The Perfect Printing Pouch is a unique product developed by Amy Roszak that makes challenging inkjet printing situations a breeze. But its usefulness doesn’t end with inkjet printing. There are a wide variety of scenarios where the pouch is valuable.Read our interview with Amy Rosak or Learn More with step by step instructions on how to use the pouch
Interview with Perfect Printing Pouch Developer Amy Roszak
The Perfect Printing Pouch is a unique product developed by Amy Roszak that makes challenging inkjet printing situations a breeze. But its usefulness doesn’t end with inkjet printing. There are a wide variety of scenarios where the pouch is valuable. To explain exactly what the Perfect Printing Pouch is and what it does, I went to the source and interviewed Amy Roszak. Enjoy the first half of the interview.
PART 1
To save the audio to your computer, right-click here and "Save As".
Here is a transcript of the interview:
Before we specifically talk about the Printing Pouch, tell me about some challenging scenarios you’ve experienced where printing can be difficult.
Well, when you’re using an inkjet printer, because it’s a wet ink, it tends to have two kind of difficulties. One would be where it resists and smears and one would be where it kind of bleeds into it [the paper] and fades. And it depends on the paper. If it’s a shiny stock--something like vellum, a metallic paper, something like that--those are the ones that tend to smear and resist. And then if it’s something like a handmade paper--a mulberry, that kind of absorbent--those are the ones that tend to fade.
Before I ask you to describe the Perfect Printing Pouch, we should let our listeners know that you have a great YouTube video that people can find by searching for “printing pouch.” If they watch that video, they’ll see you demonstrate exactly how the pouch solves some of these difficult printing jobs.
That’s the Craft & Hobby Association Winter Trade Show. It’s the largest craft trade show in the world, in California.
That was earlier this year?
That was in February of 2009, yes.
I really like how that video was shot, like it was sort of an average person just coming up to your booth. That was cool.
(Laughter)
I do want to stress that people should watch that video because before I watched it, I didn’t exactly know how the Printing Pouch worked, and of course Amy’s going to talk to us about how it works but it’s really good just to see it in action. She applies the technique and she shows you what happens and it’s really amazing.
Yeah, a picture’s worth a thousand words and it’s a hard product to explain. It’s easy to use but it’s hard to explain because there’s nothing else like it in the world and so people are always saying, “Well, do I spray it?” “Do I put it on afterwards?” “Like, how do I know when it’s going to do it?”
And it’s really very simple. It’s just that because there’s nothing else to relate to, it’s hard for people to imagine it.
For people who have not used the pouch or seen your videos, why don’t you describe the surprisingly simple technique?
Well, first of all, the pouch, I would have them think of a felt, powder-filled ravioli. And what you’re doing is you’re wiping this pouch onto your printing surface before you print. And some of the special magic powders inside are going to seep through the felt and a very, very fine layer will be applied to the paper. Kind of like, for those of you that wear blush, it would be like putting blush on your cheek. You’re just putting a very, very fine layer on. And most of the time, you can’t really see it. The powders bonds the ink to the paper and also have a drying agent so that when you’re using an inkjet printer, pretty much within--coming out of the printer--within ten, fifteen, twenty seconds, the ink is dry.
How in the world did you ever come up with a product like this to solve so many of these issues? Are you a chemist?
(laughter) I do have a background in science and I was a math teacher for a while and I stopped teaching to stay home with my daughter when she was born. But I started scrapbooking and I was trying to print on vellum. And sometimes it works fine and sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes there would be lines across it kind of like there was a streak of oil and other times it would be just fine. But it would still take forever to dry. And when I started asking around, people would say, “Well, that’s just the way it is.”
And I kind of thought, “Well, there’s gotta be something.” And so I started researching and working on setting up all sorts of trials until I found the right combination of acid-free products that’s also talc-free. There are a number of people with talc, talcum powder allergies and so it has no talcum powder in it.
Ok. And can I ask how long that process took from the idea in your head throughout the experimental phase to your finished product?
I think it probably took around three or four months. And some of that also was trying to figure out the best way--once I had the chemicals--the best way to get that onto the paper. Like I tried with a brush, or whether it was going to be some kind of roller. And then, once I came up with the little pouch, even the design of how to hold it. The powders don’t hurt you at all. They’re completely non-toxic and non-irritating. But I still didn’t want them to be getting all over the table or in your hands so the pouches are lined. They have a grip. And so all of those kind of things kind of played into some of the time.
