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I have seen many cards using the fun foam. What is it anyways? Where do you buy it? Last, how do you stamp on it? If anyone could help I would apprecaite it!
You can buy fun foam at most any craft store (Michaels, Joann's, etc.) and also at discount stores such as Walmart. It comes in several different thicknesses. You can buy it by the sheet or in packages. I have never tried to stamp on it, but I do like to do the technique where you heat the fun foam with your embossing tool and then immediately press your stamp into it. It makes a nice impression and once cut out creates a nice embellishment on cards, gift bags, etc. I also like to use the thick fun foam as a backing for shaker cards. It is much easier to use than double sided foam tape (I think!).
I'm sure there are countless more uses for fun foam - can't wait to see what y'all come up with!
Here are a few tips on using fun foam with your embossing heat tool:
- Cut the foam a little larger than the size you want finished product to be.
- Heat till it starts to curl at the corners. Be careful not to scorch it! If you get too close, it will start to stink!
- Press stamp very firmly (with or without ink) into warm foam.
- Trim & mount to card/project.
You can reheat it if you don't like the impression you've made. . .but not too many times. We did a card with fun foam yesterday at a workshop, and one lady did not like the way hers came out and kept redoing and redoing. . .until the foam that started out about the size of a silver dollar ended up smaller than a dime!
Another great thing to do after stamping into the foam is to color your piece with metallic rub ons or pearl ex. For pearl ex, either fill a "water brush" with Floor Wax or just dip the tip of a watercolor brush in the wax and then into your Pearl Ex and paint it on. I learned this from the Technique Junkies Newsletter. www.techniquejunkies.com Anita
I tried to do the fun foam the way it was described on here (heating until the corners curled) and it worked at first. But then the image faded away and you couldn't really tell what it was. Am I doing something wrong?
You have to press the stamp in very firmly to get the impression to stay. I think the results are more dramatic if you ink the stamp first, and it seems to work better with more solid designs.
I used my heat gun in a swirling motion for about 15 seconds for the dollar store foam I had. You could just see a difference in the texture. Then I pressed firmly with the stamp and held it there for about 10 seconds.
I press my stamps firmly and usually hold them until the foam is cooled.
..question about the water brush and floor wax...
what does the floor wax do to pearl ex? neat effect or just a way to seal it?
I need some pearle ex advice! I'd love to add it to my fun foam images!
Is the product actually called "Fun Foam"? I've looked and looked and while I can find foam, none of it says "Fun Foam" and I don't know if the other stuff will do the same things I've seen others do with Fun Foam.
I buy the big bucket of foam shapes at Michaels (with the coupon, of course!). Here is a sample of a card I made with a heart shaped foam piece and used Pearl-Ex w/ Lumiere. Using Future instead of Lumiere would have the same effect.
Fun Foam Help!
