To have mosaics around the home is a real treat, but owing to their richness, too many can easily overpower a room. This does not necessarily have to be the case. The understated design for this project is more suggestive than descriptive and the subtle colour scheme makes for an harmonius, quietly pleasing result and makes an ideal gift. We have mosaiced the second fingerplate in a slightly different colour scheme, so that you can see what a difference a subtle change makes.
If you wish, you can ignore the screws and simply glue the fingerplate to the door with quick-setting epoxy resin. Use masking tape to keep it in place while the glue sets.
Designer and maker: Rebecca Driscoll
Size: 30 * 7.5 cm (12 * 3 in)
YOU WILL NEED
Sheet of skim ply 30 cm Sheets of newspaper
(12 in) square * 2 mm Safety spectacles
(1/16 in) thick
Face mask
Sheets of A4 carbon paper
Template Rubber gloves
Sharp pencil 450 g(1 1b) of powdered grout
Tracing paper Bowl of water
Mixing board
Jeweller's saw Trowel
craft Knife Plastic grout spreader
Metal ruler
Drill Cleaning cloth
3 mm (1/8 in) drill bit
Vitreous glass tiles as Mosaic nippers
Liquid floor cleaner
shown right Abrasive cleaning pad
125 ml (4 ft oz) wood Eight 2 cm (3/4 in ) screws
glue in dispenser
1 Transfer the design onto the skin ply. Cut off the fingerplate using the Jeweller's saw for the curves; on the straight sides you will be able to manage with a craft knife and metal ruler. In each corner, drill a small hole 3 mm (1/8 in) diameter to accomodate the screws. Mosaic the main leaf, trying to get a smooth, clean, flowing line for the leading edge. Continue to mosaic the remaining green areas.
2 When you have finished the floral motif, lay a line of the soft background pink tesserae right the way along the edge of the fingerplate.
3 Fill in the background. Pepper the soft pink with the occasional mauve tessera to add a little texture. Once you have finished, leave the mosaic to dry for at least three hours, or until the glue becomes clear.
4 Then grout in the normal way. Allow to dry for at least two days before cleaning off the surface scum with the liquid floor cleaner and abrasive pad. When completed, screw or glue the fingerplate to a door.
SIMPLE MIRROR
An easy project for beginners, this mirror will liven up any bathroom. It also provides worthwhile practice at cutting and laying mosaic tesserae. You can either mosaic around the mirror or fit it in at the end when you grout the finished piece, as shown here.
The blue, green and white tiles which have been chosen here will harmonize with almost any bathroom decor, but do not feel that you have to stick to this colour scheme. Simply choose a range of colours that will match' your own bathroom.
Designer and Maker: Sylvia Bell
Size: 42.5 cm (16 1/2 in) square
YOU WILL NEED
Pencil
Ruler
15 mm (5/8 in) thick MDF board measuring 42.5 cm (16 1/2 in) square
Vitreous glass and gold-leafed tiles as shown right
Mosaic nippers
Safety spectacles
Large tweezers
Clear PVA wood adhesive
White grout
Trowel
Bowl of water
Rubber gloves
Grout spreader
Household cleanser
Cloths
Abrasive sponge
Pair of 'D' rings or
mirror plates and screws
1 Dark green (52 tiles)
2 white (143 tiles)
3 pale blue (44 tiles)
4 gold-leafed (4 tiles)
5 copper-veined dark blue (44 tiles)
1 Draw diagonals from corner to corner across the board to find the centre and mark out the area where the mirror will fit. Place the board on a sheet of scrap paper or newspaper and organize
your tiles. Cut triangular tesserae from the white vitreous glass. Run a bead of glue along one side of the board and mosaic the edge with uncut white tiles. Continue around the four edges of the board.
2 Starting with the corners, lay out the border tiles on top of the board, keeping to a strictly geometric pattern and making sure the gold-leafed tiles are correctly placed at the corners.
3 First glue down the coloured tiles, buttering the back of each one carefully and placing it symmetrically in position. Work your way around the frame, mosaicing the whole tiles. Then begin filling in the outer and inner borders with the white triangular tesserae.
4 continue filling in the borders until the design is complete. You may like to use large tweezers to tweak the tesserae gently into position along the inner border.
5 Use wood glue to fix the mirror in the centre of the design. When set (up to three hours), mix up the grout and water and carefully grout the mosaic area and between the mirror and the mosaic, taking extra care around the edges. Leave to dry for two days and then clean off and polish the mosaic using the household cleaner and water. Fix 'D' rings or mirror plates to the back of the bound and hang on your bathroom wall.
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