Do you remember when it was that you started working on the idea, and then when you launched it?
Yes, it was in April of 2003 was when I started. And in September, I was attending a scrapbooking show as a consumer and I brought seventy-five of these pouches that I had with me and I just happened to mention it to somebody and people in line were like, “I want one. I want one.”
All my friends, I had made them for my friends. And then I took a class. It was a vellum class and I mentioned it to the instructor and she looked at what I did and she was just thrilled. She mentioned it to the class right then and I sold out. And that was when I decided, “Ok, I guess I need to go into this as a business.”
Yeah. So you were attending a scrapbooking show. And tell me and tell me and the listeners a little bit more about you. What’s sort of your history with crafts and scrapbooking?
Hmm. Well, my background, professionally was as a hydrologist. I have a Master’s in science and I was a teacher, but as far as crafts go, I pretty much will try anything. I do some basket weaving, some beading, some quilting, some sewing, and when I discovered scrapbooking it was like the world, because all of the crafts that I’ve ever done can be done on a page. So that’s why I think the pouch was so important because I wasn’t satisfied with just printing on regular paper. I wanted to use muslin fabric or use really kind of cool textured papers that I saw. And when I discovered, you know, vellum, it was like, “Oh, I really like the way that looks, it just doesn’t print well.”
And that’s how I kind of came to it.
Many of LCI’s customers want to print on vellum. How might the Perfect Printing Pouch make their jobs more successful?
Well, one thing that people should realize, the problems that they experience are not the printer’s fault and they’re not the paper’s fault. And it’s not their fault. It’s just the combination of trying to put a wet ink on a paper--which vellum is--but it’s not absorbent. And so the ink kind of beads up on the surface and it has a hard time both drying and not smearing. So that’s kind of the basic where I come from is that it’s not anything you’re doing and there’s no defect in the quality of papers you’re using. In fact, there was another paper company I was speaking to when I was first developing this and the man said, “Well, if you can’t print on the vellum, don’t.” And he said, “That’s why we make inkjet vellum.”
Well, inkjet vellum is very nice but it’s also very basic. It can come in pastel colors only, although I mostly print, I will admit, in clear white. But it still takes forever to dry, and during that time is when you’re going to get the smearing. So the pouch will make the printing crisper and it will also dry the ink so you don’t really have to worry about what kind of printer you’re using or how your paper has to set around the room. It just does it for you.
I was also going to say that there are printed vellums that have little patterns on them and they’re very pretty. And those are especially difficult to print on because the printing on the paper doubly resists the ink that you’re trying to put down. But with the pouch, you just wipe it down and the ink will just adhere to it perfectly.
Alright. Are we mostly talking about inkjet printing here?
I am only talking about inkjet printers are far as printers go.
Ok.
You can also use the pouch for stamp ink, for gel pens, for markers, but not for laser printers which most people who are having problems printing, it’s usually an inkjet printer that’s the problem. But my demo, in fact, for trade shows is just taking a marker and scribbling on vellum and you can see it bead up and then you just take the pouch, wipe it, and the difference is like night and day. And if they see that YouTube video, I believe it’s on there too.
Yes it is. I loved seeing that. It was just crystal clear. It was like, oh, that’s the revelation. Ok, that’s how it works, simple.
Right.
I’m sold. (laughter)
And it’s kind of the same deal with stamps. There’s a number of other applications for stamps, in addition to it making the ink crisp and drying quicker, it also works as an anti-static bag for people when they’re heat embossing. They don’t want the embossing powder to stick where they don’t want it. You put the pouch down and then the embossing powder will only stick to the stamp. So that’s another one.
Another application for stampers is if they want to stamp first and then you could use it with another stamp or your inkjet printer on top of that first stamp. And typically, that first stamp resists anything you want to write on top of it. But here you can stamp first, then put down the pouch. And then the second printing image, either your printer or another stamp won’t be resisted.
This is probably a question you get a lot which is kind of vague. How long does the Printing Pouch last, and maybe more to the point, how will someone know when it’s time to order a replacement?
