Ink Jet Image Transfers on Polymer Clay

You've seen the YouTube videos & the blog post...lots of them, pretty images & wonderful projects each & every one of them but then you decide to try it yourself & discover...it doesn't work for you! Well that was my experience anyway...lol. First of all I didn't want to buy "special" paper or a new Laser Printer since my Ink Jet Printer is fairly new. I just wanted an easy way to do an image transfer onto polymer clay with good results...oh & did I mention...I just used plain copy paper!

First I got my images together...just some of my Art Journal images that I scaled down, edited & what ever else I could do to get them to fit on a pendant sized piece of clay. Then I printed them on my Ink jet Printer onto plain copy paper/printer paper. Now here's the trick part...using either a Matte Medium(I used the DecoArt Media range) or Decou-Page photo transfer medium by Americana(I'm sure there are others that would work too) paint a coat onto the image surface & let it dry then add a second coat & let that dry. It should look a little something like this...

Then roll out some white polymer clay(I used Premo)...now you can do this either way, raw or already baked clay...add another layer of the Matte Medium or Decou-Page PTM to the image & to the clay, flip the image over(Image side down to the clay) burnish it down well & bake(it wont hurt the medium, image or the paper). Once it's done(follow the package directions) let it cool. Then either in a bowl of water or with a squirt bottle(that's what I did) wet the back of the paper & let it set for a minute or so(you'll know it's been long enough when the paper turns translucent) then begin to gently rub until the paper begins to come off. Now you wont be able to get all of the paper off but don't worry...just stop rubbing if the ink begins to smear. Just remove the paper until the image appears & looks good to you. Let dry. Then you can coat the image with a sealer(I just used a satin sealer). Here's my results to this point...note I did have to draw some of the details back in on the first few pieces...

But then I got the hang of it! I boy O boy was it so enjoyable to watch these pieces come to life! I've added a layer of resin over the top(I used Amazing Clear Cast).

 Some have a touch of glitter...

 Some have a bit of Stickles/glitter glue...

 Some of them have some iridescent flakes...

 Some of them even have some micro beads...

& then of course I had to do one for the Doctor...Doctor Who!

I cant wait to use these in some of my projects...jewelry, mixed media...altered art projects...the sky is the limit with these! Oh the fun!
Well I did plan on this being a short post but I do get carried away sometimes(obvious isn't it...lol). Thanks so much for stopping by today...Till Next Time!