Sunflowers & Dragonflies

Tutorial Tuesday: Readable Text on a Coaster

Gel transfers are pretty popular these days, so I thought I would do a new tutorial for you.  Today you will learn how to make your word(s) print backwards, so your finished product is readable.

Select your photo or picture for printing and put it into a Word document on your computer.  On the top left of your computer screen you will see the option of going into “File.”  Click on File.  Next, click on Print.  This portion is straight forward because most of us are already familiar with printing in this fashion.  Next, you will see a tab on the upper right that says, “Properties.”  Click on that.  Next, you will see a series of file folder tabs along the top.  Click on “Layout.”  Under the area called Orientation you will see a box beside the words, “Mirror Image.”  Click on the box.  Next, click OK and your print job will be processed.

These are the steps I took you through

• File
• Print
• Properties
• Layout
• Mirror Image

Supplies:  Coaster, Golden Gel Medium, Sponge, Image

With a sponge, paint Golden Gel Medium onto the image.  Let dry completely.

When the first layer of gel medium is dry, paint on another layer.  Repeat for a total of 4 to 6 layers.  Smaller images need 4 coats.  Larger areas should have 5 to 6 coats.  The reason that larger images need more gel medium is because the gel medium goes on clear and it is hard to see what areas have been painted.  Some areas will be left bare and will not receive a nice full coat.  It is better to have more layers of gel, than not enough.

Dry all layers thoroughly.  Personally, I let my image dry 7 hours.  Many times, I leave it to dry overnight.

Flip your image over once all the layers are dry.

Dip your finger into water and gently rub the paper backing off the gel skin.  Repeat until the area is completely free of paper.

This is what your gel skin will look like at this point.

Coat the top and sides of your coaster with gel medium.  If you trimmed your image to rest on the top only, then paint gel medium only on the top.  This step acts as the glue to adhere the image to the coaster.

Paint one or two layers of Gel Medium over finished image.  Spray with protective sealer, or paint a protective sealer once the gel medium is completely dry.

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