Foiled Snowflakes – This Week’s Technique Challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown

The technique challenge this week over at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown is all about foil, hot embossing, or both.  I have had a hot foil pen in my craft room for such a long time but I have never used it before. It came as a freebie with another purchase and I had know idea what to do with it, so put it away and forgot about it – until now.  This challenge inspired me to dust it off and find out how to use it. Turns out, it is so simple!

Here’s how my card came together…

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Card Overview

• Challenge Theme: Foil / Hot Embossing
• Card Size: 6-inch square
• Main Colours: White and Elegant Eggplant (Stampin’ Up)
• Techniques: Hot foiling, dry embossing, shaped edge die cutting
• Focal Point: Silver foiled snowflakes on a shaped panel

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Step 1: Creating the Foiled Snowflake Panel

I started with a piece of Elegant Eggplant cardstock (by Stampin’ Up) and used my hot foil pen with a snowflake stencil to add random silver snowflakes across the background.

To fill in the gaps, I also added small silver foiled dots here and there, just to create a more scattered snowy effect.

For the sentiment, I stamped my chosen greeting from the So Many Stars stamp set onto a piece of tracing paper, then used the hot foil pen to carefully trace over the stamped image, allowing me to foil the sentiment as well. It worked a treat and gave a lovely, slightly rustic foiled finish.

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Step 2: Shaping the Panel

Next, I took the foiled panel and used the Spellbinders Shaped Edge Dies to create decorative edge on both sides of the cardstock. This really helped give the panel a more elegant and finished look.

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Step 3: Preparing the Card Base

For the card base, I used a 6-inch square card in basic white cardstock.

To add texture and interest, I ran the front of the card through my die-cutting machine with the Softly Falling embossing folder by Stampin’ Up – perfect for giving that gentle snowy background.

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Step 4: Assembling the Card

To finish, I adhered the shaped and foiled panel across the front of the embossed card base using foam tape, giving it a little lift and adding some nice dimension.

The silver snowflakes really catch the light against the Elegant Eggplant background, and I love the combination of foil sparkle with the soft embossed snow underneath.

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Thanks for Stopping By!

This was such a fun technique to play with – and a great reminder to finally get use out of my hot foil pen!

There’s still time to join in this week’s challenge at 52 Christmas Card Throwdown, so why not dig out your foil or embossing powders and have a go?

Happy crafting! ✨❄️💜