Easy Painted Garden Flag with Artesprix Sublimation Paint

Hello and welcome! My name is Linh from LVHandcrafted and today I’m here to tell you that you are a painter! I learned this painting technique from another content creator on YouTube and I’m sharing it with you. You don’t need expensive art tools. You don’t need hours and hours of art classes. You just need some cotton swabs (yes, you read that correctly) and about 10 minutes. The best part? With Artesprix Acrylic Paint we can transfer our painted designs to any sublimation blank. This month's featured Blank of the Month is a Garden Flag. These are great for anytime of year! 

**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.** 

What are Sublimation Arts & Crafts Supplies? 

The word "sublimation" is a chemistry term that describes the process of a substance (like Iron-on-Ink) going from a solid state to a gaseous phase and skipping over the liquid phase. In the world of designing custom goods, sublimation offers a permanent way to transfer a design to a polyester surface. The result is a vibrant, custom designed product that is long-lasting and durable. If you’ve always wanted to try sublimation but thought you needed an expensive, specialty printer, you’re in luck because Artesprix makes it possible to sublimate without a sublimation printer! 

Supplies: 

Blank of the Month Garden Flag 

Artesprix Paint - Purple, Pink, Blue, Green, Yellow & White

Iron-on-Ink Stamp Pad - Pink

Cotton Swabs 

Paintbrush

Ink-blending brush

Cricut or electronic cutting machine

Protective Paper 

Heat Tape 

Heat Tape Dispenser

Protective Project Mat 

Heat Resistant Gloves 

Heat Source

Copy Paper/Cardstock

Step-by-Step Tutorial: 

Step 1: This is a large project, so I used a sheet of 11x17" lightweight cardstock and trimmed it down to size. The garden flag is roughly 11 inches across, so it takes up the width of the card stock.

Step 2: Mix your paints. I mixed green & yellow for the stems. I put Purple, Blue, Pink and White into their own wells and I mixed on the flat part of the palette as I “painted”.

Step 3: Swipe a few casual brush strokes in green. If it’s not perfectly solid, all the better.

Step 4: Grab a comfortable handful of cotton swabs and use a rubber band to bundle them together.

Step 5: Dip the cotton swab cluster into your paints and tap on the palette so you don’t have a big glob of paint on the cotton swab tips.  Then tap tap tap onto your paper. 

Step 6: I use one end of the cotton swabs for purples/blues and the other end for pink paint.  I created a row of flowers (lavender? Maybe they are hydrangeas? No matter, they are pretty nonetheless).

Step 7: Cut your lettering using your Cricut out of cardstock to create a stencil. 

Step 8: Place your custom stencil on the card stock with the reversed text showing and use blending brushes and Sublimation Ink Pads to create the text for your transfer. 

Step 9: Once your transfer is complete, allow to dry and secure facedown to the Garden Flag with Heat Tape. 

Step 10: Create your "sublimation sandwich". Cut 2 pieces of protective paper larger than the garden flag. Place one sheet beneath the secured garden flag and one sheet on top.

Pro Tip: Be sure your “top” layer is the one where you don’t see the rolled edge of the loop at the top of the garden flag.

Step 11: Heat for 55 seconds at 400℉ degrees.

Step 13: Take a little peek test. Peek behind the cardstick without removing any heat tape out of place in case you re-secure and re-press for extra time. 

Step 14: After your project has cooled, peel off your design. 

Step 15: Add to a garden flag stand (not included) and place in your front yard!

If you enjoy watching process videos, here’s my tutorial video from my YT Channel.

I hope you’ve enjoyed my project on the Artesprix Blog! If you try painting your next sublimation project, please share it in the Artesprix Iron-on-Ink Inspirational Group on Facebook, we would love to see your creations. Don't forget this blank is only available for the month of September! Be sure to use the tags #Artesprix and #IrononInk so we don't miss it. If you want to learn more about me and see more projects click here: @LVHandcrafted.  

Thanks so much for checking out my project. Have a fabulous day! 

Linh Van

**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.**