Artesprix Blank of the Month Star Ornament with Gel Press

Hello! I’m Alison Heikkila and I appreciate you stopping by. I have a really fun project that uses the June Blank of the Month from Artesprix. Each month, Artesprix releases a limited-time “Blank” or substrate for you to make your sublimation projects on. There are metal ornaments in their full-time assortment, but you can only get the Star I am using today in June 2022. I thought about what this ornament could be used for…the Tooth Fairy was always a big deal in our house. If my kids were still little, I would have had them hang this ornament up to call out to the Tooth Fairy so she knew they had lost a tooth.

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:
Star Ornament
Sublimation Acrylic Paint (Use the Artesprix Paint Color Mixing Chart and mix up your colors!)
Sublimation Stamp Pad in Black
Sublimation Stamp Pad in Blue
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
Heat Source: Home Iron or Artesprix Heat Press
Paintbrush
Paint Palette and/or small storage cups for mixed paints
MISTI Stamping Tool
6x6 Gel Press
4” Speedball Brayer
AALL & Create: Lil’ Magic Stamps
AALL & Create: Moonlight Stamps
Acrylic Blocks
Copy Paper
Step-by-Step Tutorial:
Step 1: On the 6x6 Gel Press Plate, scoop out a few drops of Pool, Cornflower, and Violet paint that you have pre-mixed. I didn’t add much, I just wanted a softly textured background.

Step 2:  Roll the colors out with your brayer. Lay a piece of copy paper on top, press it into the wet paint, and peel it to reveal your print.
Step 3: Choose the area you’d like to use for your ornament. Then using a pencil, trace the outline of the Star Ornament.

Step 4: Using a MISTI or other stamp positioning tool, stamp the fairy with the Black Sublimation Stamp Pad. IMPORTANT: Do NOT remove the stamp from the MISTI. You will need it in the exact same position later.

Step 5: Now it’s time to paint the fairy! I used a fun combination of colors like Lime, Bubblegum Pink, Sunshine, and Mint. Don’t worry too much about painting over the black lines. We will fix that shortly.

Step 6: Stamp the stars from the Moonlight stamp set repeatedly with the Blue Sublimation Stamp Pad and an acrylic block.
Step 7: Place the painted art back into your MISTI or stamp platform and re-stamp the image with the Black Sublimation Stamp Pad. Since the stamp hasn't been moved, it will line up perfectly and make the lines nice and crisp again. Let the ink dry. 

Step 8: Trim down the background if you’d like, but not too much, as you need space for your heat tape. Then, tape the Star Ornament to the artwork. Use your pencil lines as a guide. The ornament is double sided, so you can sublimate on either side.


Step 9: Let’s make a "Sublimation Sandwich"! Take a layer of Protective Paper (pretend it’s a piece of bread), then lay your taped Blank with the art on top (that’s the meat and the cheese), then top it off with another layer of Protective Paper (like the top layer of bread). Voila! You have a Sublimation Sandwich! Make sure your Protective Paper goes past your artwork and Blank on both sides, so that none of the ink gets on your iron or Heat Press.

Step 10: Press the ornament for 75 seconds at 400℉ if using a Heat Press.

Step 11: Time for the "Peek Test"! I always say that this is one of my favorite steps. Carefully lift part of the art off of the blank to check how your art has transferred. Be sure to keep the design attached as much as possible in case you want to sublimate again. Mine looks great, so now we can have a full reveal.

Here is the completed Star Ornament next to it’s painted version. Look at how incredible those colors look! I love the subtle background from the Gel Press print.

Step 12: Tie on the accompanying ribbon, or one from your stash. I opted to go with a purple ribbon I already had on hand.

I really enjoyed making this ornament. I think there are so many possibilities with this shape. Turning it into a sort of Tooth Fairy themed piece was fun. How would you like to get more ideas on how to use Artesprix’s Iron-On Inks, Paints, and 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. Use my code Alison10 to save 10%!
Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!
Alison Heikkila 
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