Friday 24 April 2009

One Step foreward , Two Steps back!!


In the words of that song 'Rip it up and Start again!!'
Last night I was close to tears, I really wanted to get on with the floor, you know what its like when you cant wait to finish something. Our youngest daughter whos 2 was creating and winging so I should have just left it, but I started to mix up the paint. I wasnt thinknig or concentrating and before I knew it I was happily slapping on a much too thick mixture of a much too dark a colour paint!! Straight away the colour completly obscured the lines of the tiles, you just couldnt see the tiled effect at all. So I tried to lighten it but that just hid the tiles even more. Then thew worst mistake i could make. I tried to damp it down to lift the paint!
At first as I dampened and then used tissue to wipe off the excess it seemed to be working and the paint was lifting, but then so did the cardboard off the tiles!!!
DISASTER!!!

The card just disintergrated and I was left with a soggy mess in one corner. I probably could have saved it somehow but I'm funny like that, if im not happy with something, it just has to get ripped out, and start all over. So I soaked the lot and peeled it all off!
A waste of 500 tiles, a days work, 2 pots of glue, but live and learn!!

So Ive answered my own question.....' Should I paint the tiles first....answer, YES!!
Now I will paint all the tiles, the larger ones terracotta, the smaller ones black, and then repiece the jigsaw of a tiled floor back down again.
Better luck next time.
Now Im really worried about starting on the oven incase I mess that up. Wish I was more confident!

And as for poor Sweeny and Mrs Lovett, theyve only been moved in one day and their home is a demoliton site!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Off to do more scraping!

8 comments:

Marsha @ Tattered Chick said...

Oh, Kate, been there, done that . . . ah, yes, listening to that inner voice is sometimes difficult to do BUT your new floor will be fantastic! :)

Katie said...

LOL...I had that kinda day yesterday too...But like You said that's how we learn! Just think of how good you will be when all is said and done....
:)

Judy C said...

Don't you just hate having to redo what you started. But as usual you will do a super job and you learned something in the meantime.

Debbie said...

Oh Kate what a shame, after all that hard work. Why don't you get some graph paper measure out the floor, cut and paint your tiles and stick them on the graph paper and then stick the whole thing on the floor.
I'm sure Sweeney and Mrs Lovett, won't mind the mess for a bit..

P.S Hope Johns on the mend..

Cate and David said...

Been there done that too. I guess anyone who creates has eh?
A couple of years ago I had spent 4 or 5 months gluing tiny pieces of glass to a sheet of paper - a glass mosaic of a blue poppy - and the technique was a reverse adhesion. After it was all completed, a bed of grout was made on the backing board and the tiles and paper laid into it. After it was sufficiently set, with a wet sponge I soaked the paper and glue of the tiles to reveal the mosaic...tragically, the bed of grout hadn't been thick enough, and the tiles started popping off in clusters...then altogether...and it was lost. There was nothing for it but to scrape the gritty, dirty mess into a bucket and carry it to the sink where I started washing each (rather expensive) little bit of glass free of grit. I was too desolate to cry. But after an hour or so of washing I gained the conviction that I would create it again and this time it would be better. :) Learning is sometimes a tough process. It's always worth it though isn't it? (hug)

Whittaker's Miniatures said...

Thanks so much for your support Marsha, Katie, Judy, Deb and Cate and david!. I did feel abit sick yesterday and close to tears. Silly really, but yep like you Cate I thought, 'scrape it all up, bin it, and start again and this time it can only be better!!!' she says hopefully!
Debbie, thats exactly my plan, good minds think alike, Im off to buy the graph paper tomorrow then if everything goes wrong I can just bin the paper and not have to scrape it all off the floor! In the mean time ive been painting the oven with much better results, fingers crossed!
Lots of hugs to everyone for your kindness, and I hope I have something presentable to show you in a few days
xxxxx
Oh and p.s Johns still very sore. He was extremly lucky as when he got the pains in his leg he went to the hospital who gave a scan and said no blood clot. But the next day he could hardly breath and he saw our great GP who sent him to a specialist who scanned him and showed a huge clot, and some had broken off and gone to the lung.Next stop could have been the heart, and then, you cant think of the outcome!!! So thanks to our doc he had instant treatment and now this foam treatment to rid him of the vein. he has to keep moving but wear a sexy stocking..god he'll kill me for telling that!!!
xx

MiniKat said...

I hate when that happens. *hugs*

At least you have more knowledge... of course it takes time for the sting of disappointment and total frustration to go away.

I know the next version of the floor will be more fabulous that the first was. You're just that good. :-)

Creager Studios said...

So sorry for the mishap Kate... I think we have all been there with one thing or another... Lessons learned...digested...cataloged and filed... never to be visited again...that's the way I always look at it...

Hugs,

Jodi