I think I’m in LOVE……with Solar Paste!!!

 

After taking a 15 year break from card making, the products used and coming out now are so different than what I had.  So, I’ve been watching several summit videos, teaching videos and just learning as I go.  I bought a few pastes at a Scrapbook Convention in April and thought I would try them out.

 Well, they were nice, but I certainly needed to learn to have a little bit of a lighter hand on using them!!

But I see so many wonderful cards with pastes and mousse and waxes and on and on and on.  I just needed practice, but did not put much effort into it.

 Until one day, I saw where something called Solar Paste (by Simon Hurley) was coming out.  I watched a video about it and loved how it looked on dark cardstock.  I went to my local stamping store and bought 2 colors (Overheated, Golden Hour and Beluga).  I brought them home and was excited to try them.  Well, again, I need to learn to have a lighter hand and tape my stencil down better.

 But the look with these really had me excited to learn more.  So, I started watching more videos and learned quickly that I needed better tools if covering an entire stencil.  I also learned that I could use them with a paint brush or even my fingers (just clean off quickly afterwards). 

 Nicki Baxley (of nickiheartscards) did a video on “5 Ways to Use Solar Paste for Paper Crafts” and it gave me an idea.  I got out my Altenew flower stencils, chose one and came up with this idea.  The first try:

 And then I tried a few more ways:

 Once I saw this, I was in LOVE.  Here are a few things I have been using Solar Paste on lately (and yes, I now have all 6 colors).  Still pictures do not do this justice as these are just gorgeous and shimmery.

I am loving this and see myself using this A LOT.  I am signed up for a Simon Hurley class during SBC Fest (sponsored by Scrapbook.com).  His class has solar paste as a supply, so I can’t wait to try out his ideas.

Toner Foiling – Trial and Error

I have always LOVED the look of the shiny foiling on cards.  A friend told me about toner sheets that could be foiled and that really peaked my interest.  Then comes Amazon Prime days and I was able to snag a laminator for a great price and I was ready to go.  I could see that more and more companies are making toner printed designs and now there is even solid sheets in other colors besides just black!  So, I really wanted to start using this.

Well…….what a mess I created when I started.  I got some cute designs and some great foil.  I cut the foil to a little bigger than my card, put both in the middle of a folded piece of copy paper.  I then sent it through the laminator folded side first.  When it finished, it was AWFUL, lots of toner black spots showing through and just not the look I was searching for.

I watched a few more videos and decided I needed to let my laminator heat up longer and to run my project through 3-5 times.  So, here goes try #2.  YUCK!!  Look at all those wrinkles!  I could not figure out what I was doing wrong!!

I was really contemplating buying a different laminator or even investing in a machine for this type of foiling.  Then I found Taylored Expressions’ Foil Magic Shim.  I ordered this and tried again.  It was a little better, but there was still some wrinkling and not quite where I wanted it to be.

Now, I’m about ready to quit!!  But then I watched a few more videos and realized, maybe I just need to try a few more different ways to do this and BINGO, that was it.  When I use the Foil Magic Shim and send the copy paper carrier through with the folded side to the side (either right or left), I get the results I want.  I still run it through at least 3 times, but the foil ends up smooth and once removed, it is either perfect or pretty close to it.

Moral of this story, don’t give up until you try several different ways.  And now, I get to do lots of beautiful foiling projects like I’ve always wanted to!!