Don't use too much dry pigment. Start off my putting a some of the UTEE in a jar and adding just a small amount of the dry pigment. Shake it vigorously so the dry pigment attaches itself to the UTEE and coats it.

1. Your surface: You really need to use a heavy piece of cardboard for the base so it won't curl up on the edges. If you happen to have matteboard scraps, these work very well too. You can sometimes get the matteboard scraps for free, or very cheaply, from framing shops. Just go in or call..and ask if by ANY chance they would allow you to have the scraps of matteboard that they normally discard when creating custom mattes for framed pictures.

2. BE CAREFUL when working with the hot Utee tiles. When it's hot (ie melted to the liquid state) it WILL stick to your fingers and burn. OUCH. Keep a box of bandaids handy, you will burn your fingers at least ONCE. (generally once is all it takes because you then think to yourself.."Ohhhh THAT'S what she meant!!)

3. Be QUICK between layers of Utee. If you are fairly quick, you can add layers of Utee without having to use embossing fluid or glue between layers. If it's hot, more powdered Utee will stick to it for the next layer. if it cools, you can hot it up again with your heat gun before adding more Utee. You can use clear embossing fluid (or a pad) to tap on top of the cooled Utee layer to adhere more powdered Utee for your next layer. But do know, if you use too much emboss ink, it will make the Utee tile a bit cloudy and "sticky" on the top after it dries. Less is more, if you can get away with it. Embossing fluid/pad is not the ONLY way to get dry Utee to adhere to the tile. You can also use any "clear drying" glue (applied sparingly).

4. Don't be stingy with the Utee. The more layers you get, the better it will look.

5. Work the tile in "stages". You can embed a huge variety of items into your tile. If you use dried/pressed flowers as I did...be careful to not "burn" the petals/leaves with the heat gun. (be patient, don't hold that heat gun too close)

6. If, for some reason, your Utee tile cracks, don't go beserk. It can be fixed. Just heat it up again, until the crack disappears.

7. For unique effects...try adding in such things as glitter, embossing powders, paints, etc. Put them between layers of Utee.

Ok..now for how I made my tiles. Remember, this is only ONE way to do it OK?

Rose Tile: I cut a square of heavy cardboard for my base. Using the Doc Martin's Sequin Blue iridescent inkpak pad, I tapped it on the cardboard until it was fully covered. If need be, you can paint the cardboard using the bottle of Sequin Blue re-inker. Let dry. I took my hand dandy tidy tray (or you can use another other container that will hold a good amount of the Utee) and I poured a large amount of the Utee into the tidy tray. Set to the side. (you might want to keep in mind that you don't want to accidentally point your heat gun in the area of that tidy tray full of Utee....it will blow it all over the place. Of course, if you DO happen to do that, I can guarantee you won't do it a second time..ahahahah) Now I wanted to make sure I got a GOOD even first coat of UTee on my tile. So I used Yes! Glue and covered the entire top of the tile with it (a LIGHT coat of it)..then I took the tile and dropped it into the pile of Utee in my tidy tray (glue side/top onto the Utee pile) and pressed down well with my fingers, lifted it back up, tapped the sides a few times to removed the "excess" Utee. Now the fun begins.

Take that Utee tile and set it on your aluminum covered clip board and start heating it with your heat gun. If you sort of "swish" the heat gun from side to side, holding it up a good 8 inches or so from the surface of the tile, the Utee will start to melt.

NOTE: some dry utee particles may blow all over your work surface, some people take an old shoe box, and cut off one side so you have a "container" with three high sides and an opening in the front for you to work thru. This will help contain the "mess" you make when working with Utee Tiles.

The surface of your tile MAY look splotchy (melting unevenly) on the tile, but that's Ok. Once it's all melted (the Utee will melt down and look like thick liquid), gently pick up the tile on the edges (watch out for hot melted utee ok?) and flip it over, top side down onto your pile of Utee powder in the tidy tray. Press down LIGHTLY with your finger tips and then pick it back up, knocking off excess Utee. Heat again. Repeat this over and over..until you have a good 3-4 layers of Utee. Let it cool off. After it's cooled, take your rose lame iridescent inkpak pad and press it onto the cooled utee surface..here and there...get some good "splotches" on the top. Take your heat gun and heat up the surface again until you can see the melted Utee sort of move..toss the tile front down onto your pile of dry Utee, knock off excess Utee..heat again. Repeat this about 3-4 times. Take your dried flower and press it gently into the hot metled Utee. (watch out for your fingers, don't burn them on the hot melted Utee, maybe use a toothpick to press the petals down) Let the tile cool. I used my Yes! glue (a very light coat) and brushed it over the tile surface, making sure the flower petals get covered with glue as well. Drop the tile (top side down) into the dry Utee, press lightly with fingertips, lift and knock off excess Utee. Heat with your heat gun, being sure to NOT hold it too close to the top of the tile so you don't burn the flower petals. Do about 2 more layers of Utee, let cool. Take a second color of the Doc Martin's Iridescent Inkpak pad (I used Brass) and "splotch" it on top of the cooled tile. Heat the tile up again, then do about 2-3 more layers of the Utee. All done.

What I found interesting, is that the iridescent inkpak color seemed to "break up" within the Utee layers and gave a very pretty "flakey metallic" appearance. Like flecks of colored metal within the laters of Utee. I quite like this look. Once you get the first layer of Utee ove the top of the dried flower, you don't have to worry so much about burning the petals with the heat gun because they are protected by a layer of Utee. (same thing would go for any other type of inclusion you would use in place of the flower..postage stamps, spices, stamped cardstock, etc)

You can easily create a nice Utee Tile with almost anything. The Doc Martin's iridescent inkpak pads just gave a different look since they "flaked out" when applied between layers of Utee. I would imagine you could also just use the re-inkers and add a drop here and there of the iridescent inkpak pad color for a different look too, though I didn't try it. Because I didn't use embossing fluid between layers of utee, I didn't have any residue on the top of my tile. You CAN use an embossing pad, just do so very sparingly. Also, the base layer of color you apply to the cardstock..it will not break up and "flake out". YOu could do a LOT of different things for that base layer of color, sponging, stippling, dropping color from the re-inker bottle, etc. Just play with it. Only the color of iridescent inkpaks that you add BETWEEN layers of UTEE will break up and "flake out".

The next step is to find a way to "mount" your Utee tiles to cards.

The "hello" card was a very simple mounting technique...using layers of different cardstock to compliment the beauty of the tile. The H8004U "Sunflower" stamp was used to stamp the "background" on the glossy black cardstock using the Doc martin's Copper Plate Gold iridescent inkpak pad. This stamp as a background "reinforces" the "concept" of a floral Utee tile piece.

The "weird square rose card" was just a last minute inspiration of mine. I think it would probably look better as a "framed" piece, rather than a card. Because there is a dried/pressed mini rose within the tile, I used the G7014U "English Rose" stamped in Copper Plate Gold again on the darker maroon background cardstock. For an interesting "visual twist"..I added those floral shrink plastic pieces (affixed with jump rings and fishing swivels) to one layer of the blue matte cardstock layer.