This month, we are going to step out from there in a couple of new directions.

First, we will incorporate a real ceramic tile in this project - along with the polymer. You can use tiles that you buy at the tile store or home center, but sometimes you are unable to find the right color to go with your idea. Also, in our case, we find that the best looking tiles - those Tuscan-looking ones with the beautiful, mottled colors, are usually special order and way beyond our budget. So, we have found a way to make our own.

Second, we used our High Desert Polyglazes in a single color last time, and this month, we are going for the multi-color approach. It takes a little more care in the application (and some smaller brushes), but we think the results are really stunning, and full of possibilities.

The following pages will tell you how to turn a plain, bisque ceramic tile into one of these beauties, how to make to “topper tiles” out of white Sculpey, and the basic steps of glazing.

Since the finished photos are on this page, we will describe the multi-color glazing techniques here. Please note that we are talking about the color on the polymer tile only. The ceramic techniques will follow on page 2. There are also a couple more “special effects” on the last page of this article.

Dragonflies
Stamps by Angi-B
The tile was glazed all over with Blue Corn Mist and allowed to dry. Chamisa Sage glaze was then applied just to the wings of the larger dragonfly.

Rose
Stamp by PSX
Using a very small Pointed Round brush, Morning Mauve glaze was carefully applied to the blossom area, and Chamisa Sage was applied to the stem and leaves. If you don’t wait for one color to dry before painting the other, the two colors may run into each other where they touch - the effect can be interesting - depending on how much of a purist you are.

Goddess
Stamp by Angi-B
This was a wet-on-wet technique. Adobe Dust was glazed over the whole tile, and while it was wet, we used a smaller brush to introduce other glaze colors into the depressed lines of the image. Morning Mauve around her face and on the front of her dress, and Morning Mauve and Blue Corn Mist around the body outline and hands.

Pueblo
Stamp by www.kkoriginals.com
We did a couple of different things here. We used half the usual thickness of clay (1/16") and tore the edges around the image. After baking and cooling, we used a small brush to apply Chamisa Sage glaze to the cactus and bushes in the image, and let it dry. Then we applied Adobe Dust all over the tile - trying to avoid hitting the cactus and bushes. While it was still very wet, we fed in some Chamisa Sage over the bottom half of the tile - letting it blend softly into the Adobe Dust at the aproximate horizon line. This kind of piece would look great on the front of a card as well or as part of a collage (although I would suggest using white Premo polymer clay for that because it is pretty indestructible).

We always use E6000 to glue anything else to ceramic tiles. See the final page of the article for our suggested hangers.