Sunday, August 2, 2015

Wooden Image Transfer

Hello there everyone!
It has been quite some time since my last post. It's been weighing heavily on my mind lately that I really needed to get reconnected with you all. So much has happened since I last posted that I wouldn't even know where to begin! Lets jump right into it, shall we?

If I were to have to choose one word to describe my taste, it would be "rustic." I love raw wood and wood that has character… I feel like it adds so much charm to any room. I had been wanting to do wooden image transfers for some time now and I know that it is best if you use a laser printer but I own and ink jet so I was curious to see how it would turn out anyway…

First, I found a picture that I love and printed it out.
(How handsome is he ;))

Next, I found the perfect piece of wood to transfer to image on.

Then, I used Liquitex gel and applied it to the wood.

Once you apply the Liquitex, you apply your picture to the wood.
Once the picture is on, it will be really hard to readjust it.
Once you put your picture on the wood, try to rub out any bubbles so the picture
will transfer as best it can. Now, this is the hard part… You have to let 
the picture dry for at least 12 hours. Mine dried for about 15 hours, so 
if you let it dry longer it will not hurt the transfer.

Now, once the 12 hours pass, you will take a damp cloth and place it on the picture.
You will see the image become brights once it gets wet.

Once damp, you will use your fingertips and rub the paper so that it begins to peel off.

Just keep going, paper comes off in many layers after it is wet. This step takes a while!

Once it is all peeled off, you must let it dry and it will look something like this.

Once it dried, the ink faded a lot because I did not use a laser printer. I then put two coats of Mod Podge on it.

Once dried, I placed it on my hutch :)

I absolutely love the way that it turned out. You are still able to see the knots in the wood along with the grain and I am totally ok with that because it gives it that "rustic" charm. Next time, I will make sure to try it out with a laser printer so that the image will transfer darker. Once I give it a try I will share it with all of you! 

Thanks for checking it out!
xoxo,
Paige