# I am in love...with Rhinestone transfers! How to get custom rhinestone transfers made



## Moo Spot Prints

We broke new ground on Friday over here and I thought I'd share our experiences. Yes, we tried out custom rhinestone transfers and you know what? I FREAKIN' LOVE THEM! There, I said it. 

I was skeptical of going this route because for a few reasons -


Our target demographic isn't really known for sporting the bling.
I was afraid it would cost a fortune.
I didn't think people would pay a premium for rhinestones.
I had no idea how to adapt our graphics to this new medium.

My girlfriend 'educated' me on a few things. 


Half our target demographic is female and they LOOOOOVE the sparkly stuff. 
They are used to paying through the nose for this stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
The girls love the sparkly stuff.
...

Thus properly indoctrinated, I found that I only had 2 barriers (as opposed to 4 previously). I was prodded a little more and I finally broke down and started to look into _possibly _testing out a rhinestone transfer.

I did my due diligence on google and here and found that the ONLY way I would even consider doing this is if I could buy ready-to-press transfers. The idea of manually placing the stones on a shirt or piece of tape made me want to stab out my eyeballs with a wooden spoon. A little more digging and I found one place that might offer what I needed. Turns out, The Rhinestone Guy offers custom transfers and is right down the road from me in Santa Ana, California. After doing a little math I found that the per transfer prices were not outrageously expensive. 

The price varies depending on the type, size and quantity of stones so you could make the designs as simple or complex as you could afford.

Not bad. But how to get some artwork in a rhinestone ready format? Their website gives some ideas but there's a whole lot of manual work to do. One suggestion was to use a sharpie to place dots where you wanted the stones to be.

Excuse me? Sharpie? I don't think so. If I'm going to shell out money for 50 transfers (the minimum), I'd better have a better way of visualizing the design!

I ended up trying the sharpie-dots approach and got pretty much what I expected (a lot of work and a lot of dots in the wrong places). I tried the GemMaster software I found through google but after 30 minutes I wanted to throw it and the computer out the window. What a POS!

Things weren't looking good until I remembered about a thread I saw on this very forum. One I even participated in. Something about an Illustrator vs Corel p*****g match... I thought "hey, I'm an illustrator advocate, why not figure out how to use it?" Well, I did and here's how I did it:

*1.* Take a design that's relatively simple. By that I mean not a lot of detail. Remember, you're trying to represent the image as a series of 2-3mm dots. Luckily for me, I have a perfect design. I make shirts for some of the local Hash House Harrier (yup, the drinking club with a running problem) groups. One of their most recognizable images is a foot with the words on-on in it. I just happen to have a nice vector of it on my server. It looks like this:










*2.* Make a template with all the sizes you think you'll be using. Make pattern brushes out of each dot. The spacing isn't super important. You will tweak it later on when you're trying to get the placement. Note that some of the dots are distorted. This is because illustrator is trying to bend it so that it 'fits'. I have yet to find a way to make it not do this to my satisfaction. If you figure it, let me know! In this image I have my dots on the top and a path with inner and outer edges as well as a line (to see the start and end pattern).

You can color these to match the stone colors. In the sample image I took a jpg off the net and trimmed it to the SS10 size to see what it would look like. Not bad... Anyone want to create a set of brushes in all the sizes and colors for me to use? 










*3. * Take your image and apply brushes to the paths until you get something that looks pretty good. It's not science.










*4.* Tweak the spacing for the brush and the paths so that the dots aren't too close or too far from each other. You're looking good separation between dots on different paths.










*5. * Print out the image and see if you've got the dimensions right. Do this until you're confident about the sizing! Use different sized people and shirts so you don't end up with weird looking extremes.










*6. * Call up the rhinestone guy and place an order. For this transfer we used clear SS10 xfer guy 2cut stones (the most inexpensive) for the shape and SS10 clear AB xfer guy 2cut for the lettering. A few days later you'll get your transfers. Turnaround time was amazing -- 2 days! We lucked out and got in between jobs.  

The transfers come on a sticky mylar carrier with a plastic backing. Very similar to t-shirt vinyl.










*6.* Press the transfer just as you would a plastisol transfer. I pressed at 295 degrees for 26 seconds using med pressure Probably a 6 for those of you with pressure indicators. It doesn't take much!

This particular transfer was destined for a black bella tank (we have since pressed onto black Gildan shirts and 100% poly performance fabrics with perfect results).

Peel warm.

I used a teflon sheet only because my press if not working right. The shocks are shot and the auto release is VIOLENTLY releasing the lid taking the transfer and shirt along with it about half the time.




























