Experiment on a tumbler

This is a recent test of a new decal technique I'm trying. I silk-screened the words 'let me help you' on some waterslide decal paper. I used 2 parts black liquid underglaze + 1 part acrylic gel medium + and 1 part black mason stain (in dry powder form). This created a very acceptable screen medium that worked quite well and I quickly cleaned/washed the screen off after printing to prevent the medium from drying in the screen. I glaze-fired the porcelain tumbler at cone 3 with a clear glaze on the bottom part. I then soaked the dried decal for one minute in a bowl of water (the gel medium prevented the underglaze from melting in the water) and slid the decal on the clear glazed area. I then bisque-fired the piece. PROBLEM. For some reason, the clear glaze bubbled a little bit. Bummer. So I refired the piece at cone 3 and the clear glaze remelted just fine. The only problem was the slight movement of the lettering. The glaze moved just enough to "bend" the lettering just a little. I'll keep experimenting, including applying the decal to the bisque-fired pot and re-bisquing it. Then I'll apply glazes and do the glaze fire last.