You haven't heard about Phoomph? Coats & Clark have a new product out and they call it Phoomph. I was instantly intrigued because of the versatility of Phoomph.
Phoomph was being marketed for Crafting at Quilt Market and I saw so many more purposes that I thought those who are into Textile Arts, Quilting, Machine Embroidery and hand stitching should be aware of this new product as well.
Phoomph is a double sided adhesive (acid and lignin free) Bonding Sheet...there is no ironing required. You just take your fabric, paper, embellishments, or what ever you are wanting to use and hand press it onto the Bonding Sheet.
Phoomph comes in individual sheets that are 9 x 12. It comes in White, Black, Red, Orange, Pink, Blue, Green and Fuchsia and you have your choice of SOFT or STIFF.
They also used these floral spiral dies as well. You can see how nicely the Phoomph was cut using the Big Shot....no freyed edges :)
Then the demonstrator used a hot glue gun to hold the flower petals in place while she molded the Phoomph into the shape of a flower.
You don't have a Fabric Cutting Machine....no worries....it works just as well using a pair of scissors and the pattern below :)
(I am checking to see if they will be including this pattern in with the Phoomph or if it will be available on the Coats & Clark Website....I'll let you know)
This one was turned into a pin. I think they would be beautiful on headbands and barrettes for girls as well.
My girlfriend, Bev, liked mine so much I had to give it to her. See how pretty it is on her coat.
Here are some of the other ideas that Coats & Clark were showing at Quilt Market.
Talk about a fast teacher or babysitter gift....just use the Phoomph and a key ring and you can make a great key fob. It doesn't get any faster or easier than that!
I wanted to play with some of Patsy Thompson's Feather Dies so I searched some dyed fabrics in my stash. Once I found a fun color combination I got out my Mistyfuse and fused it to the back of my fabric. I prefer Mistyfuse because it is so lightweight that I don't feel it behind the fabric. I've used even the lightest of the other brand fusibiles....still stiffer than Mistyfuse....that is why I like it (in case you were wondering :).
This is a pix of Mistyfused laid over the fabric before I pressed it. Since Mistyfuse doesn't use paper people often ask how I get it fused to my fabric.
I lay the Mistyfuse over my fabric and cover it with my Goddess Sheet and press. Once I pull the Goddess Sheet off....this is what it looks like.
Then I take it over to where I'm cutting out my appliques.
So many people say using Dies wastes fabric. Not for me. As you can see her I cut out a paper Small Feathers and I laid it over the fabric to pre-view where I thought I might like it on the dyed fabric. I also could have used the negative space of my paper feather but I chose the positive
Then I cut out the fabric and lay it over the die and put my recycled paper over it and put it through my Sizzix Big Shot.
It was that easy....I just took the applique over to my design area and started to play. This is when the real trouble started....Way too much fun and too many choices. I could have played with this for days.
I wanted a very large flower so I used the Sizzix Flower Album Die. This die was clearly made for small albums....but I wanted it for an applique die. So, I hammered down the area of metal where the small circle was so I would not cut a little hole in my fabric. Important Note: This die was made for making photo albums. I bought it and hammered down the metal in the small circle so I could use it for applique in quilting. Once this is done, the warranty is VOID. Just thought you should know :)
That is how I got the larger flower below. I started playing with all the options to find a color combination I liked....this is what the process was like....first I changed the orange background fabric to black.
ONE
Then I started playing with options for the flower colors and shapes.
TWO
THREE
FOUR
FIV E
SIX
SEVEN
After awhile they all started to look the same so I separated out all of the flowers I made and went to bed.
Today I walked over and started playing again....I think I like this combination the best....what do you think? The first one or the second one with the yellow circle center? Do you like these combinations better than the ones above? I've not exactly decided on the placement of the feathers....weather to have them connect to the flower or not....that will probably be tomorrow.
EIGHT
NINE
I wanted a flower larger than the Flower Album Die so I took the dark purple flower I had cut from the Flower Album Die and took it to my printer. Thankfully I now have a printer that will reduce and enlarge (thanks to MJ:). I enlarged the flower by 110% then loaded a piece of PrintNFuse into my printer.
I copied that flower onto the PrintNFuse and fused it to the orange fabric and cut it out. Now I have an exact copy of that flower but larger. I'm one of those folks who can't stand being frustrated and I want it to come out nice so I have learned a variety of ways to change the size of various shapes.
I store my un-used appliques in an acid free envelope that I borrowed from my Scrapbooking Supplies.
Another question I get asked often is how do I store my dies. You already know I'm a visual person so it does not exist if I don't see it. I tape the paper inserts from the packaging to my dies and then I put them into my Sizzix Storage Boxes. I like these boxes because they stack nicely and it helps my work space tidy.
There are trays in the bottom of the heavy boxes ....hopefully you can see in this photo....
and I just store them like that....no rocket science here. If you are still reading, I'm curious to hear if you like the flower with the feathers and if so, which one is your favorite.
When I walked outside to get this box I saw the label and my heart rate sky rocketed. If you live in a 4 state radius of IHAN I'm sure you heard me screaming when I saw this on my doorstep....I scared the co-workers....poor guys.
Do you see those words....yes those....the one's that read...Tim Holtz and VAGABOND by Sizzix!!! On my front porch no less. All I could think was, feet don't fail me now. I ran into the house and the kids wanted to know why I was all excited (they are home from school due to the weather and snow here in OH)
My co-worker standing next to me while I cut the tape on the box.....
Waldo's Granddaughter, Clair, and my Co-Worker Zach were standing at my feet......they had to see what I was screaming about.
Look at this....even the cardboard box ROCKS.
