There`s no rolling this thing out, this carpet`s made of sawdust...

Dyed Sawdust. The creation of this is somewhat shrouded in mystery, but there are rumors that there is a powerdered pigment that is used. After the pigment is added, the mixture is then watered down and mixed. After it has been thoroughly mixed, it is laid out in the sun to dry. The final product is a very uniform, vibrantly colored sawdust.

Buckets and strainers. You will also need a large screen (like the kind used to find gold in a river). The more of these you have the better.

Stencils. These are made out of a thick chipboard or some other pseudo-masonite material. There are no laser cutters involved here. I asked Rolando if he used a compass or any other geometrical device. "No" was the answer, "All by hand". I`m pretty sure he just used a ruler and eyed the rest. Wow, impressive.

Wooden Slats. These are used as large streight edges to keep everything nice and clean.

Tunes (preferribly live).

Begin with the center stencil. Use a chalk line to lay down two vertical columns surrounding the stencil.

Use the wood slats to block out an area of the "background" of the center image (Be sure to make it square). Use a large screen to begin laying down the sawdust. Try to keep the sawdust contained to the area within the area outlined by the slats to reduce waste.

Pull up the slats. You now have your center "tile" of the alfombra.

Carefully lay the stencil onto the background. Use a small seive to add color to all of the areas.

Carefully lift up the stencil from your new image. Be sure to keep the stencil horizontal so that none of the excess sawdust falls onto your pristine image.

Be sure to take a moment to step back and feel proud.

You`re not done yet. ·CAREFULLY· lay down another stencil (more or less the negative of the previous one) back onto the image. This will fill in all of the areas not covered by the previous stencil.

Again, use a small sieve to add color. It is better if you use colors that sharply contrast the previous colors.

Step back and marvel at your beautiful center tile. Don`t get too excited, you have a long way to go.

Use the slats to mark off areas for the boarder of the center region. Use the large screen again to uniformly spread the sawdust.

Following your chalklines, lay down the next stencil. Block out the size of the stencil with the slats. Be sure to use the slats to carefully cover the boarder area that you just created.

Repeat the same step on the opposite side. Use the sieve again to lay down a background color.

Carefully lay down the new stencil onto the background. This stencil is for the flower petals. Begin coloring.

After coloring, remove the stencil.

Repeat

As with the center tile, CAREFULLY lay down the second stencil. This is the stencil with the flowers.

Keep in mind that colors do not have to be monotone. If you want to spice things up a bit you can add highlights and shadows to your flowers. This will add to the depth of your image.

Carefully remove the stencil.

Use the slats to mark out an area for the surrounding boarders. Use your trusty screen to carefully lay down the color.

Lay down the next stencil (same as the first) to determine the space required for the next column of tiles.

Use the slats to block out the area for the background. Lay down your background.

Repeat these steps to create the 3rd column.

Now create the tiles opposite the ones you just created. This will give you the implied area of the alfombra (minus boarders).

Add color and carefully remove your stencil.

At this point, if you have a large group, you can begin working simultaneously. While one team is stenciling, the other can lay down boarders.

Continue stenciling. At this point you should have the hang of it.

CAREFULLY lay down your next stencil to add your second layer of color. Remember to keep your pants pulled up.

After all of the corner tiles have been created, you can begin creating your big fat boarder. Note that boarders do not have to run the entire perimeter of the alfombra, the one you create next will only run on two sides. Think of it as a sort of "long tile". You will add more layers in the next step.

After the boarder is laid down, you can begin to lay down your images. In this case it is a group of flowers. Make sure that this stencil design is not overly simple because you will be repeating it.

Remember that there is no "I" in "TEAM".

Repeating the continuous string of flowers takes a bit of time. While one group is working on that you can begin filling in the missing center tiles. These will be the same as the large flower tiles created before.

Don`t give up, the hardest part is almost over.

Block out the area of the center tiles. Add the background color. Lay down your flower petal stencil.

Begin with the petal stencil again. As stated before, colors don`t have to be monotone. After laying down a solid green tone you can get a bit fancy and add a bit of black to your sawdust mixture. Use your sieve to add in the newly concocted black mixture to your petals. This will "shade in" the petals to add some depth.

While people are working on the center tiles, you can begin creating your outlining boarder. This will be made up of 3 different colors and will run the entire perimeter of the alfombra. The first part is the same width as the red boarders but is slightly darker. A big fat blue boarder will outline the maroon one.

Hurry up and finish the flowers so that the boarder can be created.

Continue creating your boarder.

You can use your stencil as a measuring device to keep your boarder at a nice and uniform width

The sawdust is very opaque. Don`t get too bent out of shape if you have any "runoff" from previous boarders or tiles, the Big Fat Boarder will cover your mistakes.

After the Big Fat Boarder has been laid down you can begin adding the details to it. Overlay your stencil and begin working.

A credit card is a good tool in a pinch. Lay it down over the openings in the stencil if you need to "end" a design.

After the somewhat tedious work detailing the BFB has been finished, step back and take a break for a moment. You are at the home stretch, one more boarder to go. As a way of taking a break, sweep up around the Big Fat Boarder, the next one will be thin and won`t easily cover up any runoff.

This is your final boarder. It is good if it is nice and bright to really call out the edge of the alfombra.

Keep the edge clean. Don`t be shy about pulling out your credit card again if you need to sharpen up the edge a bit.

Walk away from the alfombra, turn around, and take a look at what you`ve done. After 3 1/2 hours of work you have finally finished.

Don`t get too precious with your completed alfombra. Next week it`ll be swept up and it`ll be time to make a new one...

Load up the car, its time to go home. Your work is done for today, only about 40 more to go...