FAQ

Yes it is. Return Journey Collection was created by Yvonne Oakes who had a regular stall at the craft market during the 1990s. The business is currently operated by Yvonne's grandson James with support from her son Steve.

Unfortunately not, however we are happy to arrange viewings at either our Hillingdon or Chertsey locations. Please give us a call to book a mutually convenient day/time.

To put it simply, yes. However we do not have retail premises, so personal visits are only possible by prior arrangement. Please give us a call to arrange a suitable day/time.

Due to the production process and minimum re-order quantities, we cannot guarantee when particular items will be re-available if stocks run-out. We suggest you drop us an email if the item you want is not available (support@returnjourneycollection.co.uk), and if there is sufficient demand to justify we will let you know.

Research & Design
• Research area.
• Take photographs of a variety of landmarks from varied angles.
• Select which buildings will blend together best for front design.
• Make rough sketches.
• Create final 6-colour design (black, green, blue, soft grey, mustard, brick red).
• *Create individual sheets for each of the 6 colours in black.
• Select additional buildings to feature as black & white sketches on back of plate.
• Write history for back of plate (information obtained from a variety of sources, libraries, local councils, local history guides/books, local history societies, local residents, and of course the internet).
• *Create final rear design sheet in black, incorporating additional sketches and written history.

Production Process
• A photographic negative is taken of each sheet
• Then a positive is taken of each sheet
• This positive is placed on a very fine mesh silk screen which is coated with light sensitive emulsion and exposed to ultraviolet light
• Where the light reaches the light sensitive emulsion through the clear parts of the positive, it is hardened and where the light is blocked because of the opaque parts of the positive the emulsion remains soluble
• These blocked opaque parts are then washed out to make the open areas of stencil.
• Each stencil is then printed in powdered glass onto a special porous paper, each colour being left to dry before the next is put on.
• When all the colours have been printed the paint is cover with a fixer.
• This the picture is complete, but now we have to put the paint on the plate!
• The porous paper is wetted and the paint, now held in place by the fixer only, is slid onto the plate. The fixer will be burnt off during the firing leaving just the paint.
• Now the plate has to be ‘fired’ so that the colour doesn’t come off when it is washed.
• They are stacked in the kiln overnight.
• The gold edge is put on by hand, and the plate is then ‘fired’ for a second time