HOW TO MOSAIC TESSERAE OF DIFFERENT THICKNESSES | Use the Correct Adhesive and Tiling Method

In today’s video I’ll show you how to use a variety of tesserae of different thicknesses to create a level mosaic surface. We’ll talk about how to combine tesserae such as smalti, stained glass, beads, glass tile, porcelain, vitreous glass, ceramic, millefiori, glass rods, glass gems, stone, and much more into the same mosaic. It’s all about the adhesive, and a few things you need to keep in mind while tiling. As always, LOTS of tips and tricks throughout.

SKIM THE VIDEO:
00:00​ - INTRO
00:56 - DIFFERENT BUT EQUAL
02:25 - IT’S ALL IN THE ADHESIVE
04:19 - TILING DIFFERENT THICKNESSES
07:29 - QOTD
08:00 - BLOOPERS

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ALL ITEMS USED/DISCUSSED IN THIS VIDEO:

ADHESIVES + GROUT

SUBSTRATE

TOOLS

TESSERAE

JULIE’S FAVORITE MOSAIC TOOLS
→ GLASS CUTTERS*

JULIE’S STUDIO BACKGROUND - MATERIALS ORGANIZATION:

[Artsrock]

Your videos are so good! I find you explain details clearly and address so many issues others forget to include in their instructions. I just subscribed thanks so much!

[neeshabhika]

Thank you for this video. i have just completed a mosaic using different thickness of tesserae - wish i knew this technique when i was mosaicing it.

[KathyDeboer]

Thank you Julie you just answered my question and saved my mini masterpiece

[j.c.]

Great video Julie! I was so glad to see the subject as video was very helpful! Keep ‘‘em coming! Thank you!❤️❤️

[rupashukla]

Very very educative and informative 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

[caronstone]

Hi Julie great video and yes I have done a couple of projects with different thicknesses of the glass and I used thin set to level but on a table I did I left them uneven but coated with epoxy to make the table even and usable!

[carolinanadel]

Great video! Very informative! Lovin' these!😊

[MsK-xmvw]

I immediately thought you were going to give a "reverse mosaic" lesson. I did some gardening vases and small pieces with your method years ago, but I found it too persnickity and frustrating. These days I do a lot of reverse and double-reverse because of the type of work I do. Guess what? Now, I'd be in Heaven to just build my piece this way...lol
The grass is always greener eh! 💁😃

[lisabrand]

Great video Julie! Can you please tell me what adhesive you would use to mosaic on the back of a metal pan?
Thanks in advance :-)

[patsyw]

I have a 10 inch porcelain cat my mom give me 45 years ago. It's nose and one ear is chipped so I was wanting to mosaic it. What kind of prep do I need to do and what glue would work best? Thanks for all of the great videos Julie!

[Krrypton]

Working with tessere of different thicknesses is definitely one of the cases where the easiest way is to use to so-called "indirect" method for making the mosaic – i.e., assemble it upside down on some adhesive surface (traditionally, water soluble glue on paper would be used, but something like those adhesive sheets for printing labels will do just fine), pour over and level the cement (or whatever other adhesive you're using), let it cure, then flip the whole thing over, remove the sticky paper and... Ta-daaa! You get a perfectly level surface with much less effort. The only thing you need to keep in mind and pay attention to is that your final product will be mirror-flipped with respect to what you see while assembling it.

[pattyrdh]

how much silicon needs to be applied to mosaic tiles

[montanaweaverkim]

Hi Julie, thanks again for another really informative video. Question…. When using mesh I try not to use too much adhesive because when I finally adhere the piece to a wall I want the thinset between the wall surface and the tile to squeeze through the mesh to securely fasten the piece to the wall. In the video when you use so much thinset on the mesh to even out the tile heights how does this work when adhering it to your final surface? It does not look like there is an opportunity for the thinset from the wall to squeeze through to grab onto the tiles. Does this question make sense?

[arlenebain]

I really appreciate this video, because all of my mosaics are all different heights. 😟 I have never used thinset, don’t know where to start. You mentioned Mastic, would that be better to start with? I hate to buy 25 pounds of thinset and not use it. It’s expensive for my tiny budget.
Thanks so much for sharing with us!

[kenlong]

my tiles are not smooth on the bottom. Grout simple Fix ready to use work?

[alfreda]

Please can you say what type of adhesive you have used on this video ?

[summerholmes]

I just ruined a great idea by trying for the first time to use thinset to build up thinner pieces in a mandala. It was sad.