Hey everyone! Happy Sunday!
Today I’m super-duper excited to share a quick video review of the NEW! Heidi Swapp Minc Machine!! This machine was an absolute *hit* at CHA 2015 and I managed to quickly grab one that was on sale at a UK retailer who has the exclusive first stock of this amazing machine!!
The Minc is a foil applicator machine and it is set to make everything gold in my house! It’ll take anything as thin as acetate to as thick as chipboard and you can use your own designs as long as they’re printed with a laser printer.
Anyway, I put together a quick first impressions video for you all and wanted to share it here!!
Here are a couple of close-ups of the machine:
And a couple of shots of one of the tags I foiled in the video:
***Edited to Add:***
I thought I would add some of my other impressions/opinions that didn’t make it into the video:
- the foil needs to be kept as flat and crinkle-free as possible when you store it. Either keep it with a board-backed envelope or wrapped in a roll (the additional foil you buy is on a roll which helps)
- the test 6″x12″ foil comes in a plastic sleeve with an adhesive flap. Your foil can easily get stuck and caught and snag on this as you take the foil out (ask me how I know… ). For the love of God (and your sanity) I recommend just using a pair of scissors along the top fold of the plastic sleeve to open it up without opening the flap, or cut the flap off if you do open the flap. You’ll thank me later
- the power cable of the machine is a bit short in my opinion. Unless you want to position yours close to a power outlet I recommend getting an extension lead to plug it into
- there are 11 different colours of foil available from Heidi Swapp, as well as a range of embellishments and products in her designs that you can foil. You do need to use Heidi Swapp brand foil for the machine according to the instructions
I’ll be adding further videos just as soon as I’ve got a laser printer – and I even have some experiments up my sleeve! *wink*
In the meantime enjoy, and please feel free to ask any questions you have or let me know what else you’d like to see!
Thanks for stopping by!!
Will this work on the printed scrapbooking or cardstock papers
(like you buy at joanne's, hobby lobby etc.) Or do you have to laser copy it first? Thanks
Hi Cyndi! The foil is toner reactive so if the store-bought papers have toner on them they will foil. If not you either need to selectively add toner paint/medium etc to the areas you want to foil, or you'd have to make a laser copy of the pattern. Hope that helps! 🙂
Does it only react to black toner or colourful as well?
I've only tested with black toner so I'm not 100% sure. The foil reacts with the electrostatic properties of the toner, so in theory colour toner could work. Black toner is your safest bet though. 🙂
Hi there Taheera! I have a quick question that I'm hoping you can answer. What type of paper are the cut out butterflies, flowers and coasters made from? Is it chipboard? I'm assuming the coasters are water resistant? Ok, I guess that was more than one quick question!
Thank you in advance!
Lisa
Hi Lisa! So sorry for taking so long to get back to you. The butterflies and flowers are a lightweight cardstock, I believe they also have a glossy finish to them (I don't own them so don't know for certain). The coasters I assume are a thicker weight cardstock but they don't appear to be chipboard. I couldn't find any information on water resistance, for that I think you might be better off asking Heidi Swapp's customer service department. 🙂 Hope that helps!
Hi Taheera!
Your review made me buy this machine, so thank you for that!
Is it possible to minc images that were printed on iron on transfer paper ? Thank you!
Hi Morgan! I'm so glad you liked my video enough to buy the machine!! 😀 Hope you've been enjoying it!!
That is a *really* good question and I don't actually know the answer for certain! I would suggest sending an e-mail to Heidi Swapp's customer service team to see if they know, or posting a question on their FB Page. I'd love to know the answer as well so if you find out please let me know, thanks! 🙂
Hi sorry I am not very good at understanding new machines .. I see that it can be used with a laser printer or photocopied I have a inkjet printer / copier do does that mean I can not design my own images to use ?
Hi Debs! The Minc won't work with Inkjet images I'm afraid. However what you could do is print your image and then take it to a local photocopying store and do a cheap laser photocopy then foil that. I hope that helps! 🙂
I wanted to let you know that I posted a link to this wonderful review on my blog. I'm just getting started with this endeavor so I don't really know what the etiquette is here. Hope this is ok.
http://tatascrafts.blogspot.com/
Thank you so much Natalia! I left a comment on your wonderful post! 🙂
Wonderful video Taheerah. I'm pretty sure I could listen to you talk all day. I'd love to see the before process of getting the image onto paper with printer. Very very cool machine with beautiful results!!
