I first introduced you to the Perfect Crafting Pouch by ScraPerfect right after CHA Winter 2011. (Click the link to watch inventor Any Roziak tell you all about it.) Well, I figured it was high-time to give the pouch a whirl & see how it worked in my studio. After all, I don’t use my printer much in my crafting, but I do stamp and use polymer clay quite a bit.
It’s an unassuming little thing- just a bag of felt with a ribbon handle, but Amy assures me that it can be used a dozen ways for a crafter- maybe more! I decided to try it out a few ways to start: on polymer clay, on glossy papers with stamping, and with markers on fabrics.
I actually started testing it because I was rolling out some polymer clay, and it stuck to my roller:
So I peeled it off, and patted the roller with the PCPouch (I’m going to abbreviate- but PCP was just sooooo not right!). I finished rolling out my clay with nary a sticky bit.
Then I wanted to roll the clay through my machine using a texture sheet. And if you ever done that without using a release agent, you know it’s a nightmare. A few pounces with the PCPouch, the texture sheet peeled right off of the polymer clay.
Now, I did notice that there was definitely a lot of powder left on the clay, but it didn’t seem to make any difference to the texture of the clay or how it cures.
I pounced the PCPouch on a stamp to use as a release when stamping on clay, and that worked great, too.
I also tried pouncing the PCPouch on a sheet of clay and then trying to use cutters. Sadly, the PCPouch didn’t help the clay come out of the cutters any better.
Next, I wanted to do some experiments with ink. First, I applied some ink directly into my journal. I could see where it was still wet , so I pounced over the whole page. Now, this is a new pouch, but there was a LOT of dust. It’s a little gritty, but I used my anti-static paintbrush and it all brushed away easily.
Next was a series of tests using pigment ink on glossy paper. Take a look:
The first example on the top left shows stamping on glossy paper and smearing it with my finger. The second example I stamped first, then “treated” with the PCPouch. It smears less, but it does dull the image a little. The last one I pounced the paper and THEN stamped my image. I liked that technique best of all!
On the right, I just wanted to illustrate the difference between heat-setting the ink and “treating” it with the PCPouch. Is is me, or does it dull the vibrancy of the ink a little?
Then I tried just a series of markers and inks on different surfaces:
As you can see, it didn’t make much difference on ribbon or canvas (I guess it’s strictly for printing with a printer.)
Last, I used the PCPouch to fix a mistake- I had applied adhesive to this mini composition notebook- then changed my mind on what to do with it. Whoops!
After brushing the dust away, the adhesive had lost it’s stick. Good.
So that’s how I used my Perfect Crafting Pouch. Stay tuned, Jen Clark is going to be doing a follow-up review as well! Here’s are a couple of my tips for using the pouch:
- keep a paper plate handy or use a tidy tray to help corral the dust on your work surface.
- keep clean, soft-bristled makeup brush or paintbrush to brush away excess dust. (They sell a cloth for this, but you probably have a make up brush you can wash out and re-purpose.
- if you need to de-stickify a sticker, consider just rubbing your finger on the pouch and then tapping it on the sticker.
So overall, it’s a handy little tool to have around- probably even more so if you use it for it’s original intent to keep printer ink from smudging on multiple surfaces. I’m going to keep mine in a pie-carrier to keep the dust under control though. So do you use a Perfect Crafting Pouch? Or will you stick to baby powder?
A big thank you to Amy at ScraPerfect for the pouches to play with!
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Amy says
Some good findings! But like everything, with a little more experimentation you’ll find lots more uses. We won’t even touch on printers today! Speaking of bleeding on fabric only: Some markers with some fabrics don’t bleed much yet will only slightly improve–others will show much greater improvement and others may not. Try FABRIC MARKERS on POLYESTER TWILL TAPE. You wouldn’t think they would bleed as they’re made for this but they do and the pouch does an amazing job stopping it! Same with inkjet printing, Xyron Design Runner or other stamps on the Wrights Twill Tape. And not just that twill but many other ribbon (especially Polyester– grosgrain or not.)And we’re now experimenting with Copics bleeding on some papers. The first experiments are showing lots of excellent and promising results!
As for the Pigment ink…the best use is either for drying the ink without heat setting by applying the pouch after stamping OR applying before stamping when heat embossing to eliminate the stray grains of embossing powder from sticking to the paper from oils or static cling. For dye ink, you might want to use it to either make the image crisper, on wood, fabric or other absorbent surfaces such as popsicle sticks to stop bleeding, and you also might want to use it before applying glue and glitter so the glitter doesn’t “stick” from static to paper, transparencies or even the glitter trays. And for STaz-on and other solvent inks, use it prior to stamping to provide some”traction” when stamping on slick media,
PS If your pouch has plenty of powder embedded in the felt, there’s no reason to tap it on the project. (Less is neater and in most cases, just as effective). Just lightly rub and there’s probably enough powder to do the job. If not, you can always lighty tap to release more. It will be a lot neater, and last a lot longer. I just keep mine in a soapdish on my table so it’s always handy.
For more tips and how to use it, there are many videos at www. youtube.com/scraperfect
nobody special says
Seeing as the pouch releases fine powder into the fabrics threads to prevent bleeding, I decided to experiment with compact face powder I had lying around on polyester fabric which by the way, bleeds a lot! Glad to say it worked a treat! Absolutely no bleeding! Amazing how companies rip people off. I also tried Stabilo pens on fabrics (not made for fabrics but I experimented anyway). Gorgeous, but the ink ran, or should I say almost disappeared when I washed it. So I tried to set the ink by ironing the fabric. A small amount of ink ran but most of ti stayed put. Perhaps I need to use a hotter iron. Will update : ))
Jenny says
Cool! thanks for the update!