After a long (too long) break I finally got back at this building. I received a lapel pin at the MFMR Convention last year. It was a little gold spike. As soon as I saw it I knew that I would use it on a structure. Then it hit me that Carol's Corner Cafe could be the Golden Spike Bar & Grill.

So the first thing I did was to drill a small hole in the corner of the building where I thought the golden spike would work well. With that in place I realized the building needed a sign. So I used a modified version of a process I've used in the past.

I used my scanner to scan the side of the building so I would have a base to put the sign on. I pulled the scanned image into my image editor (I use Photoshop, but pretty much any image editor will do the job) and cut out a section a little bigger than the area for the sign. I chose white text with a thin black outline since the white would show up over the dark brick. I sent the signs to my printer.

I cut the printed signs fairly close to the text and used medium grade sandpaper to thin the edges of the paper as thin as possible. Go slow with this step. I used too much pressure when the paper got really thin and tore one of the signs. I was able to piece it together when I applied it to the building.

Once the signs are (excuse the pun) paper thin, I applied a thin layer of white glue to the back of them and placed them on the structure. Use a little bit of force to spread out the glue and get good contact with the building. Too much force will tear the thin paper. Use a fingernail or other small smooth object to work the paper into the crevaces of the brick.

Because I started out with the scanned brick for the background you can hardly notice the edges of the paper sign.

Scott