Actually, it’s a great question. The pouch lasts, and I kind of put this in quotes, "forever." There is no expiration date so the powders are not going to go bad. It’s just a matter of when it’s empty it’s time to replace it. And you will just feel it. After a while, there won’t be any powder coming out. This could be, for the average user, and I don’t know if I can say average, but it could be six months to three years or more. When you’re using it for something like wedding invitations where you’re printing a lot, you’re obviously going to use a lot more powder than you would if doing it for, you know, an occasional card or a scrapbook project. But I would not be surprised for people to not use it up very quickly. In fact, it may be that they lose it or they would rather another color before they actually need a new one.
Yeah, I notice on your web site that they come in a variety of colors. The color doesn’t matter, does it? It’s the same product.
Right, it’s just a matter of the felt being different because some people really like to have pink and some people don’t like pink at all. So the color of the pouch is irrelevant. It’s just what’s on the inside that counts.
PART 2
To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."
Here is a transcript of the interview:
Are you working on any new products or projects?
Well, I have another product, actually, that kind of goes with the pouch. That’s called the Perfect Cleaning Cloth. And the cloth is for removing the powder. Let me explain it. Most of the time, when you use the pouch you really don’t notice the powder. It is there but you’re putting on so little you don’t notice. If you were to use the pouch on very dark paper, like if you’re using it as an anti-static bag and you’re wanting to put it down on a black card stock and you’re going to use white embossing powder, you’re going to see the powder on the dark paper. So after embossing, you can use the cloth to remove the powder. Or I’ve used the pouch for printing on transparencies like a thirty-five millimeter film negative. And on something like that, again, you see it. Or on a metallic paper... So you could use your cloth and just dab it and it removes the powder residue afterwards. The cloth is also really good for your laptop screen, fingerprints on the laptop, or your scanner bed or your camera lens, or even your eyeglasses because it uses no chemical. It’s just the cloth itself. Of course, you don’t want to use the same cloth on your eyeglasses that you’re using to remove your powder ‘cause you don’t want the powder to potentially scratch your glasses.
But my new product is called Embellie Jellie and that one is very, very cool. Think of a small wad of a sticky substance. Maybe think about chewing gum except for it’s totally not that. And you would take a small pearl-sized piece of the Jellie, and you put it on the end of the wooden wand. And what it’s for is for picking up and placing small embellishments. If you have tried to pick up a gem or a sequin or a punched out shape, and you want to put it down on your card or on your scrapbook page, it’s hard to pick those up with your fingers and if you try with tweezers, a lot of times they go flying out of the tweezers. So you just this little sticky stuff, touch it to your little embellishment, and then you have your glue, glue dot, or liquid glue on your paper, and you just touch it to your glue. The Ebellie Jellie is sticky enough to pick up the object, but it’s must less tacky than the glue so it lets you transfer it.
So my daughter used it last week when she cut out a whole bunch of Cricut letters. And they’re little flat vellum letters. So she just took this. And if she tried to pick it up with her fingers, the letters would crumble and crunch. And so she just took the Embellie Jellie and letter by letter, just put it right down on her poster board. So that’s Embellie Jellie. That’s the newest. And that one also lasts forever. It comes in a small case with seven little strips of this gel.
How do I spell “embellie”?
E-M-B-E-L-L-I-E and then gellie is G-E-L-L-I-E.
Alright and again folks, go to that YouTube video because Amy demonstrates it. And that’s... Just search for Perfect Printing Pouch on YouTube. Also, if people want to read about all of your products again, and read about you, what is your web site?
www.scraperfect.com and Scraperfect is with one “P.” S-C-R-A-P-E-R-F-E-C-T
Before the Perfect Printing Pouch, what were you doing? (laugher)
Well,
Teaching
I was a hydrologist for the forest service for a number of years and then I became a math teacher.
Amy, sorry, what is a hydrologist?
Oh it’s the person on the forest that deals with water, so anytime there was water testing or making sure that pesticides didn’t get into the stream or if there was going to be a cut done on the forest then I would be on the team that would make the recommendations on how they would have to do the cutting.
Being an entrepreneur, has life changed since the Perfect Printing Pouch?
This is totally my first product. I never had any kind of business or sales experience at all. I was always in some kind of human service or public kind of position.
I guess my life has changed in that it’s very exciting to speak to people and have people e-mail me about how cool this product is that I invented. But I don’t really do a full, I don’t know, a good enough job of marketing because most people know about it from hearing about it from Google searches, from their friends and I like the inventing side of this business better.
Ah ok, yup. Well, then I appreciate you coming out of your comfort zone a little bit for this little marketing piece, promotional piece.
