Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Free Photo Tile Tutorial from Fabric Envy



I love to take pictures! I picked up a real camera (by that I mean a nice DSLR) in 2006 and have been hooked ever since. From the moment I heard the first shutter actuation I couldn't put the thing down! I wanted to take classes right away but because my hubby worked full time and went to law school in the evenings it wasn't possible. So instead I bought books, lots of books on photoshop, understanding the cameras mechanics, and became a member of online forms to perfect my skills. I practiced like a maniac and much like a writer writes each day to improve, I took pictures (hundreds of them) every day.

I started my photography business, Your Every Color Photography (named after one of my all time favorite songs by Train) four years ago and have enjoyed it so much! I'm currently only booking seniors as I've decided to take a break to pursue my fabric shop. Just for fun here's one of my favorite senior shots:





So why the heck am I telling you all this? This is supposed to be a "fabric" blog after all...
Because I've had lots of requests for tutorials and tips for better photographs recently. So I thought I'd start with a photo/craft project and perhaps in the future I can do a few posts on my photographing techniques, as well as photoshop tips.

Okay enough with my rambling! Onto the tutorial

There's really not much to it for these tiles. I've been making them for a few years now and they were always a hit with my clients. In fact, I taught a class on how to make these at a local Scrapbooking store not too long ago and we had such good fun together.

Here are the basic instructions:




You can download the PDF Here.

If you want to add embellishments like ribbon or scrapbook paper just cut them to size, and keep them from falling off by using hot glue or double sided stick tape on the back of your tile. You can also purchase small 4x4 tavertine tiles and make coasters or mini art. The possibilities are endless.

The image below is one I took of the Salt Lake Temple a couple years ago. I distressed it in photoshop, cropped it to a 12x12, printed it at Costco, and then made another photo tile. Sorry I don't have a pic of the completed project but it really is gorgeous.



And because I love my readers so much you can download the full resolution watermark free file Here.

Since I'm being nice to you, please be nice to me and not resale the image or claim it as your own. This is for your
personal use to decorate your home, or offer as a gift:)


Enjoy and Happy Valentines Day!


22 comments:

  1. The link to download the photo pulls up the "reindeer food" printable.

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  2. Do you actually use them as coasters for drinks? Will they be waterproof?

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  3. Sorry! The link is working now, and yes they can be used as drink coasters because the Mod Podge provides a waterproof seal.

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  4. What type of tile did you use; a ceramic tile?

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  5. I just used floor tiles from Home Depot. They run about 1.00 per tile so it's a really cheap craft. I wouldn't use slate or anything really textured because the lines/texture will come through the photograph. My favorite type of tile to use is the Tavertine tiles. The largest I've found is a 6x6. That's the type of tile the photo with my two kiddos holding hands is mounted on.

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  6. do you put anything on the bottom of the coasters to protect the table? for example, cork? and if so, how do you do it?

    p.s. I love this project - excited to try it!

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    1. Hmmm... love the idea of using cork on the bottom. I would clean the bottom with rubbing alcohol first and then use E600 glue--that stuff will stick to anything!

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  7. This is such an awesome idea & I can't wait to make this for a Mother's Day gift! Thanks for the tutorial & your story inspires me to do more "self-help" teaching of photography for myself. Thank you!

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  8. I bet you could seal these into a backsplash

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  9. The tiles you use do they have a glossy finish to them? If they do how does the mod podge stick?

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    1. As long as it's not a high gloss it should stick just fine :) Good Luck!

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  10. The link for the photos still does not work.

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  11. Love, love, love this project! We are searching for ribbon slides/buckles and not having much luck. Where did you get the ribbon slide you used on the first tile of this tutorial? Thanks for your help!

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    1. I purchased the ribbon buckles in the scrapbooking section of either JoAnn's or Michaels a few years ago. Hope you can find some!

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  12. Thanks for sharing! The link isn't working and I was wondering if you would be able to fix it. I would love to have the SLC Temple picture to put on a tile. Thank you so much for your time and sharing your talents!

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  13. So sorry the link to the Salt Lake Temple picture had been broken for so long--for some reason it just wouldn't work. Anyway it's fixed now! Good luck!

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  14. Would this work with color prints off of a printer?

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    1. I would like to know this as well I can't wait to try to make some fun fun fun

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  15. Thanks for sharing. Seems pretty easy so I'm going to try this tomorrow for a last minute present for my mother in law. I want to do a collage of her grandkids in black & white. I hope it turns out as well as yours.

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  16. Thank you so much! This is amazing! My mom will love the tile. I am going to give it to her and my dad for their anniversary. :) They were married there.

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  17. Hi, hoping to use this idea to make crafts to fundraise our adoption...are you open to trouble shooting if needed? Thanks, Nora

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