2018 #20 Foiling Christmas Cards with ESN {by Wanda Hentges}

 2018 Topic 20: Foiling

Foiling for Xmas is one of those lovely effects that just makes things a little bit more plush-looking! Very handy at Christmas. It might be gilding leaf, or the foil sheets you can press directly onto hot glue, or anything sticky for that matter. Perhaps you like the laminating foil projects? Throughout this topic we will share a number of ideas, and Wanda kicks off the topic tonight with some of the handy products out there and the different foil effects they offer.  ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Wanda Hentges with you today, and I'd like to share with you some Christmas cards using foil along with Sara's stamps and stencil.

I've created for this post using just 3 of the many ways that foil can be used.  I'm excited to see what the other designers are sharing for this topic and also to see the fabulous projects you all share!!

I've used stamps from Electica {Sara Naumann} Collection (ESN30) 

... and the Sara Naumann Stencil (PS112) to make 3 beautiful Christmas cards.

All the foil I used is Therm-O-Web iCraft Transfer Foil.  They have many colors and patterns.

When working with foil sheets always work with the color side up and the grey/silver side down. Another way to say it would be to always put the grey/silver side against whatever it is you are foiling.  The foil is on a clear liner that you can see the color through. You want the foil to stick to your project, allow you to pull the liner sheet off. 

Technique one...Using your Laminator

Using Deco Foil Transfer Gel through a stencil and then foiling using a heat laminator.  You put the gel through the stencil just the same as using any kind of acrylic gel or paste and, as always, be sure to wash your stencil before the medium dries on it.  Let the gel dry completely.  Cut a piece of foil large enough to cover your paper.  Cut a piece of parchment paper (non stick paper for baking/cooking) large enough to fold in half and place your paper and foil inside of the folded parchment. Let the laminator heat up and then run your "sandwich" through the laminator.  Remove the paper and foil from the parchment and peel up liner leaving foil on all the gel areas.  Isn't that gorgeous!!!  I love this every time I do it!!!  Yes, you may use other kinds of gel medium.  It does not have to be the Deco Foil Transfer Gel.  If you don't have a laminator, you could also try using an iron to apply heat allowing the foil to stick to the gel.

A note about using a laminator... with a laminator you can also foil a printed design.  Print a picture or words with a Laser Printer (it must be a laser printer, because it is the toner ink that needs to be deposited on the paper) and foil what you've printed in the same way I foiled the stenciled gel. Like magic, your foil will stick to the printed image/ words. This is really useful for words, or greetings on Christmas cards for example. Very professional!

Technique two...Foiling with your stamps

I wanted to be able to stamp and then foil.  Yes, there are "sticky powders" out there and I have used them, they are wonderful.  But I thought I'd see how Duo Adhesive (USArtQuest) would stamp up.  I've had my bottle for many years.  I put some on my Craft Sheet, spread it with my finger, tapped the stamp into it and then stamped on my paper.  The adhesive is white to begin with.  As it dries it turns clear.  When it is all clear it will be sticky, but don't touch it.  Touching it will remove some of the tacky and you don't want to do that.  Press your foil onto the adhesive, burnish well with your fingertip, lift off the liner leaving the foil behind.  

I stamped the Pine Bough 3 times.  The first two stamping didn't fill in the center but the 3rd one did (yes, my picture is out of order).  I foiled two of them with Emerald Watercolor Transfer Foil and the other one with Amber Watercolor Transfer Foil.  If you have open areas you can leave as is or add color with ink, paint, etc. The advantage of this method is you can also use more than one colour foil to get a more variegated effect. Great for those foil scraps.

I decided to also try the Deco Foil Liquid Adhesive I'd gotten.  I hadn't yet used this.  The consistency is thicker and more clear to begin with than the Duo Adhesive.  I used it in the same way, put some on the Craft Sheet, spread with finger, tap in stamp and then stamp onto card.  I stamped some Pine Boughs and set them aside to dry.  I didn't actually get back to them until the next day.  As with the Duo Adhesive, you are supposed to just press the foil on and remove the liner.  I couldn't get much foil to stick just pressing well with my finger so I thought maybe it had to be laminated.  I put them through the laminator with Green foil and they came out beautifully.  I watched a short vid online right before writing up this post and they just burnished the foil onto the adhesive.  They did have to burnish well and I was only pressing with my finger which could be the issue, but I love how it came out using the laminator.

Technique three... Double sided tape

The foils can completely cover tape.  You just press them on and peel off the liner. I thought I'd step it up a notch though.  If you are going to just use foil on the tape you can use any kind of tape, but specifically for the technique I'm sharing, you must use a tape that is heat stable - a tape that you can emboss on. Usually those tapes with the red liner are heat compatible, but do a test first.

After working up a background I placed a piece of Double Stick Tape across the paper.  The tape I used has a red plastic liner on it.  Back in the day we referred to this tape as "redline tape" no matter what "brand" it was. It still comes in all kinds of thicknesses, and the red line also tends to indicate the tape itself is very strong, so super sticky.  I cut a piece of foil large enough to cover the tape.  I then crumpled the foil very, very well.... crumple, open, crumple again, etc.  