(laughter)
And what’s next? Are you going to hire Billy Mays to do an infomercial for you?
(laughter) Next for me, actually, is I have with my Embellie Jellie, I am looking at putting it in a kit and developing an adhesive that would go with it. And after that, I have another idea for a stamping product.
But basically, you know, it’s not that I sit around trying to think of what I can invent, it always comes down to when I’m doing something, what problem I’m having and how I can figure out to solve it.
Gotcha.
So I’m sure what my next product... It depends what next frustration I have. Most of my enjoyment comes from figuring out a problem, finding the solution, and then hearing back from all the people that just absolutely think it’s fantastic. It really is unbelievable, but I get e-mails continually from people just saying that they can’t believe what this can do. And many of them started out... The comments I’ve gotten were from designers. They’re in the professional world of this. But I get lots of e-mails from people. One woman said she had a house fire and after she got an apartment this was the first thing that she wanted to order. That was like, “Oh my goodness!”
But what’s interesting is that a lot of people know they have this issue, but they don’t know that there’s a solution and then when they find it, they’re totally impressed. A lot of people don’t think they have a problem. This is just the way vellum is and when they look at it, it’s not that they’re... It’s hard to explain. The difference between using the pouch and not using the pouch is often night and day and that for a lot of people, I’ll say, like when I’m at the trade show, “Do you have an issue printing on vellum?” And they’ll say, “No.” And then when they look at it they go, “Oh my goodness! I didn’t realize I had a problem!”
Ah
That’s the other end of it is. And I’m not trying to convince anybody to use it or to do something differently; it’s just I get e-mail after e-mail from people explaining what they’ve done. And part of the cool thing is that I invented it strictly for vellum and inkjet printers because that was the problem I was having. And the way that the pouch is being used now in so many different applications is because people have kind of had the same freedom that I had where they went, “Wow! I wonder if it’ll work for this?” Like people can stamp on muslin or on ribbon or on twill tape or on popsicle sticks or other wooden objects, tags. People are using it on cork. And again, like even the stamp idea or the markers, that each of these were like from someone going, “Oh, I wonder... I’m having problems with this.” Someone else used it at CHA in a class for a clay and they wanted to stamp on the clay and they used it as a release agent so that the stamp didn’t stick to the clay and then they used it with ink so that the ink would print better onto the clay. And another company, another woman from an earth-friendly company that does inks, they’re using it and just think it’s unbelievable with their product. It’s neat the way people are able to take it and extend it to their own uses.
How do I spell “muslin” that you mentioned, and what is it?
M-U-S-L-I-N
Ok
What is it? It’s a off-white kind of natural looking cotton and kind of like, I wouldn’t say a pillow case, but that kind of... It’s just a cheap fabric. I know on the market there’s like inkjet printable fabrics, but actually, if you just put my pouch on most fabrics, you’re going to be able to print on it anyway.
Wow! Ok.
Well, without it, it bleeds into the fabric, and then with the pouch it stops the bleeding. And I won’t say on anything. That’s the other thing is I never say I know it’s going to work, I just say if you’re having difficulty with an ink, this is the best shot you’ve got, and there’s a good chance it will work.
Yes.
I can use it both with stamping and with inkjets on silk flowers and can print on that. And again, the difference with it and without it is the bleeding.
And folks, if you do want to follow up and leave a comment... I’ll ask Amy to come back and read them, but just visit our blog where this show is hosted at talk.lcipaper.com and find this episode with the Perfect Printing Pouch and leave a comment for Amy.
I will definitely check back and read them. And if they have questions, feel free to post a question and I will answer them too.
Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com
The Perfect Printing Pouch is a unique product developed by Amy Roszak that makes challenging inkjet printing situations a breeze. But its usefulness doesn’t end with inkjet printing. There are a wide variety of scenarios where the pouch is valuable. To explain exactly what the Perfect Printing Pouch is and what it does, I went to the source and interviewed Amy Roszak. Enjoy the first half of the interview.
PART 1
To save the audio to your computer, right-click here and "Save As".
Here is a transcript of the interview:
Before we specifically talk about the Printing Pouch, tell me about some challenging scenarios you’ve experienced where printing can be difficult.
