To Foil or not to Foil……

That is the question. Or is it? No, I think the question is what foil technique I will work with 

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There are so many different products on the market now to help with foiling….

Let’s start with the ones I have; have used many times; and I will also give you a link to a very cheap; but very smart and useful tool to help with your foiling. I think I will leave that for a little later  as a little surprise for you all. 

Foil Quill from WRMK

Let’s start with the we are memory keepers foil quill.   It comes with 3 different tips that you can use on your projects; they are standard which is 1.5mm; the fine tip for those intricate pieces we all love that is 0.5mm; and the biggest one the thick tip which is 2.5mm. 

The foil quill pack comes with 4 adapters that can be used on different machines; which makes it a kind of one box will do most  project’s. This comes in handy for people like myself who have  two machines; so I use the cricket adapter and the brother adapter, the other adapters are for the silhouette and sizzix machines. 

I won’t go into detail today about all the different foils you can use with these products because; to be honest there is way too many to mention, but it does need to be heat activated foil. In my opinion  play with what you have and practice, practice, practice; and one very important factor which is a big saying in the foiling community is dusty, dusty; for any foil you use it means dust is the enemy of foiling; Clean off  your foils and your projects before you foil with a soft bristle brush; like a brush you would use for your makeup. 

My Little Surprise

I think this is where I shall tell you about the surprise I have for you all. Ian Ballard created what he likes to call the Foil Quill guard.  I will include the link here for you; and would you believe he is only charging a few pound for it. It’s a very clever idea I prefer using it over my magnetic mat; the only downside to this is he invented it after I brought my magnetic mat. But let’s hope I can save you all some money; they have some videos using it on their planner craft Facebook page  I will include the links to the video.

You can purchase Ian’s Foil guard here

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Laser Foiling

let’s get to the next way you can foil, that is using a laser printer. Because it prints in black toner; then you cover the toner with the foil of your choice; and you can put it through a minc machine or a Heidi swap machine; but like myself I put it through an ordinary laminator  at a very high temperature, 

there is an alternative to this method if you don’t have a laser printer. I went to my local Officeworks who do printing for people; and I asked them  to print me of 25 sheets of A4 paper; and I gave them a file that only had 1 black box that took up the whole page. I told them that this must be printed only with a laser printer; and that only cost me 10cents a sheet 

so then I could do with it what I wanted, cut out shapes patterns words anything i needed 

Don’t forget don’t waste any foil you can always foil the negative as well 

Siser Adhesive & Foiling system

There is one foiling option which I really enjoy playing with; and that is working with the siser adhesive and foiling system. You cut out your design anyway you choose on a machine or by hand out of the siser adhesive. Then put that on your substrate; a good example would be a shirt, or a tea towel or a pillowcase; anything flat really then you put that under a heat press or easy press; or even a hot iron will work it’s just to melt the adhesive ;after its been under for about 30 seconds you put the foil straight on top of the adhesive. This is where you can get creative; make different colour designs if you want with the placement of the foil. A lot of people save there scraps for this process so they are creating a multicolour object. 

 You must make sure you cover the foil with a Teflon sheet when you heat press the foil down; and it doesn’t have to be under for too long; but very important don’t peel the excess foil off until its completely cooled down; give it a good 5-10 minutes; that way it gives it a good chance  for the foil and adhesive to bond.

Other options

Go press and foil is another foiling option; but that works mainly with die cuts; and the couture creations team created their own foil to go with this system; but I’m sure there is heaps of different foils that you can use with this product. I even played with nail foil meant for your fingernails;  you can also cut things with your cutting machine it is a lot of fun; but also for this technique you do need a die cutting machine; such as the big shot to put the go press and foil through for the added pressure to work   

Well that is all we will talk about today regarding some foiling techniques; but trust me there is heaps more. Just experiment and play with what you have that’s how you come up with masterpieces 

I hope I helped with your foiling process.  Oh, don’t forget to go and grab Ian’s foil quill guard you will be glad that you did 

Take care 

Tracy Stephens-wood 

Planner craft design team 

For another blog piece written by Ian about the foil guard click here.