Try This For Size

A very quick post today. I know lots of people are interested in trying Friendly Plastic Pellets, but they are anxious about plunging in and spending a whole heap of money on something they are unsure about.  So how would you like to try out Friendly Plastic Pellets for just £2.50?  For a limited time I am offering 1oz sample packs sent free of P&P for just £2.50.   This is a brilliant deal, and it is not even on the web site.  You need to be a blog reader to get the deal! 

 Email me if you would like some:  enquiries@rarebird.ltd.uk   (NB the P&P free bit applies to the UK only I am afraid.  I am happy to send some to you wherever you are in the world outside the UK, but I will have to charge something for P&P, the exact amount depends on where you live and what the Post Office charges me)

A typical 7″ stick of Friendly Plastic weighs just over 1/4 oz and costs around £1.70.  You get 4 times the weight of plastic for £2.50 – not bad at all. 

You can colour your Pellets with Alcohol Inks, or Polished Pigments or Pearlex Powders, permanent ink pens and pads, metal flakes and foils and all sorts of other things.

These images have all appeared before on this blog, but I thought you might like to be reminded of what FP Pellets can do.

Softening and melting the Pellets can be done with hot water, a dry griddle or a heat gun (if you use the latter then make sure they are on a metal tray or something that stops them rolling all over the place with the blast of hot air.

 

The mould for this oriental piece was made using silicone moulding putty.

You could push it in to bezels (Amate jewellery bezels are great for this), or you could push it in to moulds (see below)

Not only is it wonderful for decorative purposes, but it is also useful for practical things as it can make quick (and recyclable) tools and handles for things (see Jen Lowe’s video)

I hope I have whetted your appetite.  If you like the pellets then I can offer them to you in 40z packets and can also get 28oz jars as well.  If you go for the 28oz jars  at £40, then I know you are hooked!

That Was Quick!

Well you did not have to wait long:  Following my last post showing you the two pendants made using an idea developed by Linda Peterson, where I said that you would have to wait for Linda to reveal exactly how we achieved the patterns; well, she has done a little video short on Friendly Plastic TV so go and check it out right now!  She calls the technique Glisten and Shine.

I have been itching to show you this stuff since October, but I really did  not want to jump Linda’s gun, it was her original idea, and I just played with it to develop the texture and a few other things besides.  Linda’s video demonstration gives me the excuse to show you some of the effects I have achieved using variations on her clever idea.

The basic idea is that you apply a fairly light coating of Genesis paints using your finger, blending colours as you go.  Then yo utake a stamp (foam, rubber, clear) and stamp into the paint to remove some colour and reveal the FP underneath.  Details can be added using a wooden cocktail stick or something similar.  If it does not work out like you want, then simply wipe the paint away and start again.  Nothing is permanent until you heat set it.  When the plastic is warm you can add texture – I do this using both ends of my embossing tool.

The image above is of a piece of Rainbow Friendly Plastic underneath the Genesis paints, and I used both ends of my embossing tool to give variety to the texture.  I love the contrast between the matt paint and the almost iridescent FP underneath

Foam stamps lift off the most paint.

Silver Spectra is the underlying colour here

I adore the way the colours worked out in this one.  I have not textured it yet.

A red rubber lettering stamp did the trick here.  The underlying FP colour was Burnt Orange

I added alcohol inks to this one as I really liked the way the surface puckered up and became all wrinkly (except for the colour, it looks a bit like the back of my hands without hand cream!).  This was heat set using the heat gun.

I have since added some extra gold to this stick of FP.  I used a mixture of stamps on this one, and I love it so much I don’t want to do anything with it just yet, except leave it on the side to look at.

This potential pendant was made from the brown strip (3rd image down), but with added colour in between the layers of Envirotex Lite.  Choose carefully what you want to cover with Envirotex as it does not always enhance the design, but this one is successful.  You may not think so from the image, but it does look good in real life!

Genesis paints are synthetic oil paints and are not in the least bit smelly when you heat them.  In the past I have tired using real oil paints and Markal Sticks, but heating those up gives off horrible smells and I have no idea whether they are toxic or not.  However Genesis paints are designed to be completely safe when heated, as that is the only way to make them dry out.

If you take the plunge and buy a few pots, do not have heart failure at the price, the paints last for ever, and a tiny bit goes a very long  way indeed.  You may want to share your purchase with a friend and decant some into another pot.  Because they require heat to set, you should be able to keep them fresh for years and years.

You do not have to use the griddle to heat set them, but it does give a very nice finish.  Why not try the oven on it’s lowest setting  instead.  The heat gun will also set the paints, but it tends to wrinkle the surface (see wrinkly image above).  Also take care to heat it for long enough with the heat gun, it is tempting to stop too soon.

What are you still reading this blog for? why are you not rushing out to buy some Genesis paints and try it out for yourself?!  Honestly, the pictures cannot really do the effects justice, they really are gorgeous. 

