Some people find doodling in the margins of a notebook to be all the creative expression they need. Others spend hours each week making beautiful things, giving them away as presents or even earning a second income in this way.
To get good results in your crafting, you need the right tools, no matter how talented you are. Luckily, technology now makes a lot of things much easier. We no longer have to crush berries to get our dyes, nor does applying gold leaf and other foils to paper require a monk’s dedication.
In practice, you’ll simply print your design using a laser printer (inkjets won’t work). Then, you’ll cover it with your chosen color of foil and run it through the Minc foil applicator. The foil should bond only to the parts of the paper covered in toner, while the excess can easily be peeled off. If you like, there’s also a special pen available for foiling freehand drawings.
The foil rolls are surprisingly cheap and available in a huge range of colors and textures, including holographic effects. However, this isn’t really a “plug and play” solution. Just like with similar devices, there are a whole bunch of factors to take into account when using it: laser toner type, paper thickness and finishing, which manufacturer the foil transfer is from, what setting you use….
Like with all crafting projects, applying foil involves some talent, some skill, some knowledge, and even some luck. If this machine doesn’t work for you, instead of using it for disposing documents, you may just want to try using it differently.
This model can accept paper of up to 12 inches wide, including envelopes and card stock of up to 0.6 mm thick, assuming that your laser printer can handle these. However, although this is a purpose-designed foil applicator and not a laminating machine (though it can do this also), it’s difficult to get the foil to stick to paper with a rough texture.
On the other hand, the plastic transfer envelope and adjustable heat settings do give you some leeway in what you can accomplish. So take your time, experiment a little, and don’t give up if you don’t get perfect results within a few tries.
