Hot Foil Butterflies

Getting the new Stampin’ Up! Hot Foil System was like playing with new toys as a child on Christmas morning. I had sooo much fun trying out the gold foil and the butterflies! Up until now I’ve really only seen people use white card stock for their butterflies. So, I wanted to create my hot foil butterflies with colored cardstock.

Can you use regular cardstock?

Although regular cardstock is thicker than two tone cardstock, I found that it does work with the new hot foil system. The results may not be super consistent. But nevertheless, totally worth trying.

As far as tips that I learned while experimenting, I would say that pressing the spacer plate down with your hand as you run it through the Stamp Cut and Emboss machine might help. And of course be sure to slowly turn the handle on the machine to allow time for it to press the hot foil down onto the paper.

The Butterfly masks

The Butterfly Flight bundle comes with 4 masks. I used three of the four on the butterflies. My thought was to use a monochromatic color scheme. As such, I used Balmy Blue, Azure Afternoon, and Night of Navy. Going from light to dark is the best way to color the butterflies. I did try to change it up and use the darkest color with the number one mask. But the best results regardless of which color family I was trying was always light to dark. (but feel free to change it up when you experiment).

a fun “flying” tip

When I adhered the butterflies to the card I used some mini dimensionals. However, before I added the dimensionals I creased the butterfly along either side of his body, Under the body, between the creases, I put a tiny strip of glue. Then on either side of the body/creases I added a couple of mini dimensionals. I positioned the dimensionals close to the crease. My thinking was that those dimensional would help the wings to pop up away from the paper while the body was glued flat to the card. Because dimensionals can be compressed they should be able to flatten for the mail. But once the card is taken out of the envelope the wings should spring back up slightly.

If you need a visual for the creasing and the positioning of the mini dimensionals, I have a video. We made this card on my YouTube LIVE. You can watch the replay here to see exactly how the card comes together. In the video you will also see two other color choices that the viewers didn’t chose.

tHe inside scoop

For the inside of the card we used some of the dies that come in the Butterfly Flight bundle. If you look carefully, you might be able to make out the added ink to the edges of each butterfly. I used a sponge dauber to add a touch of ink.

There are lots of butterfly fans out there. If you are one of them, you might want to check out more butterfly cards from the Creative Treehouse. You can see one of them by clicking here.

My overall impression

So, am I glad I purchased the new hot foil system? Absolutely!! I love heat embossing. However, hot foiling is more accurate than heat embossing. And it is definitely a lot less messy. I am not going to abandon heat embossing. But, you can be sure that I’ll be spending time with my new hot foil system. Especially because Stampin’ Up! has an outstanding product line with more on the way.

Thank you so much for stopping by the Treehouse today. Hopefully, I’ve inspired you to create something fun today. Perhaps I even piqued your interest in hot foiling. If so, you can look below to see which products I used for the hot foil butterfly card. When you click on any of the products you will be sent to my online store where you can browse to your hearts content (buying is also encouraged. lol)

Looking for even more Treehouse inspiration?

Shopping – need some new crafting supplies? I’ve got you covered. Just click on my online store to explore all the cool products that Stampin’ Up! sells.

Weekly Newsletter – in my weekly newsletter, you’ll find a calendar of classes, featured cards, news about SU sales, invites to sign up for upcoming classes and much more. If you click on this link, you will be able to sign up for my newsletter and get a free pdf for doing so.

YouTube LIVE – want to help me create a card each week? Well, on Thursday nights at 8pm (ET) I go LIVE in the Treehouse and viewers get to pick the colors, sentiments, and embellishments for the card. People from all over the globe join in the crafting fun. Sign up for my YouTube channel and get notified when I go LIVE.

Pinterest – I love the Pinterest platform to gain inspiration in my card making. Here is my Pinterest channel you can hopefully be inspired by.

Facebook Private Group – want some more insider info? You can request to join my private FB group (Crafting in the Creative Treehouse) or just hang out in my public FB business page.