Gorgeous Gilding Tutorial
Create striking backgrounds and embellishments with gilding flakes that will add a touch of sparkle and glamour to your makes
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Gilding Flakes have been around for many years and have recently made it back into our craft rooms. They add a perfect shiny detail to any project. Unlike foiled products, gilding flakes add a subtle, almost a vintage shine, and they can be used in combination with most substrates like card, wood, metal, plastic, jewellery, clay and more. It is recommended to seal the application with a clear varnish when not used on a regular card.
The application process is very simple. You need a sticky surface to adhere the flakes to. Cosmic Shimmer has a wonderful product on the market – the Flake & Glitter glue – that does the job beautifully, but there are other two-way and tacky-drying glues that also work well. There also many adhesive sheets and tapes on the market that provide a perfect surface for adhering the flakes. There is one more tool that is essential for creating with gilding flakes successfully and that is a stiff-bristled soft brush like a stencil brush or similar. You could also use a scrubby sponge, but I find it can slightly scratch the shiny surface, so I do prefer to use a brush.
A word of warning - the gilding flakes are lighter than feathers and you should take care around them. I find that using a small cardboard box for the initial flake application to contain any flyaway is very useful. A duster cloth or a dryer sheet would be perfect for cleaning your working surface. Burnishing lightly with a dryer sheet over the flake application will get rid of the tiniest leftovers and add a little shine too.
Creating with gilding flakes is a great fun though, so don’t be afraid to give it a go. You can easily add a touch of glamorous shine not only to your handmade cards, but also to objects around your home. Try adding them to a picture frame, a trinket box, a painted canvas or some vintage furniture. They can also be used in encaustic art, jewellery making, journaling and other DIY projects. Including a range of cardmaking techniques to try out: stamp with Flake & Glitter glue then add flakes; stencil with Flake & Glitter glue then add flakes; stencilling onto an adhesive sheet and add flakes then remove and repeat with a different colour of flakes; creating a resist effect with a gilded design and sponged inks, and much more!
Cut an A4 white cardstock in half vertically, score and fold in half to create an A2 card blank. Adhere strips of double-sided tape onto the card front, using various widths of tape.
Trim any excess tape from either side of the card front to leave a neat finish, and peel of the backing from the tape
Place the card and gilding flakes into a box and lightly rub the adhesive with flakes over the tape
Use your finger to gently rub off majority of the flakes
Burnish remainder flakes off using a stiff brush and smooth with a dryer sheet. Stamp
