OLYMPIC TORCH IN SEQUIN WASTE

This has nothing to do with Friendly Plastic but following on from my earlier blog about sequin waste I thought I had better have a go at making an Olympic Torch myself.  Here you have my interpretations of the Olympic Torch using Gold Sequin Waste.  Which one do you prefer?  I will let you into a little secret here - one was made by me and the other by my husband - depending on which one you prefer this could result in a domestic!!

The Olympic Torch on the left was made using a gold cardboard tube.  Cut a vertical slit at one end (only part way up) so it can be overlapped to form a slight cone.  It was then covered with the sequin waste.  I think you could use any colour tube here - but I would paint a brown one.  I think black could work quite well as it would show up the holes in the sequin waste well.

The Olympic Torch on the right was made using a stiff clear acetate.  Now it is much easier to cover the acetate with the sequin waste before you make the cone - as you are obviously covering a flat surface.  We used sellotape to attach it.  The cone shape was then formed and fixed using sellotape and then the acetate was creased at the top to make it more like the actual Olympic Torch.

In both cases I used pieces of net/chiffon to make the flame for the Olympic Torch (the Torch on the right could do with a little more flame!).  However if necessary Sainsburys carrier bags are the right colour!!

Make your own interpretation of the Olympic Torch using Gold Sequin Waste - click this link to take you directly to my webside:  5 metres Gold Sequin Waste

Don't forget to let me know which Olympic Torch you prefer.

Friendly Plastic & Sequin Waste

SEQUIN WASTE WITH FRIENDLY PLASTIC

Having been out of stock of some colours of Sequin Waste for some time I have changed suppliers.  They are now back in stock with new colours available - such as Holographic Black and a lovely Metallic Purple.

Follow the link above to see the new colours - priced from 60p per metre (just click on the product heading on the website to see the quantity discounts.

When used with Friendly Plastic lovely effects can be achieved for either card-marking or jewellery.  Very easy to achieve - just warm the Friendly Plastic, then lay a piece of sequin waste on the top.  Push in a metal cutter (this acts as a template) and the lift them and push from underneath so that the plastic goes through the holes of the sequin waste.  It will also 'dome' the piece at the same time.  It is best to work on tin foil as this is flexible enough to give way when you push up - it also helps to protect the thumbs!!!  Just one last thing - leave the cutter in until it has gone completely cold.  You can then safely remove the cutter.  You will need to trim around with scissors as the cutter will not cut through the sequin waste.  Have fun!!

Friendly Plastic Art Deco Brooch

When I was at Brighton the other week-end I saw that I had quite a few triangular scraps in my box and decided it was time I did something with them.  I thought a brooch would be a nice idea, which you can see below.

Having made it I used what I believe to be the most secure way to add the brooch back.  I softened a scrap piece of Friendly Plastic and pushed the brooch fastening well into it, and then left it to go totally cold.  When cold I just flashed the back of the brooch and the back of the piece with the fitting on, with the heat gun.  You will see the black go glossy and that is sufficient.  Then just put the back of the brooch to the back of the fitting and job done - the Friendly Plastic will fuse together making a permanent bond.  Have a look through your scrap box and see what you can make from your waste.

3D Dimensional Medium for Mixed Media

I have only recently taken on, and been working with this product and I love it.  It is a 3 Dimensional Medium which when heated with the heat gun expands to produce brilliant 3D texture.  The sample photos show it 'splodged' at random onto Lutradur and then heated to cause the 3D and also distress the Lutradur.  I have then heated some Friendly Plastic and pushed the Lutradur into it - and it gives the impression that the Friendly Plastic has 'splashed' onto the surface (the Burnt Orange at the top left and the Deep Red at the bottom right of the top photo).

I coloured the piece after I had heated the 3D Medium on the Lutradur, using Shimmer Sprays (which I will be taking into stock in due course).  I then highlighted the 3D Medium with the Multi Surface Paints.  By the way if you want to build up very thick layers it is a good idea to build up several thin layers - heating between each layer.  It can also be stitched 24 hours after curing and also hand washed.  (Instructions are on the side of the pot)

I am currently working with the 3D Medium directly onto a canvas (the box canvas type).  When it is finished I will post the photo for you to see (but I cannot say how long that will be!!!)  And, by the way, it is not just restricted to fabrics/canvas it also works well on paper and card, and through stencils if you want a regular image.

