Preserve Your Memories II

Happy Day!
Over the years I have received many emails asking me how I protect my pieces. I have tried so many products trying to find the perfect protection. You know the deal, modge podge, sealers, mediums - the list is endless really. I never liked the final results, the pieces all had a sheen that either gave it a glow you could see from another state, or a cloudy finish that covered the details of the papers.
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a company asking me if I would try their new product on my altered pieces. I have to admit I really did not think I would like this product and delayed using it because I did not want to be disappointed....again!
Guess what? I LOVE this product, it not only protects the pieces with NO residue but it makes the piece water resistant and even water proof when you use it on two sides. Oh this opens so many doors in the area of Altered Art for me. The product you ask?....Preserve Your Memories II. PYM II is made in the USA, Is ozone friendly and does not contain Prop 65 - a chemical known to cause cancer.
Okay off to start working on some assignments and a pretty cool piece i picked up this past weekend.
Posted by cmezzetti

I have to take this opportunity to tell you a story.
2 weekends ago I visited my girlfriend. She loves grapes so I took her some of my grape leaf prints and let her choose one.
She chose one that was made with Color Mists and some splatters gold acrylic. I sealed the piece with 3 light coats of PYMII to protect the color AND from moisture.

I had not finished the edge of the canvas. I had some acrylic paint with me and I finished off the edges. I had to do 2 coats to get the look I wanted..... When I was finishing the second coat, I noticed that I had smeared a line of acrylic paint on TOP of my piece (it did NOT blend in!! It looked awful!!!!!!!!!) The paint was dry and I just about started crying!! I knew that I had to do something but I was so afraid of smearing or even destroying the leaf image.

I got a rag and some water and tried to gently rub the paint off. Nope..... it was really set. I rubbed with a little more force and got a little of the acrylic paint off.........but, not nearly enough. I thought to myself....."ok, I have to get this off, if I ruin it, I'll just make her a new one) I took my fingernail and the wet rag and I scraped and scraped until I got the acrylic paint off. I got about 95% of the paint off.............

Here is the kicker.........there was not one smudge, not one shred of evidence of my torture to that canvas!!!! The print image under the painted area was JUST as I had originally done it! I was stunned!!!! I know for a fact that if I had sealed that canvas with any other spray sealer that I would have ruined that piece! I'm sold for LIFE on this stuff!!!

xoxooxoxxo
Susan Chong
Stamping Designer/Moderator-Inky Fun Stampers-

As a homeschool family, we do a lot of projects, pictures, scrapbooking, and more. That requires paper, and if you want to hold on to some of these special things, it involves preservation. That can be a problem. I have attempted (and am always sorely behind) to maintain scrapbooks for my children. I've tried every tape known to man to preserve their drawings, doodles, and pictures for them. And looking back now, much of it has already yellowed a bit. I can't go laminate everything; the expense and time involved there would be a nightmare. And home laminating machines can be very expensive. Bring in Preserve Your Memories II--this is like having a laminating machine right in your home, only it comes in a can. It is easily used and really works! I was pretty skeptical, but after using this product, I am sold. It has a UV blocker and is acid free, non-yellowing, environmentally friendly, and water repellent. It reduces fading and eliminates fingerprints, and you can write and erase on it! It protects against damage, dries in less than two minutes, and is made in the USA. Now, can you beat that? Preserve Your Memories II comes in an aerosol spray can and a finger pump can. It works on a variety of materials, including paper, vellum, plastics, copper, metals, marker, pencil and chalk art, newspaper, ink-jet photos, wood, and more. This is a little miracle in a can for those of us who keep so many little "treasures" in portfolios or scrapbooks for our children! Two thumbs up!

Here's a classic case of "I knew I'd find a use for it one day" Syndrome that most of us collectors er...I mean Altered Artists suffer from. I picked up an old black lunch box about 4 years ago at an estate sale thinking what a great piece it would be to alter some day and up it went on my shelf waiting for just the right project which ended up being a purse for Kris for her birthday. I just love how it turned out. This was a collaborated effort with another friend who lined the inside and made a wonderful mermaid doll to go inside. After the outside was finished I sealed it with PYMII which worked great!

My next finished pieces are two mini 1 1/2" x 1 1/2" canvases I painted for a swap I'm in. Now these weren't sitting on my unfinished shelf they were supplies I've had with an idea in mind . I painted them with acrylic paints and added the moss and bird in the opening. You can see from the one picture just how tiny they are.

I must admit I do love the feeling of completing something :-)
I might add that all the projects I posted were sealed with PYMII.

Preserve Your Memories II Protective Spray Coatings are products that I had never heard of before this review. I was intrigued as soon as I read the packaging, and interested to find out if these sprays work as well as the manufacturer claims. After checking out the website www.precision-blue.com, I was impressed and intrigued. I couldn’t wait to test this product.

Two different formulas of Preserve Your Memories II Protective Coatings are available: an Aerosol spray and a Non-Aerosol spray. I was very pleased to see that both of the sprays are environmentally friendly, as I try to limit my use of Aerosol sprays. I was sent one 6 oz. can of each formula. The packaging states that the coating can be applied to a number of different media, including: “Newspapers, Inkjet and Laser Prints, Inkjet Digital Pictures, Metals, Pencil Art, Plastics, Chalk, Children’s Marker Art, etc.”. My first impression of this product, I have to admit, was one of disbelief. Honestly, how could one simple product do all the things that this claimed to do. It is Acid Free, UV Protection, Non-Yellowing, Water Repellent (or water proof if coated on both sides), and eliminates fingerprints. Those are amazing claims. After using this spray, I am definitely impressed, and willing to believe all of them.

The first thing that I wanted to test was the claim that the Preserve Your Memories II spray could make photos water resistant. My husband had most of his family photos destroyed in a couple of different floods throughout the years, and has very little left. I think that as scrapbookers, we are always afraid of losing our precious memories, pictures, and scrapbooks to fire or water damage. I decided to test the claim of water-resistance by spraying my photo with the Non-Aerosol Protective Spray, then spraying water on top of the photo. As you can see, the water that I sprayed onto the photo just pooled up into little droplets, or ran off the side of the photo.


I let the water sit on the photo for about ten minutes, then I wiped the photo dry. I was amazed to see that not one mark was created on the photo by the water. That alone makes the product totally worth the price in my opinion. The only marks on the photo were scratches that were there before I sprayed it with the protective coating. And after so much handling, there weren't even any fingerprints on the photo.


For my first project, I actually completed a project that I had started some time ago. I had an altered clipboard that I had begun, and placed a photo on. After only a couple of months, the photo began to fade and discolor, so I never completed the clipboard. It has been sitting to the side for quite a while waiting for a specially printed photo that wouldn’t fade, or for a product such as Preserve Your Memories II. I printed the original photo on my inkjet printer, adhered it to the clipboard and added a few extra embellishments. Will the photo fade? Only time will tell. But after the first test that I put this product through, I am willing to bet that it won’t.