This is exactly what you see when you open the box.....the stickers are to embellish your Vagabond any way you like.
Oh look, it comes with a luggage tag....somehow an IHAN card made it right into the slot even before I un-clipped the Vagabond. I wasted no time marking this one as MINE....and I'm a darn good aim too....just for the record.
I clicked the button and the Vagabond suitcase opened right up.
It comes with standard cutting pads, a Solo Platform and a Shim........my heart is pounding as I'm typing just recalling all these things that just happened a few minutes ago.....
Typically I clean up before I shoot pix....not today folks....sorry for the mess but I was just too excited to share this with everyone....so pretend you don't see the mess, ok! Promise?
This is not a Sizzix warehouse...but I am happy to say I am fortunate to own the Big Shot Pro on the far right, the Vagabond, and the Big Shot in the background. The Big Shot Express belongs to a customer in PA who asked me to give it a test run for her. Within the last 24 hours I've had the incredible pleasure of cutting lots of applique shapes without even turning the handle.....sounds lazy right? Think about it though.....when you need to cut hundreds of blocks or applique shapes your arms and shoulders get tired (mine do anyway) so it is wonderful to have one that you plug in and it just zips on through. Many quilters have problems with Arthur (Arthritis) so the Big Shot Express and Vagabond are the ticket to cutting lots of pieces at one time and quickly too.
I'm going to quickly show you the machines so you can see which one's I'm talking about and the size differences.
This is my Big Shot Pro...I tape the photo from the package onto my dies so I can quickly glance and know which is which.
This is the Vagabond....can you say OH YEAH BABY? This machine will make all other cutting systems dial 911.....no kidding no joke and you have my word....you will flip too.
This is theBig Shot Express with a Sizzix Snowman Die. I was extremely pleased when I tested my friends Big Shot Express. Since it does not belong to me I did not attempt to run 12 layers of fabric through it but I did cut 6 layers with ease.
I know I'm excited and my post may not be as clear as I would like it to be so I'll just tell you that both the Vagabond and The Big Shot Express are electric. The Big Shot and the Big Shot Pro are manual.
This is my Big Shot, it does not come with my little friend who sits on mine...he makes me smile and I appreciate all the smiles I have in the dark months of winter.
The Vagabond has a little side compartment to hold the electric cord.....and when I looked away for just a minute.....
A stowaway jumped in. See.....he is even happy to be close to my new Vagabond.
So, now is the time for the big test. You know I'm not cutting up any fabric....not scraps....nope....I'm funny like that. So I took a 100% cotton pillowcase cover that I bought at a factory sale for 25 cents and yes....I'll cut that up. Will I cut one layer with the new Vagabond? Two? Three? Four? Heck no....the very first time I put fabric through this baby I used........
TWELVE layers.....why? Because I heard this baby works like a dream and it cuts chip board....if it cuts chipboard (which is very dense cardboard) you know it will cut 12 layers of fabric. Keep in mind I have not read the instructions and have no idea how many layers are recommended....but I did watch the YouTube video for the Vagabond and I knew I had to give it a spin. I did not use the new cutting pads that came with it....I have to keep those pretty for awhile, I used the one's I use with my other Sizzix machines so you can see the pads are used.
I simply put the Sizzix Ornaments Die with 12 layers of fabric between the cutting mats and pushed the button. The Vagabond is very quiet and within literally 3 seconds or less ( I didn't time it but I can if you want me to :) the die came through to the other side.....how did the test work?
Like a charm!!! All 12 layers....cut through without one little string hanging....not one I tell ya. Now you know why I'm so dog gone excited.....this machine cuts like BUTTAH and it is sooth, fast and sturdy!
Look at all these perfect little ornaments.....24 in all ....in seconds. Can you even begin to imagine how quickly you can cut applique shapes? Blocks? Circles? Triangles? Dresden Plates? I know many of you are like me and I can't keep going or we'll all need medical attention.
Look at this....12 deep....smooth....real smooth.
That is 12 layers and I'm still looking at that stack of fabric.....I can hardly believe it....this is absolutely amazing to me...perfect....and I have one....please don't wake me up if this is a dream....I'll shoot ya.
When Mr. McSteamy gets home from work and the boys get settled down....I'm going to video tape me cutting this exact same thing again....so you can see it and hear it for yourself. If you can't wait you can always call me and I can hold the phone next to the machine so you can hear how quiet it is....you won't believe it either.
Last night I used the Big Shot Express to make the Tea Towel from my last post. The entire thing took me 20 minutes. I wanted to test the machine and I also wanted to make something useful so I used my "real" fabric. There are so many dies for applique that your head may spin....so hang on tight before you click on any of the links here.
If you want to see the YouTube video before I make the IHAN Vagabond video...here it is:
I've had these questions asked so many times that I'll post the answers here. If you have any more questions please e-mail me don't ask them in the comments. I'm on a vacation from replying to comments....but never e-mails....so if you want met to reply...send a e-mail or call me. The contact info is on the front of the IHAN website.
Ok...I hope this all makes sense....I feel like I hit the Quilting Lottery....good thing I was not in a towel when the Fed Ex Driver came...LOL.
Phoomph was being marketed for Crafting at Quilt Market and I saw so many more purposes that I thought those who are into Textile Arts, Quilting, Machine Embroidery and hand stitching should be aware of this new product as well.
Phoomph is a double sided adhesive (acid and lignin free) Bonding Sheet...there is no ironing required. You just take your fabric, paper, embellishments, or what ever you are wanting to use and hand press it onto the Bonding Sheet.
Phoomph comes in individual sheets that are 9 x 12. It comes in White, Black, Red, Orange, Pink, Blue, Green and Fuchsia and you have your choice of SOFT or STIFF.
