Hello! I’m Alison Heikkila and I appreciate you visiting today. I don’t know about you, but I have always loved doing puzzles. It’s one of the things my mom and I always enjoyed doing, and now I like to do them with my kids too. Artesprix has a great little puzzle that you can color any way you want, with their awesome Sublimation Markers. The sublimation process is permanent, so you never have to worry about your artwork fading. I decided to use a coloring page I found online with characters that my daughter likes.
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Materials:
Original Sublimation Markers
Iron-On-Ink Puzzle
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
Heat Source: Home Iron or Artesprix Heat Press
Pencil
Copy Paper
Craft mat
Printed coloring page
Paint Brush
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.
***I did things slightly out of order for this project. Instead of outlining my blank on my paper first, I did that later in the process.
Step 1: Print out the coloring page you want to use. There are many free, licensed art that you can print out for your own personal use.
Step 2: Flip the coloring page over, and trace the outlines with your Black Sublimation Marker. I chose to tape my picture to my glass door, but you can also use a light box.
Here is what my completed traced image looks like.
Step 3: Color in your traced image. I used all of my markers directly from the tube, except where I needed 2 shades of brown and gray. For those, I scribbled the colors on to my craft mat, added a few drops of water, and painted the color on. If you are using copy paper like I did, be careful to not get these areas too wet, or they will warp and could pill or even tear.
Step 4: I hand drew a few stars and a planet to fill in my background a little.
Step 5: I traced the inside of the puzzle frame with my pencil so that I could line up my puzzle easily when I am ready to do the sublimation. The puzzle frame isn’t cut evenly, so you won’t want to use it for your final project, or even during sublimation. I only used it to trace my outline. The pencil marks will not transfer during sublimation.
Step 6: Using Heat Resistant Tape, attach your colored image face down on to the Puzzle. 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.
Step 7: It’s time to make our Sublimation Sandwich. This is an extremely important step whether you are using a home iron or a Heat Press. 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 then your second piece of Protective Paper. Your sandwich will be: Protective Paper-Blank-Colored Image-Protective Paper.
Step 8: Press the Puzzle in the Heat Press for 60 seconds at 400 degrees.
Step 9: It’s time for the peek test! This is a very exciting step! 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. Look at how vibrant those colors are now!
Take a look at the difference between the original colored art and the completed sublimated Puzzle!
Here is the finished Puzzle! I love it, and I know my daughter does too. I encourage you to try this out with not only coloring pages found online, but perhaps with coloring books you have at home, or even your favorite stamps and stencils! The results are fantastic, and I am so pleased with how the Puzzle came 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. If you’re ready to jump in, you can use my code, ALISON10 to save 10% off of your purchase with Artesprix! Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!
Thank you so much for your kind words!