Ok...it's gonna be fine...first off, what type of glue are you using? I take it you're doing a vertical piece? Some glue will hold the glass on right away even if it's wet, but with others it'll slide around. I can link you to the one I use that works perfectly with glass on glass vertical things.

To answer your other question, it doesn't bother the grouting process to have some glue coming out. If it's coming out so far that it's raised above the glass your glueing, you might have some exposed after grouting...which you may not prefer.

I don't think it matters how you apply the glue...at least not with what I use.

Is this your first project?

Hope this helps. Maybe somebody else can help you with regards to the glue.

I think it sort of depends on what you are gluing to what and what you are using for glue.

I use the silicone and for me it is easier to glop out a small pile on a piece of paper and use a small knife to spread it on the back of the tile,glass whatever you are gluing. I try to cover all of it but not so much the silicone builds up outside the edges to fill in the grout lines. When that happens the silicone dries in the grout lines and needs to be cut away carefully. Tedious for sure.

Once the silicone is spread on the back of the tile I do try to set it in place and push down to seat it and hope to get the glue to the edges of the tile. If it is glass and you do not fill the edges with glue the grout wants to creep under it and can be seen later. I have that in a couple of places on my mannequin. Bummer but I am not perfect and neither is she.

For me I try to pinch a little corner of the tile between my fingers back butter the rest of it and in setting it down try to then cover that little corner I was holding it by with a smoosh.

I can understand your frustration. The first time I tried it I had silicone all over everywhere. Baby wipes work great to clean it off your fingers and tops of tiles if you can gently wipe them before the silicone sets up too much with out disturbing the tile placement. Your call. Sometimes I can do this and sometimes I can't.

You will get the hang of what feels right for you. We all seem to do it a little different.

Chris

I'm a smoosher, myself. I tend to get silicone everywhere and it takes forever to clean once it dries (ask my fingernails!)

I'm getting a litte better at not making a mess. This is just me, but when I butter it on I don't seem to get enough and have falling off problems

Maria

yes it is my first mosaic project and yes I am freaking out!!! *laf* I'm just doing a small frame and maybe that was a mistake doing something small..

Anyway I started using weldbond because that is what I had on hand and because the space was so small it was sorta running out and around so I used a paint brush, to put it on the back of the pieces of glass and it really didn't matter on any of the pieces except the clear blue glass that I used for water and now I can still see either the glue or the brush strokes?! It worked perfect everywhere else I haven't glued everything down yet because the pieces are so small and i was getting glue all over my fingers and all over everything so I used up what I had put in a bottle cap then stopped. I'm glad I stoped!!
So will the weldbond eventually turn clear where you won't be able to see it?

So now what should I do? Go buy GEII and if I do? What do I put it on with? most of my pieces are hmmmm lets say aprox. 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch.

And thanks Lisa and Chris for helping me out! And the baby wipe tip!...I have a box that I forgot to put in a baby shower gift now I know what to do with them!

I'm doing some very tiny glass pieces and am using
tweezers and a glue syringe with the GEII...
can you say tedious!

a glue syringe??!! what is that and where might i find one?
do you think it would help so i won't see the glue and is it hard to get it all over the back of the glass so it is completely coated?

Weldbond turns clear when it's dry.
Hang in there chic!!

I wear an old sleeveless smock when I craft. When I glue and get some excess on my fingers I just wipe my hand on the smock, otherwise all my clothes would be ruined by paint or something.
When you use Weldbond I find it helps to put some in a plastic dish and let it sit about 15 minutes to get thicker. Once it thickens then I use a sponge brush and paint it on a section and then I plop my tiles on. The glue will usually allow me to slide my tiles around if necessasry. Sometimes it dries a little too fast so I just apply more glue to the area and continue.
It does take time for Weldbond to dry clear though, depending on how much you applied it could take several weeks to dry clear. It would also help if you lay the frame down flat to work on it. When I did my flower plaques I applied the glue to the edge of the plaques and laid it flat on the table and then I applied the tiles to the edge. I use a plastic tablecloth on my table so I don't worry about any mess on the bottom side. I found I can usually handle it in about an hour to glue another area.

Barb

thanks Bama and Barb for the words of encouragement!!

But here is another questions!?...

Do you plan out what you are going to put on your item first and then go back and glue it down or just do it on the fly with glue as you are planning it?

Sometimes I do but I find if I try to plan out too much than I would never get anything glued down! A lot of my things I just start glueing!