As a finale, here is a slightly out of focus image of a bead I made using some FP I had coloured in this way.  I hope to have more on this method of bead making in the not too distant future.

 

Bezels and Envirotex

Morning Everyone.  I know that when you read this it may not be morning for you, but for me, as I write this it is 5.30am.  Don’t ask me why, I just woke up with the brain buzzing so I got up and made a cup of tea, put the dog on the chair beside me for company and thought I might add a post to the blog.  If I pause as I do this, it is either to slurp some tea or cuddle the dog!

I meant to post about these two pieces of jewellery when I came back from Jen’s Starving Artists Playground in Colorado in October, but I completely forgot to do so.  But here for your edification are two pendants made using a clever technique that Linda Peterson and I have been working on using Genesis heat set paints.  The basic idea was Linda’s, but I have expanded on it and taken it in my own direction, but you will have to wait until she is happy to divulge all the ins and outs of exactly how to create patterns using Genesis, but I promise you, it will be worth the wait.

The first is in a Paisley pattern with added extras.  I used Floral Garden Pink Friendly Plastic as my base, and have coloured it with Genesis heat set paints which have then been stamped into.  I added layers of Envirotex with a bit of extra colouring between the layers. Below gives you a close up of the pattern.  The whole piece is about 3 X 5 cm

The next image is a close up of a similar sized pendant, but this time I started with a Mauve (Those good folk at Amaco are colour blind because it is pink, Mauve is on the way to purple, not a soft pink!) piece of Friendly Plastic, and added layers of colour, stamping and dotting between the layers of Envirotex.

Both pieces are mounted on my attempts at Linda Peterson’s pewter bezels which I made when at Jen’s in Colorado.  Linda has done a great little video on making these bezels which you can check out on either her blog or the Friendly Plastic blog.

I finished both mounts with a quick spray of clear varnish as I know from experience that the pewter sheet can leave black marks on your skin if you don’t.

One of the questions that I have been asked over and over, is can you use Clear Stamps with Friendly Plastic; well the answer is yes.  When I was in America I bought myself some as I did not previously possess any, with the aim of trying this out and not relying on hearsay.  The black scrolls on the pendant are stamped with clear stamps, and the Paisley pattern on the top  pendant is also a clear Stamp.  The trick is to keep them well oiled or lubricated and they work a treat.  To lubricate them I use either ink (if I want an  inked design), or oil (cooking oil or baby oil is fine), or silicone.  I had heard that some people found that FP ruined their clear stamps, but I have had no trouble whatsoever using my now growing collection of lovely designs.  I particularly like the clear stamps (mounted on acrylic blocks) because it is so easy to see where you are placing  your design/ texture.

Although I used Envirotex Lite on these two pendants (actually I think Linda kindly gave them their first coat  when we were in Colorado), you could just as easily use Magic Glos and it would be a whole heap quicker as it dries using a UV lamp in 5 minutes rather than waiting 12 hours between coats.

This is the starter pack for Envirotex Lite that I stock.  4 fl oz goes a VERY LONG WAY, so only mix up just a small bit at a time, and it is really easy to mix as you do this in equal parts, so the only measuring you need to do is mark a line on your mixing pot!  I include two free mixing pots to get you going. 

 

Magic Glos is extremely simple to use  as you apply it straight from the bottle, no mixing etc.  However you do need some UV light to make it cure, and if you live in not so sunny climes then the UV in sunlight is not going to do the trick for you and you will need a UV lamp. These are very easy to find under “Nail Lamps” on EBay – mine cost £5.

Having had the opportunity to experiment with the  Envirotex and Magic Glos and seen what the Envirotex Queen of Friendly Plastic Jana Ewy can do with it, I can see the benefits of a lovely thick layer of gloss coating on the right pieces of Friendly Plastic.  But in my book it is still not the be all and end all, as by nature I am  more of a matt kind of girl, or at least low gloss.  Many of my techniques such as Lacework and certain (but not all) types of Oooze don’t lend themselves to a gloss coating of Envirotex or Magic Glos, but in the right place, there is simply nothing like it.

FPUK TV

I am sure that my mind works on the “cup full” principle – you can fill it up to the brim, but if you pour any more in, then the cup overflows and you lose some of the contents.  Over the last couple of weeks I have been trying to get back into the swing of using my video editing software, and remembering some tricks about what to do when filming to make things easier in the edit stage.  Unfortunately I think I have overloaded my cup with so many new ideas to try out in Friendly Plastic and textiles that all the previous knowledge I had about making video shorts using our little camcorder and the editing software seems to have flowed over the rim of my chipped mug of a mind and dribbled down into a puddle at my feet!

Finally I am able to say that I have 3 new video shorts for you to check out.  Admittedly two of them were originally part of the same single video, but it proved too long so I chopped it in half.  I could not face filming it all again, as being in front of the camera is not my favourite location; give me a class full of students any day of  the week.

