hot foil

Holiday Hot Foil with Hero Arts!

October 20, 2022

So, hot foiling is basically my new favorite thing. I can’t get enough. It’s so clean, so classy, so luxurious… and my favorites over at Hero Arts have come out with some stunning new holiday hot foil plates to kick your holiday cards up a notch! I created several projects, including some hot foil projects, for the Winter 2022 Catalog, and I thought I’d share the details here!

This first card uses the absolutely gorgeous new Wishing Tree Hot Foil Plate. I cannot seem to get enough of the look of hot foil on brightly colored cardstock, and I adore the somewhat tone-on-tone effect of emerald green on dark teal, so I paired Viridian Glimmer Hot Foil from Spellbinders with the gorgeousness that is Adriatic cardstock from Hero Arts. I hot foiled the main tree image, then used the die from the Wishing Tree Stamp and Die Bundle to cut the hot foiled tree. It cannot be overstated how handy it is to have so many products that coordinate so seamlessly! I also used Silver Hero Pearls to add a few little silvery accents on the tree.

While my pearls were drying, I used Blending Brushes to blend Deep Ocean ink around the edge of an A2 Adriatic card base. I love the effect this has on the finished product; it looks like the tree is glowing!

I heat embossed a greeting from Holiday Sparkles using some Silver Sparkle embossing powder on another strip of Adriatic cardstock. I trimmed it out using some sharp scissors to create a custom sentiment strip, then popped both the sentiment strip and the hot foiled Christmas tree up on the blended card base using foam tape. Monochromatic, shiny, sparkly holiday goodness!

My second card uses the new Stacked Happy Holiday Foil & Cut foil plate and coordinating die. I hot foiled the large blocked sentiment from Stacked Happy Holiday Foil & Cut on some Deluxe White Cardstock using some red hot foil made extra special with some shimmering stars! This foil is so festive-perfect for holiday cards!

The variety of star shapes in the Holiday Sparkles stamp set coordinated beautifully with the subtle stars in the hot foiled stacked sentiment, so used Pale Tomato, Crimson, and Granite inks to stamp a custom patterned background on my white A2 card base! I started with the largest image, stamping in random spots, rotating the paper and the stamp to make the pattern look more spontaneous and random. After I stamped the largest image, I used the second largest star to fill in a few of the empty spaces in a different color, working my way down the images from largest to smallest, always rotating the stamp and the paper to keep things from looking to planned and uniform.

I trimmed off the top portion of the foiled image, so that the stacked “holidays” was the main focal point of the card. To accent the foiled die cut and add some more color coordination, I added three thin strips of cardstock to the stamped card front: Granite, Cherry, and some sparkling silver glitter paper. I popped up the foiled greeting die cut directly over the top of the cardstock strips using foam adhesive, then added a greeting from the Holiday Words Fancy Die set, cut twice from white cardstock scraps and once from some more silver glitter cardstock, then stacked together using Precision Glue. This extra bit of dimension helps the sentiment pop up from the foiled greeting, and the combination of sparkling, shiny textures makes this card super festive!

Well, that’s all for my projects today! I was just thinking to myself that I’ve been crafting with holiday products since early summer… and I am so glad that I still have another couple of months left to keep using my holiday products! I just can’t get enough. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Altenew October 2022 Marvelous Monthly Series Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in Total Prizes!)

October 12, 2022

Hi there! Today, I’m delighted to be the first stop on the Altenew Marvelous Monthly Series Blog Hop! You should have arrived here from the Altenew Blog, and your next stop is Sandra Woodson. This month’s Marvelous Monthly release has an eclectic group of products sure to fulfill your floral fantasies! I’ve got a project featuring the new Build A Garden Dear Dahlias, so let’s get started with the details!

I love that the project kits from the Build A Garden series feature so many unique ways to create, including layering stencils, easily created with the mini blending brush that is included with each kit! (To be sure that you are one of the first to receive these innovative kits each month, and at a discount, be sure to SUBSCRIBE!) Build A Garden Dear Dahlias combines beautiful dahlias with some filler flowers and foliage to create this gorgeous draped bouquet. I began by heat embossing the large main floral image from Build A Garden Dear Dahlias on some white cardstock using white pearl embossing powder. I then used Pink Pearl, Coral Bliss, and Heartbeat inks from the Tea Party ink quartet, as well as Pinkalicious and Rubellite inks from the Cherry Blossom ink quartet for the filler flowers. I used the included small ink blending tool to blend the shades of coral on the dahlias. These brushes make such quick work of these stencils!

I die cut the stenciled image with the coordinating die, which can be purchased separately or in the discounted bundle, all of which you can check out HERE. The coordinating die set also has a super unique standalone layering dahlia included, which would add a really unique touch to this bouquet when layered over the top of the stamped and/or stenciled bouquet!

