Amy Tedder Designs: Gift Coasters

My husband and I have the privilege to work in an incredible kids ministry at our church. We have about 100 3rd-6th graders in our group. That means we need a lot of volunteers. We have been blessed to have a large group of 25 leaders and some teen workers too.

I wanted a way to show our volunteers how much we appreciate them. It is kind of difficult when you are also on a tight budget. Thankfully, Robin Parker, a JustRite Guest Designer, designed some stunning drink coasters in April 2013. Here is the link to the JustRite Blog.

We work with both men and ladies. The first photo is one that I made for the ladies. The "A" is from Graceful Monograms Clear Stamps. The frame is from Circle of Love Vintage Labels Three.

The coasters for the men were much simpler. The letter and frame were both from the Monogram Your Journey Clear Stamp set.

The stamp sets are pictured below.

The ink is StazOn black ink by Tsukineko. The tiles came from the hardware store. They were about 12 cents a piece. I purchased two boxes to be able to create 30 sets of 4 coasters each. Stamping on the tiles was different than stamping on paper. The ink takes 15-30 minutes to dry on the tile. Therefore I could ink, erase, re-ink, erase, re-re-ink... You get the picture. I did that a lot the first day. Then I got into a grove and started getting it perfect on the first try. This ink is very "sticky". Hold down the corners of the tile to avoid the stamp from slipping or sticking and smudging your image.

Once the framed image is dry stamp the letter. You can use either Clear or Cling stamps with the ink. Just remember that if you really like your stamps do not use the suggested stamp cleaner for this type of ink. It eventually eats through the stamps!

Don't forget to seal the tiles with Krylon Crystal Clear spray.

Here is a production line shot and one of the final packaging. I used lunch sacks to keep the tiles from slipping out.