I Caught a Unicorn

I decided to catch a unicorn this weekend.

And by that, I mean I did the dumbest thing ever.

I made a card with the following properties:

• White on white
• Dry embossed
• Foil
• Glitter

Four things that absolutely cannot be photographed!! WHY? WHY DO I DO THESE THINGS???

I took about 100 terrible photos that editing  couldn't fix. 

And then I went outside. I set it on a board on our fence and angled it to catch the sun. 

And dag nab it if it didn't work!

All I had to do was cut out the background and bumped the brightness a bit and voila! You can actually see the details. IT'S A MIRACLE.

So first, I used my Gemini Junior and the Foil Press with this lovely Thank You die to both deboss and hot foil the sentiment on cold press watercolor paper. I just like the way foil looks on watercolor paper. It gives such a deep deboss and the foiling looks so elegant. I used their gold hot foil.

The card base is watercolor paper too - and I used this gorgeous 3D embossing folder on that, and added a teeny strip of no-shed glitter paper.

A few tips on hot foiling. 

Heat the machine for a long time - longer than you think with the die on the plate. Sometimes if you don't, your first attempt is a wash, so just keep resetting that timer. I usually heat it up, then set the timer for 4 minutes, put the plate on top and wait. 

Put the foil pretty side down onto the die, and use the grid on the base of the Foil Press to align your cardstock on top of that. Put the plate on top and run it through your Junior (which is on sale right now). IT'S MIRACULOUS.

Sometimes, a little dusting of foil outside your image might cling to your media. It's SUPER easy to remove. I just brush it briskly with this little brush and it's then clean and perfect.

The combination of that letterpress look with foil is just so elegant.

Also, since I was asked recently what the difference is between the foil you use for hot foil dies like these, and the foil you use with a laminator or Minc, etc. The difference is the medium that ACTIVATES the foil. Yes, both processes use heat, but traditional foil is activated by toner, not heat. The foil I used today is activated by heat alone. Hope that clears up any confusion. If you want to use hot foiling dies, you need the kind of foil I've used today. Here are all the patterns they have. 

Give it a try! All supplies are below.

Loveyameanitbye.

FOILPRESS Thank You Foil Stamp Die... [ CRF ] 5"x7" 3D Embossing Folder - Regency... [ CRF ] Gemini Junior Cutting and Embossing... [ CRF ] Gemini Foilpress Machine | Crafter's... [ CRF ] FOILPRESS Papercraft Foil - Gold |... [ CRF ] Fabriano WATERCOLOR PAPER 5x7 BLOCK... [ SSS | BLIC ] Blick Economy White Bristle Stencil... [ BLIC ] Foil Rolls | Foiling | Papercraft [ CRF ] Concord & 9th NEUTRALS GLITTER 6x6... [ SSS | C&9 ] Mermaid tidy towel case and glue... [ ETS ] Art Anthology BIG CRAFT MAT 24x36 311473 [ SSS ] MISTI Stamping Tool [ MSP | HA | SSS | ELH | MFT | UNT ] Rotatrim Professional Series Cutter -... [ BLIC ] Scor-Pal MINI SCOR-BUDDY Scoring... [ SSS ] LightView 2in1 LED Magnifier for... [ BRG ] Essentials by Ellen Storage... [ ELH ] Die Storage - Clear Storage Pockets... [ CHC ] XL Stamp Storage Pockets [ ELH ] Lawn Fawn STAMP SHAMMY Cleaner LF1045 [ SSS | CST ] Airtable: Organize your stamps & dies [ ART ]