*7.* Give it to a girl with a boring shirt and make her SMILE!




















Oh, one important thing I learned (and if you're sharp you saw that in the last photo). Stretch the shirt when you're pressing. If it's a tight fitting garment like this bella, the artwork WILL stretch and appear distorted. 

After this first pressing I started using my fabric stretchers (cardboard squares) on all shirts that were to be rhinestoned. The design looks correct when worn. 

...Scratch that. 

The design looks *fabulous *when worn!

The cardboard squares are 4-5 inches wider than the shirt size. I'm looking for a better material if anybody's got any ideas!


*8.* Prepare to be the most popular dude on the block. Seriously!


Big thumbs up to the rhinestone guy. The website isn't the easiest to navigate but it has all the necessary information. The designs were done quickly and pretty reasonably. Per per transfer was just over $4. They pressed perfectly on the first try and look awesome!

Hope that helps some of you. It's late and I'm sure I forgot something. Ask if I wasn't clear. 

Enjoy!


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## Solmu

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Great post Jose... I added this thread to the heat transfer faq post.


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## mazinger

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

 
nice shirt thanks for the info... 


i will try..


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## MotoskinGraphix

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Excellent post!


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## Buechee

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

It works if you want to know how to place stones on a shirt. I'm happy for you. I too like putting stones on tees. Good post.


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## THQ

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks a bunch


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## vctradingcubao

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Wow, great post Jose. I also need to add some bling blings on some of my ladies shirts. For now, I'll just be using the Star metallic flex/vinyl transfers from Forever.


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Glad you guys liked it. It was late last night and I forgot to mention that the designs still need to be put into a cad system/format that the placement machine can understand. This is currently done by hand! By submitting my artwork like I did I saved a bunch of money in setup fees. As soon as I find some time I'm going to head down and figure out exactly what that format is so I can get that number down as close to zero as possible.

Our initial test batch sold out very, very quickly. You should have seen how quickly those necks turned when the sparkles caught their eyes! I really think I would have had much more fun in my youth if I had gone through it covered in rhinestones.


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## paulo

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Quick question...

Can Plastisol transfers and Rhinestone transfers be combined?

1 sheet? or 2 different sheets?

Can you re-heat press the same garment with different plastisol and rhinestone designs?


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## Moo Spot Prints

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*



paulo said:


> Quick question...
> 
> Can Plastisol transfers and Rhinestone transfers be combined?
> 
> 1 sheet? or 2 different sheets?
> 
> Can you re-heat press the same garment with different plastisol and rhinestone designs?


I've seen shirts with both types of decoration on them but I haven't seen a transfer made with both. I have no idea who could do that. You would need a sticky backing on the plastisol sheet to keep the rhinestones on it. You're probably better off doing it in 2 steps. 

As long as you use a teflon sheet to keep it from sticking, you can reheat plastisol. You probably want to do the plastisol first and leave gaps in the ink for the rhinestones. Not sure how well they would stick to the ink -- you'd have to test if you don't want to leave gaps.


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## paulo

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks for the info.

I'm going to have to play around with AI and try that out.

My Phoenix Phire 16x20 is on its way, and I cant wait to start playing around with the Plastisol and Rhinestone transfers.


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## D.Evo.

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

I haven't tried plastisol tranfers, but I've made a couple of shirts recently for a trade show display combining rhinestone motiffs with sublimated designs - looks stunning!


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## hiGH

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

great stuff.. thanks.


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## Rodney

*Re: I am in love... with Rhinestone transfers!*

Thanks for taking the time to write this up, Jose. Great photos as well.

I saw this shirt in person at the tradeshow and I can tell you that it looked very cool and blingy in real life!

Feel like explaining how you made a brush? I guess I could google it since I'm using Corel


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## sunnydayz

Those look great Jose, and I can tell you from a girls point of view we love sparkely stuff. very good post, and great instructions.

Bobbie


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## patchmaster

Nice work,

the Rhinestone guy link forwards to a referrer link for diamond jewelry. happen to have an update?

Bill


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## Moo Spot Prints

patchmaster said:


> Nice work,
> 
> the Rhinestone guy link forwards to a referrer link for diamond jewelry. happen to have an update?
> 
> Bill


DOH! Didn't check it. sorry.

Here is the correct link to The Rhinestone Guy


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## [email protected]

Hi I'm new and have a question that might be silly. When making your own rhinestone transfers, what paper do you buy and more importantly, are the rhinestones special rhinestones?/ Such that they have glue on the back?? I have used pre-made ones but don't understand how to make them from scratch? Thanks, hope someone can help me in simple terms!!


