Classic elegance

Today is inspiration day at Crafts U Love!

Foil started its comeback last year but this year there are even more new products for us to use to foil in varied ways and methods. This month I have been playing with the Go Press hot foil system and one of their recent Cut, Foil & Emboss Nesting Die Set.

As we approach "Wedding season" I felt a classic, clean design with a limited colour palette of white-red and gold would be the perfect choice to showcase foiling.

As there isn't a lot of documentation out there, I will start by explaining what these are.

First, like  standard nesting die sets, these will also die-cut a shape.

You can also letter press by adding ink to the die(s) :


But, combined with the Go Press machine, they will also emboss the edges and add foiled detail in one pass of the die-cutting machine.



Onto technique... this is a case of do what I say and not what I did!

Successful foiling is dependant on both temperature and pressure, if just one is slightly off, it will not be perfect and you will be frustrated (ahem!!!)

The process is simple but PRECISE, when the instructions tell you to heat up the machine with the die for 1 minute, 1 minute is required, not less.
A slight difference in the shims added to the sandwich will affect the result from perfect to...not so follow the instructions and adapt your shims if necessary (and take a note of what worked for next time!)

Note: all die-cutting sandwiches described relate to my Sizzix Big Shot Plus

Without the addition of the metal shim it is possible to foil the shape of the die without die-cutting into the card and this is what I did for the largest mat:



1. Die directly on the Go Press mat (no metal shim)







2. Place foil silver side up on the die








3. Place the cardstock on top







4. Place cardstock shim(s) on top and close the lid. For my machine I needed 2 pieces of fairly thick cardstock.







5. The embossed and foiled shape but not die-cut






For my next layer, I die-cut the shape and foiled at the same time, and added the metal shim directly on the  machine before the die and used only one cardstock shim instead of 2. One of the reason to always put a shim when foiling is to avoid foiling the transparent cover if the foil piece is larger than the cardstock being foiled.

My focal point is a bunch of flowers die-cut with the Tim Holtz Wildflowers stems and my sentiment is from the Everyday sentiments set by Julie Hickey.



A closer look at that beautifully foiled shape

I don't know if from your side of the screen, you get the excitement I got out of my first foray into hot foils, but I can tell you I am looking forward to test more techniques and materials! When I come back at the end of the month for my 2nd inspiration post I should have some wonderful things to show you....


Supplies:

Couture Creations Cut, Foil & Emboss Nesting Die Set - Bracket Frames
Tim Holtz Alterations Thinlits Die Set - Wildflower Stems #2
Couture Creations Foils
Hot foil machine: the Go Press isn't in stock but the new Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System has just arrived and is compatible with lots of die-cutting machine including the Sizzix range.
Polkadoodles A5 Paper Pack - Colour of Spring
Julie Hickey Designs I Need It Stamp Set - Everyday Sentiments
VersaFine Onyx Black

Should you purchase any of the products I have used on this card, select  'Design Team'  in the 'where have you seen us' drop down so we know we have inspired you!

Thanks for coming by,
I am entering the Allsorts and SSS Monday challenge.