Sublimation is such a great process. I was intrigued from the first time I heard about it. I started doing research and knew this was something I wanted to get into. With being a graphic designer, I got excited with all the possibilities. I researched for two years, gathered images and decided on what I wanted to do before I finally bit the bullet and bought a tumbler press. I was so nervous to make my first tumbler. I had seen horror stories about how people ruin so many blanks and that worried me. So when I made my first one, I held my breath. When I pulled the paper off I was silently praying that I hadn’t screwed it up. Immediately, I could see the color and how beautiful it was. I was hooked, right there.
I made so many tumblers and had so much fun doing it. I love it. So I started exploring what else I could make. My whole graphic world opened up. I started making earrings, pendants and whatever I could find.
A little under three years ago we lost an uncle and it hit the family hard. This was my father in-laws twin brother so I wanted to do something special for the family reunion. I looked around online for something unique and found some blank flasks. I thought this was perfect. So I came up with a design for the flask and sent off for the papers.
Now, I need to explain that the flask I used does not fit in the tumbler press. So I needed to find another way to get the design on the flask. I had gotten a small convection/toaster oven for Christmas the previous year. We had known this would be used just for odd shaped blanks. Once the convection oven was used for sublimation, it would be toxic for human food use. I prepared the first flask, since I was going to do a couple of them. I had planned on making it double sided. The flask was taped and I was a little unsure about the time so I watched it close. Watching the wrapper bubble made me really nervous. The longer it went, the more it bubbled and shrank. I paced and bounced my knee. Finally I took it out and let it cool. I was pretty disappointed in the first one. The flask was curved and the inner curve did not take, it was barely visable. The other side looked great but there was no way I was going to take that to the family reunion.
So, I started over. I was grateful that I had the foresight to print extras. This time, I wasn’t as nervous about the length of time it took to bake. When it was done, I let it cool and check it. It looked great. So I repeated the process with the other design on a new flask. Deciding that I would bring two flasks with different designs to the reunion.
Each year at the family reunion, we have an auction so that we can have reunion the next year. The year I made these the family love them. I had made an extra and gave it to my father in-law. At the reunion, these ended up with our uncle’s sisters. I hope they will stay in the family for years to come.
Flasks were a lot more fun to make than I expected. I have made one more since then need to find reason to make some more.