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## plan b

Hi Jazz,, go to the Rhinestone guy web site and he has tutorials there..

R.


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## billy bob

That is the best link,i too am in love with rinestones and my eyes are burning from endless hours of trying to find who does custom,thank you!!


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## memojan

Thanx for this article! may u put a detail video about rhinestone workflow using illustrator ?


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## Tshirtsrcool

Excellent very useful info!!


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## bells

Hi All,

Wow what a great post and the visuals are so helpful. I feel so lucky that I found this forum and I'm a new member. I will re-post my new member introduction here and hopefully get some good feedback. Here goes:


New Member-Call me Cassandra or Bells!
Wow what a great resource this is! I have been looking at a lot of sites to start my latest venture and stumbled on this site by accident. I have had many businesses but nothing like the t shirt biz and I am a babe in the woods. I know absolutely nothing except what I have been learning here over the last few days. I certainly would appreciate any advice you all have to offer. My idea is to start a custom rhinestone shirt business, creating ladies shirts only, possibly expanding to other products later. I would like to use Swarovski crystals but I’m afraid the costs may go way up. I may offer Swarovski and Korean crystals for those on a budget. My idea is to start with a good used heat press and order the transfers to press myself. If the business makes money then I would maybe buy one of those automated awesome rhinestone machines I have seen down the road. I am thinking I would buy my shirts from American Apparel but have seen other sites listed here in the forum. Here are my starter questions:

- What are the biggest issues to look for when buying a used heat press?
- Do the good heat presses work fine at a regular home with 110?
- Who are the best people to buy transfers from?
- If I have an original design that I create and work with a rhinestone transfer company, will they be able to use my design to sell to others or can I retain rights to it?
- Can rhinestone transfers work well on ribbed cotton shirts?
- What type of fabric is best for rhinestone transfers?
- Should I make labels and sew them into my shirts or does the shirt company do that?
- What is the Teflon paper used for that I have seen in other posts?
- What should the profit margin be for this business to make sense?
- Please I am open to any and all suggestions to get this business going?

Thank you! Bells


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## Rodney

> Here are my starter questions:


It may be faster for you to use the search box at the top of the page to type in your questions.

That will lead you to the answers that have already been posted. I think all of the questions you've listed have been discussed in past topics here in the forums.


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## moolupop

Hi there,

Just trying out stock design rhinestone transfers myself, and cannot get the mix right. When I remove the film after pressing, some of the rhinestones and spangles are left on the backing film. Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do.
Should I try more heat, or more pressure or longer time.
I am 90% of the way there, but am rapidly going through the shirts and designs, with no saleable result.
Can you help me please. New kid on the block here.
Thanks


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## Kleverrr1

Hi Trish,

Are you letting the transfer cool ? The transfer must cool before you peel or some stones may come off. Are you using pre-made transfers ? Some times designs with diffrent size stones on them may need normal presure on the first press to melt the glue and a second press for 5 sec. with more presure to secure them. 
Hope this helps


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## bling bling

Trish,

Chris is absolutely correct! When you have different size stones, the little suckers don't get the same attention from the press that the big ones get. I use an eraser to gently press - not rub - after I heat press. This way you can concentrate on the stones that need it. Are you sure your shirts are ruined? 
Try to press them and remove the stones. You may have a little glue residue but you can usually cover it with another transfer. I manufacture transfers so you can email me if you have any questions. Hang in there!!


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## sjidohair

I agree with chris, Let these transfers cool before peeling, and dont forget to put a teflon sheet inside the shirt , so the glue does not make the shirt stick together in the inside.
There are some more lessons on rhinestones, search for rhinestone transfer lesson #1 and rhinestone transfer lesson #2,
Have fun


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## charles95405

after you press...turn over or...inside out and press again on the backside to give more heat to the bottom of the stones


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## moolupop

Kleverrr1 said:


> Hi Trish,
> 
> Are you letting the transfer cool ? The transfer must cool before you peel or some stones may come off. Are you using pre-made transfers ? Some times designs with diffrent size stones on them may need normal presure on the first press to melt the glue and a second press for 5 sec. with more presure to secure them.
> Hope this helps


Yes. I am using pre made transfers. I will give the second press thing a go. Thanks for the help.


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## moolupop

bling bling said:


> Trish,
> 
> Chris is absolutely correct! When you have different size stones, the little suckers don't get the same attention from the press that the big ones get. I use an eraser to gently press - not rub - after I heat press. This way you can concentrate on the stones that need it. Are you sure your shirts are ruined?
> Try to press them and remove the stones. You may have a little glue residue but you can usually cover it with another transfer. I manufacture transfers so you can email me if you have any questions. Hang in there!!


