Color all the Things... Dive into the World of Artesprix® Sublimation Ink

Hello friends! It's finally Friday and I have something new and exciting to share that I have been keeping a secret all Summer. Earlier this year, I responded to the call for Artesprix® Design Team and I was invited to be a Guest Designer for the Artesprix® Blog.

Today I am thrilled to introduce you to the world of Artesprix® and working with Sublimation ink. 

My guest designer project is to feature Artesprix® Bookmarks, and I was sent this assortment of Artesprix® Sublimation Markers, Sublimation Stamp Pad, Blanks and everything I need to dive into the world of sublimation.

For my first project I grabbed a never used stencil from my stash and the Artesprix® Sublimation Markers to create a bright colorful bookmark... and though I tried to get my hubs to play with me, he only chose the colors! Artesprix® bookmark blanks are the perfect canvas to creating personalized art to mark your books.

So... what are Artesprix® Sublimation markers? 

Artesprix® markers have a specially formulated ink that transforms anything colored on plain copy paper into a heat-transferrable iron-on design onto polyester items. With the magical Artesprix® Sublimation Stamp Pad and Sublimation Markers and plain paper and a hand-drawn, stamped or stenciled design, I can customize all the things! What the WHAT?!! The holidays are just around the corner...

Materials needed: Plain Copy Paper; Pencil; Artesprix® Sublimation Markers; Artesprix® Heat Tape; Artesprix® Protective Paper Roll; Artesprix® Project Mat; Artesprix® Bookmarks 4ct; Stencil -- Art by Marlene MASKBM17 from Studio Light B.V.; and a Heat source -- Cricut Easy-Press Mini™ (Artesprix® Heat Press or Home Iron).

Ready to play...

Using a pencil trace Bookmark blank onto plain copy paper. For paper size, plan to leave approximately 2" on all sides to yield for coloring outside the blank shape and applying heat tape. Trace stencil design within bookmark outline and be sure to add about 1/8" to 1/4" of coloring outside the lines.

Using the yellow Sublimation Ink Marker I set off to fill in all of the lines.

The pens have a nice chisel tip that makes it easy to draw a thin or wide line.

First layer of color done... next the background.

Using the blue Sublimation Ink Marker, I filled in all the negative spaces.

The tiny areas were tricky but this is why I did the lighter color first.

OK... all colored! I think I want to add some outlines.

Using the Black fine tip Sublimation Ink Marker, I re-traced the stencil design shapes, then added some hand drawn lines and cross-hatching in a few areas to make it a bit more artsy.

I love it! Yes the color looks a bit dull... but not to worry -- it needs some heat to come to life!

Pre-heat Cricut Easy-Press Mini™on the highest temperature setting and prepare bookmark for thermal transfer magic by placing face down within pencil lines secured with Heat Tape. You can see why I colored outside the lines -- there will be no white edges when transferred.

With the Project Mat on bottom, I make a "Sublimation Sandwich” — a piece of Protective Paper at the top and bottom of your bookmark taped face down onto stenciled design. I used two layers of protective paper on top and bottom for good measure.

Now the fun part... apply heat! Starting at one end I press and hold Cricut Easy-Press Mini™for 45 seconds, then move to next unpressed area, slightly overlapping and pressing again. I repeat 3-4 times until entire length of bookmark has been heat pressed. 

I have to admit this is not what I intended to be doing when I purchased this little mini iron... but I love it!

Let cool a bit -- the bookmark is metal... and keeps heat a while. Take a peek check by gently peeling back one section to peek and see if thermal transfer is complete.

If it looks good, let bookmark fully cool then remove Heat Tape.

Wowee!!! Look how bright and vibrant the blue and yellow is!!

The heat transferred bookmark next to the hand-colored stencil design on paper.

This bookmark certainly won't be missed in the pages of a book.

The possibilities are endless with a variety of Artesprix® Blanks that can be customized with hand-drawn art or using my stash of stamps. These custom bookmarks are so easy to make and is a fun project to do with kids (heat part adult supervised of course).

What else did I make??! Hop on over to see my Guest Designer Project on the Artesprix® Blog... and see how my love of stamps meets bookmarks.

Thanks for visiting... I'd love to hear how you would art up your own bookmark using Artesprix® sublimation markers.

Happy creating! Sb

** This is a sponsored post. Artesprix® provided products for use in this project in exchange for my creative ideas, views and opinions. My ideas and opinions are my own.