Been too long between foiling attempts

WOW I bought my Glimmer Hot foil machine last July and apart from my initial playing and trying to work out what card stock to use didn't really progress much further than that. But one of our family who is "bird crazy" recently had a birthday so I knew it was time to try again to justify buying the "Songbirds on Branches" hot foil set and stencils from Pinkfresh Studios.

I'm absolutely rapt how it all worked out but have to be honest I had to watch the videos "how to do it again" as it had been so long between trying.

I also have to admit I made this in March and I can't remember what colours I used and the scrap of paper which I probably scribbled on at the time has probably been thrown in the bin but this is my best guess of what used:

Stamps: Itty Bitty Celebrations (MFT)
Hot Foil plate: Songbirds on Branches (plus 4-piece layering stencil)
Dies: Art Deco frames (PFS), Floral Grid (PFS)

Paper: Hammermill white, Neenah White, Lemon Chiffon (SSS)

Ink (all PFS): Sunshine and Marigold (yellow); Blue Jay and ?Summer Breeze (blue), Grassy Knoll and ?Fresh Pear (green)

Other: 1/4" and 1/2" blending brushes (PFS) and Enchanted Forest Ombre glitter drops (PFS) and Gold Satin glimmer f oil (SP), stamping foam

I am very happy to report that using and A2 panel of a padded mail bag when you run your detailed dies through your Big Shot or embossing/cutting machine works fab. Only needs one wind through.

The sandwich for my old black Big Shot is: Magnetic plate or tab 1 or 2; cutting plate; one layer padded mail bag; card stock; die facing down; cutting plate

Some close ups to try and show the foil a bit better:

But maybe easiest to see the glimmer and shine before stenciling and the reverse foil:

The Olfa rotary cutter is the easiest way IMO to cut the foil to the right size (this is a Simon Hurley hack) and I picked mine up from Spotlight stores in NZ, my one is 28mm and it has a wee safety cover which locks into place when not using it. Looking at the foiled image above one of the really cool things is you colour up the WHOLE image with your stencil and then when you die cut it out the one piece die gives you lots of images to arrange on the card how you want them to be placed or you can just colour in as/is and make card with the whole image.

Well it has certainly been awhile between foiling attempts, I don't have a lot of hot foil plates as they are not cheap but I must play some more as wow the card looks absolutely amazing in real life. It's also been awhile since I have played with my Pinkfresh Studios goodies which I love, love. I am very excited Pinkfresh Studios has announced that they are releasing another 24 colours come June (the new colours families have stars). If you like stenciling this is the way to go and I love using my stencils. 

I started buying Pinkfresh Studio inks as I wanted shades of colours plus I wanted to be able to buy the re-inkers in New Zealand and choosing PFS gave me that option as we are very fortunate that we can do both relatively easily at Krafters Cart.

We have some good friends coming to stay for a few days from tomorrow which we are both looking forward too. So I will be back with another blog post after they have gone home and I can get back to playing in my craft room.. 

✿ Karen ✿