Hi there,
Yes it's definitely when there are different sizes. It's the low lying ones that are giving me grief. I will try your suggestion. Thank you.


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## moolupop

sjidohair said:


> I agree with chris, Let these transfers cool before peeling, and dont forget to put a teflon sheet inside the shirt , so the glue does not make the shirt stick together in the inside.
> There are some more lessons on rhinestones, search for rhinestone transfer lesson #1 and rhinestone transfer lesson #2,
> Have fun


OOH that's a handy tip with the teflon. I'll definetely do that. Thanks very much


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## moolupop

charles95405 said:


> after you press...turn over or...inside out and press again on the backside to give more heat to the bottom of the stones


Thanks Charles, and thanks everyone. I feel encouraged to keep going and to try all these methods.


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## sjidohair

You are using hot fix stones right?
I use different sizes of stones and studs, and mix it up.
My rubber pad on my bottom plate, adjusts the pressure for me, so all recieve even heat.
I honestly have never had a stone not stay n place.
I am starting to wonder about the stones, glue? 
Is it green or gray?
I have peeled hot, warm and cold, my favorite is slightly cooled and still a bit warm so the tape is not totally cool.
where did you get your transfers,?
Dont go to hight with your temp,, 350 max..
Let us, know, where you got the stones or transfer from thanks


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## moolupop

Got the transfers from Korea. Fantastic designs. Now the rhinestones are good, no probs there, just the spangles driving me crazy. Spangles are the very flat shiny things, a bit like sequins except perfectly flat. Got the rhinestones sussed now. 100% every time. Hvae you ever used spangles?


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## sjidohair

Trish, can you take a pic for me,, i am not sure,, i have used something like I think, But I want to see them,,, please please
Thanks


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## DTFuqua

A quick question, maybe two or three. What depth do you drill/bore the depressions for different size rhinestones? Especially interested in the 3mm/19ss and 4mm/?ss . I know they are different in hight comparable to the difference in diameter. I also remember someone with remarks about just drilling through one part(correct thickness) and putting a backing plate to stop the stones from just falling through thereby accomplishing the same thing as drilling a certain depth depression with something like a forstner bit. I think thats what a flat bottom bit is called? I have a small(cheep) drill press and would like to make more than one of the designs I use with the shake and make type templates but just need a little info to get started.( this question will be repeated in a few other threads if permissible rather than starting a complete new thread)


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## charles95405

here is a link to my answer to your other post with same question
http://www.t-shirtforums.com/heat-press-heat-transfers/t10771.html


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## Sosoze

I will definitely give this a try as it adds more colour and light to the shirt. thanks for sharing


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## ThreadWerkz

The first time I discovered this forum (couple of months ago) was when I searched for Rhinestone transfers. I read Jose's very detailed post, and checked out the *Rhinestone Guy* (local for me too). They were awesome - helpful, easy to work with and made great suggestions that helped me 'WOW' my customer. Really super explanation -- and yeah, that sharpie process didn't work for me either.

Since I'm primarily an embroiderer, we ended up adding the Rhinestones as an accent to an embroidered logo. They scanned my sew-out, we plotted the rhinestones and they produced transfers for me within a couple of days. I only did a short run of 18 - with less than 100 stones in each transfer (of the less expensive stones - not swarofski), and my cost including setup was still under $2 each. But adding the rhinestones completely changed my basic embroidered logo into a much more expensive - yet still very clean and classy look.


I _JUST_ got my own heat press - and am eagerly anticipating doing more rhinestone work. A little goes a long way - While the designs with detailed Rhinestone logos and such are popular, think about combining a accent rhinestones with screen printing or embroidery .. or other transfers. 

The rhinestones adhered fine to the embroidery, but for screen printing and transfer work, they recommended leaving open areas so that the stones can adhere directly to the fabric.


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## DTFuqua

ThreadWerkz said:


> The rhinestones adhered fine to the embroidery, but for screen printing and transfer work, they recommended leaving open areas so that the stones can adhere directly to the fabric.


 I use JPSS transfers and sometimes put rhinestones on top of the transfer after they have been washed and they hold very good. I don't know that using them before washing would hurt. It was just an after thought on some of mine and my wifes shirts. I don't do it to plastisol transfers or screen printed shirts though.