Well, when you’re using an inkjet printer, because it’s a wet ink, it tends to have two kind of difficulties. One would be where it resists and smears and one would be where it kind of bleeds into it [the paper] and fades. And it depends on the paper. If it’s a shiny stock--something like vellum, a metallic paper, something like that--those are the ones that tend to smear and resist. And then if it’s something like a handmade paper--a mulberry, that kind of absorbent--those are the ones that tend to fade.
Before I ask you to describe the Perfect Printing Pouch, we should let our listeners know that you have a great YouTube video that people can find by searching for “printing pouch.” If they watch that video, they’ll see you demonstrate exactly how the pouch solves some of these difficult printing jobs.
That’s the Craft & Hobby Association Winter Trade Show. It’s the largest craft trade show in the world, in California.
That was earlier this year?
That was in February of 2009, yes.
I really like how that video was shot, like it was sort of an average person just coming up to your booth. That was cool.
(Laughter)
I do want to stress that people should watch that video because before I watched it, I didn’t exactly know how the Printing Pouch worked, and of course Amy’s going to talk to us about how it works but it’s really good just to see it in action. She applies the technique and she shows you what happens and it’s really amazing.
Yeah, a picture’s worth a thousand words and it’s a hard product to explain. It’s easy to use but it’s hard to explain because there’s nothing else like it in the world and so people are always saying, “Well, do I spray it?” “Do I put it on afterwards?” “Like, how do I know when it’s going to do it?”
And it’s really very simple. It’s just that because there’s nothing else to relate to, it’s hard for people to imagine it.
For people who have not used the pouch or seen your videos, why don’t you describe the surprisingly simple technique?
Well, first of all, the pouch, I would have them think of a felt, powder-filled ravioli. And what you’re doing is you’re wiping this pouch onto your printing surface before you print. And some of the special magic powders inside are going to seep through the felt and a very, very fine layer will be applied to the paper. Kind of like, for those of you that wear blush, it would be like putting blush on your cheek. You’re just putting a very, very fine layer on. And most of the time, you can’t really see it. The powders bonds the ink to the paper and also have a drying agent so that when you’re using an inkjet printer, pretty much within--coming out of the printer--within ten, fifteen, twenty seconds, the ink is dry.
How in the world did you ever come up with a product like this to solve so many of these issues? Are you a chemist?
(laughter) I do have a background in science and I was a math teacher for a while and I stopped teaching to stay home with my daughter when she was born. But I started scrapbooking and I was trying to print on vellum. And sometimes it works fine and sometimes it didn’t. Sometimes there would be lines across it kind of like there was a streak of oil and other times it would be just fine. But it would still take forever to dry. And when I started asking around, people would say, “Well, that’s just the way it is.”
And I kind of thought, “Well, there’s gotta be something.” And so I started researching and working on setting up all sorts of trials until I found the right combination of acid-free products that’s also talc-free. There are a number of people with talc, talcum powder allergies and so it has no talcum powder in it.
Ok. And can I ask how long that process took from the idea in your head throughout the experimental phase to your finished product?
I think it probably took around three or four months. And some of that also was trying to figure out the best way--once I had the chemicals--the best way to get that onto the paper. Like I tried with a brush, or whether it was going to be some kind of roller. And then, once I came up with the little pouch, even the design of how to hold it. The powders don’t hurt you at all. They’re completely non-toxic and non-irritating. But I still didn’t want them to be getting all over the table or in your hands so the pouches are lined. They have a grip. And so all of those kind of things kind of played into some of the time.
Do you remember when it was that you started working on the idea, and then when you launched it?
Yes, it was in April of 2003 was when I started. And in September, I was attending a scrapbooking show as a consumer and I brought seventy-five of these pouches that I had with me and I just happened to mention it to somebody and people in line were like, “I want one. I want one.”
All my friends, I had made them for my friends. And then I took a class. It was a vellum class and I mentioned it to the instructor and she looked at what I did and she was just thrilled. She mentioned it to the class right then and I sold out. And that was when I decided, “Ok, I guess I need to go into this as a business.”
Yeah. So you were attending a scrapbooking show. And tell me and tell me and the listeners a little bit more about you. What’s sort of your history with crafts and scrapbooking?
Hmm. Well, my background, professionally was as a hydrologist. I have a Master’s in science and I was a teacher, but as far as crafts go, I pretty much will try anything. I do some basket weaving, some beading, some quilting, some sewing, and when I discovered scrapbooking it was like the world, because all of the crafts that I’ve ever done can be done on a page. So that’s why I think the pouch was so important because I wasn’t satisfied with just printing on regular paper. I wanted to use muslin fabric or use really kind of cool textured papers that I saw. And when I discovered, you know, vellum, it was like, “Oh, I really like the way that looks, it just doesn’t print well.”
