For years I have had a coaster on my desk at work. It is a glazed porcelain tile that I stamped, colored, and sealed. For years, that coaster has lived upside down on my desk. Why? I have a large mug that I fill halfway with water and freeze every night. This keeps my water cold all day. But when I take the mug out of the freezer, it sweats. Excuse me: it glistens. Whenever I lifted it to take a drink, the coaster would invariably be stuck to the bottom of the mug and a moment later would make its descent onto the floor with a clatter. Keeping it upside down kept the mug from forming a seal, due to the cork bottom When I decided to make a new coaster, I chose to use English bisque tiles available from www.baileypottery.com. These tiles soak up the moisture. ALL of it! And best of all, you don't have to seal your finished design! Now I can place my decorative coaster, right side up on my desk, and keep my sweaty mug from leaving a water ring. Before I started, I decided to experiment with several inks. I started with a trivet made out of the same material so I would have more room, and divided it into quadrants. In the top right corner, I used Brilliance Inks by Tsukineko. In the top left, I used Colorbox Crafter's Ink. I used Stewart Superior's Memories inks on the bottom right, and Studio 2 Ink Its and Stazon on the bottom left.

I used the Colorbox Stylus with the foam tips to apply the Brilliance, Crafter's, and Memories inks to the tile. For the Studio 2 ink, I used the Barr None wood block with Velcro hooks and a piece of felt. The Brilliance and Crafter's inks are easy to blend with the foam tips. Because they are pigments and take longer to dry, I found that I could move the color around and blend perfectly. The alcohol-based inks, Studio 2, gave a lovely depth, but I was unable to blend them. The Memories inks blended, but I was left with a defined circle of the foam tip.

For the pigment inks, I chose three or four colors for each section. I started with the lightest color, and as I added a color, I blended them together. I finished with the darker color, paying special attention to the corners. With the Brilliance ink, I used Moonlight White to go back over the entire area and pull it together.

After I finished each section, I temporarily set the inks with my heat gun. When I was completely finished, I placed the trivet in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. When it was cool, I ran it through the dishwasher to see if it could stand the stress. I'm happy to report that all four quadrants came out looking just like they did when they went in!

For a professional finished look to coasters and trivets, cut a piece of cork paper or fun foam ¼ of an inch smaller than your tile. Using Xyron permanent adhesive or a spray adhesive, adhere your backing to the tile.

I almost forgot the most important detail: Have fun and be creative! (Click on each image for detailed instructions and sources.)