Happy Armitage Day! Make Your Own Armitage Goodie!

I’d like to start by saying a HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who’s taken part in Operation Armitage!

Congrats to the winner from yeasterday’s competition!

Just a few words before I move on, though.

 First and foremost, Seba, from Gisborne’s Boy, my partner-in-crime!

You did a fab job, and it was such a fun process!

Thanks for sharing your talent with us, you’re a little creative ray of light 🙂

Thanks to my sister Magzy for her constant support, and for not looking at me funny when I get these ideas!

Thank You to the readers and people who commented!

Without you I’d just be an Armitage weirdo posting things online!

It’s the people who visit that breathe life into a blog!

Congrats to the winners!

I hope you enjoy your prize.

If you were not among the lucky ones, remember, you’re always a winner in my eyes!

Before I move on to the main topic of this post, I’d like to present an award.

This gift goes to my most loyal reader, as well as the person who’s left the most comments.

My special ” Friend to IWantTobeAPinUp” award goes to:

She’s long become a fixed feature over here, to the point where I really can’t imagine her not dropping by daily!

 This is my way of saying Thank You!

I have a confession to make.

Luciana was one of the winners during the week, however I knew I wanted to single her out individually at the end 🙂

Luciana, you get to choose an image out of the 8 featured during Operation Armitage, and a shopping bag with that picture will be sent to you.

Thank You to all my readers, I’m only sorry I don’t have the means to give each and every one of you a goodie.

So, I’ve settled for second best!

Seba created this stunning image, and I’ve decided to give everyone a chance to create their very own RA goodie!

I’ll be talking you through the process, based on pictures I took when I was creating the competition prizes!

Here is a step-by-step guide!

To transfer this image onto a T-shirt or bag, you will need:

A mirror reflection of the image you want.

This was a bit of a head-scratcher for Seba and me, until Magzy put us out of our misery.

In PSE, just go to Image, Rotate, Flip Horizontal!

A flat fabric surface, like a T-shirt

It’s important that it isn’t grainy or creased.

Iron-on paper for your printer

I got mine online, and an A4 sheet cost under Euro 0.50

I’ve tried different brands, and they are all the same.

What is important is to choose the paper based on the colour of fabric you are applying the image to.

There are 2 kinds I’ve encountered: for white / light and for black backgrounds.

Do yourself a favour and buy a few more than you need, just in case.

An iron, with the steam function switched off

Here’s the mirror reflection of Seba’s Hobbit Picnic:

First, print out your image on the iron-on paper.

Please set to the highest resolution on your printer.

It’s best to follow instructions, however let me give you some advice.

The paper has a blank side, and one that is patterned.

It’s important that you put the paper in the right way.

When you feed the paper in your printer, please check which side is printed on.

Do that by taking a regular blank page, putting a cross on the corner, and printing something tiny.

This will save you the bother of using up your cartridge on printing on the wrong side.

I’m not saying I’ve made that mistake before, but then I’m not saying I haven’t 😉

Let the printout dry.

In the meantime, iron the surface you will be applying the image on.

Let it cool.

Then place the printout in its designated place, and start ironing!

Start from the top and work your way down.

This will prevent any bubbling.

Depending on how large your image is, this can take a few seconds, or up to a few minutes.

Remember to iron the edges and corners well too!

With some brands the patterned side changes colour when the process is complete (check instructions), but ours didn’t, so we just played it by ear.

Let it cool down, and then remove the outer layer with one smooth motion, but be careful not to tear the edges.

There you have it!

It’s as easy as I LUV RA!

If you image is shiny, but you want a more matt finish, simply put a blank sheet of regular paper, and iron that on top of the image for a few seconds.

Remember that the image will fade in the wash, always wash inside out, in maximum 40 degrees, without spinning.

Do not iron the image.

Strong chemicals like bleach will also damage it.

I hope you’ve enjoyed Operation Armitage as much as I have!

It’s been a blast!