I'm exasperated trying to find where and when to buy one of these in the UK. The only website I know of keeps selling out, with no indication of when they'll restock. Anyone know where to buy a MINC foiling machine in England, UK?? Pleeeeease.
Hi BritCurl800. As far as I know the only place that has them at all is createandcraft.tv. I know they sold out on the first day and haven't had a restock yet from what I can tell. Maybe give their Customer Services a call and ask if they have an idea of when it'll be back? I'm sorry you're having problems getting a hold of one. 🙁 It will be worth the wait though!
Thank you for the review, I'm most interested in adding foil accents to cards but I print them on ink jet. Do you know if you could print an ink jet card, then reprint on laser just the accent (to the card) and then run it through Minc?
I'm concerned on how you would attach a foil accent to the card by hand and still have it look neat and elegant, not like it was hand made…
Thanks
Hi Ivona! Thanks for your comment and your question! If I understand correctly what your asking, then yes. You should be able to print your InkJet card, then just print the part of the design that you want to accent with LaserJet. The Minc would then only foil the part that was printed by laser. 🙂
As for adding an accent to your card and having it look professional, I'm sure it can be done! It depends on what kind of design you have in mind for your card and what your accent would be etc. 🙂 Maybe spend a little time creating accents both ways and seeing what you come up with after some experimentation. 🙂
Hope that helps!
Hi Taheera
Awesome review – it makes me so excited to get mine. I ordered one from the US and it will hopefully arrive some time in Feb!
I have a strange question and I’m hoping you can assist please. Will it be possible for you to check what the power specifications of the machine is in the manual or on the machine itself? I’m from South Africa and I know the UK and SA has the same volts (230V, 50Hz).
Hi Roelien! Thanks so much for your comment and question! I hope your machine arrives quickly! 🙂
According to my manual I have the following information:
Electric Current: 5.5A
Voltage: 220-240 VA
Power: 1100W
Frequency: 50Hz
Input: 220V/50Hz (no output)
Hope that helps! 🙂
Thank you very much Taaherah!
Great video! I want this!!!
I enjoyed your video and look forward to more Minc videos! Thanks – Can't wait till they are available in the US!
*gasp* I already knew I wanted one but now I'm pretty sure I need it. 😛
I agree with Emily!!! Thanks for the video review Taheera!
Pretty cool. Can you use the "leftovers", i.e. just cover the laser printed areas and not the entire piece?
You most certainly can Maria! I am saving all those scraps!!
oh.em.gee.OH.EM.GEE!!! I love everything metallic and shiny, I think I need this machine! I can't wait to see more videos. Quickly go buy a printer! LOL 😉
Oh, what is the pricing like? Obviously it'll be differently priced in Canada, but I googled and couldn't find anything at all. I think the idea of foiling my whole house has made me a little ADHD right now. 😀
Hehehehe, tell me about it Kim! I want to make everything gold!! Printer is being organised as we speak!
Pricing in the UK is £100 and I hear it will retail for $150USD. I expect it'll be a similar level of price in Canada but you'd have to check with a retailer that'll be carrying it to be sure. 🙂 It's not on sale for another month or so in the US I think! Hope that helps. 🙂
What a cool tool Taheerah. TFS.
I have heard and seen so much about the Minc in the CHA this time and was quite curious to see it in action..You have really helped with this wonderful review:) ..Thank you so much for sharing..This product is just Amazing !!
What a score on getting one so early!! That is awesome! I look forward to seeing more projects with it. 🙂 Any word on your MISTI?
What an amazing machine and can see it flying off the shelves with gold being so popular at the moment!!! I do have one question, what is the foil actually sticking to on your tag? Does it only adhere to an inked image or do you have to print or ink with something special? Thanks for the review!!
Hey Shona, thanks for your question! As I mentioned towards the end of the video (but probably didn't give it enough focus, sorry about that!), anything printed with a laser printer will work. Basically the foil reacts with the toner in laser prints, so a laser printed or photocopied image will work! I'll be doing some videos in the future showing that. 🙂 Hope that helps! Glad you enjoyed the review! 😀