Slate Grave Marker

I got a piece of slate (a used walkway slate) and painted it with white primer. Then I printed pictures of Oreo on the computer. I mixed white glue with water and made decoupage glue. Then I decoupaged the pictures onto the slate. After that dried I put several coats of clear acrylic on. Now, after about several weeks we can't even see her pictures. They are almost completely white. What did I do wrongSlate is a very porous rock--it is used on the bank of the lake to keep the land from washing away. So that is probably the problem--it would take weeks in the sun with no moisture on it for it to completely dry out. And laying it back on the ground after drying it out would cause it to absorb the moisture again.

Sorry about that!

I asked a landscaping friend about what type of rock you should use. His suggestion was that any rock is porous, but if you dried it out and sealed it with an exterior sealer, it might work. But warned that the sealer would break down after a couple years and would have to be done again. He said that even marble was porous to a certain degree and would need a sealer before you put a photo on to decoupage it.

The same is true of wood--seal it first, then put the photo on and seal that.
My thoughts on the matter are:

Find a flat plastic clear lid, cut the photo to fix inside the lid (leave the edges on until after the decoupage has dried), pour a good thick coat of decoupage glue over the photo (the lid will keep the glue from running), let this dry thoroughly then cut the edges off the lid. Use a contact cement suitable for outside weather to glue this to the rock. This should hold up to the weather and the moisture of the rock better than the photo laying on the rock.

Good luck!



mawmaw



The 'white' was the softened decoupage glue. Even if the slate had been sealed first, decoupaged, then sealed again that still may not have solved the problem. Decoupage glue is not weather resistant and it changes properties when subject to changes in weather or extreme weather conditions. It will turn white or cloudy when wet, damp, or exposed to extreme heat (constant sunlight). So even with the proper procedure as above with a sealant over the entire project it may still turn white or cloudy if exposed to prolonged weather conditions or the sun baking down on the top coat. And with the sealant on top of it, it will hold moisture or heat longer taking it even longer to revert back to it's original clear state.



Decoupage finish is not meant to be used on outdoor projects. If you still want to decoupage, I suggest using Plaid's Royal Coat Decoupage Finish. It's the hardest drying decoupage finish I know of and use it often. Use light coats - just enough to glue your paper to the slate and just enough to cover it to protect it from the final finish.



Plaid now makes an outdoor decoupage finish but it too will change properties temporarily when exposed to changing weather conditions then revert back to it's original state when cool and dry.



Another suggestion for the same project would be to use a liquid resin. That will seal your prints and will survive the weather. Good luck.



Flo


Thanks, Flo! I went and look at my decoupage bottle and it is the Royal Coat Decoupage Finish--I have always used that brand and kind (never paying close attention to the label). I use it for for all my decoupage projects and never have had any problems. Now I know why!

And I had forgotten about resin! Used it back in the 70's for lots of things, but nothing in the later years.

I appreciate the information! Makes me remember some things that I had forgotten and also to read the label of something that I just took for granted!



mawmaw