Image transfers

A couple of days ago, I showed you some chandelier crystals with images. Some of you have asked how I went about it and I am happy to share my experiments.

Technically, these are probably not really transfers. I do not have access to all the wonderful supplies that are available on the US market, so I have to experiment in my alchemist laboratory.... The transfer fluid I was able to locate did not yield the anticipated results, probably because I have an inkjet printer. The colour went off with the paper, leaving me a rather yellowish shadow of a transfer. Not quite what I was envisioning. We don't have a copy shop any where near here either, so I can't run out and photocopy my images.

What I have done is print on tissue paper. To do this, I cut out a piece that is smaller than the paper for my printer and tape it on the sheet, which I return to the paper tray of the printer. This is because the tissue paper is too thin for my printer to transport. You will have to experiment to see if this functions with your printer. So - I print the image on the tissue paper, cut it out somewhat larger than the crystal it will be adhered to (at least half an inch all around). I then spread a coating of Diamond Glaze on the rear side of the crystal and then quickly lay the image on the glaze. Smooth it all down with a brush, so that it adheres everywhere and no air bubbles are trapped. This can be a bit tricky with very dimensional crystals, because the tissue will tear easily. There will be some folds in the tissue paper, due to the shape of the crystal (unless you have one with a flat back) - try to get the folds where the facets meet. They are less conspicuous there. Let dry. Now you can cut the excess paper closely around the crystal and put on another coat of glaze and let dry.

This was done with a colour intense image.

A view of the rear side - you can see just how transparent the tissue paper gets.

The image I used here was very light - making the image almost invisible on the crystal.

rear view
So I used some buff acrylic paint, just a little and spread it over the rear of the image with my wet finger until I had a semi-transparent look, which made the image more visible.

I hope this was helpful!