Hi! I'm Pam from Get Silvered and today, I'm sharing a tutorial to create a Valentine's Day card using Print and Cut techniques embellished with Reactive Foil. Download the Silhouette Studio cutting file V3 version here or V2 version here so you can play along, or use the techniques with another design of your choice.
This project requires a laser printer or copier and a laminating machine. If these aren't available see the other suggestions at the end of the post. I also used Red Reactive foil.
- Download and then open the design in Silhouette Studio.
- From the Page Settings window, set the page to suit your printer. (The file is currently set to A4 Landscape -The design is centered on the page)
- Decide which parts of the design you wish to highlight with the reactive foil. I'm highlighting the text and 5 of the hearts. Hold down Shift to select each individual part.
- Select these design elements and change the color to black in both the Fill Color window and the Line Color window. The design will look like this:
- Select these same elements and in the Cut Settings window select > No Cut.
- Turn the registration marks on and Print on card stock at the best quality your printer will allow. (Important: this must be printed with a Laser printer or have a copy made at the Copy shop with a toner based ink.)
- It will look like this - just the areas to be foiled should be printed:
- Now load the printed sheet on your cutting mat and send to the Silhouette to cut. It will cut out the shapes, but not those that were printed. Here it is on a yellow background for clarity.
- I used Red Reactive Foil for my card. I placed a piece of foil (shiny side up) to completely cover the printed area and placed both in a folded piece of paper.
- Fold the paper down to enclose the card and foil. It acts as a carrier sheet for the card and foil as they are fed through the laminator and helps to keep the foil in place.
- I get the best coverage by pre heating my laminator for at least 6 minutes on the thickness setting of 125Mc. If the foil moves during the laminating process and some black ink is still exposed, it's OK to run it through a second time with off-cuts of foil. Here's the result with the scrap foil next to it. I save my scraps for other small projects.
No Laser printer or No Laminator?
No worries... I've got it covered.If you don't have access to a laser printer you could print the file to PDF with a program such as Adobe or Bullzip or PDF Creator and take your print out or digital copy to the Copy Shop to duplicate on their machine.
If you don't have a laminator you can get a similar effect by cutting the highlight elements from double sided adhesive sheet, remove the protective backing and attach to the card, then remove the top protective paper and apply the foil. Alternatively highlight the card with metallic vinyl or glitter vinyl or card stock instead.
I hope you enjoyed my tutorial today and please drop by and visit me at Get Silvered and/or any of the links below. I have around 150 free cutting files on my site so you're sure to find something you like there.
Thanks again Melissa, it's been fun sharing this "How to" on print and cutting with foils with Silhouette School readers.
Note: This post may contain affiliate links. By clicking on them and purchasing products through my links, I receive a small commission. That's what helps fund Silhouette School so I can keep buying new Silhouette-related products to show you how to get the most out of your machine!
Thanks for coming to class today at Silhouette School. If you like what you see, I'd love for you to pin it!
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Have you tried the minc pens in the cameo and then the foil?
ReplyDeleteHi Danielle, I can't speak for Melissa but I haven't tried the Minc Pens. But......what an awesome idea! I must try to get hold of one and experiment :)
DeleteGreat project! Thank you!
ReplyDeleteThis is awesome. Thank you for the cute card file and the how-to for using my laminating machine with reactive foil. The last thing my house needs in another crafting machine!
ReplyDeleteI had never heard of reactive foil - your instructions are perfect and now I know what a neat technique this is. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteSo, I can use my regular laminator and not the specialty one(s)???????? I've *so* wanted to try the reactive foil, but I didn't know I could use the laminator I already own! Thank you!!!
ReplyDeleteI would not recommend the Minc pen. I bought it with the idea of putting it in my silhouette as a sketch pen. I never got that far, however, because it was of extremely poor quality. The ink would only come out half the time, and when it did, it was very streaky and spotty (and skipped a lot). This was while just trying to write with it by hand (not in the silhouette). About a week after I got the Minc pen, it dried up.. totally useless in my opinion.
ReplyDelete