Ink Blending pads for my new tools

Following along from making some new blending tools, I thought it would be cool to have some more blending pads,and as I have a couple of sheets of Cut n Dry foam, decided to give it a try.

 
It has two sides, a white one, and a grey, the white being the blending foam side.But the grey side is smooth, and won't stick to the Velcro. So I thought I would see if I could stick some felt to the grey side, which the Velcro would grip. I did this the other day when I made the blending tools, but needed to wait for the glue to dry to make sure it would stick ok, and not peel straight back off!
By the way, I'm probably the only person in the world who hasn't realised this, but I was reading the info on the back of the packet, and apparently you can heat the grey side, then press in onto a texture of some sort to make a stamp! Or into a rubber stamp to get a reverse image- how useful is that? Then just re-heat to get it smooth again, or make another stamp. Anyway, that's an experiment for another day.
 (I had some blue foam from the NEC a few years ago, that you could do that with- don't know what ever happened to that stuff.), and I know you can get it in sheet form from Hobbycraft stores,
called Magic Stamp foam by Penscore.

 I have some white felt I bought off e-bay, to cut up for Alcohol Ink blending pads (me, cheap?), so tried that first. It sort of worked- that is, it stuck ok, but wasn't a very 'fluffy' felt, so the grip with the Velcro was very iffy. Then I remembered I had some Red felt I got from a Hobbycrafts store, with the vague idea of using it for Christmas cards one year- (don't ask which year, even I can't remember that) maybe make little Christmas stockings? This is a thicker felt and a bit fluffier, so I gave it a go.

I had chopped up some Cut & Dry Foam in the past, to give me small pieces I could use,so I just trimmed these to roughly fit my new tools, then cut the red felt to the same sizes.

After a few trials, I went with normal PVA glue, and added a layer to the grey side of the Cut n Dry. Just a thinnish layer- enough to stick, but I didn't want it to soak through the felt and stop it gripping.


                                                       I put the felt onto the glue, flipped it over and pressed it down with a small acrylic block.  They all went to spend the night on the radiator, and when I tested them the next day, the glue held and nothing peeled off!
Its a bit thicker than the Blending Foams you buy,but as I didn't add foam to the tool under the Velcro, it probably works out about the same. I reckon I got about  35-40 pads from one sheet.You definitely need a thicker or 'fluffier' felt for the Velcro to grip.