Next you take the liner off the tape, place the foil onto the tape, rub down with your fingertip, and then pull up the liner.  You are left with foil covering some of the tape, but not all of it.  Choose a color of Embossing Powder, I used Seth Apter's Patina Oxide EP, pour it over the tape, tap off the excess and then heat the powder that will then sticks and melt onto the tape.

Doesn't that look fabulous!!!!  With all the colors of foils and embossing powders out there you can really have some fun!!!  How much you crumple the foil will affect the foil to embossing powder ratio, so there are many looks to be had.  Instead of crumpling you could try making folds for another look.  

Now the finished cards.

For the background I brayered Fresco Chalk Acrylic Paint (Bubble Gum), dried it, and stamped the Pine Bough with Archival Ink (Rose Madder).  I didn't notice when I added the embossing powder to the tape that some stuck to the Pine Bough at the bottom right.  After it was melted, there was nothing to do so I thought I'd see if some would stick to any of the other stamping.  It did, just a bit at the top and on the left.  With a bit of powder stuck to the other boughs it no longer looked like a mistake :-)

On the black stamped collage image I added color to the bough with Distress Marker and also a glitter gel pen (hard to see in the picture).  I dotted Stickles (Fairy Dust) on the Berry Vine.

In the background is Infusions (Emerald Isle, Green Man, Slime, Olive Tree, A Bit Jaded).  I added gel through the stencil just at the ends, let dry and then foiled with Gold foil.  Then I thought I should have added stamping to the background so stamped the bough with Distress Ink which allowed me to easily wipe it off the foil. 

The sentiment is stamped and embossed onto Vellum.  I embossed it with white but then decided it was just too white so lightly rubbed over the embossing with chalk to tone it down.

This is the piece that I foiled at the beginning of this post.  I added color and stamping with Distress products so that I would be able to easily wipe it off the foil.

For the main image I washed on Gansai Tambi Pearl Colors watercolor to white card, dried it, stamped and embossed the image, die cut the circle, and stamped the tips of the Pine Bough around the edges with Archival Ink (Emerald Green).

I again used Stickles (Fairy Dust) on the line of berries.  It looks so good on there!!!  I edged the circles and the background with Fresco Finish Metallic Acrylic (Gold). 

I hope you've enjoyed today's post and that it's inspired you to play with foil!!!  I really love this stamp set from Sara's newest release!!!  If you get a chance to make a foil creation, be sure to link it up in the foil intro post.  I'd love to come see what you've created!!!!  

Thanks so much for following along!!!

Hugs, Wanda

Blog:  https://artbywanda.blogspot.com/
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Twitter:  https://twitter.com/WandaHentges
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To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 20: Foiling will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 25th November 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2018 Topic 20: Foiling {Topic Introduction and Challenge}

 2018 Topic 20: Foiling

Kate Bolt

Hello everyone, Leandra here with a brand new topic, a shiny topic! Foiling is not new, but it has seen a resurgence of interest lately. New brands of foiling papers are available in dozens of colours, some can be applied over glue and others need to be applied with heat.. through a laminator or foiling machine. 

Before we start, let's see who won the Topic 19: Tissue Paper Challenge...

The winner is: Kathe D from Kathe's Adventures
Kathe printed an image onto tissue paper, then added colour to it to make a postcard.

Email Leandra to claim your prize. sales@paperartsy.co.uk 

Let's kick off with a video, this is a great one as it walks you through 2 techniques. One uses embossing powder as a base and the other uses a toner print. Both go through a laminator/foiling machine and they have different end results. 

Foiling can add wonderful highlights to just small areas, if you want flashes of bling as you move the project then random spots of foiling can work great. Check out the foiled areas on these leaves. 

Diana Taylor

Like all shiny additions they catch the light more on raised areas, you can see on this canvas where the foil looks best over the raised glue lines. 

VanDunDesign

This is an age old favourite technique to explore with kids and adults alike, fun for everyone. You create the design with either glue or string and then apply regular old kitchen foil. Once this is set in place you add shoe polish or gilding wax to add colour and depth. 

David 

Foiling looks wonderful on quite complex designs, lots of intricate details can be brought to life.

Tara

If you really cannot get your head around the techniques of foiling then look out for some ready foiled papers, there are some stunning ones. you can keep it simple of layer them up for complex designs. Here they are simple hexagons that add a wonderful element to this scrapbook page. 

Flora Monika Farkas

Another foiling technique, this time with stencils and screen ink, click through to see all the steps of this project. It really works brilliantly with stencils. 

Jenni Calma

In the same vein, although this does require some skill, but how about foiling a bit of hand-lettering? So I don't think anyone really likes their own hand writing (except we all LOVE JoFY's!), but I bet anyone could do scribbles Dina Wakeley styley that would look wicked foiled! So, perhaps if you try not to be perfect and you might be onto something! Here is a great tutorial from 'Finding Time to Create' Blog, link below the picture.

