Valley Oak Paper - Cardmaking designs by Cecilia Huster

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Swatching Glimmer Hot Foils

Cecilia Huster

I have 24 different rolls of Spellbinders Glimmer foils. Most of them were part of a Glimmer variety pack that I got off Amazon. Some were included in the monthly Glimmer subscription or with the machine itself. 

I’m swatching them so I know what I have and can compare them. The swatches will help me select foil for my projects and also help me buy more of the ones I like the best. 

Swatching

Preparation

I’ve already cut lots of pieces of Hammermill cardstock to use for the swatches. That’s the cardstock I use for foiling, so it makes sense to use it for my swatches too. 

I’m starting out by writing the name of the foil on the back of my cardstock pieces. Then I cut off a piece of foil with my Olfa rotary cutter. I adhere it to the cardstock with a piece of washi tape, so it’s ready to be foiled. Then I just have to repeat it 24 times.

Foiling

For my swatches I’m using a hummingbird BetterPress plate. It was included in a set called Flutter Into Spring. The set also included a die for the hummingbird that I’ll use later in the process. 

Once I had foiled all the foil rolls, it was time to die cut and label the hummingbirds. I used my Dymo labeler to create labels.

Cutting and Labeling

Then I die cut each bird, erased the foil name on the back of it and placed the label in its stead. I used my little Sidekick for this die cutting. 

I wanted to thread all my swatches on a book ring, so I made holes in them with my Big Bite Crop-a-Dile II. 

To help me place the hole in the same position on all of the birds, I die cut an extra bird and placed the hole exactly where I wanted it. Then I aligned the template with the foiled bird and drew a circle through the hole. That worked because they are perfectly aligned. 

Finally I sorted my birds in rainbow order and threaded them onto a Pinkfresh book ring. 

Pink to Orange Swatches

This is the order that makes sense to me. My first swatch is Pink, although it could be argued that it’s purple. The next one is Satin Pastel Lavender and then Satin Pastel Pink.

The Satin Pastel Variety Pack also includes peach and mint. I like the pearlescent shine. It’s a bit more understated than other foils. 

Satin Rosegold is from a four pack called Satin Metallics. They’re quite different from the Satin Pastels, even though they both have Satin in the name. Next is Satin Pastel Peach and then we have Copper, which shades more toward yellow. Copper is from the Essential Metallics Variety Pack.

Gold Swatches

Aura has a very pretty holographic effect that makes it really hard to pin down to a specific spot in my rainbow order. But to me it reads more orange than other gold swatches. 

Satin Gold is from the Satin Metallics Variety Pack. Then we have Polished Brass (Essential Metallics) and just plain Gold (Holiday). The plain gold came with my Glimmer machine. 

On the next row the gold tones are starting to shade a bit more toward green. It starts with Satin Champagne (Satin Metallics) then we have Speckled Aura (Spellbound) and finally Matte Gold. 

Greens

I only have three greens and they’re all from different four packs. Satin Pastel Mint (Satin Pastels) is probably the greenest of them. Then we have Teal (Metallic & Holographic) and the holographic Moondust (Spellbound).

I used the Teal foil on turquoise cardstock recently when I tackled palette 187 of Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Catalog palettes. 

Silver

I’m wrapping up with the silver foils. I didn’t know how to order them, because they all read as neutral to me. Satin Pewter (Satin Metallics), Pewter (Essential Metallics) and Silver (Essential Metallics) are all great options.

I particularly like the Pewter for a darker tone than many other foils. It makes for great contrast on white cardstock. 

The bottom row is all holographic. Prism (Spellbound) is “just” holographic. Silver Holographic Facets (Metallic & Holographic) has large blocks of holographic effects. Silver Holographic Speckled (Metallic & Holographic) has smaller speckles of the effect. Very eye catching! 

YouTube Product List

Glimmer Variety Packs

Glimmer Individual Rolls

Other Supplies Used