Foiled!

Well, hello.  It's Crafty JoLynn, Teacher JoLynn's happy cousin, and it's Winter Break, so you know what that means!  Woo hoo!

There's a whole story to go with today's cards, so sit back, relax, and enjoy.

It all started in December, when Kim and I traveled to our favorite little-scrapbook-store-that-could, The Paper Forest, in Washington, IL, because it was hosting Gina K of Gina K Designs.  Truth be told: Kim followed Gina more than I had at that point.  I had done some foiling experimenting here and there, and I liked it, but it was some serious work (see my 2015 December Daily).  The main issue was that to foil well, your images needed to be printed on a laser printer, which I had no intention of purchasing.  I had purchased some adhesive and attempting stamping, a la Jennifer McGuire, but that required more patience than I tend to have. So it was with some trial and error that I came to this class.

Gina has a product line called Foil Mates. This class introduced us to the ease of their use in making absolutely beautiful cards, like this one.

Seriously simple and amazingly gorgeous.  We left with three cards and a bunch of purchased product (well, I did...Kim is way more conservative).  Kim also gifted me some great products for Christmas, and I gifted her a laminator, so we were ready to rock.  A play date occurred.  Reality came with it.

Imagine the profanities.

No, these things did NOT happen when Gina's smiling face was in front of us.  Man was this frustrating.  Rather than producing, our afternoon (and several days after that) was spent troubleshooting.  Why was the foil being finicky? Was it is?  Did we need a minc (we used mincs in Washington)? Why had I not had previous issues like this with foiling?

I e-mailed Gina K Designs, and Kim and I both scoured the digital crafting world, because we knew we could not be alone.  Here's what we now know to be helpful:

- Your laminator needs to be WICKED hot.  The typical 15-minute warm up is not sufficient.  You have to give it about 30.
-Dusting the image (similar to what one does before heat embossing) is a solid choice.
-A shim of 3-4 pieces of cardstock and a piece of parchment paper surrounding the "foil sandwich" helps tremendously.
-Putting the image through the laminator 2-4 times is another part of the success insurance policy.
-If you die cut, it's best to do so AFTER you foil, as your plates might cause dents in the image, and thus, trouble for the foil.

Now, we might have it down to a science.  Check these babies out:

Ah yes, THAT is what the previously-shown trial was SUPPOSED to look like.

Check out that shine.  I had to include a close-up.  Foil cards are a challenge to photograph! The background is from Taylored Expressions.  Cute?  Cute.

The stamped image on this final card is foiled in gold. I am not sold that the process is easier/better than just embossing in gold.  I followed Jennifer McGuire's tips for foiling on stamps.  It was not a flawless process, but I am glad I found some success with it.  It gives me a much broader range of use for the foil.

You may have noticed one additional card.  This one has no foil.

I have been watching a lot of tutorials for Gina K's wreath builder system.  I ordered one, but again, I lack patience.  So, I created my own stencil and gave it a try with a Papertrey set (Background Basics: Venice - no longer available through Papertrey) that was sitting around waiting to be inked (for, no joke, years).  Each of the images is a separate little stamp, and, with the MISTI and a template, a circular design of many colors was created.  There are some imperfections to my imposter system, but it allowed me to try out the concept.  There are MANY videos of ways cardmakers use this tool.  More to come, for sure!  Her daughter, Rina K, got me excited for the Mandala Maker set, which reminded me of the Papertrey set I already owned. Rina's You Tube videos crack my butt up!