Fantasy Foil Technique with Scolls Work Rubber Stamps

I wanted to share one of my favorite stamping techniques using transparencies and Sharpie pens.

I have these two great Fish rubber stamps from Scrolls Work Stamps and thought they would make an amazing pair of ATC's (Artist Trading Card) using a technique I like to call "Fantasy Foil".  It's a fun technique that gives a funky end result with the right kind of image.  These goldfish stamps were just perfect!

Scrolls Work Stamps is in the process of wrapping up their "going out of business sale" so the time to get their stamps, if you want them in your collection, is now.

Currently they have the pair of Goldfish I used for this tutorial but things are selling out quickly so go take a look before it's too late.  They are under the Earth, Sand, Sea category if you are trying to find them. 

Fantasy Fish ATC Set by EKD

All pet goldfish should have a name so I've named mine 

Herman and Fred just for the giggles of it

Fantasy Fish ATC 1 - Herman

Herman has a bit of pink on his body that fades into blue and his tipped in green

Fantasy Fish 2 - Fred

Fred has a pink face with a blue body and a mix of blue and green everywhere else.

Tag along and see how I created these fine fellows.

Fantasy Foil - Tutorial by EKD

All the rubber stamp images used in this tutorial are by 

Scrolls Work Rubber Stamps

Some of the supplies used for this project

I start by pulling all my items together for the project.

Stamps

Ink (Staz-On Black was my choice) 

Transparency film sheet 

Sharpie markers 

Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle - 91 percent kind

Felt pads and a dauber tool

Brayer

Adhesives

Scissors

Cardstock and Mat Board ATC's

Step 00

I stamped my image onto transparency film using the Staz-On ink 

and then flipped it over to color from the side that does not have any ink stamped on it.

(this is important since you don't want the pens or alcohol to remove your stamped image)

Step 1

I use Sharpie markers to color in parts of the fish.

Remember - I'm coloring on the backside of the transparency and not the side I stamped on.

 Step 2

I spray a bit of alcohol onto the felt pad and lightly daub at the sharpie colors.

This starts to blend the colors, lifts a bit of the color and also give an interesting texture.

Usually this process will lift a bit more ink than I like so 

I apply more color and repeat till I get a look I like.

Step 3

This is the second layer of color I'm adding to the fish.

I changed his body from purple to bright pink 

and added back in more of the blue and green.

Step 4

I sprayed and lightly daubed with alcohol again.

I liked the way this looked - I had areas that were a bit heavier in color than others.  

 (you can do this as may times as you need to get the right look for you)

It is important to have some transparency to your colors

so the foil with latter show through it well.

Step 5

I then added adhesive to the back side of the colored image.

The adhesive goes on the side that I colored with the sharpie pens.

A good, transparent, full coverage adhesive is needed for this process so 

I either use spray adhesive or run my item through an adhesive machine like my 

sticker maker or Xyron machine.

Step 6

The "Foil" in Fantasy Foil is heavy duty aluminum foil.

You can use the thinner foil but it can tear on you as you are

processing it, so I just just the heavy stuff to avoid this issue.

 Yes - you can use the foil just as you see it above,

but the effect is so much better if crumple it up.

 Step 7

Wad up the foil and get it crinkled.

You can crinkle it a little or a lot to get a different finished look so experiment and 

see what you like and what works best with your particular project.

Step 8

 Smooth out the foil gently by hand.

 Step 9

I use a brayer to get my foil nice and smooth.

This locks in great texture and makes sure I will have 

superior contact between my transparency and the foil.

Step 10

I mount the adhesive backed side of the transparency film to the smoothed out foil 

and then run the brayer over it several times and in several directions to make sure 

I have the best bond possible.  The foil is shiny side up.

I then flip it over and run the brayer over the back side 

of the foil to help flatten the piece back out.

Here is the fish with all the extra cut away - He's so pretty

Step 11

I then use scissors to cut the fish out using the stamped outline as my cutting guide.

Step 12

I added the fish to my ATC's for a great final effect.

I used spray adhesive to mount them to the background paper since the machine 

adhesive does not want to stick to well to the dull side of the aluminum foil.

The ATC backgrounds were created using this great Asian gold cardstock I 

had that has a great sheen and texture almost like fabric. 

I stamped Asian script (also by Scrolls Work Stamps) 

onto the gold paper, attached my fish and then mounted each to a black 

Mat board ATC I edged with a gold leafing pen.

Now I have 2 amazing goldfish in my ATC collection.

Herman the goldfish

This is a fun technique to play with and it was just perfect with this pair of
gold fish stamps from Scrolls Work Stamps that I used in this project; 

so I hope you will consider adding them to your collection 

before they are gone for good; especially at the newly reduced 

rock bottom prices they have going on.

I hope you enjoyed the tutorial 

and give the Fantasy Foil Technique a try.