Packing tape transfer tips

I had shared packing tape transfer over on the ‘gram the other day and there were a few questions and bunch of comments. So I thought I would do a blog post to share some of the tips I have for doing this technique.

while I was putting this together, I couldn’t help but maybe want to share how I use the transfers in my work:

high contrast image here,

left paper and rubbed through image here

And, when I was pulling those, I thought, just in case if you wanted more info on matte medium image transfers- I would include this example- matte medium transfer here

and my blog post with process explanation- matter medium transfer

But, what I do have here is a short video on my packing tape transfer below, followed by a few tips.


TIPS

  • Not all magazines are created equally; do a test from the magazine on something you maybe aren’t hoping to really use

    • I would also caution that all tapes may not be the same and would encourage a quick check of your tape in this same fashion. I did use Scotch brand tape for all of the tape transfers I have shown both on IG and here.

  • Remember to burnish image/ tape well

  • Glossy or thicker paper definitely won’t slide off; even in a water bath. AND you will need to be patient and allow the paper to penetrate the paper to make it easier to remove the paper pulp. These will need a rub to remove the paper

  • There is clear contact paper- this can be used for your these traditional tape transfers without limitation of size or having a seam from using another piece of tape

  • If the transfer does slide off, keep that remnant back paper. It normally will have the “imprint” of the tape and will be an interesting piece of collage for something else.

    • If you do have do rub, try peeling and removing the back paper at an edge to get a larger piece to keep and use as mentioned above. Sometimes even a rubbed piece of back paper is interesting to use again if it has a crumbled edge. Here is an example.

    • Worse case scenario….you have spent time creating and had to rub off the paper and end up with a fabulous little stack of words, phrases and images!

Do you have a tip or a hint?! Feel free to share with a comment here. Or ask a question- we will see if I can get you an answer….but I think we know sometimes it takes a village.

Thanks so much for being here!

xo. kristin