I lost around two days installing a new printer. I had to test the printer to be sure I could install it on my Mac (which is pretty full) and that went no problem. Then I had to find some ink jet cartridges for it. My old printer works fine (even nicer than this one) but the HP cartridges are hard to find now (not making them anymore) and at €49 for two, the newer printer and it’s cheaper cartridges (€34 for two) makes it a better choice. I am not a huge printer of things but when I print out mostly for my mini stuff I need the color printer. So I’m hoping these will last me a few months at least. After having removed and re-boxed the old one, I printed off the labels on normal paper high dpi on the new one and they’re good enough since I will be applying other medium on top of them and they will lose a lot of details anyway. I attempted to use a new clear UV gel sandwiching the plate design between that and the white nail polish but when you squish the plate mold the white overflows into the design in front. Not only, seems that this gel is really only good for adhering the semi-permanent polish to fingernails and not as an outer layer. So will have to continue to use the pure white nail polish to make the plates and find another way to add the designs. First fail.

You can see the difference from plate one to the mixed medium plate. Better but not perfect.

Trying sizing on the design into the silicone plate mold.

How the design would eventually fit in.

Full white nail polish result from the mold.

Result after hardening - the white invaded the top side of the plate - so, not acceptable.

In the meantime, I wanted to also run a test in adding color to the white nail polish. I used a green chalk pastel to the white but also this was a failure. The ratio of powder to liquid makes the nail polish too diluted to harden sufficiently. I ended up re-enforcing the underside with the specific gel I bought for the silicone molds and coaxing the plates out of the mold. Even after many minutes under the UV lamp, the plates just weren’t hardening sufficiently, so I added a little to the top too. I don’t think these green ones are salvageable - no matter how much I add on top the inside is still not cured (even after leaving over night and back under the UV lamp the next day). Fail two.

Mixing the green pastel chalk...

...under the UV light for hardening....

Nada, this was a throw away trial.

I figured the problem was the thickness of the actual liquid in the mold. If I put too much polish in the then it cannot harden thru - especially when I’ve corrupted it with pastel.  To test this, I filled a mini croissant mold to see if the polish would harden thru. I put it under the light for around 3 minutes and it did come out ok - seemed hardened thru. But I tried to sand and shape a bit a bigger one and it cracked and gel oozed out. Not hard enough all the way thru. Back under the lamp till they harden up. It was just a test anyway since these molds are actually for use with Fimo type clay, not really with the UV gel. So, thickness makes the difference. Pseudo fail.

Croissant mold test....

...after curing but still not solid all the way thru.

The next test was using acrylic paint to color the white nail polish instead of chalk. So I added some yellow acrylic paint and two drops of the UV super gel then used a paint brush to dose out the amount of product in the mold. It took a few tries to fill it sufficiently. When you squeeze the mold it fills areas too so once it seems covered I stuck the plate under the lamp. I eased it out of the mold on one side, under the lamp again then eased it out the other. Success! The trick is the acrylic paint. Seems it doesn’t inhibit the hardening of the gel. But still, once I started to sand down the plate I found areas where the gel was not hardened completely. So still, not the best solution.

Filling the mold with colored gel polish....

...result after sufficient hardening.

The learning curve. From first to last plate.

Lessons learned so far? If I want intense colored plates, I’ll have to paint them after making them.  It’s way too much work and waste of the product to mix the white polish, acrylic paint and drops of the super UV gel. It’ll be faster if I make all the plates white and apply the designs onto them. The whole point of making these plates from a mold is because I was not able to find white ones that are this thin and delicate looking. So I think I am on the right track! Next step - finding a way to make my own decals to transfer the Amalfi type designs onto the plates… we will see how that works out…..