I have always loved the look of gold leaf! It is simply elegant - pure and simple. When looking through the Cornish Heritage Farms catalog today with the girls here at work Cathy said, "Wouldn't those Wise Men look good in gold!" The idea was born. All the silhouette Christmas images that Aimee created will work beautifully with this technique - you can find them spread throughout the CHF category.
This was a relatively quick card to make - unfortunately a little too quick - LOL! Yes, little miss impatient me did not wait long enough to let the adhesive set on the gold-leafed words above, but I decided to share this card anyway to help you avoid making the same mistake.
To begin you want your glue pad to be well inked with glue. I love to use my teflon bone folder to spread the ink evenly into the surface of my pad. This really scurries this process along and the teflon wipes clean so easily! (I use it to spread my ink on all my ink pads Ü)
I then stamped a parchment looking paper from my Scrapblock collection with Distress Tea Dye ink using the Aged Music Scrapblock. I then stamped the three wisemen over the top with my Glue Pad. As you can see the adhesive does show, thus making it easy to apply the gold leaf to the correct areas. I like to let my stamped adhesive sit for about half a minute before I begin applying the gold leaf.
A lot of gold leaf flakes come in these packets. I prefer to pull out a few leaves and use a tidy tray to open and spread them before I begin working on my project. Be certain not to laugh or sneeze, perhaps it's best to not even breathe when working with this product - LOL! One little puff and it can be all over the place, so I always work carefully when I have my gold leaf close by. This helps to prevent the beautification of my room and clothes Ü
I then take gold leaf and gently lay it over my stamped image. I lightly tap over the entire surface with my finger and then repeat pressing it gently in to place as shown above. Now is the part where patience TRULY helps Ü Walk away from your project for a while! Go do something else -cut the remainder of the paper pieces, get a drink of water, and even answer a few emails - LOL!
Once dry, (I think you should wait at least 15 minutes to make certain that it is set, perhaps even longer if you don't want the same effect as I received on my words above) lightly burnish it with an old bristle style brush.
Then moving gently in a circular motion, remove any excess flakes.
I collect the finer dust in a little rubbermaid container. You will be able to achieve an entirely different effect with this "dust." As you can see I just collect all the different colors in to this one container. There are five different packets to select from: Copper, Gold, Mixed, Rainbow and Silver.
As you can see in this closeup picture the different sheets of leafing start and stop with the subtle color changes for a beautiful effect. I find this look so appealing and hope to share my next gold leaf adventure with you soon.
This card was completed with the ribbon we are including in our thank you notes, a strip of Granola paper, Granola buttons and a Christmas Expressions sentiment. Thank you for stopping by.
Ellen this is GORGEOUS!!
You make foiling look sooo EASY!
Maria
Posted by: MaGooo | December 16, 2008 at 10:51 AM
This is beautiful. I know I have some leafing here... somewhere!
Posted by: lacyquilter | December 09, 2008 at 08:08 AM
Gorgeous card!
=)
B-
Posted by: becky olsen | December 05, 2008 at 01:28 PM
you have an award on my blog, sweet Ellen :)
Posted by: Kim Hughes | December 05, 2008 at 07:32 AM
Beautiful card. I have never used gold leafing so thanks for the great tutorial.
Posted by: Bev James | December 02, 2008 at 06:57 PM
Beautifully done! I always wondered what adhesive to use for foil & now I know.
Posted by: Linda C. | December 02, 2008 at 12:51 PM
What a fab idea Ellen. All of your hints will be so helpful when I try to do this. I didn't realize that you need to wait for a bit before removing the excess. Thank you so much for sharing with everyone.
Posted by: Linda w | December 02, 2008 at 10:16 AM
I tried gold leafing for the first time last week..i used mary and joseph on black cs..it is beautiful.
But..i am so glad for the tips you gave here as to lreally inking/spreading the glue pad..also the waiting..i had to try 2x as i didn't know about the waiting before brushing..ty so much for a great helpful tut. loves ya
Posted by: Gail | December 02, 2008 at 08:22 AM
Beautiful. You always come up with the most innovative projects. TFS the tutorial!
Posted by: PAT(mspfd) | December 02, 2008 at 08:03 AM
Ellen, this is beautiful. I love leafing - gold, silver, mixed - I love them all! They are easy to apply and give such elegant results. And yes,one must have a little patience while waiting for the glue or sizing to dry. Your advice to just walk away is good - otherwise it's like watching paint dry or waiting for water to boil. If you watch, it takes longer! :D
Hugs to all,
-mary
Posted by: -mary | December 01, 2008 at 10:59 PM
WOW!
Posted by: Donna | December 01, 2008 at 09:59 PM