Hi everyone!

My hot foil machine has been in heavy rotation lately since Waffle Flower rolled out their first foil plates. I have been doing a lot of experimentation to really get a feel for this technique. [By the way, I’ve heard it called “hot stamping” and “hot foiling”. I think I like the term “hot stamping” just because I also do some hot foiling with my laminator.] Lately, I’ve been playing around with the solid foil plate and this led me to thinking what would happen if I hot stamped a piece of die cut foil. Apparently you can, and you can get some really cool foiling designs with it!

All you need for this technique is a die, foil, and the solid foil plate (at least as big as your die). I did a little video of the whole process (which was surprisingly easy), but here’s some tips:

  • Choosing a die – I chose a die from the Elegant Frame set from Waffle Flower because it’s got lots of decorative curves. I suggest avoiding a design that can easily lose its shape such as a thin rectangle frame or thin word die. You may end up with some wonky foiling.
  • Die cutting your foil – Two tips on this. The foil is too thin to go through the die machine by itself, so you need a backer sheet. I placed my foil onto a piece of Hammermill cardstock and then die cut. The second tip is that you should place the foil face down onto the paper to ensure that your resulting die cut has the foil on the “right” side. In my case, it didn’t make much of a difference because my die is symmetrical, but this step is key if you have a design with a “right side.”
  • Hot foiling with a Solid Plate – You need a solid foil plate for this technique. Make sure you place your die cut foil face down onto the plate. This step still makes me pause, but it’s getting easier!

Here’s how it turned out! (I hope someday to learn how to take a good pic of gold foiling!) You can see that there are some spots where the foil has wrinkled, but I’m surprised how little you notice it in person. This technique takes advantage of dies I already have, so I’m looking forward to trying it again. Check out my IG feed for the short video on this technique. I would love to hear from you it you try this technique!

Aloha, jj

Supplies Used: