• About
  • Press
  • Advertise

Craft Test Dummies

The Crafting Blog for Crafters, By Crafters

  • Craft News
    • CHA Coverage
    • Crafting for a Cause
    • Giveaways
    • CTD on TV
    • Quilt Market
  • Craft Product Reviews
    • Apps & Sites
    • Art Supplies/Mixed Media
    • Beads/Jewelry Products
    • Books, Magazines, Events
    • Comparisons
    • Crafty Tools
    • Fabric, Needle, & Quilting Arts
    • Food Crafts
    • Paints, Inks & Dyes
    • Paper Crafts
    • Polymer Clay & Tools
  • Craft Storage and Tips
  • Crafty People & Places
    • Crafty Field Trips
  • Kids Stuff
    • Hands On Crafts For Kids-TV show
  • Winter/Christmas
  • Home Decor
  • Food Crafting/ Party Crafts
  • Valentine’s /Sweetest Day
  • Spring/Easter
  • Wedding & Shower Crafts
  • Father’s Day Crafts
  • Baby & Shower Crafts
  • Mother’s Day Crafts
  • Patriotic crafts
  • Summer Crafts
  • Fall Crafts
    • Halloween Crafts
  • Jenny Sez
    • Sponsored Posts
  • Periscope Superfans Page
Home / Craft Product Reviews / Craft Product Review: Lisa Pavelka’s Signature Craft Foils

Craft Product Review: Lisa Pavelka’s Signature Craft Foils

September 22, 2010

Here’s an article I wrote for CraftCritique back in May of 2009, and I realized I’d never shared it here. As you may know, I love Polymer Clay (and Lisa Pavelka), so it deserves another mention here, with a few edits. Enjoy!

I love shimmer, shine, and glitz, so I was excited to get my hands on the newest mylar foils sold by Lisa Pavelka under the “Signature Series” label. I got the “Expressions” colors, which has one sheet each of copper, gold, silver, pearl, oil slick, and speckle. The other set available is called “Bold and Brights” and has green, magenta, purple, red, blue, and a rainbow sheet.

Opening the package, the sheets seemed awfully small– only a little over 4 inches by 8.5″. Big enough for clay projects, sure, but it may be limiting if you wanted to, say, make something on fabric. (I like multiple uses for the craft products I buy.)

The colors were lovely, and I started out putting some gold on black polymer clay. Following the tip on the package, I placed the mylar foil dull- side- down on a sheet of conditioned clay. I used a small piece of waxed paper and rubbed the top of the foil to transfer it onto the clay. The combination of pressure and heat transfers the foil from its mylar backing onto the clay. Presto! Just as advertised, it transferred easily, leaving me with a shiny metallic clay sheet.I ran it through the pasta machine a couple of times, but to my surprise it did not really crackle. It kind of stretched out with the clay, making the color less dense, but I didn’t get the cracking pattern I was going for. Still nice, though, and I was pleased with the result after stamping an image on it with white ink.

Next I tried a more random look, stamping on white and purple clays with black ink, and then rubbing on some foils. This also worked well, and the stamping ink didn’t interfere with the foils at all.The instructions suggest that after baking you apply a top coat to keep the foils from rubbing off eventually. I tried both a liquid clay and Magic Glos (a UV-curing resin, also sold by Lisa Pavelka), and the results were stunning. The additional top coat make the foil sparkle and shine like a million bucks!

Lastly, just for fun- and because the package says it’s for “clay and crafts” I tried foiling some fabric. I used an adhesive made for this purpose, and I used a rubber stamp by Stampin’Up to put a silver hand on fabric.

Side note: you can wash the foiled fabric by hand in cold water– just don’t dry it in the dryer or iron it, or the image will come off. But over all, this is really fun for ATCs, fabric postcards, etc.

Pros:

  • Easy to apply.
  • Nice “sampler” of colors.
  • At $5.99, it’s a good price point for a beginner.

Cons:

  • Sheets are small- not good for large designs on fabric.
  • No detailed instructions or sample craft included in the package- beginners might be at a loss as to how to use them.
  • Hard to find at retail outlets.

Where to buy:

  • lisapavelka.com
  • polymerclayexpress.com
  • shadesofclay.com (Canadian!)

Overall, Lisa’s Craft Foils are right on par with other craft foils I’ve used. A nice sampler for the beginner and worth the price to get you going! I rate them a 7 out of 10.Anybody else out there love mylar foils? Have a brand you’re in love with? Let us know!

Disclosure: I won these foils from an online contest. While I didn’t pay for them, I wasn’t asked to review them, either.