I created a mini slimline white textured background using the Checkered Diamonds Embossing Folder, trimming the un-embossed areas off to create a slightly smaller than mini-slimline card front. The elongated rectangle created a lovely shape for my draped stenciled floral bouquet! I adhered the flowers with some Instant Dimension Foam Tape, then added a hot foiled greeting from the Sweet Sentiments Hot Foil+Dies Bundle, hot foiled with some matte silver foil on white cardstock. I heat embossed a greeting from Build A Garden Dear Dahlias in silver on a strip of white cardstock, then added a slightly larger strip of silver glitter paper behind it to help it pop from the white background. The final step was to add a few matte silver pearls for one more touch of shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today! As always, Altenew has some wonderful prizes to celebrate this new release:

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by October 18, 2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on October 19, 2022.

Here’s the full hop list in case you get lost:

Altenew Blog

Emily Midgett <— you are here

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

The Flower Challenge: Guest Designer

October 4, 2022

Hi there! I’m honored to be back as a guest designer for The Flower Challenge this month. The theme is Use A Sentiment, and so I dug out one of my older finished coloring panels (from a set called Lo How A Rose E’er Blooming) and one of the newer holiday sentiment die sets from Spellbinders: Mix & Match Holiday Greetings. These medium-sized sentiment dies are a great complement to the bold poinsettia flower on my holiday card. Let’s get started with the details!

I had already colored this image using Copic markers for my holiday coloring panel release last year (be sure to subscribe to my blog in the box in the upper left hand corner to be notified about my new coloring panel release later this month!), so I used some sharp scissors to fussy cut the image. It’s already helpfully tucked into the corner, so I just had to carefully cut around the bottom edge of the image.

For the greeting, I die cut the Mix & Match Holiday Greetings “Holiday Hugs” from Red Glitter Foam from Spellbinders. Spellbinders’s Glitter Foam is such a quick (not to mention sparkly!) way to add some quick dimensionality to your sentiment die cuts, and it comes in a huge range of beautiful colors. I find myself reaching for it constantly. If you haven’t checked it out, I encourage you to do so! You can see all wide variety of colors that they have available HERE.

I had a shiny foiled background that I had previously created with the Spellbinders Plaid Tidings hot foil plate and Crimson Stars hot foil tucked into my stash, just waiting for the right project. The red foil matched the red poinsettia perfectly, so I popped up the colored poinsettia corner using some foam tape, tucking a strip of vellum behind. The vellum helps ground the sentiment from the busy, shiny background. I adhered the foam sentiment die cuts using liquid adhesive, then added a few iridescent white pearls for some more shine! This project is quintessentially Christmas, I think!

Well, that’s all for my project today! To celebrate The Flower Challenge’s 6th Birthday, I am donating two sets of coloring panels to the winner of the challenge-winner’s choice! All you have to do to be eligible to win is create a project using the prompt (Use A Sentiment) and some flowers, then upload your project to the inLinkz list. The dates for the new challenge, as well as all of the details, can be found on the The Flower Challenge‘s blog post! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

Altenew October 2022 Just Imagine Collection Release Blog Hop + Giveaway ($300 in total prizes)

October 4, 2022

Just Imagine Collection You should have arrived here from Virginia Lu and your next stop is Nicole Watt. You can also start back at the beginning at the Altenew Blog. (I wrote that post and have two more projects over there, too!) I have a trio of holiday products using new goodies from the Just Imagine Collection. I’m not lying when I say that these are some of my favorite holiday products that Altenew has ever released. They’re absolutely stunning. Everything just clicked when creating this trio of gold, white, and red cards for today’s post. Let’s get started with the details!

All three of my projects feature shining metallic accents, which I created using the Brass Metallic Hot Foil. It is a beautiful shade of cool gold, with a semi-matte finish. The new hot foil rolls from Altenew are all gorgeous and very versatile metallic shades. Definitely a must-have!

My first card uses the stunning new Adorned Frame Hot Foil Plate. I couldn’t get enough of this gorgeous hot foiled frame; you can expect to see it frequently on my projects! I hot foiled it at first with just the Adorned Frame Hot Foil Plate, then used my solid hot foil plate to hot foil the reverse using the leftover negative foil. I love that you can get two completely different looks from the same plate using the positive and negative space! I trimmed the hot foiled piece down using my trimmer, but there are coordinating dies, as well.

Next, I heat embossed several elements from Poinsettia and Berries onto some heavyweight vellum using some gold glitter embossing powder and cut the images out with the coordinating dies.

I adhered the foiled frame to my white A2 card base using liquid adhesive, then arranged the poinsettia and foliage in a cluster, adhering them with tiny dots of liquid adhesive and clear dimensional adhesive. I adhered a greeting from the super elegant new Holiday Greetings Hot Foil Plate and Die set, again using Brass hot foil. I popped it up with a double layer of foam tape for lots of height. Finally, I added a few glittery gold gems!

My next project is a simple and sweet tag, and it came together really quickly-perfect for those mass-produced holiday necessities! I began by die cutting a tag from the new Labels and Tags 2 die set from some white cardstock. These new tag dies are such classic shapes; I can see these becoming staples in my craft room for tags and cards!

