Distressed Foiling

Hi everyone! It’s Lindsay here, from Crafting While Caffeinated Blog & YouTube Channel. I love foiling through my stencils and using the Hot Foil Gel from The Crafter’s Workshop gives me perfect results every time I use it. But there are time I DON’T want those perfect results. I want more of a distressed look and that’s exactly what I’m sharing today! How to use the Hot Foil Gel and apply it in a way to create a distressed foil look!

My first card is so much fun and it’s super easy to do! I started with an A2 white cardstock panel and ink blended on a quick background. Now comes the fun part! Normally when applying the Hot Foil Gel I would want to achieve full coverage in an even layer, but that’s not the goal here. I used a chip brush (a very cheap one from the hardware store) and dipped just the tip of the bristles in the gel. Then, with a very light hand I brushed the gel onto the background.

Here’s the deal, you’re going to miss spots but that is the goal! And you’re not going to know how your panel is going to look until you run it through your laminator! Just remember, if you want more ink to show through, use a light hand and less gel on your brush.


The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with some supplies that I am using today for design purposes. I only design for companies I stand behind 100%!


As I said above though, I love to foil my stencil designs too and this technique works through stencils!! In this example, I used the 12×12 Wallflowers stencil – and it’s a good tip to use a larger stencil or at least one with larger openings. You want the bristles of your brush to be able to touch the paper without a ton of pressure.

This card is so fun! And it took very little time. The longest part was allowing my laminator to heat up! First, I applied black dye ink through the stencil with a sponge dauber. I wanted a very dark base. Then, with my chip brush I brushed on the Hot Foil Gel exactly as I had before. Only dipping in the tip of the bristles and GENTLY brushing over the stencil. Again, you won’t know how this is going to look until you apply the foil, but that’s part of the fun! I added rainbow foil for some fun!!

Something else that is new and fun, flocking sheets! And did you know they work with the Hot Foil Gel, too?? They’re perfect for this technique! I ink blended a quick rainbow background and using the same technique, applied the hot foil gel only to the edges of the panel.

I love the look of this card and adding the flock, instead of shiny foil gives such a neat and interesting look!

I realize that a lot of people don’t have or simply don’t want to foil, but there is still a way to get this distressed shiny look without the foil! The Crafter’s Workshop has so many different colors of modeling paste and they are so shiny and beautiful! For my final card, after ink blending the background, I overlaid the Spanish Tile Stencil and again, using the same method of lightly grazing the card stock with a chip brush, applied Platinum Modeling Paste.

Applying the paste in the same way I did the foiling gel gave me such a neat and distressed look! And while the modeling paste isn’t as shiny, it’s still a great look to add to your backgrounds. Plus, the paste goes down in such a light layer it dries in no time at all!!


I hope you all enjoyed this fun technique and can incorporate it into your own card making and paper crafting!! And if you are interested in any of the TCW products I used on my project today, you can find them all listed and linked down below. Happy crafting, everyone!!

Lindsay A — TCW Design Team Member


2 thoughts on “Distressed Foiling

  1. I love these! The first one is something I would like to try. Do you have a video for this, as I can’t quite figure out the procedure, i.e. paint colors and foil colors? Thanks so much!

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