And that’s how I kind of came to it.
Many of LCI’s customers want to print on vellum. How might the Perfect Printing Pouch make their jobs more successful?
Well, one thing that people should realize, the problems that they experience are not the printer’s fault and they’re not the paper’s fault. And it’s not their fault. It’s just the combination of trying to put a wet ink on a paper--which vellum is--but it’s not absorbent. And so the ink kind of beads up on the surface and it has a hard time both drying and not smearing. So that’s kind of the basic where I come from is that it’s not anything you’re doing and there’s no defect in the quality of papers you’re using. In fact, there was another paper company I was speaking to when I was first developing this and the man said, “Well, if you can’t print on the vellum, don’t.” And he said, “That’s why we make inkjet vellum.”
Well, inkjet vellum is very nice but it’s also very basic. It can come in pastel colors only, although I mostly print, I will admit, in clear white. But it still takes forever to dry, and during that time is when you’re going to get the smearing. So the pouch will make the printing crisper and it will also dry the ink so you don’t really have to worry about what kind of printer you’re using or how your paper has to set around the room. It just does it for you.
I was also going to say that there are printed vellums that have little patterns on them and they’re very pretty. And those are especially difficult to print on because the printing on the paper doubly resists the ink that you’re trying to put down. But with the pouch, you just wipe it down and the ink will just adhere to it perfectly.
Alright. Are we mostly talking about inkjet printing here?
I am only talking about inkjet printers are far as printers go.
Ok.
You can also use the pouch for stamp ink, for gel pens, for markers, but not for laser printers which most people who are having problems printing, it’s usually an inkjet printer that’s the problem. But my demo, in fact, for trade shows is just taking a marker and scribbling on vellum and you can see it bead up and then you just take the pouch, wipe it, and the difference is like night and day. And if they see that YouTube video, I believe it’s on there too.
Yes it is. I loved seeing that. It was just crystal clear. It was like, oh, that’s the revelation. Ok, that’s how it works, simple.
Right.
I’m sold. (laughter)
And it’s kind of the same deal with stamps. There’s a number of other applications for stamps, in addition to it making the ink crisp and drying quicker, it also works as an anti-static bag for people when they’re heat embossing. They don’t want the embossing powder to stick where they don’t want it. You put the pouch down and then the embossing powder will only stick to the stamp. So that’s another one.
Another application for stampers is if they want to stamp first and then you could use it with another stamp or your inkjet printer on top of that first stamp. And typically, that first stamp resists anything you want to write on top of it. But here you can stamp first, then put down the pouch. And then the second printing image, either your printer or another stamp won’t be resisted.
This is probably a question you get a lot which is kind of vague. How long does the Printing Pouch last, and maybe more to the point, how will someone know when it’s time to order a replacement?
Actually, it’s a great question. The pouch lasts, and I kind of put this in quotes, "forever." There is no expiration date so the powders are not going to go bad. It’s just a matter of when it’s empty it’s time to replace it. And you will just feel it. After a while, there won’t be any powder coming out. This could be, for the average user, and I don’t know if I can say average, but it could be six months to three years or more. When you’re using it for something like wedding invitations where you’re printing a lot, you’re obviously going to use a lot more powder than you would if doing it for, you know, an occasional card or a scrapbook project. But I would not be surprised for people to not use it up very quickly. In fact, it may be that they lose it or they would rather another color before they actually need a new one.
Yeah, I notice on your web site that they come in a variety of colors. The color doesn’t matter, does it? It’s the same product.
Right, it’s just a matter of the felt being different because some people really like to have pink and some people don’t like pink at all. So the color of the pouch is irrelevant. It’s just what’s on the inside that counts.
PART 2
To save the audio to your computer, right click and "save as."
Here is a transcript of the interview:
Are you working on any new products or projects?
