Foil Embossing

Today's post appeared on this blog back in October 2016; it's posted again now, because it belongs in this series of posts focusing on ways to combine metallics and stencils in art-making.


Foil Embossing 

Supplies:

a ballpoint pen or an artist's stylus
masking tape
a sheet of Fun Foam
heavy-duty aluminum foil (the kind used for grilling)
acrylic paints of your own color choices
2 wide paintbrushes
a soft rag (or paper towels) for buffing
optional:  self-leveling gel medium

My first step is to use green masking tape to secure each of these layers, in this order --

Bottom layer:  a sheet of Fun Foam
Middle layer:  heavy-duty aluminum foil, dull side up
Top layer: my 9" x 12" stencil It's A Jungle Out There.

Below is a shot of the top layer held down with masking tape:

Now to emboss!

Embossing is a very easy process, done by simply tracing around the stencil's openings.  You can trace around every opening, or just the openings you want.

It works fine to use a ballpoint pen; because the foil's dull side is facing up, you are working from the back of the piece, so the ballpoint ink will not be showing up in your final art. 

But I'm using an artist's stylus, which works the same way.  Below is the foil after I have traced the stencil and lifted it off:
  

Here is a close-up:

The next step is not shown, since not everyone will feel a need to do it.

What I chose to do as my next step was to spread a thin layer of self-leveling acrylic gel across the dull side of the foil -- because I wanted to give the embossed foil additional strength.  After spreading the gel, I set the piece aside to dry overnight.

Fast-forward to the following day:

I turn the foil over to its bright side, then brush acrylic paint across the entire embossed surface.  While the paint is still tacky, I use a soft cloth to rub some of the paint back off.  

For variety's sake, I repeat this whole process with several sheets of foil and several colors of paint, as shown below:

I have a hard time capturing these results with my camera, since the foil turns out to be just what I had hoped for -- light-reflective.  And of course, the fact that I have rubbed off some of the paint makes the surface even more happy to reflect light!  Click on the 3 shots above to enlarge them and better see the embossed details.

How to use these new papers?

I offer these ideas:

Cut them up for use in full-size collages on board or canvas; or small collages on greeting cards, scrapbook pages, or gift-bags.

Wrap full-sized sheets over sturdy cardboard to create art journal covers.  This is easy, since the foil remains flexible, even with the layer of gel that I'd decided to spread across its dull side.

Because of this flexibility, it's also fun to cut the embossed papers into small sizes and wrap them over wooden craft pieces -- hearts are my personal favorite -- to make jewelry or Christmas tree ornaments or embellishments for greeting cards or gift-tags.

And medium-sized sheets can be wrapped around empty aluminum cans to create pencil-holders. 

Below is an example of embossed foil on the cover of a greeting card -- in this case, I've gone over the embossing with white acrylic paint, then buffed off some of the paint, before it dried completely.  Then I added dots of red glitter glue--

Complete directions will appear in my next post.

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