Contact paper transfers, aka packing tape transfers, are a very handy method to have in your repertoire. They are very easy to do and use cheap materials. As if that weren’t enough, this is the one method that does not reverse your image!!
Toner copies from a copy machine or text and images from magazines work the best. Inkjet prints will be very faint, so you’ll want to print out your text in bold face. Experiment and see what you like best, but my experience leads me to take my inkjet printouts to a copy machine before using them!
1. Place clear contact paper or a strip of clear packing tape over your text/image. Smooth it out and burnish it well. Cut it out to whatever final shape you will desire.
2. Soak the tape in warm water, and rub the back gently but thoroughly. The paper backing will rub off, leaving the pigment behind on the tape. You will probably have to rub and re-rub several times to get all the paper fibers. I've been told that baby wipes perform miracles in removing the paper fibers!
3. You can store these transfers for later use by sticking them onto a piece of freezer paper (the shiny side). When you are ready to use one, simply stick it down onto your work.
4. Top the transfer with matte medium if you don’t like the shiny finish of the tape. As you finish up your collage, you should plan to cover or deal with the hard edges of the tape in some way.
Copyright 2007 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.
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