Gel Printed Tote Bag with Iron-On-Ink

Hello! I’m Alison Heikkila and I am happy you stopped by. My latest Artesprix Iron On Ink project features the Canvas Tote Bag, which is a big blank that allows you to create large designs on both sides of the bag. I decided to break out my small square Gel Press Plate and a bunch of stencils to create a funky faux quilt pattern using just 3 of Artesprix’s Ink Refills.

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What is Iron-On Ink?
Artesprix Sublimation Markers, Ink, and Paint are specially formulated to allow you to use basic copy paper to: color, stamp, stencil, and monoprint 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.

Supplies:
Canvas Tote Bag
Ink Refills in Red, Blue, and Yellow
Protective Paper

Heat Tape
Heat Source: Home Iron or Artesprix Heat Press
Small Square Gel Press Petite
Speedball: 4” Brayer
A Colorful Life Designs: Sweater Knit Stencil
A Colorful Life Designs: Doodle Wheels Stencil
AALL & Create: #88 Ring the Changes Stencil
Uniquely Creative: Indigenous Stripes Stencil

Stampendous Stencil: Discontinued
Stampendous Acrylic Block/Handle
Copy Paper

Step 1: Tear the edges of your copy paper. I wanted a more organic edge on my design, so I tore all 4 sides of the paper. Just a small amount so that it looks ragged.

Step 2: Stick the Square Gel Press Plate to your acrylic block/handle. It will be much easier to precisely place your Plate on the paper this way.

Step 3: Apply the reinkers to the Plate. I wanted a full rainbow, so I added a line of red, then 2 lines of yellow, two lines of blue, then one more red to get purple. Blend the colors with your brayer, but do not clean the brayer off. You’ll use that extra ink for your next pulls.

Step 4: Lay your first stencil on to the Plate. Take an extra piece of copy paper, lay it on top of the stencil and Plate, and rub to remove the excess ink. You can sublimate this another time, or just throw it away.

Step 5: Remove the stencil from the Plate, then pick up the Plate since it’s on a block, and place it on to your torn paper. I started at the lower right corner and worked my way around the paper, rotating the direction of the rainbow each time.

Step 6: Repeat steps 3-5 to fill up the copy paper. You can get about 3 pulls each time you apply ink to the Plate, just by rolling the brayer on the Plate. By the 3rd or 4th pull, you will want to reapply the ink refill to the Plate. Be sure to turn your Heat Press on to 400 degrees!

Here is what my completed paper looks like. I love the different stencils all together, and I love that the colors are going in different directions. This keeps your eye moving and prevents the design from being too busy.

Step 7: Add a piece of Protective Paper to the inside of the bag. Be sure to have it fill the whole inside, so that nothing accidentally transfers though. It’s easier to add this piece now, before you attach your art to the bag. 

Step 8: This is an unconventional way of adding Heat Tape. Heat Tape is excellent at adhering to your projects and keeping the ink/paint/etc. from transferring. Because my design covers my entire piece of paper, I cut strips of clean copy paper, laid them at a diagonal to the corners of my art, and secured them with the tape. This is not Artesprix’s recommended way of adhering your art to your projects, but I wanted my design to transfer fully. It worked out really well in the end.

Step 9: Add your top layer of Protective Paper to the top of your project. You have now completed the Sublimation Sandwich. The Sublimation Sandwich protects not only your Blank, but your heat source from stray color escaping and adhering to it, so be sure to cover your art entirely.

Step 10: Place your Sublimation Sandwich into your Heat Press. The temperature is 400 degrees and you should press for 45 seconds.

Step 11: Time for the peek test! I love taking a small peek at my sublimated design. This is to make sure your image transferred well. If you found that it didn’t, you can put it back into your Heat Press to sublimate again. This is why it’s important to really secure your Blank to your art.

Here is my completed bag, along with the original art. Look at how the colors pop on the Canvas Tote Bag! The torn edge of the paper really made the art look cool.

Making this Tote Bag with the Ink Refills from Artesprix was so much fun. I loved combining different stencils to get this funky print. You can do these techniques on smaller Blanks too.  I hope you’ll give it a try. How would you like to get more ideas on using Artesprix’s Sublimation Ink Pads, Markers, and Paint? 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. You can use my code, ALISON10 to save 10% off of your purchase. Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!