Foiled Hand Lettered Print with the Heidi Swapp Minc

This Christmas, my parents gave me a crafting tool I’ve been wanting for a long time now, the Heidi Swapp Minc. It’s designed to help you give a touch of shine to any project by adding colored foil. You can use it with pre-made products {the Heidi Swapp line includes gift tags and all kinds of scrapbooking elements} or with designs of your own. Of course, I was anxious to try it out on my own hand lettered pieces, so I started with this one I made just for fun about the Oxford Comma. You’ll have to indulge me, I was an English major as well as a middle and high school English teacher.

Oxford Comma

In case you’re unfamiliar with it, the Oxford or Serial Comma is the third comma used when listing items in a series. It’s the one that comes right before the conjunction. For example: I took Dan, my son, and my cat on the trip with me. The comma right before, “and” is the Oxford Comma. Some folks like to say that it’s optional or that it shouldn’t be used at all, but there are many grammar nerds, myself included, who disagree. If we took that comma away in my previous example, the sentence “I took Dan, my son and my cat on the trip with me.” becomes confusing. It seems to say that Dan is both my son and my cat rather than listing three separate beings who came with me: Dan, my son, and my cat. Forgive me for the quick trip back to English class. All that to say, I am Team Oxford Comma, so I created this fun little design for myself and for the other comma lovers out there.  Feel free to grab it as a free printable you can use to create this project, or just to print and use as is. Now, let’s take a look at what I did with it.

Grab the free printable here.

You’ll need:

Heidi Swapp Minc
Heidi Swapp Foil
Your Design, printed on a laser or other toner-based printer
Scissors
Carrier Sheet

Foiling Your Design

Step 1: Cut a piece of foil that’s slightly larger than your design.

*Special note*: Make sure your design is printed with a laser printer or this won’t work!

Step 2: Place your design face up inside the carrier sheet, then place the foil on top.

The colored side of the foil should be facing up as well; the back of the foil is what will adhere to the printed image.

Step 3: Choose the proper heat setting and feed the carrier sheet through the machine, fold first.

There is a guide with the machine that will tell you which heat setting to use based on the type of paper. A smooth cardstock tends to work better than copy paper. You’ll want to avoid using textured or rough papers because they’ll prevent the foil from adhering evenly.

Step 4: Remove the piece from the carrier sheet and peel off the excess foil.

You’ll be left with a foiled version of your design that’s ready to frame and display however you like!

Unfortunately, foiled designs are incredibly hard to photograph well, as is any reflective surface. I wish I could show you the finished piece in person so you could see how pretty it is when it catches the light!

Don’t forget to grab the free printable; even if you don’t have a Minc, you can still print and frame it if you’re a grammar nerd like I am! I’m looking forward to creating more foiled projects soon, so be sure to stay tuned. I’ll be sharing tips and tricks I learn for getting the most even foil coverage and the best possible results. What do you think? What would you like to foil?

Foiled Hand Lettered Oxford Comma Design

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6 Comments

  1. I so TOTALLY agree! In my former job as an HR Manager, our Communications Director tried to say that the comma before conjunction was incorrect! I should send her your blog post! Thank you for validating me!☺

  2. great, now I have office & craft supply envy. but, you did a great job of detailing the type of print and the kind of paper for best results. thanks.

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