Gel Image Transfers

These are some tags I made this weekend. I think they will go into an altered book I am working on. It is one of those things that is just sort of brewing. The book is there, some embellishments are gathered, and the tags just sort of fell into place. How I did them....

They are images transferred onto the tag using gel medium. First I gathered the tags and used Color Box Chalk Inks to ink the tags, mostly around the edges. Then the images were selected. I printed them on to Office Max transparency film for inkjet printers. I then applied gel medium - Regular Liquitex Gloss- to the tag.

There is a lot of debate about gel mediums and which brand is better. I don't want to go into that. I find each brand has a purpose and if used correctly does a great job. I like this -Liquitex- because it is creamy like mayo and spreads really well, plus I bought a gallon for ten bucks and the price was great. That affords a lot of experimentation on my part.

So back to the tag.... I apply the gloss with a foam brush then run my finger over the gloss to make it smooth. Then lay the transparency on the tag - ink side down - and hold in place and rub with a bone folder or spoon to transfer the image. You can peel back the image some to check the transfer. Sometimes you have to lightly apply a little more gel in some spots and re- rub. I start rubbing the head first and go down and out. This is just "my way"of doing it.. Then pull up transparency and Voila the image is transfered. If you don't like the gloss look you can use matte gel it works the same way. Sometimes I transfer with gloss and then when dried I go back over it with matte gel. These I left glossy like a photograph.

Once the image is dry you can finish the tag. I applied more ink, stamped, collaged paper and added fabric flowers and buttons. Fibers will be added to the top of the tags at the end. They are hard to scan with the fibers everywhere.

There are many online resources for transferring images. There are several yahoo groups. For me the most helpful group has been the Inkjet Transfer group run by Lesley Riley. She is the guru of transfers. And this group has some "in the know" people. They have the answer to every imaginable question. There art work is great, also. I also suggest taking a class in transfers. You can transfer onto about every surface....metal, plastic, fabric.. There are several good books out there. I actually like the Somerset magazine/book "Transparent" the best. It is full of inspiration and eye candy. So, I hope I opened a little door of thought for you today.