Stamped Sublimation Blank of the Month Garden Stake

Hello! I’m Alison Heikkila and I have the June Blank of the Month from Artesprix to share with you today. Just in time for planting, it’s a set of Garden Stakes! They are a great size, they’re made of metal, and have a really pretty shape. Plus, there’s plenty of room for decorating. I have a fun set of veggie stamps from AALL & Create that I knew would be just perfect for these Garden Stakes. The focal stamp I'm using has numbers and words on it, so we will need to use the new Mirror Stamping Plate from Artesprix, so that they'll be facing the correct way when they're sublimated. 

**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 is Artesprix 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.

Supplies:
June Blank of the Month Garden Stakes
Black Sublimation Ink Pad
Basic Sublimation Markers (Green and Orange)
Bold Sublimation Markers (Pine, Teal, Cinnamon, and Marigold)
Acrylic Stamp Block
Mirror Stamp Plate 
Protective Paper
Heat Tape
AALL & Create: Basic Veggies Stamp Set
Stampendous: Sweet Song Stamp Set
MISTI Stamping Tool or other stamping platform
Paint Brush
Copy Paper
Pencil
Heat Source: Craft Press, Home Iron or Heat Press
Cup/Jar of water
Step-by-Step Tutorial:
Step 1: Apply your focal stamp to the door of your MISTI or other stamp positioning tool. Be sure to leave room around where the stamp will be for the entire Garden Stake. 

Step 2: Position the Artesprix Mirror Stamp Plate on the stamp. My stamp is a bit large, so I angled my Mirror Stamp Plate to fit it properly. Affix the Stamping Plate on to the base of the stamping tool. 

Step 3: Ink the stamp with the Black Sublimation Ink Pad and press it into the Mirror Stamp Plate. Don’t press too hard. This is what the stamped design will look like on the Mirror Stamp Plate. 

Step 4: Place your copy paper on top of the Mirror Stamp Plate. Keep in mind, we’re using our MISTI differently than we normally would. The way we’re getting our stamped impression onto the paper is the same way we’d be pulling a monoprint. If you need to add more ink, you can do so, since we haven’t moved the stamp or the Mirror Stamp Plate. 

Step 5: Here’s what the stamped impression looks like. You can see that because of the Mirror Stamp Plate, our letters and numbers are now backwards. At this point, place your Garden Stake on top of the stamped design, and draw an outline around it with pencil.

Step 6: Trace your garden stake with a pencil lined up with your stamped impression. 

Step 7: Fill in the gaps with smaller stamps. I used 2 stamps from the Sweet Song stamp set and the Black Sublimation Ink Pad to do this. 

Step 8: Continue to fill in any open areas. I decided to stamp all the way down the Stake. 
Step 9: Begin to color in the design. I colored the carrots with the Green, Pine, Orange, and Marigold markers. 

Step 10: To color the rest of the Garden Stake, with the Cinnamon colored marker, scribble on to your craft mat or a piece of acetate. Dip a wet brush into the scribbled marker and paint the edge of the Stake loosely, being sure to go over your pencil line. 

Step 11: Do the same with the Teal marker as you did with the Cinnamon. This time, paint the rest of the Stake. This is what my finished design looks like. 

Step 12: Tape the Garden Stake, white side down, to the dry design with Heat Tape. 

Step 13: It’s time to make the "Sublimation Sandwich". This sandwich will protect your heat source from any ink transfer. Your sandwich will be, Protective Paper, Design (face down), Garden Stake, Protective Paper.
Step 14: Press the Garden Stake for 90 seconds at 400℉. Don’t forget that this is a metal Blank and it will be HOT when you take it out. 

Step 15: It’s time for the "Peek Test"! Lift a corner of the design from the Garden Stake to be sure everything sublimated properly. 

Step 16: This looks great, so we can peel the copy paper away. I love how this came out! The colors are so vivid! I’ve got to get this into my garden right away!

Ok, so I haven’t planted my carrots just yet…but you get the idea. I love that this Garden Stake has its design permanently bonded to it, so I don’t need to worry about it getting rained on or anything. I’m really looking forward to making more of these.

But don’t forget…the Blank of the Month is ONLY here for June, and then it’s gone, so get some for your own garden while you can. How would you like to get more ideas on using Artesprix’s Sublimation Ink Pads, Markers, and Paint? 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.

Thanks so much for stopping by. Have an inspiring day!

Alison Heikkila 

**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.**