Barb

I just like to smear glue on an area and plop pieces down in it. (you can see me in Kindergarten can't ya?) and yes I wipe everything on my clothes, paint, glue, silicone, thinset... I have 4 pairs of jeans and they all display different colors and textures.

jlynn, Weldbond will dry clear. What is the substrate that you are using? If it has a shiny enamel finish, you might want to roughen it up a little with very fine steel wool. I use 0000 steel wool just to roughen the surface. With Weldbond on metal and glass, I first coat the surface with full strength Weldbond and let it dry (about 30 minutes). Then I put glue on each piece and place it down. I often use a cheap little paint brush to brush the glue on my pieces. Hope you find success!

i must really be a spaz then!! because I laid every single piece in it's place and now i'm freaking out because i'm moving them when i'm trying to pick the other ones up to put glue on them...oh my gosh i'm going to have a heart attack before i get half way done with my first little frame...what a dork!!

Live and learn Jlynn, you are niether a spaz nor a dork. you'll make up your own shortcuts as you go along OR you'll do what I do - drive yourself insane and whine on this forum.

and no, the column is not done yet...

plan - yes, I plan very carefully, then do something totally different!LOL

Sometimes things don't look as I visioned, or I can't cut the glass the way I'd like or I get those "What was I thinking moments"

Half the fun is that your project evolves as it goes along

I have a lot of old towels around

Maria

nice - i think i was insane to begin with so i'm really in trouble!! and i hope y'all don't mind the whining, i would hate for y'all to get tired of me in two or three days!!

laughing at Maria...so that is what i did wrong...i kept going with the same idea!!! going and looking for towels now...

Feel free to whine. We all do

Maria

I LOVE this thread. I was MIA yesterday - REEEEEEEEEAL BIZ-ZEEE, and I'm having a laugh this morning. This paints a picture of a frazzled beginner, and, I'm sorry, y'all, it's FUNNY. It's like an experience I once had watching birds fledge. I'd watched the Momma Bird/nest/hatching/brooding/feeding and now it was fledge day. Those little birdies were sitting there on the first branch or two, and all the birds in the yard were chirpping, screetching, whatever, saying "c'mon, you can do it". It was like in Bambi when Thumper was cheering the baby deer on saying "C'mon, you can do it". Well, excuse my lengthy message - I DO get carried away. C'mon, JLYNN, you can do it!

Weldbond is my favorite adhesive. Flat surfaces are the easiest to use, so if your frame is sloped, prop it till it's fairly even. Sometimes I put the glue on each piece, sometimes I put the glue on the substrate. I find I don't usually have to wait too long to handle the project. Make sure your glue is thick enough to "catch" the glass or tile.

My method is to have a plan, start the project, and then usually make a whole bunch of changes. On most projects, I like to cut-as-I-go. I really am not good with using all squares or all triangles.

I can tell you, I did a table top with waves and I used a cobalt/clear swirled glass. I painted the table first because I knew the glass was clear in spots. After the weldbond dried any pieces that I had not completely coated showed glue lines. Live and learn. The glue will be clear in the end though.

You are absolutely not whining. I bought books and got started. Every time I had a problem I'd spend hours on the internet or in the books for help, but I didn't know about this great forum! Finally, I just did it, mistakes and all. I jumped on 7 or 8 small projects in a row using scrap glass from ebay. Within a few weeks, my confidence had grown.

Every project still has mistakes, oh well!!! Enjoy yourself, it gets easier... until your projects get more complicated! Good luck! I can't wait to see a picture of your frame.

i havent been at this for very long but can tell you that sometimes the peices do like to move on you especially on a peice thats not flat but no worries you will make it work and even if it doesnt turn out perfect it will still be worth it in the end when you look at what the finished project you will have a sense of pride in your work of art
i tend to like the smooshing technique too it works pretty well but i usually do have to do a glue clean up before i grout something i have found that works pretty well for tough glue spots that dont want to come off is non acetone nail polish remover it seems to be just strong enough to loosen the glue

laughing with slow...yeah just call me bambi!!...well i did try GEII and i have that stuff everywhere!!! but hey you cant see anything underneath it...but oh my it sure is a lot messier than weldbond...

thanks for the tips and the luck bugster i'm crossing my fingers that those other pieces will eventually dry clear!

and yeah shelly it sure is a good thing it doesn't have to be perfect!! because i have to go and re-cut some glass, now for some reason it doesn't all fit like it did before the glue..*shrug* guess i moved some of it...

thanks again guys y'all have been great i'll take a picture as soon as i'm done gluing and before i jump off the next cliff(grouting)...so just in case i kill myself y'all will be able to at least see what i've done so far...laughing as my husband looks at me like i'm nutz!!