Artesprix Wine Caddy

Hello! My name is Alison Heikkila and I appreciate you checking out my post today. I used Artesprix’s Wine Caddy for my project today and it makes a fantastic gift! This is a large Blank, so you have lots of space for you to create your design, whether you are stamping, stenciling, hand drawing, etc. I went for a snowflake theme, but you can make this Wine Caddy work for any occasion.

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Materials:
Original Sublimation Markers (I used Light Blue & Dark Blue)
Pastel Sublimation Markers (I used Sky & Seafoam)
Wine Caddy
Stampendous: Intricate Snowflakes
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
Heat Source: Home Iron or Artesprix Heat Press.
Stamping Postioner/Platform
Pencil
Copy Paper 
Craft mat

What are Sublimation Markers?

Artesprix Sublimation Markers and Ink are specially formulated inks that allow you to use basic copy paper to: color, stamp, and stencil anything you wish and turn it into a heat-transferable design. These designs are then applied to a polyester or polyester coated substrate with heat and pressure. You can use a heat press or a home iron! These designs, through this process of sublimation, will become permanent on your substrates.  

Step 1: Trace the outline of your blank on to a piece of copy paper with a pencil. The pencil will not transfer during the sublimation process.

Step 2: For this project, we will be coloring directly on our stamps with the Sublimation Markers. You’ll want to work in small sections at a time because the ink dries fairly quickly. Figuring out which sections to color with these snowflakes was easy, because of the different shapes. Color a small section with your chosen Sublimation Marker, then before you stamp it, “huff” or breathe on the stamp to remoisten the ink, then stamp the image. A stamp positioning tool is essential for this project because it ensures that your image will realign itself perfectly each time you stamp it. Continue to color and stamp your snowflakes until the Wine Caddy is covered to your liking.

Make sure your stamped images hang over the edge of your penciled outline a bit. This gives you a margin of error, in case the Blank accidentally shifts, or doesn’t get realigned perfectly. You can see in the photo above, my snowflakes go well past the outline.

Step 3: Using Heat Resistant Tape, attach your colored image face down on to the Wine Caddy. You can line up your design easily by using your pencil lines as a guide. If you are using a Heat Press, you don’t need much tape, but if you are using a home iron, be sure to use Heat Tape around the entire blank to ensure that it doesn’t move during the sublimation process. Because this is a very thick Blank, I made sure to add a bit more tape than I usually do. 

Step 4: It’s time to make our Sublimation Sandwich. It’s hard to see in the photo above, but you’ll need to cut two pieces of Protective Paper that are bigger than your Blank. Lay one piece down, then your taped Blank and colored image- with the blank on the bottom, and the colored image on top- and then your second piece of Protective Paper. Your sandwich will be: Protective Paper-Blank-Colored Image-Protective Paper. It is extremely important to create this Sublimation Sandwich whether you are using a home iron or a Heat Press.

Step 5: Set your Artesprix Heat Press for 400 degrees and the timer for 75 seconds and press. If using a Home Iron/Dry Iron, place  “Sublimation Sandwich” on your Artesprix Project Mat and hold stationary while pressing firmly for  approximately 3 minutes. I experimented a bit with mine and pressed my Wine Caddy for less than 75 seconds and I still got wonderful results. Please note that if I would have pressed my Blank for the full 75 seconds my end results would have been more bold. 

Step 6: It’s time for the Peek Test! Very carefully peel back part of the copy paper to see how your image has transferred. Be sure to not remove too much, in case you need to press the item again. As I mentioned, I didn’t press mine for the full 75 seconds, and it resulted in a soft, cloisonné appearance, which was perfect for my snowy Wine Caddy.

Here is a comparison of the original stamped image to the pressed Wine Caddy. I love that the snowflakes look soft, and that you can really see the different Sublimation Marker colors that I used.

Now you can see the completed Wine Caddy in action! Wouldn’t this make a fantastic Hostess gift? It would also be perfect to give to your partner as part of a surprise picnic, or evening by the fire. Since this particular Blank has so much room, you can create some larger designs on it. I really love how this piece turned out. How would you like to get more ideas on how to use Sublimation Markers? There’s a Facebook Group that’s just for fans of Artesprix! You can click HERE to join. Also, don’t forget to visit the Artesprix store to see all of the available blanks and bundles, so you can get started with sublimation. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!