Friendly Plastic with Cloud Clay

I made this Ball Pendant recently (during the last run of exhibitions) and the same practice would work equally well for beads.  The centre of the pendant is Cloud Clay which I have then painted with the Multi-Surface Paints.  Cloud Clay works particularly well for the centres of beads/pendants because even when it has hardened over 24 hours it is still very easy to push a hole through it.  I then heated some small strips of Friendly Plastic onto the ball and as it softened it took the shape of the ball.  Finally I added a few strips of peel-offs to add a little sparkle!  The ball was completed by adding an bead end cap top and bottom to push the pin though and make the hanging loop.  I have just realised that these would make very striking and economical Christmas Tree Decorations - I think I will now make some more to hang around the fascia of my Exhibitions Stand!

Friendly Plastic on MDF

As you can no doubt tell I have a weekend off this week, so its time to do some more blog posts.  Here is a new idea for Friendly Plastic - there seems to be no end for its different and varied uses.

The three photos above are made using the MDF Blanks which have been painted with Multi-Surface Paints, Friendly Plastic and Stella Flash.The MDF was painted first. 

 On the Tub the Friendly Plastic was added to the edge of the tub and the 'snakes-skin' effect comes from ribbon (coloured with the silver paint) laid onto the warm plastic and finished at the front with the Friendly Plastic flowers. The rippled shiny finish on the front is Glossy Accents.

The letters were done the same way by painting and adding Friendly Plastic, in this case rubber stamped to add texture.  The Friendly Plastic was also painted to co-ordinate with the background and in the case of 'Dream' Friendly Plastic Butterflies were added using the Butterfly Cutters.

Unfortunately the photos do not show the 'sparkle' very well - this was where we used the Stella Flash.

Hope you like them.

Friendly Plastic Pendant

I hope you like this pendant which I made at Sandown Park this weekend.  I have mounted it into a blank base.  (I do have a very small supply of these if anybody is interested - I have a trial order and if you like them I will order more).  I worked on the White Friendly Plastic and heated on small scrap pieces.  I then softened down the white (it looked too bright against the antique finish of the base) by brushing over the gold multi -surface paint.  It was then finished with Glossy Accents to glaze.

Friendly Plastic with Cloud Clay

This pendant has been made by combining Friendly Plastic with Cloud Clay and finishing with Colourful Thoughts Multi Surface Paints.  Cloud Clay has the advantage that it is air drying - no kilns or ovens required! 

Cloud Clay can be modelled by hand, rubber stamped and is ideal for using in molds.  Create your desired shape, or texture and just leave to air dry for 24 hours and it hardens and retains its shape/pattern.  Do remember however to keep your Cloud Clay in an airtight container (I wrap mine in cling film first)!
The textured face of the pendant is Cloud Clay which has been rubberstamped.  it was then flashed over with the multi surface paint, and heated with the heat gun to seal and blend the paint.  As an aside the Multi-Surface Paints are exactly what they say - multi surface.  The work on fabric (and heating the paint makes it washable), brilliant on Friendly Plastic & FP Pellets, Paper & card etc.
The reverse of the pendant is Friendly Plastic, which was heated on the reverse - the cloud clay then fuses to the Friendly plastic.  (The silver bail is trapped between the Friendly Plastic and the Cloud Clay).

Friendly Plastic Reverse of the Pendant

Cuff Bracelet in Friendly Plastic

Whilst I was in Manchester Christel was working on another Jewellery piece.  This is a cuff bracelet she has made using 2 strips of African Violet.  She joined the 2 together and used a rubber stamp at random to achieve texture.  She wrapped it around a bottle (of the correct size) on the Teflon Sheet whilst it was still warm and did not remove it until it was totally cold.  Christel then used the Copper Multi-Surface Paint, allowing the paint to fill the indentations made by the rubber stamp, but then rubbing it off the surface before it dried so it did not remain on the unstamped African Violet.  I wonder if she will notice if I pinch it off her!

Event City Manchester

It was a little worrying that the exhibition was moving from G-Mex to Event City at Trafford Park, as it had been established at G-Mex for many years.  However what a good move it was.  Event City was a very spacious venue, with loads of seating room, and NO parking charges for exhibitors or public.  I met a lot of new people who were visiting an exhibition for the first time, as well as many existing customers.  Thanks to you all for supporting this new venue. 

One of my best friends at the exhibitions, Alison, did her first show with Zentangle.  Alison has been at the exhibitions  before and most recently has been seen helping me at Exeter, Dublin & Harrogate.  She is now introducing Zentangle to the UK at the exhibitions and can be seen at Exeter, Alexandra Palace, NEC, Glasgow & Harrogate.  As she has worked with Friendly Plastic when she has been helping me she has used Friendly Plastic as a base for Zentangle, as well as producing many other ideas.  Here are the images of a display she produced for my stand,  it could quite easily be framed as a piece of wall-art in its own right, or used for jewellery ideas.  If anybody needs any details of Alison and where to contact her I can pass on her details (she has a big range of books and the special pens).

