| Well, the best laid plans ... initially I was disappointed when I pulled my project out of the kiln, but really maybe it's best that it wasn't perfect so I can share with you my theories on what went awry. In the picture below you can see there was some "leaching" of the grout under the pieces of leaves. That's really OK because actually, we are looking at what will be the back side of the tile and I expected that. |
| What I didn't expect (but I did suspect) is that some of my pieces were too far apart and now they suffer from what I call "seperation anxiety" LOL! See that white line just above the border of the leaf? UGGGGHHH! That is a spot where the space was too big and when the glass was fused, the grout shrunk and there was not enough of it to fill the space. |
| 14. The good news is that this is not the "right" side of your project. If you flip the piece over, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see how clean and crisp your grout lines are :) |
| I know, I know, your saying, "but this isn't the smooth, shiney side!" I personally like the smooth, shiney look so I will go one step further and flip my piece and refire it using the same schedule. You may be happy with the textured piece just as it is and if so, congratulations, your finished. Now send me a picture so I can post it here for eternity. But honestly, I'm not happy with even the right side of my piece so I'm gonna keep chatting here and analyze what I think went wrong. This is a picture of the rough side of my piece. Overall I am happy with the mosaic pieces. BUT ... My piece seems to be riddled with bubbles! I have 2 theories ... 1. I was overzealous with my glue 2. My shelf paper was too small (I only allowed about 1/8" around my piece). I think the culpret was #1. I haven't given up yet though, I am going to flip-and-fire and see if I can't get rid of some of those bubbles. And if not, well, we'll just say it has "character" .... LOL! Hugs ..... Patti |
Fused Mosaic Tile Page 2
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