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## chantelle

ok.. so i loved your post.. however the photos no longer show up  bummer..

but i have a question and perhaps it's a dumb one.. but it will definately show that i need basic info cause i am just starting out..

currently I use swarovski rhinestones, mostly with glue, not hotfix.. and I mostly design and decorate dance costumes etc.

however.. i would love to expand my services to design rhinestone transfers... 

1. do i have to own a hot press to do iron transfers?? aren't they super expensive?

2. what software is best for designing the 2mm or 3mm dots for the design.

3. is that usually printed on standard paper? and then used as a template to hand place the rhinestones onto a sticky transfer sheet?

4. What is the specific name of the sticky transfer sheet that i would want to use? and what type of stores sell this?

5. can a regular iron be used? or do i need a hot press?

THANKS for any advice.. I'm not expecting to go commercial on this.. I would just like to be able to offer additional rhinestone services to the dance teams/studios..

or my own daughter's clothing..

Thanks for any advice/direction anyone can give me.


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## sailorpatp

chantelle said:


> ok.. so i loved your post.. however the photos no longer show up  bummer..
> 
> but i have a question and perhaps it's a dumb one.. but it will definately show that i need basic info cause i am just starting out..
> 
> currently I use swarovski rhinestones, mostly with glue, not hotfix.. and I mostly design and decorate dance costumes etc.
> 
> however.. i would love to expand my services to design rhinestone transfers...
> 
> 1. do i have to own a hot press to do iron transfers?? aren't they super expensive?
> 
> 2. what software is best for designing the 2mm or 3mm dots for the design.
> 
> 3. is that usually printed on standard paper? and then used as a template to hand place the rhinestones onto a sticky transfer sheet?
> 
> 4. What is the specific name of the sticky transfer sheet that i would want to use? and what type of stores sell this?
> 
> 5. can a regular iron be used? or do i need a hot press?
> 
> THANKS for any advice.. I'm not expecting to go commercial on this.. I would just like to be able to offer additional rhinestone services to the dance teams/studios..
> 
> or my own daughter's clothing..
> 
> Thanks for any advice/direction anyone can give me.


 Chantelle,
There is a whole section of the forum designated for Rhinestones. Rhinestone Decoration - T-Shirt Forums
All the answers are there.


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## mkari

hi
has anyone used the Rhinestones from coastal? how do they work?
thanks


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## MDsUnique

I'm also looking to add rhinestones to our embroidered designs so I thank Caia (ThreadWerkz) for the post above! This started as a post 3 years ago - what a long conversation! LOL!!


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## sjidohair

yep Rhinestone have been on garments for years,, but a few years ago they took turn to a more modern side,, which grabbed us all,,
some of the top Designers started putting simple and modern words and designs on tees,, such as BeBe ,, and others, and it hooked alot of us.

We are the designers of Today, It is up to us to keep it fresh , and if we do, it will be around a long time.


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## luvtocreate

I used Charles Russell to make a custom rhinestone transfer template for me and it turned out great! I was new to the field and he was a big help in so many ways and answered a lot of questions for me! I got in touch with him by seeing info about him on Tshirt forums (great site!) if you need any info he knows a ton!! I reached him at [email protected]


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## miamirhinestone

Nice add Good job


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## apithk

thank you very much for your information, i am an sale person about rhinestone, but i always not familiar with the process.


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## truett_family

bling bling... can you please email me at shessounique @ nctv . com
I went to your site and it was not up.


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## ReynaLatina

Great post .. it was very helpful. Thanks and I will be following


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## BlazinGraphix

images are broken?? you got pics i can see?


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## rena PEAK

BlazinGraphix said:


> images are broken?? you got pics i can see?


couldn't find any images either


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## Rodney

Looks like the member who made the original post no longer has a website that is hosting the pictures.

You can find out all about rhinestones in our *Rhinestone section of the forum here* though


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## Natski

Great info guys thanks everyone for sharing.
I tried this company in australia that i found and they were fantastic! Really helpful and prompt in responding!! They basically asked me what i wanted and i replied and it was perfect! Then for the fun bit....all i had to do was follow there easy instructions and iron on the transfer to my top!! Looks fanstastic and i get so many compliments!!! Have now used them for numerous things including dancing tops for my girls  the website is www.universalblingcreations.com.au
Hope this helps


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## Crackerjack69

Have thought of doing stones. Watched some videos, looks fun. I only made it a few pages into this thread (which totally sucked me in immediately  I bookmarked the Rhinestoneguy's page, and will read the rest of this thread as soon as I get some time. I'm about to head off on a mission, or I would totally soak all this up right now. Thank you for posting this, I think it will end up adding some new product to my line up! Thanks again. BTW, is it just me, or are the photos not showing up?


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