                      

More cubes in Friendly Plastic

2 more cube ideas with Friendly Plastic.  Both of these have been made with the Friendly Plastic Pellets.  On the one on the left we have used the Karantha Silicone mould and then coloured with the Multi-surface Paint.  The one on the right has been made to size using the metal cutters.  The texture comes from pushing in plastic canvas and leaving it in and the again using the Multi Surface Paints.  If you need to know how to make cubes go to the Video Label (bottom right), click on it and view the video titled Fusing & Layering Friendly Plastic.  These are some of the new items which will be on display at the exhibitions in the Autumn.
By the way I have now added 5 more colours of Multi-Surface Paints because I have had such a good reaction to them.   The new colours are: White, Russet Red, Emerald Green, Royal Purple and Mid Blue.

Friendly Plastic Pellets

The good news is that there is a price reduction on the Friendly Plastic Pellets - together with new sized packets - 50gms, 100 gms and 200 gms.  This is effective immediately.  Friendly Plastic Pellets are brilliant for moulding with (see the previous post with the bowl) and because you colour them yourself  you are not restricted to set colours, and can mix the colours as you want.

This piece is about 2" in size and the pellets were heated (you can do them easily in hot water).  They were then rolled flat between 2 Teflon sheets and rubberstamped.  When cold they were painted with Colourful Thoughts Multi-Surface Paints using Peacock and Copper.  These paints can also be used on scrap plastic and on the black backing of the strips.  They are quite dense in colour and have a very good coverage.

These pieces are coloured using Alcohol Inks.  You can add the ink to the warm plastic and mix it in and you almost get a matt stone effect.  If you colour the Pellets when they go cold (this is the more popular method) you get more of a gleam with the colour.

This piece is part of a card embellishment, actually done some time ago.  Again it is made of pellets, rubber stamped and coloured with the Alcohol Inks.   When it had been coloured it was then reheated and foil laid lightly on the top, allowed to cool, and then removed.  This just adds a bit of 'glitz' and is a nice technique for jewellery pieces.

Bowl made with Friendly Plastic Pellets

Whilst this bowl was made a couple of weeks ago we have only just had chance to colour it!  It is approx 6" in diameter and as a guideline used about 100 gms of Friendly Plastic Pellets - though we did make it quite thick and the pellets could be rolled thinner.

The pellets were melted in hot water and rolled flat on the Teflon (with a teflon sheet over the top).  We deliberately left the ones around the top of the bowl only partly heated to give a 'bobbled' effect.  The piece was pressed into a large cereal bowl and then rubber stamped to give the texture.  When it was cold it was then coloured with Multi Surface Paints in 2 colours - Peacock and Copper.

Hope you like it!!

Butterfly Mask

Last week I promised to let you know how we had created the mask which I put onto the blog.  So here is what we used.

Firstly we gathered together some of Friendly Plastic Scraps and heated them all on the Teflon Sheet and then rolled them flat.  Do not worry about the colours, or if  black is showing through as the paints will totally cover the Friendly Plastic.

We painted the mask with Colourful Thoughts Multi-Surface Paint (Copper).  The paint goes straight onto the mask - unlike when using the Alcohol Inks when the mask has to be primed first.

We then heated some of the scrap plastic onto the mask and used a rubber stamp to create the relief in the Friendly Plastic.

Lastly the mask was finished by painting over the Friendly Plastic with the paint using both Copper and Peacock.  The Butterflies were added (these had been made using the Butterfly Cutters (set of 3).

(I will be adding the paints to the web-site today/tomorrow).

Who would think this was from waste Friendly Plastic?

No3 Patchwork with Friendly Plastic

In this video you can learn how to make patchwork in Friendly Plastic.  This is a very good technique for making jewellery pieces.  The photos show examples from the video.

Butterfly Mask

This is a new mask which we have done for Doncaster this weekend - using some new products which are not yet on the web-site.  We have used some scrap Friendly Plastic (all those little tiny bits).  Full details will be revealed next week.

Charlotte & Friendly Plastic

On Saturday we had a visit at the shop from my Stepson with his daughter, Charlotte.  Quite often when she comes to the shop I am at an exhibition or my Friendly Plastic is boxed ready for a show.  So, she has never seen Friendly Plastic before.  She had a look on the computer at the videos we have just done as was obviously interested. 

