Hello! I’m Sara and I’m a Cricut crafter who is seriously obsessed with sublimation! I craft for my mental health and I like to teach what I do to spread the joy of creating something with your own hands! I'm excited to be featured as a Guest Designer on the Artesprix Blog, let’s dive in! Today, we will make a cute floral bag tag using Artesprix sublimation markers. I’ll be showing you how to make splashes of Iron-on-Ink using your Artesprix markers!
What are Sublimation Markers?
Sublimation markers have special sublimation ink that gets absorbed/ infused into polyester materials when it is subjected to heat. So, you could draw with these markers on paper, apply this paper as a transfer to the face of a polyester based material and press it with a heat press or a home iron and watch the amazing reveal! Your designs will be embedded into your material, they won’t fade or peel. It is purely magical when you try it since the colors are always muted on paper and they become vibrant after they’re heat pressed!
Materials:
Marker Air Brush
Ziploc Bag
Brush
Copy Paper
Pencil
Step-by-Step Tutorial:
Step 1: Start by placing your bag tag on a plain copy paper and trace it with a pencil. This will help you figure out how big your design needs to be! Please make sure to use a pencil because it won’t transfer to your bag tag when you apply heat to it unlike your sublimation markers!
Step 2: For this floral themed bag tag, you will need some floral wooden embellishments to cover areas in your design while making splashes of color around them. You can find these wooden embellishments at any craft store. Place them as desired and select the marker colors you’d like for this project! If you don't have any of these on hand you could also use stencils.
Pro Tip: It is also a good idea to turn on your heat press to give it time to warm up! You’ll need to set your heat press to 400℉.
Step 3: In order to create the splash effect, you’ll need the marker air brush tool. You simply insert the marker and splash away! Feel free to try it on the side to get the hang of it before coloring your design. For this design, I had to hold the wooden embellishments while I used my air brush around them, and I think I got carried away with the air brush!
After you finish, remove your wooden embellishments and your design is ready to be pressed! I went ahead and used my ziploc bag and brush to color in one of the flowers, but it is totally unnecessary!
Step 4: Place your bag tag face down on your colored design. All of Artesprix's bag tags are double sided so you could sublimate on either side. Once you place it down, you’ll need to secure it to the paper with heat resistant tape. Securing it will prevent your design from moving while you press it thus, getting a crisp design!
Step 5: Let’s make a sublimation sandwich! Use your protective paper to sandwich in your design with the blank secured to it. The protective paper will catch any extra ink and you won’t have to deal with getting ink on your heat platen or bottom surface.
Step 6: It is time to press your design! Your heat press should be set to 400℉ and you’ll need to press it for 45 seconds since it is metal.
Step 7: After you press your design, it is time for the peek test! Do not remove the tape and slightly peel one corner of your design to get a peek to confirm your design transferred successfully. In the slightest chance you didn’t get a good transfer, you could go ahead and re-press your design since you did not remove the tape.
Step 8: If you find that you got a vibrant transfer, then remove the tape and reveal your amazing design! You’ll definitely be amazed by the vibrant colors! I absolutely love how vibrant my design came out! I also made another bag tag with the same technique, which one do you like better?
I’m in love with these markers and how they can be used with different coloring techniques to create cool effects! Shop here for all your Artesprix sublimation supplies! When you make your bag tag, please don’t forget to share your creations with us on instagram or Facebook!
Thank you for reading! I hope you try this project and enjoy it! You can see more of my work on my instagram, let’s keep in touch!
Keep on crafting!
Best,
Sara Ali
**This post may contain affiliate links. That means that I may receive compensation if you purchase through the links I have provided. The price you pay for the product or service is not higher, but I may get compensated.**
Beautiful!