Trend Watch – Full Blown Foiling: the Shiny Retro Trend

How big is foiling now?  It’s huge!  Although it’s not new, anything this eye catching and shiny is just too compelling to ignore!

As you may have noticed, gold is very much on trend right now, and we’ve been seeing a lot of it, but foiling can be done in other colors as well.

  While there are a few new machines that make creating foil looks a breeze, there are  techniques you can use to create the same look with laminators, along with crafty techniques and products that can give you the same look right off the rack.   And for all of us craft hoarders, we can use products we already have to achieve this yummy look.  I know I am not alone in my attraction to all this metallic shininess so let’s get busy and get ready for some sparkles!

We are well into the new year but you can keep the celebration going with all of this sparkly goodness.  In the card shown below, the foiling actually comes in via the background star paper peeking out from the holes.  I just love all of this gold and each type looks so good together.

card by Lea Lawson photo courtesy of Don’t let your dreams stay dreams

Yana used a kit to create this collage card.  Check out the polka dot coolness that is part of the background of this card.  I love the subtle addition of such a vibrant color.

card by Yana Smakula photo courtesy of Yana Smakula cardmaking and scrapbooking

I originally chose this card from Lydia because she used foiling on her tag and created such a sweet background for part of her card.  But then I really looked closely at the other details incorporated into this card and just fell in love.  I noticed that the kitty was in the litter box.  Did you check out the matching sentiment? Double word score awesome!

Card by Lydia Evans photo courtesy of Lydia Evans Design.com

You can also get your full foiling on with stripes as the entire background.  This birthday card from Mercedes is so striking!

card by Mercedes photo courtesy of Paper Paradise

Lydia again dazzles us with this hello card and used Add a Little Dazzle metal sheets and a die to create her look.

card by Lydia Evans photo courtesy of Lydia Evans Design.com

When I saw these framed foiled signs being made I thought I could just fill up an entire wall with fun sayings and inspirational quotes.  You can get this St. Patrick’s day inspired download free here.

Framed print by Colleen photo courtesy of Lemon Thistle

  I love the contrast of the wood grain and the shiny gold foiled embellished letters and anchor in this lovely card.

card by Yana Smakula photo courtesy of Yana Smakula cardmaking and scrapbooking

I love the way you can include so many types of gold interest on a project and yet the foiled element draws your eye because of its shine.  This is a lovely example from Amy.

card by Amy Sheffer photo courtesy of Picked Paper Designs

Julie shares how to use elements you may have in your craft stash to make your foiling pop with and without a laminator.  These gorgeous tags were made with stencils and rubber cement.

tags by Julie Fei Fan Balzer photo courtesy of Balzer Designs

I love the stripes and the idea that you can take die cuts and layer on the metallic color – it just adds to the possibilities.  The foil also looks so nice with the soft watercolor.

card by Danielle Flanders photo courtesy of Homespun with Heart

Another great example of going full blown foil is to use large swatches of  a foiling sheet to create this cool sunburst look.

card by Carol Payne photo courtesy of Stamping Rox My Fuzzy Blue Sox

Jennifer experimented and found several ways to apply the foiling technique – she shares them here.  This lovely card shows off foil lettering and the pretty solid hearts.

card by Jennifer McGuire photo courtesy of Jennifer McGuire Ink

Put your sunglasses on and join in the fun (again?) with this shiny retro foiling trend.  Maybe this time you can use something new.  Try it with rubber cement, or that laminator you forgot about in the garage or print some signs for your house and use your printer’s toner ink.  There are so many fun possibilities and they all look really bright!

So go ahead…make something pretty.

Here are some supplies you might find helpful in your foiling quest.

Foil Sheet from Stampin’ Up!

Heidi Swapp Foil stickers from Simon Says Stamp

Ranger Foil Sheets from Simon Says Stamp

 Deco Foil from Thermoweb

Stick it from Simon Says Stamp these are great for foiling sentiment dies and intricate background dies.

Heidi Swapp Embellishment pouch from Simon Says Stamp

Metal sample pack from Add a Little Dazzle 

Heidi Swapp Minc foil machine from Scrapbook.com