Tapping

Here is my first try at playing

with a fun product called Transfer Artist Paper (TAP).

My friend allowed me to use this photo of her adorable daughter:

I played with it in Photoshop Elements and morphed her into a Fairy Princess who changes ordinary caterpillars into beautiful butterflies.

 I printed the photo backwards onto a sheet of TAP.  The color shows up so beautifully but my printer did make the image more pink than I originally had it.

After cutting off the white border, I ironed the transfer onto a piece of pfd fabric.

It only took about a minute of ironing before I was able to peel off the paper and reveal the beauty underneath. 

The colors are so bright and the TAP transfer is very washable.  The only real disadvantage is that the polymer that makes the image so awesome is a little thick on the fabric.  I thought it might be stiff but it actually reminds me of a more sturdy iron-on t-shirt transfer.  The instructions say that the image will become softer when washed.

I added some sparkles using acrylic ink on top of the transfer.  This is one of the big advantages of TAP - you can paint directly onto it either before or after you transfer the image.  After stitching a border around the transfer I added a layer of organza and quilted butterflies and swirls. I think it would be fun to make an entire quilt of photos using the TAP transfers.  Especially if I were to transform ordinary photos of children into magical creatures.

If you'd like to read the story I created around this photo click here.