Groovy Happy Hippie Sign with Artesprix Sublimation Paint

Hello and welcome! My name is Linh from LVHandcrafted and today I’m sharing a fun, bright project featuring this month’s June Blank of the Month! This month's featured Sublimation Blank is a large Sign perfect for an uplifting and encouraging sentiment. I used an SVG sentiment, “Choose Happy 🙂” with the Artesprix Heat Resistant Transfer Mask and the results were certainly something to smile about! 

**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: 
Decorative Sign Blank
Artesprix Heat Transfer Mask
Artesprix Paints
Protective Paper 
Heat Tape 
Heat Tape Dispenser
Protective Project Mat 
Heat Resistant Gloves 
Multi Purpose Cleaner.
Heat Source
Copy Paper
Pencil
Scissors

Step-by-Step Tutorial: 

Step 1: For my Decorative Sign, I chose to use a simple rainbow painting technique using Artesprix Paints. I start by painting a solid stripe but where the stripe will meet up with another color I “feather” or “dry brush” the paint. This will overlap with the color next to it to create a smooth blend. The order I used was Pink, Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue and Purple. Set aside to dry. 

Pro Tip: To encourage even more blending, you can dip your brush in a bit of water and that will help the two colors mix. You can also use thicker paper like card stock or mixed media paper. 

Step 2: Choose an SVG design and decide where on your decorative sign you want it to be. Then, cut your design into the Artesprix Heat Transfer Mask. On the Cricut, you’ll need the Premium Vinyl setting.

Pro Tip #2: I cut the design into the center of the sheet of Transfer Mask. This way you can use both the positive and the negative of the mask to create different looks. 

Step 3: For the first design, I peeled the positive letters/designs from the transfer mask and placed it onto the Decorative Sign. Burnish the masking tape very well to remove any bubbles and ensure it’s well-adhered to the blank.

Step 4: With the masks in place, you can now tape the rainbow background to the Decorative Sign using Heat Tape.

Step 5: Line your Protective Project Mat with Protective Paper . Place your secured project with the design on top secured face-down to the blank. Lay an additional piece of Protective Paper on top to protect your heat source.

Step 6: Heat for 105 seconds at 400 ℉ degrees.

Step 7: Gently lift a small corner of your design to do a little “peek test” to see if your design has transferred. If you see nice, vibrant color, you are good to go!  If it doesn’t look like your design is complete or it’s not vibrant, heat again and try adding a bit more pressure. 

Step 8: I like to let the Decorative Sign cool to room temperature or just slightly warm if I’m impatient. During the sublimation process, the Iron-on-Ink turns to a gas, so you want to make sure it has returned to a solid state to ensure you don’t have any ghosting on your design.

Step 9: Peel off the transfer masks to reveal the base color of the blank. 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 stenciling your sublimation designs, please share it in the Artesprix Iron-on-Ink Inspirational Group on Facebook, we would love to see your creations.

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.**