Sunday, March 13, 2016

Sublimation Products

Over fifteen years ago, when it was in it's unstable infancy, we invested in a sublimation system. The process had serious problems of fading ink along with a high rate of waste during production. We canned it.

Re-visiting the system over the past several months has assured us of the technological improvements, especially the longevity factor. So we put a toe in to test the feasibility of giving it another go.

For those not familiar with sublimation, it's a heat transfer process. Products (like a mug) have a special coating to receive dye sublimation inks which are printed on transfer paper. The paper with the printed image is then heat pressed onto the receiving product where a chemical process transfers the image.

We use to carry some beautiful sublimation mugs not too long ago that were manufactured in Texas. Due to ever increasing shipping costs, our margin of profit continued to diminish until we canned them too. Many of my clients were disappointed but now we can produce them ourselves and so...they're back!

Mugs are back!
There is now a myriad of sublimation products available. However, each one has a learning curve such as heat temperature, timing, pressure, etc., therefore we're limiting the line to a few tried and true products such as a hardboard coaster to go along with the mugs...
Hardboard coasters with cork backing.
...and tile murals. This one is produced on six inch satin tiles. We'll have the option of varying tile sizes to create larger (or smaller) murals.
Tile mural.

The same tiles can be appropriated with a cork backing to serve as a trivet.
Cork-backed trivet  
The most intriguing product and the one that has me salivating is the aluminum panel. This seems to be the latest craze in the art reproduction world and no wonder - the color is spectacularly vibrant! They will hang sans frame with an inch or so profile away from the wall providing a contemporary, clean appearance. Of course we have just begun this project so better photos illustrating the design will soon follow. I especially love the triptych look of the "Harrowing" on the table.
Artwork on aluminum panels.
We welcome ideas and will take orders customized with your own image, size, etc. Feeling very confident in the quality of the new and very improved sublimation process, we'll continue to explore different items as we become proficient with these starters.

Hot off the presses!
Sharon

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