WoW Coasters

WoW.. as is World of Warcraft.. the online game.. MMO..
I got a "new" coffee table.. well since I didn't have one and it's was my man's sister's it's not really new... Anyway.. I got a coffee table.. YAY! My living room feels more like a living room and less like a bachelor pad.. Best part is that it's underneath is set up as compartments, 6 open squares.. with 4 little baskets to keep things in.. many clay things are filling them now.. and the table top is covered in projects and beads.. and it has inspired me to make something new, and to use a medium I've never played with before....
Coasters! to protect my pretty wood coffee table from water stains!
Here's what I'm doing (I tested the whole process on a little picture and it worked great!)
So.. I went through my Warcraft screenshots folder (because I'm a screenshot addict there was a lot to choose from) I picked 5 interesting landscape pictures that had no UI(user interface) showing.. I edited the shots down to 4 inches square (the ones I print will be mirrored images so they transfer the right way) (and since the shots are my resolution size, they were rectangle and a pain to decide where to crop!)
These are the shots I'm using:

The sky flying past Zul' Drak in Northrend

Purple sky over the water.. honestly don't remember where I took this one

Outland sky... specifically I think Netherstorm, on a floating piece of rock by (I think) the Stormspire

This is a crater in the ground in Northrend.. Pretty sure it's in Icecrown.. don't hold me to that!

This is taken on the Flight Path from Dalaran to I think it was Kaskala...Might have been Kamuga.. Who knows, I was flying to do Walrus dailies.. (and I know how absurd this all sounds if you have no contact with a current WoW player and aren't one yourself!)

So now that I cropped and sized my pics what am I going to do? Print them out on t-shirt transfer paper on my Desk jet... The I'll take a BUNCH white FIMO and roll it through my pasta machine between two sheets of wax paper to avoid getting any dirt, fuzz, lint, or bits from the rollers in the clay. I'll probably flatten them to the 7ish or 6ish setting on my pasta machine (9 being thickest, 1 being thinnest).
Then I'll take my clay sheet(s) and lay them on my work tile.. cut out the pictures and lay them on the clay, I'll use my poly roller to make sure the paper it completely touching the surface of the clay... I'll take my straight blade and cut the clay to 4in square around the transfer paper and bake at 230 (fimo soft bakes at a lower temp than most polymer clays) for about 35-40 minutes. While still warm (about 3 mins after removing from the oven) I'll peel the transfer paper off the clay and allow to cool.
After everything is cooled I'll remove my clay from the tile and transfer it to a wax paper (or foil not sure which yet) covered sheet of cardboard and mix my self up some Easy Cast resin (this is the new material I get to play with.. and I need to not get addicted to yet another craft!) As soon as the resin is mixed Ill pour it onto the clay... not too thickly.. I'll spread it with the edge of an index card, cover them with a large Tupperware container (to keep dust and bits from getting in the resin) and allow it to sit for about 10 mins.. Then I'll check on the coasters to make sure there are no bubbles.. if there are I'll exhale gently on them (with a straw) the CO2 in my breath will pop the bubbles, (stubborn bubbles will be popped with a toothpick but I haven't run into any yet). Then they get recovered and left alone for at least 24 hours. It takes 24hrs for this resin to "soft cure" meaning it's mostly set, you won't mess it up with your fingerprints but the resin can still be cut easily with a craft blade and shouldn't require sanding to smooth the edges. This is when I'll trim the edges if any resin spread too far and lift them from the covered cardboard. Then they get re-covered with the Tupperware and left alone for two more days! Then I'll cover the bottoms in felt and should have my self some pretty nifty home made gamer geek warcraft coasters.. I might make some as gifts but since WoW screenies (I believe) are property of Blizzard (the corp. that makes WoW) I won't be making any to sell.

Well.. that was kind of a how-to post wasn't it? You could use this method to make your own coasters with any picture you have on your computer...(note: never use a tool used on polymer clay for food prep! so don't use your pasta machine or rolling pin unless you plan to dedicate it to claying! Old wine bottles make great rollers for clay...)