Well, I have another product, actually, that kind of goes with the pouch. That’s called the Perfect Cleaning Cloth. And the cloth is for removing the powder. Let me explain it. Most of the time, when you use the pouch you really don’t notice the powder. It is there but you’re putting on so little you don’t notice. If you were to use the pouch on very dark paper, like if you’re using it as an anti-static bag and you’re wanting to put it down on a black card stock and you’re going to use white embossing powder, you’re going to see the powder on the dark paper. So after embossing, you can use the cloth to remove the powder. Or I’ve used the pouch for printing on transparencies like a thirty-five millimeter film negative. And on something like that, again, you see it. Or on a metallic paper... So you could use your cloth and just dab it and it removes the powder residue afterwards. The cloth is also really good for your laptop screen, fingerprints on the laptop, or your scanner bed or your camera lens, or even your eyeglasses because it uses no chemical. It’s just the cloth itself. Of course, you don’t want to use the same cloth on your eyeglasses that you’re using to remove your powder ‘cause you don’t want the powder to potentially scratch your glasses.
But my new product is called Embellie Jellie and that one is very, very cool. Think of a small wad of a sticky substance. Maybe think about chewing gum except for it’s totally not that. And you would take a small pearl-sized piece of the Jellie, and you put it on the end of the wooden wand. And what it’s for is for picking up and placing small embellishments. If you have tried to pick up a gem or a sequin or a punched out shape, and you want to put it down on your card or on your scrapbook page, it’s hard to pick those up with your fingers and if you try with tweezers, a lot of times they go flying out of the tweezers. So you just this little sticky stuff, touch it to your little embellishment, and then you have your glue, glue dot, or liquid glue on your paper, and you just touch it to your glue. The Ebellie Jellie is sticky enough to pick up the object, but it’s must less tacky than the glue so it lets you transfer it.
So my daughter used it last week when she cut out a whole bunch of Cricut letters. And they’re little flat vellum letters. So she just took this. And if she tried to pick it up with her fingers, the letters would crumble and crunch. And so she just took the Embellie Jellie and letter by letter, just put it right down on her poster board. So that’s Embellie Jellie. That’s the newest. And that one also lasts forever. It comes in a small case with seven little strips of this gel.
How do I spell “embellie”?
E-M-B-E-L-L-I-E and then gellie is G-E-L-L-I-E.
Alright and again folks, go to that YouTube video because Amy demonstrates it. And that’s... Just search for Perfect Printing Pouch on YouTube. Also, if people want to read about all of your products again, and read about you, what is your web site?
www.scraperfect.com and Scraperfect is with one “P.” S-C-R-A-P-E-R-F-E-C-T
Before the Perfect Printing Pouch, what were you doing? (laugher)
Well,
Teaching
I was a hydrologist for the forest service for a number of years and then I became a math teacher.
Amy, sorry, what is a hydrologist?
Oh it’s the person on the forest that deals with water, so anytime there was water testing or making sure that pesticides didn’t get into the stream or if there was going to be a cut done on the forest then I would be on the team that would make the recommendations on how they would have to do the cutting.
Being an entrepreneur, has life changed since the Perfect Printing Pouch?
This is totally my first product. I never had any kind of business or sales experience at all. I was always in some kind of human service or public kind of position.
I guess my life has changed in that it’s very exciting to speak to people and have people e-mail me about how cool this product is that I invented. But I don’t really do a full, I don’t know, a good enough job of marketing because most people know about it from hearing about it from Google searches, from their friends and I like the inventing side of this business better.
Ah ok, yup. Well, then I appreciate you coming out of your comfort zone a little bit for this little marketing piece, promotional piece.
(laughter)
And what’s next? Are you going to hire Billy Mays to do an infomercial for you?
(laughter) Next for me, actually, is I have with my Embellie Jellie, I am looking at putting it in a kit and developing an adhesive that would go with it. And after that, I have another idea for a stamping product.
But basically, you know, it’s not that I sit around trying to think of what I can invent, it always comes down to when I’m doing something, what problem I’m having and how I can figure out to solve it.
Gotcha.
So I’m sure what my next product... It depends what next frustration I have. Most of my enjoyment comes from figuring out a problem, finding the solution, and then hearing back from all the people that just absolutely think it’s fantastic. It really is unbelievable, but I get e-mails continually from people just saying that they can’t believe what this can do. And many of them started out... The comments I’ve gotten were from designers. They’re in the professional world of this. But I get lots of e-mails from people. One woman said she had a house fire and after she got an apartment this was the first thing that she wanted to order. That was like, “Oh my goodness!”
