Hello! I’m Alison Heikkila and I am really happy you stopped by today. I have a new Artesprix sublimation project to share, and it’s a great gift idea, especially with the holiday season quickly approaching. We’re going to decorate a Wine Bag today, and I’ll give you a bunch of ideas that will work on any of your Artesprix sublimation crafts. And if you’ve ever made a bunch of Gel Press prints with your Artesprix paints, inks, etc, but haven’t put them onto a project, today’s project will hopefully inspire you to get them out and use them.
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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.
Materials:
Wine Bag
Artesprix Ink Pads (I used Brown, Orange, and Red)
Previously Made Gel Press Print (see linked post for how-to)
Brown Sublimation Marker
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
A Colorful Life Designs: Oak Elements
Blending Brushes (A brush dedicated to each color)
Heat Press or home iron
I have accumulated a lot of designs that I have made on my Gel Press, simply stenciled, or inked up using Artesprix products. I keep these un-sublimated designs in a folder for later use. I decided for today’s project, I would use one of the Gel Press Prints I made when I was working on my Steampunk Apron. You can see how I made the print HERE. We’re using that for the base of today’s design.
Step 1: Trim off some of the excess from the Gel Press Print. I used a pencil to mark off where I wanted to cut the print, using the bag as a guide, because at the time I wasn’t sure if I was going to use it on the Wine Bag or not.
Step 2: Tape down the stencil. Start inking up the Oak Elements on the monoprint.
Pro Tip #1: Have the stencil design go beyond the monoprint. It will look like a full patterned print that’s been cropped when you’re done.
Pro Tip #2: Try not to touch the areas you’ve inked right away. The ink sits on top of the acrylic paint, and may smudge. Try to let the ink dry first before touching it.
Step 3: Continue to ink up the Oak Elements stencil all over the Gel Press print.
Step 4: Tear the edges of the top and bottom of the design to give a more organic look to the finished piece.
This is what my completed design looks like. I think it’s so pretty!
Step 5: Adhere your completed design face down on to the Wine Bag with Heat Tape. The bag can be sublimated on either side. Be sure to use plenty of Heat Tape if you’re using an iron.
Step 6: It’s time to make the Sublimation Sandwich. This sandwich not only ensures a great transfer of your design, but it will protect your heat source as well. Your sandwich will be: Protective Paper – Design (face down) – Wine Bag- Protective Paper.
Step 7: Press the Sublimation Sandwich for 45 seconds at 400 degrees.
Step 8: Peek Test time! The colors are nice and vibrant, but truthfully, because my original background had so much color, the stenciled image got a bit lost when I did the sublimation. Since I was unhappy with my results (due to my design, not the products), I decided to add to my design.
Step 9: This is why it is so important to use plenty of Heat Tape. I was able to fold back my design, yet keep it attached well enough that I knew it would line up perfectly again when I sublimated the piece for a second time. I took the Brown Sublimation marker and outlined all of the oak leaves and acorns. It didn’t take long at all. I could have used black instead, but I didn’t want the lines to be too harsh. This is what the lines looked like before I sublimated again.
Step 10: Repeat the process of making the Sublimation Sandwich and pressing the design.
Now that’s looking much better! The Black marker would have shown up even more, but I am happy with how the bag looks now. Adding the outlines to the stenciled elements really helped.
I think the Wine Bag came out really great, especially since I had to do some problem-solving to get my design to stand out more. And I can still sublimate the back too! I hope that if you’ve got some extra prints or designs laying around, you’ll try perhaps adding to them and sublimating them. Just keep in mind how vibrant those colors will become, so that whatever you do on top will stand out. How would you like to get more ideas on using Artesprix’s Sublimation Iron-On-Ink? 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!
Thank you so much for your kind words!