Sea Glass Images

I'm in another lottery swap and because I WON last month, (hooray)-I chose the theme for June. "Under the Sea" was my choice, using mermaids and or sea glass. It only took a short time for me to decide that I would use my sea glass gathered from the California shores. To incorporate a mermaid picture, I made an inkjet transfer.

The transfer consists of using a two sided, coated photo paper for the inkjet print, cutting out the graphic, covering it with an even layer of Golden Matte Gel, and burnishing the print side to the glass. I burnished with a spoon bottom as the sea glass is irregular. You must gently (I mean gently) rub the back side of the print to remove the paper. I usually let it dry for a couple of minutes before doing that part. After an hour or more of drying, I wet my finger tips and again remove the final remnants of the paper.

Krylon Crystal Clear spray is my sealer of choice. Because I use Dura Brite Inks (Epson), I do not get bleeding from the spray or water. Other inks may run.

The paper I used was once called "Great White" but that has changed to Paper Jet Print Photo Imaging & Photo Matte, item #110430. It still comes in a box of 100 sheets and has a black band across the top portion of the box. Please note that I bought this paper many moons ago and everything could have changed. At that time, you could find this paper at Wal-Mart or Staples.

What to do with the sea glass? I'm going to make some match box sized ornaments for magnets. Of course it will include die cuts.