A few months ago, I designed a few miniature versions of some of my most popular tiles. At the time, I thought I might use them as borders on some of my larger tile panels. While I still plan on doing that, I began to think about other ways to use these little tiles. This led to experimenting with making clocks, buttons, and most recently, soap dishes.

The clocks are kind of cool but working with porcelain has been a challenge. There has been some warping and cracking with the first attempts. I’ve tried using low-fire finishing techniques to circumvent some of the problems but I just don’t like the look of the finishes as much. I’ll try switching to another clay body at some point but I do love how clean and clear colors are on porcelain and I have a lot of it in my studio to use before it dries up.

The buttons should be a fun addition to some of my sewing projects. During the coldest winter months it’s not much fun working in my unheated studio space. A couple of years ago I moved to the warmer rooms in the house and started designing fabrics based on my tile patterns. I dug out my old sewing machine and made some tote bags with the fabric. I’d like to make more of them this winter.

The latest application of these mini tiles has been this series of soap dishes. I’ve been wanting to add a few non-tile items to my Etsy shop before the holidays. I guess they’re still tiles. Anyway, they’ve been a lot fun to make and the first few are now available for purchase: www. Etsy/shop/goodpressceramics