Why mosaic kits can be a great way to learn
Estimated time to read - under 3 minutes
It has been full systems go on mosaic kit production recently. It’s almost like I have my own little Santa’s workshop, complete with elves to assist me, although I’m not sure my teenagers, who are helping me, would be willing to dress the part!
But I guess, when you think about it, it is not surprising that the kits are popular. Here’s what I’ve come to learn about kits over the past year or two, as I’ve been designing and assembling them.
They are great for beginners
If you fancy trying mosaic art for the first time, there is such a bewildering array of materials and techniques to choose from, that it can be hard to know where to start. A kit gives you everything you need to try things out and see whether it might be something you want to do more of.
There is less wastage
When you are buying supplies for a project it’s fairly inevitable that you are going to end up with more supplies than you need for your project.
Materials are usually sold by weight, and although you might only need a few tiles of each colour, you will probably have to buy a bag of each. The same goes for tile adhesive. Small projects might only need 200-300g but the smallest bag my local tile store sells is 5kg.
Kits are designed to give you just the right amount of materials for the project (with maybe a little to spare), so you don’t have to worry about ending up with extra supplies that you may not use.
You don’t need to come up with a design
Getting started on an art project can be the hardest part, and figuring out the design can be a challenge. With kits, that part is done. You know what you are making and how it might look, so you can just relax and enjoy the making part.
You get shown what to do
Most kits will come with instructions, whether that is video instructions or written ones. Either way, not only are you getting to enjoy making something, but you are learning at the same time.
Basically, kits can be a great introduction to the world of mosaics. But there is also quite a bit of work involved in putting them together.
First of all, there's the design development. Fortunately I have various ideas that I think could work nicely for a kit. I have started with the slate explosion/starburst design as this was extremely popular when I ran it as an online class.
Next is the scaling up. For any design, I need to make sure the materials are going to be relatively easy for me to get hold of in bulk. It’s one thing to have enough materials for my personal use or to teach small group classes, but putting together a large number of kits is a different thing altogether.
For example, for my current kits I have been using big bags of slate chips from my local garden centre. In the past few months I've got through about six 20kg bags of slate chips. Other kits might involve using other types of slate/stone, for which I’ll need to find a reliable supplier.
Once the materials are sourced, I need to figure out how much of each I have to include in the kit. There should be enough to make sure people have what they need, but not so much that there is a lot of waste. This involves some experimentation, including doing a couple of practice runs to make sure the quantities are right.
Finally, once I’ve got all that sorted, I need to record and edit an instructional video, showing people how to put the design together. I also like to have a few people test the kit to make sure it will all come together as planned.
Oh, and finally, finally, I need to train someone how to put the kits together so I don’t have to!
At the moment I have a single design available in kit form, which you can buy or pre-order through my online shop. However, I hope to develop more designs in the new year. If there is something in particular you would like to see in a kit, let me know in the comments below.
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