Getting Started with Glimmer

Glimmer Hot Foil

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 How to Use Glimmer

How to #1 How to #2 How to #3 How to #4 How to #5 How to #6

Watch Overview & How-To Videos:

Glimmer Tips & Techniques

How to Foil with Dies:
Build sandwiches starting from bottom-up

  1. Plug in, turn on Machine and wait for it to heat up
  2. Place Etched/Wafer-thin die on the heating surface.
  3. Press Timer button and wait until it turns solid green.
  4. Place Glimmer Foil (shiny side facing down) on the etched die Add desired material and the necessary Shims.
See Material chart Remove the whole Platform and sandwich and roll it slowly through the machine
Tip: When using dies, you will need to add an extra cardstock shim or two because the dies are slightly thinner than the Glimmer plates. *Not all dies will create ideal foil patterns.

Foil with Dies

Check Out this awesome video showing you how to Glimmer with your dies. (2:46)

How To Letterpress with Glimmer

  1. Build sandwiches starting from bottom-up
  2. Do not heat up platform for letterpress
  3. Ink the Glimmer Plate or leave it not inked
  4. Place Glimmer Plate on the platform
  5. Add desired material and the necessary Shims. See below material chart.
  6. Remove the whole Platform and sandwich and roll it slowly through the machine

Letterpress Card

Check Out this awesome tutorial from Jennifer McGuire highlighting this technique in multiple ways.

How to Clear Excess Over Foiling:

You can use a pencil eraser to or a round paint brush to help clear away any excess foil that remains after you have peeled away the foil sheet.
Clean Excess Foil

Check Out this awesome video to see how to minimize and remove excess foil. 

How to get the best impression with foil?

We recommend that you use smooth surfaces vs. textured surfaces to get the best foil impression.

Textured cardstock vs. Smooth Cardstock
Textured vs. Smooth Cardstock

How to Negative Foil

Save your larger used foil pieces. You can transfer the negative foiled image onto cardstock or chipboard. First add a sheet of cardstock on the heated platform. Then you layer the used foil, shiny side down, add your material, add paper shims (differs per material used), place your Glimmer Acrylic Spacer Shim on top, and then run through the machine.

Negative Foiling

Check Out this awesome video to learn how to reuse your foil. (3.13)

How to Foil With Other Materials

You can foil on many materials but you will need to shim accordingly (add shims for thin materials or remove shims for thick materials) to create optimal foil transfer.

Types of other materials and suggested shims:
(Depending on your material, this chart may differ.)
Glimmer Shim Chart

 

Glimmer Frequently Asked Questions

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*Not a comprehensive list. There may be other machines that could work with the Glimmer system. Glimmer is NOT compatible with Cuttlebug or any other machines that can’t cut Steel Rule Dies AND have at least a 6” wide platform.

No, it is a different system. Some of the features that separate the Spellbinders Glimmer Hot Foil System from  the Go Press and Foil include...

1) Indicator lights on the machine

     • Power Light Indicator
     • Platform “Ready” Light indicator (meaning the surface has reached the best temperature for foil transfer)
     • Timer Light Indicator & Timer Power button.
 
2) The Glimmer Hot Foil System also has Power Cord Storage underneath the machine making it even easier to store
3) The Glimmer Hot Foil System includes 2 foil rolls (Silver and Rose Gold) as well as 2 Glimmer plates - so you’re ready to start creating a foiled project right out of the box!
4) Spellbinders Glimmer plates are uniquely designed by some of the top Designers in the industry, including Becca Feeken (Amazing Paper Grace), Jane Davenport, Paul Antonio (PAScribe) as well as our own Spellbinders creative team!

 

Yes, you can. You can also use Gemini by Crafter’s Companion Foil Dies. You may need to experiment as to whether an extra shim will be needed when foiling.  

Yes, you can. You can also use Foil Quill foils and Gemini Foilpress foils. These are all thermal foils, which means that heat activates the foil to transfer the image onto your substrate.

 

You can use MANY metal wafer thin dies (0.8mm thick) with the Glimmer Hot Foil System.

*Please note: that some dies do not translate well to foiling and you will need to experiment.
**TipWhen using dies, you will need to add an extra cardstock shim or two because the dies are slightly thinner than the Glimmer plates.

No, Glimmer Plates do not wear out over time.

You can remove unwanted foil from a shim, spacer pad, or plate by using a product called “Un-Du” (or similar adhesive remover product) and scraping the foil off with a flat edge. A how-to demonstration is included in our video of common Glimmer questions and tips.

We do not recommend using the Glimmer Hot Foil System US version outside of the US with a converter. At this time we only offer the Glimmer Hot Foil System in the US and the UK (The UK/UE machine includes both C type plug for Europe and G type plug for the UK).

The same applies for the UK/EU version of the Glimmer Hot Foil System; we do not recommend that you use this machine outside of the UK/EU with a converter.

**Product intended for use in country or region intended. 

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