  • About the Author
  • Latest Posts

About Jenny

Chief Craft Test Dummy, Craft Evangelist, Founder, Editor, bottle-washer, trouble-maker, and creative whirlwind.
  • Spooky Spider Halloween Bookmark Craft - October 24, 2018
  • Review and Demo of LDRS Hybrid Ink Pads - October 15, 2018
  • Review and Demo of Nuvo Hybrid Inks - October 1, 2018
  • Craft Studio Tour and Organization Ideas - September 20, 2018
  • Wax Paper Resist Background Technique - March 20, 2018
  • Comparison of Liquid Watercolor Markers/Pens - March 16, 2018
  • SAI Japanese Traditional Watercolor Brush Markers- Review & Demo - February 23, 2018
  • Rinea Metallic Foil Paper & Ghost Ink Review - February 21, 2018
  • Jane Davenport debuts at Creativation 2018 & Watercolor Card - February 13, 2018
  • Creativation 2018: New Product Showcase - January 20, 2018

Posted in Craft Product Reviews, Fabric, Needle, & Quilting Arts, Polymer Clay & Tools |

Comments

  1. Rachel says

    September 24, 2010 at 04:45

    And I STILL didn’t figure out what to do with mine.

  2. Jenny says

    September 24, 2010 at 05:24

    Rachel- I’m familiar with your work, and I’ve seen you do pendants that mix color/texture. Maybe try using foils in one of the panels? Just play a bit! Have fun!-=Jeny

  3. krithika says

    December 4, 2014 at 12:06

    Hi,

    I’ve been trying my luck with these foils but for some reason the sheets I have just don’t want to stick to my clay. I’ve tried with some cool rested clay and freshly conditioned clay as well and burnished away for a good two minutes. What could I be doing wrong?

  4. Jenny says

    December 5, 2014 at 09:58

    Hmm. Usually it’s a combination of the sticki-ness of freshly conditioned clay and heat that does the trick. You didn’t mention what clay you are using, but I’d try a stickier one (more conditioner in the mix) like Premo or Sculpey III. Also, think WAXING- rub on the sheets and then rip it off, QUICKLY using a motion that is horizontal to the product. (Rip to the side, not up.) I hope this helps! Good luck!

ctd-headshot-round

Hi! I’m Jenny, the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS and the Head Dummy behind CraftTestDummies.com where you’ll find craft product reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news.

ctd-fb ctd-pin ctd-twitter cts-insta ctd-youtube ctd-g ctd-email

Search

ctd-subscribe
Want weekly craft projects delivered straight to your inbox?

YouTube

Disclosure

CraftTestDummies is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.

jenny-headshot-square

Jenny Barnett Rohrs is Head Dummy and Pied Piper behind CTD, which focuses on reviews, tutorials, and craft industry news. Jenny has appeared on HSN, Scrapbook Soup PBS series, and is currently the co-host of Hands On Crafts for Kids on PBS.

ctd-fb-30  ctd-pin-30  ctd-twitter-30  cts-insta-30  ctd-youtube-30  ctd-g-30  ctd-email-30  ctd-rss-30

Copyrighted Content Permission All images and tutorials on this blog are copyrighted material. Please contact me if you would like to borrow any media (photos, video or audio files), tutorials, or ideas from this blog. 99% of the time I would be happy to allow you to use one photo with appropriate credit and link back to CraftTestDummies.com (preferably to the same post it was borrowed from.)
clever-network  linqia  viglink

All content copyright © 2015 Craft Test Dummies | Privacy Policy | Disclosures | Site design by XO Sarah

MENU
  • Craft News
    • CHA Coverage
    • Crafting for a Cause
    • Giveaways
    • CTD on TV
    • Quilt Market
  • Craft Product Reviews
    • Apps & Sites
    • Art Supplies/Mixed Media
    • Beads/Jewelry Products
    • Books, Magazines, Events
    • Comparisons
    • Crafty Tools
    • Fabric, Needle, & Quilting Arts
    • Food Crafts
    • Paints, Inks & Dyes
    • Paper Crafts
    • Polymer Clay & Tools
  • Craft Storage and Tips
  • Crafty People & Places
    • Crafty Field Trips
  • Kids Stuff
    • Hands On Crafts For Kids-TV show
  • Winter/Christmas
  • Home Decor
  • Food Crafting/ Party Crafts
  • Valentine’s /Sweetest Day
  • Spring/Easter
  • Wedding & Shower Crafts
  • Father’s Day Crafts
  • Baby & Shower Crafts
  • Mother’s Day Crafts
  • Patriotic crafts
  • Summer Crafts
  • Fall Crafts
    • Halloween Crafts
  • Jenny Sez
    • Sponsored Posts
  • Periscope Superfans Page