Simple yet Sparkly

I saw this here

 and was inspired to make this.

It was super super easy and really so gorgeous.
You will need: Canvas, pencil, Super tack glue pen, Antique gold foil, dark pink confetti foil and high gloss varnish or modge podge.
Draw your words on. As you can see my sparkle is almost an exact replica of their sparkly and the rest I just wrote in cursive.
Next draw over all of the parts you would like to be gold, with the glue pen. Leave it to go clear and tacky. Then foil it. Make sure it is covered completely. Anywhere that is still sticky will catch the pink when you lay it over.
Repeat with the glue and the dark pink foil on the rest of the words.
Next step is to cover it with a coat of sealant to protect it. Mine is part of my market display so it will really be man handled so I needed it to be coated well so it doesn't get dirty or scuffed. I did 2 coats of high gloss varnish. Next time I think I will try something more matte so it still has that canvas look to it. Otherwise I'm very proud of my new wall hanging.
I hope you have a super sparkly day and remember to keep foiling.

Connect with me

Yes yes I know, I haven't posted in a while. Does anybody else feel like they are behind on the year already??? Crazy! So I'm catching up tonight and putting a few things on. When it rains it pours right? So I now have a page on facebook called foil art kzn-add some sparkle today. If you 'like' the page you will get more foil art inspiration via fb. I'm also on Instagram 'alliseearoundme' I like to put pictures of foil art things I have done that I didn't do step by step instructions for on there.If you have done some foiling you want to brag about. You can put it on Instagram with the label #addsomesparkletoday so I can see it too. Who knows maybe you can even become a guest blogger right here ;) And last but certainly not least my favourite place to waste time, learn new things and be inspired...Pintrest! Sigh whoever created Pintrest is my hero! I'm an addict!Search for me at Niki Lewis Higgs and you will find my Foil art board (and loads of other things I'm into) which has things you could tweak and make better with Foil art. As Foil art pioneers there isn't really much out there. Trust me I've looked! So we have to do it ourselves. Thus why the pins aren't how to foil but rather ideas of what you could foil. I read a quote the other day that goes 'good artists copy, great artists steal.' That is what we will do, take what we love and change it into something new and even better! So now you know how I spend my spare time. Feel free to chat to me I'm here to help anyway I can and now we can connect in so many ways too!

What went wrong?

I've been getting a lot of questions from people saying, their projects are not working what are they doing wrong? So here is a list of the biggest mistakes people make, get this right and your projects will be gorgeous.

First big mistake

Not thick enough: When the glue comes out the pen it must be blue. If it is coming out and is clear it is too thin.

 

See the line at the top? Lovely and blue. Line at the bottom, the only place that is thick enough is the right end. So make sure it comes out thick enough. Extra tip: The thicker you make it the more of an embossed look you get. So press a bit harder and slow to have more glue 'pour' out.

Leaving it to go tacky and clear: This one shouldn't be hard. The pen is specially designed with a blue indicator. When it is blue it's not glue. It must go completely clear. If you have loads of time and enjoy watching paint dry. You would know it goes from blue, to dirty grey, then clear. Only foil when it is clear. If you are an impatient kind of person, like I am, it helps to do more than one project at a time. So while one dries you can work on another project. Extra tip: Placing it in the sun or blowing air from a hairdryer on it really speeds up the process.

Colour side up: When you place the foil on the glue the colour side must be facing up.

Patchy edges: The foil is convex so you need to press down the edges of your line. If you roll the soft side of your fist over the foil. It 'catches the side.'

Why is it when you try to do something the wrong way it seems to come out best? Well that is what seemed to happen with shot. Sorry if it is not the best example. In this Picture the dot on the left wasn't evenly foiled. You can just make out the glue still showing on the bottom edge. Where as the right dot has a perfectly clear edge all around. Extra tip: If you peel your foil away and you do find it is patchy because of not enough pressure. Just take your foil and place it over the area and press again. This will touch-up any patchiness. 

Pimp my ride

For Christmas we wanted to give my little sparkle a push bike. We could not find a pink bike anywhere! We had to buy a black one but I still wanted it to be unique.

That is when I came up with the idea to foil it. Let's be honest I'm foiling everything these days it wasn't a big leap to foiling her bike. I can't take credit for doing all of it. My husband took over half way through because well..he is a perfectionist so naturally it would be better.
So to bling your bike you will need: A bike, double sided tape, dark pink sparkle foil,modge podge
First, place double sided tape where ever you would like it to be pink. Next cover with foil, press and peel. Then modge podge.We made an R on the front by cutting the pieces of tape.

How cute is that? Now we always know which bike is hers. Although that won't guarantee the other children won't want to steal it :)

Our Christmas table

I just had to show you my Christmas table. We were at my grandparents in Underberg and my granny loves dark blue and gold. Which is perfect to use foil art with. I just wanted it to be touches of gold so I didn't do loads of foiling. Just on the glass bottles and the wide candle.

I used craft glue and antique foil on the bottom of the bottle. I just painted a fine layer of glue on the bottle and wrapped it in foil and left it to dry for a few days. If you would like to make it permanent you need to seal it with glass sealant.

On the candle and the taller bottle I just wrapped the bottle in double sided tape and rubbed the antique gold foil over it.

It really looks so pretty and subtle.

What did you do for your Christmas table?

Sparkle inspiration

So this weekend I had Louise from foilart capetown come visit me. Wow what an inspiration! She has been foiling for 9 years! You name it she has foiled it! It was amazing! I'd say 'what about this?and she would say 'Oh ja but then try this too!' or 'oh ja we did that for this, look at this picture..' She has given me countless ideas. So stay tuned for many many more posts over the next few days.

A sparkly Christmas word

 So I was fishing through my Christmas box for some inspiration and I found this sign.

Really dull isn't it?
So I decided to add some sparkle!
You will need: A plain sign, double sided tape, super tack glue pen, a craft knife or tiny nail scissors and foil in the colour of your choice. I used the plain metallic red because we are still doing a Christmas theme.
Stick double sided tape in equi-distanced lines across alternating letters. I found it easier to get them even by lining them up with a ruler. Take your craft knife or scissors and trim the edges off. Make sure your blade is sharp otherwise it pulls the tape. If that does happen, you can fix it by filling in the spaces with the glue pen.
Make dots with the super tack glue pen on the other letters. Dont layer it too thickly, otherwise it takes forever to dry and you actually don't need that much. Leave to dry. Peel the double sided tape off.

Take your foil and place and press it over all the sticky parts making sure it is stuck down all around. Then rip! The one thing a friend of mine commented on foil art is that if it doesn't cover it completely you just go over with the foil again to fill in the blanks. Which is really nice. Your project isn't ruined because you didn't get it right the first time. There you have it a sparkly sign. Soo much cuter than before.

 A picture of it on the wall with all my Christmas decorations. I love a sparkly Christmas don't you?