            

I asked her if she wanted a go and there was no hesitation.   Having only seen the video she firstly used the marbling comb and we made that into a pendant.  She had her eyes on one of the abstracts and wanted to try that.  Here is her abstract (she then persuaded her Grandad to frame it!).  We all think it is brilliant for only a 2nd attempt (she did all the layout herself).  But, we do have a dispute on which way to hang it so I have shown it both ways up.  After that came a brooch and then another pendant!  Needless to say she went away with an early birthday present!

Friendly Plastic Images from No 2 Video

 Here are some of the images from the No 2 Video (Fusing and Layering Friendly Plastic)

                             

Adding sparkle to Friendly Plastic

This lunchtime, after doing the regular post run, I was coming back through our Indoor Market and spotted the sparkly nail varnish used in Nail Art.  I thought of Friendly Plastic.  So I bought some and experimented.  First of all I covered the back of a ready made pendant - shown on the left.  It really is a nice easy way to make the backs of jewellery prettier. 

Of course it did not stop there, as things never do.  So I started looking at some of the simple jewellery pieces which we sell in our shop and experimented with the Nail Varnish on the front of the Friendly Plastic.  Again it has just added that little bit of glitz.

On the left Friendly Plastic
rubberstamped and the Glitter
Nail Varnish just added to the
stamped area.

On the right Friendly Plastic
pellets, rubber stamped &
highlighted with the nail varnish. The heavier copper metallic is done using foils (face down) onto the warm Friendly Plastic.  (The pellets were coloured with Alcohol Inks)

Lastly a brooch, just highlighted with the varnish.

Just one word of warning - do a test piece first - I have noticed in the past that some cheap clear nail varnishes have removed the metallic foil from the Friendly Plastic.  The better quality ones have been fine.  I did not have that problem with this glitter nail varnish and it only cost me £1.99.

Friendly Plastic Masks

Friendly Plastic can be used to make stunning masks, as you probably know.  I usually work on the white papier mache mask bases (when I can get them) which tend to be a nicer surface than the brown type.  I do have the 2 eye hole masks available on the web-site (£5.50 each).  There are many different ways of making the masks.  Below are photos of  full face masks and an eye mask - which have been totally covered in Friendly Plastic.  Some of you will seen the orange full face mask at the exhibitions.

You can see from these 2 masks some of the different items which can be easily incorporated.  From feathers and mirror mosaics on the full size masks to plastic coated wire swirls on the small mask.  On the mask below I have added beads by wiring them onto the lacey crown, and Friendly Plastic has been wrapped around the 'tails' hanging from the mask.  You can acutally heat the Friendly Plastic directly onto the mask, and it will fuse to the mask, and you can just continue building up the Friendly Plastic until it is completed.   You can of course reheat the mask at the end to add any embellishments, or to create patterning with a needle tool or rubber stamp.  The 'crown' pieces on the purple mask below were created away from the mask, I then dipped the edge in hot water to fix them to the mask.  Another alternative is to cover the mask with tin foil (a good quality one) - make sure it covers the mask well and is well pressed down.   When the mask is cold it can be lifted off with the foil and the base reused (and the foil pulled away from the Friendly Plastic mask).  Please be patient and do not remove it until it is totally cold!!

By the way the blank mask which I used for this one includes the back 'halo' - which is shown totally covered in purple.  Whilst I do not have this on my web-site I do have 2 or 3 available, so contact me if you would like one.  They are not on the web-site because of the size of the box I have to use!  You can of course always pre-order and collect at an exhibition.

As I said before the masks above are totally covered with Friendly Plastic, but there is another alternative to decorating the mask bases with Friendly Plastic, which is more economical in its use of Friendly Plastic.
These are the examples:

All the masks were worked directly onto the mask bases.  Because I was going to use Alcohol Inks I had to prime the bases firstly, using 2 coats of watered down PVA.  Allowing the first coat to dry before the 2nd was applied, and then allowing it to dry out completely.  For the Friendly Plastic part on the top and bottom mask you can use either Friendly Plastic pellets or 'waste' Friendly Plastic.  The Friendly Plastic was heated on the Teflon Sheet and then a 2nd Teflon Sheet laid on top and then rolled flat.  It was then heated onto the mask and rubbed stamped to create the texture (put the rubber stamp into a clear ink pad first).  Finally the masks were finished with a mixture of Alcohol Inks (including Metallic) over the mask base and the Friendly Plastic.  The ties were done by plaiting metallic threads.
The middle mask is slightly different in that the mask was covered with Alcohol Inks and the flowers were added last (these were made from the pre-coloured Friendly Plastic Strips).  And of course the beaded lengths were added by making tiny holes in the mask.
Hope you enjoy this post.