Miss Ink Stamps Woodcut Floral Coaster

Hello lovely fellow crafters! Well, I went to a local Christmas market on the weekend and came home so inspired! So much so, that I dug out my Alcohol Inks (honestly I have had these for nearly 20 years I think and they are still perfectly fine - I am such a craft hoarder but love that I can dig-out rarely used supplies and they can still be used years later!). After a quick trip to the local hardware store to get tiles, I set about making these Alcohol Ink coasters - and boy, did I have fun!!!

Before I started I did my 'research' i.e.watched a few dozen Youtube videos (recommend Jane Monteith and MJ Laur channels for some lively examples of ink on tiles). Jane stamped and embossed on her tiles - I liked this idea a lot and thought the Woodcut Floral Background Stamp from Miss Ink Stamps would look lovely! I was so happy with the pretty result (its no secret that I adore this stamp set).

You'll need:

White Gloss tiles (mine were single 9.5cm x 9.5cm tiles from Bunnings 80c AU each)

Alcohol ink colours of your choice (I used Adirondack Pool and Denim)

 Alcohol Ink Mixative or Isopropyl Alcohol (I used Diggers brand from Bunnings 100% Isopropanol)

Paper Towels

Heat Gun

Varnish/Sealer (I recommend British Paints Spray Easy from Bunnings)

Felt (for backing - I used black felt from Spotlight)

**Due to fumes - make sure you are in a well ventilated area and wearing protective mask**

To start, I cleaned the tile with a little Isopropyl Alcohol (IPA) on paper towel and dried off. I then dropped small drops of both of the the ink colours onto the tile (about 3-4 small drops of each). I let it spread for a little while and then sprayed with the IPA. I gently tilted the tile to move the ink around a tile and merge the colours a little but tried to keep most of the IPA liquid on the surface of the tile.

I then used my heat gun, in a slight 'sweeping' motion - aiming into the centre from the edges (sort of 'pushing' the ink to the centre of the tile with the air) while moved it around the tile edges fairly quickly. I let it dry - it was a hot day, so took an hour or so to fully dry. I then tapped it with my powder tool, and stamped the single images from the Woodcut Floral set in versamark ink (be careful not to 'slide' your stamping as the surface can be slippery). I sprinkled silver WOW embossing powder over it and gently tapped off the excess. I heated it with my heat tool - hint: it will take longer to melt than on paper - I found that moving my gun in small circles rapidly, over small area at a time, helped.

Loved the result sooooo much! I went around the edges with my silver Permanent Marker. 

I finished it off by spraying with the varnish. NOTE: for this tile, I used a varnish that was a matt finish - unfortunately, it did interact with the ink a little resulting in some white spotting so I later changed to use the British Paints Spray Easy Paint & Prime varnish with some other tiles and it worked much better - though it's a gloss finish which is nice too.

  (This is because some varnishes will interact with the ink and cause spotting or movement of the ink, so use either Kamar Krylon or the one I listed above if you are in Australia and can get to a Bunnings - these seem to be the most recommended). I sprayed mine outside, placed on upside down cups and did about 5 sprays/coats (drying in between) to make sure it was well sealed.

When fully dry (the next day) I cut a square of felt from the back and adhered with liquid glue. I placed cellophane bags (the ones I put my cards in) and topped with some card (from a 12x12 pearlised paper pad from The Craft Stall). They will make lovely stocking fillers for Christmas presents!! Beautiful and functional!

**You can also use Sharpies (instead of alcohol inks) which work wonderfully too**

Hope you enjoyed this project and that it inspired you to have a go too!
Ali xx