I'm Floored!!!

Well, almost.....I did the floor in the shop today. I have my own method of doing this. I am sure that others have come up with similar methods. This is just something that I figured out for myself over the years. Unless I find more of the"leather paper" that I have used for a long time, I may have to use another method. This is the last of the terracotta.

First I start with a piece of newspaper to make a template for the floor.

Next I trace the template on a piece of mat board or illustration board. It depends on which is cheaper. I used to get scraps of mat board at Michael's and Ben Franklin's. BF went out of business here a few years ago. This morning I asked at Michael's and was told that they no longer do the matting in the store. It is farmed out to someone else. So much for that source.

Anyway, I used a piece of mat board that I had. It's my last piece of that too. Oh NO!!!!

Some people like poster board and card stock. I don't. I like the heavier boards because I don't have any trouble with warping that way.

Next I took my favorite Ceramcoat hippo gray and smooshed it(technical term) all over the board with an old brush. As you can see, I don't try to get it even. In fact, I prefer it to be messy because the grout between old tile is never only one shade.

I then found the center front of the floor and measured out from there. It was 5 3/4" so I drew a vertical line from there and went 5 3/4" up. I then drew a diagonal from the center to that point to get a line to lay the tile in a diamond pattern.

I started by laying one whole tile on the center line with the side of the tile lying along the diagonal line. Then I placed another one directly above it on the line with a tiny gap between the two. I started building out from there one row on either side of the first tile. When I got to the bottom of each row I placed a half tile and let it dry. When it was dry, I glued it around the edge and to the back. This will create the front edge of the tile if any of it shows.

Here you can see the front edge. I haven't glued the floor down yet. I still want to do some color variation with pencil. It is too all one color right now.

As I went, I used a medium ball stylus and ran it along all of the seams. This is another reason for using the thicker board. The stylus creates a beveled edge on all of the tile and a depressed area where the grout would be. The way I do it there is no grouting. It was already done when I painted the background gray.

This is a close up of what the tile looks like when you are done. I sure do wish I could find more of this paper. It is really heavy and dense. The color runs all the way through. I found it years ago here in town at an art supply store. I bought all that I could afford at the time. It came in the terracotta, brown and slate gray. I still have some of the gray...Oh well. It was nice while it lasted.

I went to Michael's this morning for more DAS. With coupon in hand, it was about 4.oo for a 2.2# package. Not bad. That will do the inside walls and then some. I still have about a fifth of the last package left after covering the whole outside and doing the extra stonework.

Now that I have the floor done, I can do the bottom edge of the back opening with stonework too.

Real life calls. That's all for today. See you tomorrow.