Finding Time to Create

I think my favourite piece this week has to be this chest of drawers, how luxurious does this look!

Dalena Design

On the Damask Love blog they share how to create negative foiled prints for interior decor. A lovely way to add a bit of 'bright' to a dark corner in your home

Damask Love Blog

Foiling works on more than just flat paper or wooden substrates, this example is on bondaweb and organza. The resulting texture is fabulous. 

Kim Thittichai

Metallic leaf always looks so scrumptious on fabric, an easy way to do this is with transfer adhesive and foil. 

Brianna

Here is a foiled cushion, those golden spots really lift the whole design. I could see this being done with many of our stamps. 

Anthropologie

Another video now, this time 4 techniques for using foil but wihtout needing to use a laminator/foiling machine. 



To end with I have a journal page for you, once the background was complete the highlights were added using WOW bonding powder and foil. 

Susanne

So whether you use glue, bonding powder or toner, whether you use a heat machine or the back of a spoon there are so many ways that you can have fun with foiling, I hope you will give some of them a go. Have a great fortnight and show us what you have made. 

Don't forget to follow Darcy and Leandra's Pinterest boards if this topic pushes your buttons, you will see plenty more examples to whet your appetite there! I am really looking forward to seeing what you create over the next 2 weeks!

~ Leandra

An InLinkz Link-up

To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 gift voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 20: Foiling will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 25th November 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!

2018 #19 Tissue Paper: Fall Scene Stamping with ESC {by Autumn Clark}

 2018 Topic 19: Tissue Paper

For those of us up here in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn / fall is well and truly here. This post depicts the feel of our weather perfectly, rich hues, falling leaves, delightfully shaped mushrooms, and people hunkering down to hibernate and keep warn in front of an open fire perhaps. So Autumn's creative layers are a perfect reflection of our weather! ~ Leandra

Hi everyone, it's Autumn Clark with you today, and I'd like to share my latest tissue stamping adventures in my mixed media art journal.

This book is filled with "passage" themed collages, with various resist and tissue stamping techniques.  I couldn't resist adding a little woodland scene to the mix.  I hope you'll find these techniques useful in your creative endeavors.

Wanting to fully dive into the tissue topic, I painted my chipboard pages with a mix of Fresco Chalk Acrylic Paint (Autumn Fire), (Caramel), (Chocolate Pudding), and (Nougat).

I adhered printed Tissue Wrap to my panels with matte Glue and Seal, then pounced on watered Nougat with a baby wipe to soften the black on the tissue.

If you've never tried tissue stamping, I strongly urge you to have a go!  The tricks I've learned are as follows.  1. Use Archival ink and not Versafine (because of the oil content) and stamp over scrap paper.  2.  When painting your imagery paint in reverse, meaning what accents you would normally paint on last you need to paint first.  Here I painted the white dots on my mushroom caps first and any shadows, then went back over with my filler colors.  And make sure to paint over a glass or kraft mat.  3.  Use a water brush to outline your images and tear away the excess tissue paper.  These feathery edges will blend better in your finished work.

I never fail to gasp when the tissue is adhered!  Look how these images from the oh so wonderful PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Scrapcosy} Collection (ESC05) overlay to create the scene!  There was no tedious fussy cutting of a mask involved and no gaps in the imagery.  The paint alone covers the layers beneath.  And see how those white spots and brown shadows on the stems come to the foreground...

The painted window from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Emma Godfrey} Collection (EEG26) masks off part of the Tissue Wrap in the background.

I added some embossing in Claret over portions of the pages using the grass from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Lin Brown} Collection (ELB33)

I also stamped Mini 62 in the background to help fill any open spaces.  I used a bit of Golden Sands Infusions to grunge up my background and tint any white space in my tissue.

To add some dimension, I mounted fussy cut leaves, a snail, acorn and a sentiment from PaperArtsy Eclectica³ {Alison Bomber} Collection (EAB07), which I had stamped onto inky paper.

All these details come together to create this cozy autumn scene...  Can you feel the cool breeze?

It was such a pleasure sharing these pages with you today!  I hope your mind is dancing with ideas of how you can incorporate tissue into your stamp art.  We can't wait to see what you share in the current challenge. 

Wishing you a wonderful fall season, Autumn

Blog: SewPaperPaint

Facebook: Autumn Clark

Instagram: @sewpaperpaint

Pinterest: Autumn S Clark
YouTube: Autumn Clark - SewPaperPaint

To join our challenge and win a PaperArtsy £50 Voucher:

Simply make something arty relevant to the topic, and link your creation from any social URL (eg. Instagram, Pinterest, Blog Post etc) sharing your original make to this challenge page.

The current topic link Topic 19: Tissue Paper will close 17:00 (London Time) Sunday, 11th November 2018, and the winner will be announced 2 hours later at 19:00.

All links go in the draw to win a PaperArtsy £50 voucher. Please make sure we can contact you as a prize winner - it helps if you share your contact info from the platform you opt to use.

Good Luck! If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!