Foil Printing - I am hooked!

So, I was contracted by my cousin to make her wedding invitations last fall. They came out great, but there was an element that she wanted that I couldn't do - she wanted elements of her invite in gold... Uhm, how do I do that??

 Unfortunately, I couldn't get it figured out in time for her wedding, but I kept looking. Eventually, I came across a blog post on Pinterest entitled DIY Gold Foil Prints. I saw that I needed to print with a laser printer and use a laminator... ok, I guess, but I don't have a laser printer at home, so it became a project I might get around to trying out later...

Well, later came this past week when I found some Deco Foil on clearance at Michael's. I quickly added it to my cart and brought it home. I have a laminator in the form of my YourStory machine but I still needed to print. Ah ha! Most businesses have laser printers, so there I had it. I put together some random words & phrases and pictures of butterflies (I like butterflies LOL) and was ready to test this out. I got my prints home, got my YourStory warmed up, read the instructions on my Deco Foil (didn't know which way to to place it on the paper). My first try came out okay, but I didn't get full coverage:

Even though it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be, I was determined to keep at it... So, when I found myself at Joann in from of the Heidi Swapp Minc Collection Reactive Foil and the 50% off sale sign, I had to get more foil! I got Silver, Gold, & Blue and got a chance to play today. I love, love, love the results!

Here's what you need:

• Your picture, text, or design printed (I printed on cardstock - the first picture is white cardstock & the second is on black cardstock) in heat reactive ink (toner for example)
• Reactive foil (I used Deco Foil first, and Minc Reactive Foil for the second try)
• A laminating machine (I used my YourStory)

Here's what you do:

• Warm up your laminator
• Cut your foil to a size that will cover your printed design (with a little over hang to insure you get a clean fully covered product)
• Place the foil dull side down (on most of the foils I have the dull side is a shade of silver) on top of your print
• Run them together through your laminator
• Peel the foil away & tada!

Heidi Swapp has a special machine as part of the Minc Collection, but I wouldn't suggest getting that if you already have a laminator. They also sell special sleeves that help your foil & print stay together in your machine, not sure if I am going to get that either, but I will definitely be getting more foil! I am hooked!

If you try it, be sure to come back & let me know!