But what’s interesting is that a lot of people know they have this issue, but they don’t know that there’s a solution and then when they find it, they’re totally impressed. A lot of people don’t think they have a problem. This is just the way vellum is and when they look at it, it’s not that they’re... It’s hard to explain. The difference between using the pouch and not using the pouch is often night and day and that for a lot of people, I’ll say, like when I’m at the trade show, “Do you have an issue printing on vellum?” And they’ll say, “No.” And then when they look at it they go, “Oh my goodness! I didn’t realize I had a problem!”
Ah
That’s the other end of it is. And I’m not trying to convince anybody to use it or to do something differently; it’s just I get e-mail after e-mail from people explaining what they’ve done. And part of the cool thing is that I invented it strictly for vellum and inkjet printers because that was the problem I was having. And the way that the pouch is being used now in so many different applications is because people have kind of had the same freedom that I had where they went, “Wow! I wonder if it’ll work for this?” Like people can stamp on muslin or on ribbon or on twill tape or on popsicle sticks or other wooden objects, tags. People are using it on cork. And again, like even the stamp idea or the markers, that each of these were like from someone going, “Oh, I wonder... I’m having problems with this.” Someone else used it at CHA in a class for a clay and they wanted to stamp on the clay and they used it as a release agent so that the stamp didn’t stick to the clay and then they used it with ink so that the ink would print better onto the clay. And another company, another woman from an earth-friendly company that does inks, they’re using it and just think it’s unbelievable with their product. It’s neat the way people are able to take it and extend it to their own uses.
How do I spell “muslin” that you mentioned, and what is it?
M-U-S-L-I-N
Ok
What is it? It’s a off-white kind of natural looking cotton and kind of like, I wouldn’t say a pillow case, but that kind of... It’s just a cheap fabric. I know on the market there’s like inkjet printable fabrics, but actually, if you just put my pouch on most fabrics, you’re going to be able to print on it anyway.
Wow! Ok.
Well, without it, it bleeds into the fabric, and then with the pouch it stops the bleeding. And I won’t say on anything. That’s the other thing is I never say I know it’s going to work, I just say if you’re having difficulty with an ink, this is the best shot you’ve got, and there’s a good chance it will work.
Yes.
I can use it both with stamping and with inkjets on silk flowers and can print on that. And again, the difference with it and without it is the bleeding.
And folks, if you do want to follow up and leave a comment... I’ll ask Amy to come back and read them, but just visit our blog where this show is hosted at talk.lcipaper.com and find this episode with the Perfect Printing Pouch and leave a comment for Amy.
I will definitely check back and read them. And if they have questions, feel free to post a question and I will answer them too.
Joshua Birch
josh@lcipaper.com
How to Use The Perfect Printing Pouch
Step One: Hold Pouch By Colored Ribbon
Hold pouch by the colored ribbon.
Note: Prior to first use, tap pouch on a hard surface until powder is visible. Repeat when necessary to keep the felt saturated with powders.
Step Two: Wipe Printing Surface
Applying like a powder puff, gently wipe the printing surface with the pouch to evenly distribute the powders. Shake or blow to remove any excess powder. A light application of powder is usually all that is needed.
Step Three: Print Text
Make sure your printer is set for normal paper and print quality. Do not use transparency setting as it puts out a minimum of ink. Send the paper through the printer so it prints directly onto the treated surface. Let dry briefly. Although you may be able to work with it immediately, the printing can be smeared if not totally dry.
Note: To set the ink permanently on transparencies, polymer clay, mica-coated papers and other very slick, non-porous surfaces, spritz with a spray fixative.
Step One: Hold Pouch By Colored Ribbon
Hold pouch by the colored ribbon.
Note: Prior to first use, tap pouch on a hard surface until powder is visible. Repeat when necessary to keep the felt saturated with powders.
Step Two: Wipe Printing Surface
Applying like a powder puff, gently wipe the printing surface with the pouch to evenly distribute the powders. Shake or blow to remove any excess powder. A light application of powder is usually all that is needed.
Step Three: Print Text
Make sure your printer is set for normal paper and print quality. Do not use transparency setting as it puts out a minimum of ink. Send the paper through the printer so it prints directly onto the treated surface. Let dry briefly. Although you may be able to work with it immediately, the printing can be smeared if not totally dry.
Note: To set the ink permanently on transparencies, polymer clay, mica-coated papers and other very slick, non-porous surfaces, spritz with a spray fixative.
