How To . . . Transfer Colored Pencil Designs to Ultrasuede Tags

I NEVER get sick. So, when my Mom (who is visiting for the Winter) got really ill on Thursday, I thought it was food poisoning, I took care of her as best I could and didn’t worry about me much.

On Friday, my husband and I got it bad and we hadn’t eaten anything in common, so we figured out it was a flu bug and an ugly one indeed. It was.

A couple of times over the weekend, I thought about crawling to the computer and letting you know why I was missing, but the very idea of crawling was more than I could muster energy for - sorry. Besides, who wants to read a post like that?

It’s just a good thing I built some “omission” into my March blog challenge because I surely *don’t* feel like eating any worms!!! Or anything else for that matter.

So, about those tags . . .

If anyone is not familiar with the Sheer Heaven and Alcohol transfer process, please visit the Sheer Heaven page on my website to find step-by-steps and tutorials:

Sheer Heaven Transfers

I used a Sizzix die cutter to create my tag blanks. Ultrasuede die cuts better with a mat underneath it, so I used white card stock cut to the same size (4.5”x6” approx) to use as the mat with the fabric.

The cool thing about this is that it also gives you a template to create your designs. You can barely see my pencil outlines in this photo, but they are there to guide me.

I traced them onto bristol to create my ink drawings. You could also create your art right on the extra card stock tags. Be sure to remember your designs will be reversed in the transfer.

This set of Tags is available along with the
“leftovers” from:

http://experiart.com

Now the real fun begins. Lay Sheer Heaven over the designs with the good (suede feel) side up.

Use Derwent Watercolor pencils or Derwent Inktense pencils for the best results (see the last blog post).

First color and shade your design and then outline with the black colored pencil. Don’t be afraid to lay the color on thick - the Sheer Heaven can take it.

Since it is more difficult to see through the Sheer Heaven with colored pencil on it. I found the transfer process works best this way:

Cut the tag designs apart to work with one at a time. Spritz the Sheer Heaven design with 70% alcohol until it has a glassy surface.

Lay the Sheer Heaven face-up and place the tag on top of it for better placement. Burnish carefully with your bone folder using smooth, even strokes.

Allow all three tags to dry for five minutes or so.

Attach eyelets to the holes that are already there from the die cut. I used 3/16” eyelets to accommodate 1/8” ball chain.

Attach the tags together on one ball chain or separately on their own chains. They can be purse tags, zipper pulls, backpack tags, keychains for special keys, etc. etc.

To the right is a set made by my friend, Sue Kloess.

Speaking of Sue, here she is.

I am introducing her because she is the owner of Experiart.com - which will soon be one of your favorite sites.

Sue has been a corporate art director for most of her life and she is broadening her horizons - launching a website dedicated to unusual mixed media art supplies. It is just a baby, but will grow more and more exciting very quickly, due to me pestering her. (It’s not easy being my friend).

But, because Sue is my dear friend and because I can no longer add much to my product line since Sheer Heaven has become so popular, I have been able to talk her into stocking most of the hard-to-get supplies that I use in my various projects.

I hate to put a project out there that is too “hard to get”, so this is a great solution for all of us. Experiart has Ultrasuede in reasonable and appropriate sizes, ball chain and fasteners in stainless steel, black and rainbow, and even the die cut tags sets. And other cool stuff.

Good news on the Inktense front . . .

I’ll be back tomorrow with a great newsflash regarding the Derwent Inktense pencils . . .