To add some simple embellishment to the tag, I used some gold glitter paper from the Gilded Glitter Cardstock set to die cut several sparkling snowflakes from the Layered Snowflakes 2 die set. I arranged them on the tag, allowing them to hang over the edge, then trimming off the excess with my sharp scissors. I added another greeting from the Holiday Greetings Hot Foil Plate and Die set, popped up with some foam tape. The final touch was to add a white raffia bow and loop to add this sparkly tag to a gift! Simple, sparkly, and super elegant, I think!

My final project is definitely my favorite. I used the stunning new Wild Rose Hot Foil Plate and Dies to create a floral holiday card. (Who says you can’t have roses for Christmas?) I hot foiled the images onto two different panels of watercolor paper using Brass hot foil, die cutting one set and leaving the other on an A2 card front. I also used a solid hot foil plate to foil the leftover negative space for the leaves. (Tip: doing this helps to create a fuller bouquet!)

I used the Artists’ 24 Pan Watercolors to add lots of vibrant crimson to the flowers, adding a diluted wash to the foiled card front, as well. Lots of color for this somewhat muted holiday palette!

I arranged all of the hot foiled and watercolored die cut pieces on the watercolored card front, adding a few glittery berry sprigs, cut from dark pink glitter cardstock using the Berries and Branches dies. I added a simple greeting (that could be used for other occasions besides Christmas!) from Poinsettia and Berries, heat embossed in gold on some maroon cardstock and popped up with a double layer of foam tape.

Well, that’s all for my projects today! You can also check out a few more of my projects over on the Altenew Blog. Now for some fun giveaway information!

$300 in total prizes! To celebrate this release, Altenew is giving away a $50 gift certificate to 2 lucky winners and a $25 gift certificate to 8 winners! Please leave a comment on the Altenew Card Blog and/or each designer’s blog post on the blog hop list below by 10/10/2022 for a chance to win. Altenew will draw 10 random winners from the comments left on each stop of this blog hop and announce the winners on the Altenew Winners Page on 10/13/2022.

Your next stop is Nicole Watt. Thanks so much for stopping by, and happy hopping!

VIDEO: Watercoloring with Stencils using New Pinkfresh Studio Holiday Products!

September 28, 2022

Hi there! I am up on the Pinkfresh Studio YouTube channel today, and I’m sharing a fun faux no-line watercolor using the new Festive Leaves stencils, two shades of ink, and a bit of watercoloring. Here’s the video:

Or you can watch the video HERE.

This technique is a super fun way to get more mileage out of your standalone stencils! The Festive Leaves stencils are a standalone stencil set, meaning that they do not have a coordinating stamp set. (There are dies though!) These layering stencils create beautiful, modern, graphic holiday foliage images, but I am a traditionalist, and I love figuring out new ways to tailor products to suit my own style. This standalone stencil set was perfect for this technique, because the simple layering stencils created full images without needing a stamp set to complete them, as some stencil sets do.

I began by blending Fresh Pear on the foliage stencils and Coral Reef Pinkfresh Studio inks on the berry stencils from the Festive Leaves stencil set onto some Fabriano Artistico watercolor paper. I blended very lightly on all of the layers, as the main purpose of this blending is to give us a basic outline for our watercoloring. You could also use no-line coloring ink, like Contour Ink from Hero Arts, but that might create a bit muddier watercoloring. The Pinkfresh Studio inks are water-based, so they work seamlessly with the Holbein watercolors that I used for this technique. I simply laid the watercolor over the top of the ink blended images. I used a bit looser watercoloring technique for these images; I wanted a bit more whimsical feel, rather than super controlled and detailed, to fit with the modern aesthetic of the images themselves. While the wet watercolor was still quite damp, I dropped in some darker green, allowing the color to “bloom” on the wet areas. Once the images were finished, I used the coordinating die to cut all of the images out in one fell swoop. That one-stop die cutting never ceases to amaze me with its cleverness!

For the background, I used the embossing mat from my Platinum 6 machine’s Universal Plate System with the Lush Vines Hot Foil Plate. This creates a lovely and subtle embossed background without having to go through all of the hot foiling process. I splattered some sparkly gold handmade watercolors on the background just to add a little extra interest. I also die cut a Nested Diamond frame from some white cardstock as a ground for my foliage and sentiment pieces.

Because I can’t keep my hot foil system out on my desk all the time, I like to foil bunches of stuff at once to have ready when I need it. I had foiled a Noel Hot Foil sentiment using Matte Gold foil, then die cut it with the coordinating die. I heat embossed a greeting from the Ornaments stamp set (this set has so many great sentiments, in addition to the beautiful ornament stamp!) using gold sparkle embossing powder. I also added a slightly wider strip of gold glitter cardstock behind to help the sentiment stand out a bit more. I adhered all of the components on the embossed background panel using double and single layers of foam tape. This card has lots of white space, so that extra foam tape helps to add lots of texture and interest to the card front. Finally, I added a few Matte Gold pearls for one last element of golden shine!

Well, that’s all for my project today. I encourage you to take a look at your standalone stencils to see which ones would work with this faux no-line watercoloring technique. Such a fun way to make your cards look even more unique and truly handmade! Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!

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