Tiles … Saturday, November 12, 2011

Have you see those coasters in gift stores selling for $70. When you pick them up to admire them, you realize they were STAMPED! Guess what??? I know how to make them.

Do you want to come over and make your own tiles for the upcoming holiday season?

There are 2 different ways to make tiles and LOTS of ways to color them… Always use staz-on, then coloring them is fun. You can use chalk/blender pen (or aqua painter), or sharpies, or markers (but the tips of your markers will most likely be ruined), or any water coloring technique. You can also use aqua painter and craft ink. I kept retired stamp sets JUST so I can recreate some of my favorite tiles. I packaged in a set of 4 – they make the perfect gift.

If you are interested in making tiles:

1. Respond to the eVite by November 4th with the number of tiles you'd like to make… I'll run out and get us materials. They cost $1.25 each (tile, felt feet, clear seal spray).  You are welcome to bring your own materials too… Last year Laurie brought a LARGE tile to use as a trivet… very cool (imagine a kitchen trivet and matching coasters).

2. Bring stamp sets that will fit on our 4×4 tile (a smidge smaller)… once we get rolling, I"m sure we'll be sharing sets (your stampin neighbor will bring a cool set and you'll borrow it to make a set of your own tiles).  When choosing your set(s) to bring – think about what you, or the gift recipient, would like to see around them all the time.  Think about the recipient's hobbies/passions… that will make the perfect gift.

3. Bring your 'hand stamped by' for the under side of your tile.

4. Bring a black staz-on pad. Other color staz-on pads are available at local retailers… if you are interested.

5. Bring at least one coloring tool… markers are great, but the tips will be thrashed by the end of the day. Ink pads/aqua painters are good. Sharpie markers are good. Reinkers/aquapainters are good (both classic and craft). If you craft color your tiles, we'll need to bake your tiles for 45 minutes.

6. Bring a side dish to share. The eVite will organize food.

What to expect on tile day:

– Arrive at 10a.

-We will wash our tiles. Huh… you say. When them are made, they have this dry chalk all over them. They need to be washed. I was about to offer to do this in advance, but it's really yucky (chalk on hands is kinda my freak/yuck issue) and you won't get the full experience of stampin on tiles. We'll set them out to dry (we can use our heat tool to speed one along).

– Stamp/color your tiles.

– Spray/seal your tiles (the ones using craft ink then baked don't need to be sealed). They will be spray stinky for a while.

– Wha … la… done. Ready to wrap up as gifts.

Happy Stampin,