Hello! Today’s project is perfect for someone just starting to play with Artesprix’s sublimation products. A lot of times crafters see foliage stamps and immediately think they’re for Autumn. But, I love seeing leaves in the springtime too! There’s so many beautiful shades of green, and Artesprix has several green sublimation markers. We will be creating an all-over print with leaf stamps that will be applied to a Potholder. This is a great Blank because it’s not too big to be overwhelming, and it’s not too small to be trickier to work with.
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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:
Artesprix
Pot Holder
Sublimation Markers- Basic Chisel (Green)
Sublimation Markers- Bold Chisel (Pine)
Sublimation Markers- Pastel Chisel (Mint)
Sublimation Stamp Pad-Black
Sublimation Stamp Ink Refill-Black
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
Multi Purpose Cleaner
Other:
Stampers Anonymous/Tim Holtz: Sketchy Leaves CMS467
Stamping Platform or Acrylic Block
Copy Paper
Paint Brush
Step 1: Trace the outline of the Pot Holder onto a piece of copy paper.
Step 2: Place the leaves of your choice on the copy paper. Be sure to have them hang past your outline so that you have a continuous pattern. I decided to use the maple, oak, and aspen leaves. Close the door on your stamp platform or pick the stamps up with your acrylic block.
Step 3: Ink up the stamps with the Black Sublimation Stamp Pad and apply them to your paper. I stamped twice to make sure my images were nice and dark.
Step 4: Continue to stamp the leaves all over your paper until it is full. You may want to rotate your paper as you work.
*Pro Tip: Clean off the stamps every time you’re about to move them to prevent getting ink where you don’t want it. Artesprix’s Multi Purpose Cleaner cleans red rubber beautifully.
Step 5: Color in your leaves with different green Artesprix Sublimation Markers. I used Mint for the aspen, Pine for the oak, and Green for the maple. The way these leaves are drawn, they automatically have shading, so you can just lay the color down quickly and still get an amazing result!
Step 6: Let’s add some splatter to make the background a bit more interesting! Add a drop or two of the Black Sublimation Stamp Ink Refill to your work surface. Add a few drops of water to it and mix with a brush to thin it out.
Step 7: Using your brush, carefully tap it with your finger to create splatter (you may want to do this on a piece of scrap paper first!). Go around the entire design to add splatter to the negative space.
Here is our finished design. I can’t wait to see those greens pop after we sublimate!
Step 8: Attach the Potholder face down to your completed design. Use lots of Heat Tape to make sure it stays secure.
Step 9: Flip the Pot Holder and design over to make the Sublimation Sandwich. Add a layer of siliconized paper to the top and bottom of your Blank. Your sandwich will be: Protective Paper-Colored Image-Blank-Protective Paper. The Protective Paper prevents any images accidentally transferring to either side of your Heat Press or to your home iron.
Step 10: It’s time to sublimate! Press the Potholder with medium pressure at 400 degrees for 60 seconds.
Step 11: Now we can do the Peek Test. This is when we lift a corner of the paper off of our design to make sure it sublimated correctly. This looks perfect, so we can remove the paper completely.
And here is a side-by-side look at the original design and the sublimated Potholder. Look at how amazing those different shades of green look! This just screams springtime to me.
I really love the finished look of this Potholder. And I am so happy I got to use these leaves for something beyond just an Autumn project. But…wouldn’t it be fun to make a second version of this Potholder for the fall? There are plenty of Artesprix Sublimation Markers to choose from to get the colors you want!
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. Don’t forget to use my code ALISON10 to save 10%. Andm there’s an INCREDIBLE BOGO sale going on right now on all Sublimation Ink Pads and Sublimation Ink Refills. Don’t miss out! Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!
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