Painted & Personalized Garden Stake with Sublimation Iron-on-Ink

Hi Everyone! It's Design Team Member Sarah from A Paper Moment. Even though there’s still snow where I am, now is the time to start planning my Spring gardens. Every year I try to grow new herbs and veggies to see what I can harvest. Currently I have garlic overwintering, but as soon as the frost clears, I’ll be planting some new seeds for Spring and Summer. The March Blank of the Month, the Garden Stake, is a perfect opportunity to spruce up my garden! Keep reading to see how you can do a simple color blocking technique to create a fun ornamentation for your garden.

**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 Artesprix Sublimation Arts & Crafts Supplies?

Artesprix has produced specially formulated products that permanently transfer a design you create onto a polyester or polyester coated substrate (the blank) through a mechanism called sublimation. Sublimation is a chemical process in which the combination of heat and pressure allows the solid form of the design to turn into a gas and permanently integrate into your project so it won’t peel or fade. What’s great is that along with the Artesprix sublimation arts and craft supplies such as Sublimation Markers, Paints, and Inks, you can easily utilize items you may already have such as stamps, stencils, and electronic cutting machines for quick and easy projects.

Supplies:

Garden Stake 2ct

Sublimation Ink Pads in Black and Brown

Sublimation Acrylic Paint in Purple, Blue, Orange

Sublimation Stamps - Block Alphabet

Hero Arts Veggie Medley Bold Prints Cling Stamp

Heat Tape

Protective Paper Roll

Protective Project Mat

Multi-Purpose Cleaner

Paint Brush

Water to clean your brush

Stamp Positioner

Copy/Printer paper

Low tack tape

Pencil

Heat Source

Heat Protective Gloves

Step-by-Step Tutorial:

Step 1: Cut a piece of copy paper in half to 5.5x8.5” and trace the Garden Stake with a pencil.

Step 2: Use low tack tape or even Heat Tape to mask off a section of the Garden Stake. Paint the smaller section with a thin layer of Purple Sublimation Acrylic Paint. Let the section dry.

Step 3: Move the low tack tape to line the edge of the purple. Take another piece of low tack tape and mask off a second section perpendicular to the first. With a clean brush, paint this new smaller section with a thin layer of Blue Sublimation Acrylic Paint. Let it dry.

Pro Tip: You can gently use a heat gun to dry the sections if you don’t want to wait. Be careful not to warp the paper. Thin layers of paint will dry faster.

Step 4: Move the tape from the blue section to line the edge. With a clean brush, paint the last larger section with Orange Sublimation Paint. Let it dry.

Step 5: Use a stamping block, or stamp positioner, and the Block Alphabet Sublimation Stamps to stamp the word “GARDEN” vertically down the stake with Black Sublimation Ink.

Pro Tip: The Artesprix Block Alphabet stamps are designed so that you don’t have to do mirror stamping! Just stamp directly onto your project.

Step 6: Next use the Block Alphabet stamps for your name across the middle of the Garden Stake. Since there are repeat letters in my name, I positioned part of my name, stamped in Black, then keeping the letters on the stamp positioner plate, I moved the S and A over. I made an apostrophe by dipping a small paint brush into the Black Sublimation Ink and drawing it in. 

Pro Tip #2: Although you don’t need to do mirror stamping with the Artesprix stamps, you do need to build your horizontal words backwards or in mirror orientation. 

Step 7: Place the Veggie Medley stamp into your stamp positioner over your design. Stamp with Brown Sublimation Ink. Stamp multiple times if needed to get crisp lines.

Fun Fact: This is my favorite background cling stamp and the first I ever bought when I got into stamping.

Step 8: With Heat Tape, secure the design facing the white side of the Garden Stake.

Step 9: I opted to create a “sublimation taco.” Cut a longer piece of Protective Paper, and fold in half to create your “taco shell.” Place the blank with the secured design into the Protective Paper shell. This will protect your work surface and heat source.

Step 10: On a sturdy surface, place the “taco” on the Protective Project Mat and press your design for 90 seconds at 400℉.

Step 11: Using heat protective gloves, peel back a corner to do a “peek test.” If the design is vibrant on your blank, it successfully sublimated. If not, place the corner back down and press again. This only works if you don’t move the tape out of place.

Step 12: Let the blank cool then it’s ready to place into your garden!

I can’t wait for the snow to melt so I can place this Garden Stake into my garden! It gets me more excited for Spring. What’s awesome is that this Blank of the Month comes in a pack of two, so I can create another Garden Stake for one of my other gardens! If you feel inspired, be sure to share your sublimation projects on the Artesprix Iron-on-Ink Inspirational Group on Facebook. Also use the hashtags #Artesprix and #IrononInk on your socials so we can see what you’re creating! Finally, check out the Artesprix Blog for more tutorials and inspiration. To see more of my creations, visit me @apapermoment.

Have a great day!

Sarah Goulet

**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.**