Hi everyone! Welcome to Satur-YAY! We're going to celebrate the weekend by gettin' our craft on. Today, I'm sharing a fabulously foiled Back To School teacher gift. I'm going to show you yet another way to add foil to your projects, as well as give you some tips for mass producing along the way.
The foiling technique I'm using today is what I consider to be the "original" foiling technique. This technique requires your images to be printed using a laser printer (an inkjet printer won't work). The toner from the laser printer is activated by heat and causes the foil to bind to it. But don't worry, if you don't have one, you can take your project to your local copy center to be printed. Since they're black and white images, they aren't usually too expensive.
I started by creating a card front using Photoshop Elements. I wanted to personalize the cards for the teacher I was giving them to, so I made sure her name was on them. You can also used Word or another program that you may be comfortable with to create your document. Once you've created your document, print it out on a laser printer or take it to your local copy center to have it printed.
I used two free fonts for the lettering on my card front. You can download them by clicking the font names here. Nike Total 90 & Halo Handletter
I also created a full sheet of toner paper. I'll show you exactly how I did this in the video tutorial below. I'll use this with dies to cut shapes and then add foil to those shapes. This is a fun way of creating foiled images using whatever dies you may have.
Once I had all of my card fronts prepped, it was time for the fun part....adding the foil. I used the Heidi Swapp Minc Mini Machine and Therm O Web Deco Foil. I chose gold and red foils, but you could use any color you want! The Deco Foils come in so many great colors and patterns. When I revealed the foiled sentiments and dies after running them through the Minc Machine, I was blown away! It's amazing to be able to create customized foiled cards in your own home. And it was easy! I'll walk you through how to use these products in the video tutorial below. *all supplies are linked below*
I used the WPlus9 Class Act stamp set to create some fun paper to put behind my beautiful foiled apples. This created the perfect grounding place for my die cuts. I layered the stamped ledger paper with a piece of vellum cut to the same size and dolled up my messy paper stack with a mini paper clip from Tim Holtz.
Since I was giving this as a gift, I made these cards en masse. Mass producing is great for making gift sets, or for when you need a bunch of cards to have on hand. You can either create them all exactly the same, or vary it a bit by changing the sentiment or by using the exact same elements and tweaking the layout just a bit. I've included my favorite tips for mass producing below.
Tips For Mass Producing
- Start with a plan. Make a rough mock up or draw a quick sketch so that you know exactly what you will need.
- Take it step by step. I like to do each step in it's entirety when I'm mass producing. For instance, I did all of the die cutting at once, then I did all of the foiling at once. I also created all of my card bases at once. Since you have the tools out for each step, it will save time to do it for every card your creating all at once.
- K.I.S.S. Keep it simple silly. Do things that are quick and easy to repeat over and over again. Intricate steps are great when you're creating just one card, but will become tedious and frustrating when creating multiples.
- Break it down. No, I don't mean dance (although that's always allowed in my craft room). You don't have to create all of your cards all in once setting. Break the process up over a couple of crafting sessions. You may even find steps that are great for taking on the go to kids' practices or while waiting for appointments.
- Choose fast adhesives. I like adhesives that are quick and easy to use when mass producing. For instance, tape runners and tear-able adhesives are perfect. I love the Scotch Foam Adhesive because I can quickly tear pieces in the sizes needed, which makes it quick and easy.
Once I finished off the cards, I wanted to doll them up a bit. I put them in a beautiful clear card box and wrapped it up in some fun red twine. I also added a coordinating tag to the front of the gift box. This makes for not only a beautiful gift, but a beautiful presentation as well.
I realize that not all of you have teachers that you need to thank, but keep in mind that this project could be easily tweaked to fit any occasion or personality type. Change the die cut and school themed embellishments, and you'd have a fantastic gift for any special person in your life! In fact, I may just have to make a set of these for myself! I must confess I was a little jealous as I was making them.
I hope you've enjoyed this Back To School edition of Satur-YAY! Now it's time for you to get to craftin'! Dig out your supplies and get your craft on! You don't have to make anything teacher related, just make something! Don't forget to share it on your social media account and use the hashtag #EllenHutsonSaturYAY so we call all check out what you've made. We all love to ogle everyone else's projects!
You can watch this video in HD on YouTube by clicking HERE. Don't forget to subscribe so you won't miss any of the fabulous video tutorials on the Ellen Hutson channel.
Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you've enjoyed this project. Until next time, I hope you have a fabulous Satur-YAY!
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