So for your amusement, delight, information, criticism and general merriment I now present 2 video shorts about heating methods for Friendly Plastic, and one on the foiling technique. 

I am producing these under the banner of FPUK  tv, because Linda Peterson already does a brilliant job with Friendly Plastic TV in the US, and I wanted a British take on things.  If I can manage to retain the knowledge gained over the last two weeks about editing, then I plan to make a series of video shorts on different techniques, some will be little projects, others just the technique.   However, if you want something more in depth then you need my DVDs.  Incidentally both of them are on special offer with kits at the moments, so check out the web site.  I have a Christmas Special on them both.

Thinking of new things, I now have Envirotex Lite as well as Magic Glos  in stock so now is your chance to try out some of the fabulous glossy coated effects that you can achieve with these products.

Both of these pieces have been made using a number of layers of either Envirotex Lite or Magic Glos, with additions of ink etc in between each layer.

Something else I am very excited about is some new transfer foils I have managed to acquire.  I have called them Foiling Fantasy and they are in the most wonderful colours and patterns. The foils come as 20cm strips in varying widths (between 2 and 4cm wide), and are perfect for colouring the reverse of your Friendly Plastic.  If you don’t know how to do this, then watch the FPUK tv video short above. 

This selection of 9 20cm strips is called Amber Aura, and includes 2 transparent foils .  That sounds a bit odd, but they are basically foils that are only partially coloured so that the background is visible through them.  The bottom left Gold Crackle is a clear foil with little bits of gold on it and when applied to the back of a black stick of FP looks like this.  Try it on white or some Friendly Plastic Pellets that you have coloured with alcohol inks for a different look.  The other transparent one is the lacy white one second from the right at the bottom.

I have called this one Blue Moves and again there are two transparent foils -  The silver chain top left is on black and the pink and blue dots and circles bottom right is on white FP.  This pack includes two holographic foils, blue and silver.  The foil in the centre is much wider than the others and is a wonderful crunkly swirl of blues and silver.

This pack of 9 foils is called Storm and contains not only some transparent foils (centre, and 2nd from the right top row), but also Gold Cobra (2nd from left bottom).  Some of you might remember this colour as being part of the Friendly Plastic range a few years ago, and I for one was most miffed when it was discontinued.  Brown seems to be a colour that FP lacks and this pack offers 2 very rich brown colour ways, plus a lovely coppery floral brown (2nd from the right bottom row). 

I have already had some fun with the foils, but as they have only just arrived I am itching to try them all out.

This will be a pendant when I finish it off.  I have used my Patchwork or Piecework technique to make this undulating piece, and introduced two of the foils from the new Foiling Fantasy packs.  This is the top side and below is the reverse.

As you can see, the pendant has colour on both sides, and is also complimentary, but different in design.  That is the nature of the technique, and it is always exciting to see how the reverse will turn out.

OK, I think I have made up for not posting for a couple of weeks by giving you loads to check out this time!

Rusty Old Balls

Just a short post today.  What do you think this lot is (and please don’t say a load of old junk!).  To help you, I will tell you that the drums of rope are about 3cm tall (just over an inch in old money). 

I haven’t got time to keep you in suspense today so I will explain:  I am working on my next project for a textile exhibition with Nolitex, and these objects will form part of the work.  They are not rusty old bits of metal but artfully disguised bits of Friendly Plastic (not the rope of course).  I say “artfully” but that is a conceit as in reality they were the results of my experiments with some patination and rusting fluids which I purchased when I was in America.  I do believe you can get the same stuff over here in the UK, the range is called Sophisticated Finishes by Triangle Crafts.

I used Friendly Plastic Pellets for some of the pieces, and lots of scraps that I recycled for others; the results were the same once I had coloured them and rusted them.  The rope drums are made over pipe lagging using some very rope-like cord (patination fluid treated as well).

I thought some of you out there might be interested in seeing something a little different on the FP front, it might just set you off on some train of thought you might like to share with the rest of us.  And you know of course, that if you do put a post on your blog about it, then Linda will capture it and tell the world via the Friendly Plastic Blog, so you will be instantly catapulted into Friendly Plastic Fame!!!

Spots Before The Eyes

I thought I would sneak in a quick post before I have to go and make some supper.  Firstly a big thank you to Linda Peterson and Jen Lowe who have both been blasting the internet on my behalf.  Linda has produced another of her wonderful little video shorts about basic stamping and texturing with FP, inspired by one of my DVDs Bend It Shape It; take a peek at the Friendly Plastic Blog to see Linda in action. 

Jen has a few copies of my DVD and my book Friendly Plastic For Starters.  She also has two DVDs we produced for Sarah Lawrence on Angelina Fibres ( called Simply Fused) and surface decoration (called appropriately enough The Decorated Surface).  If you want to see clips for the DVDs then do visit my web site where you can try before you buy.  Jen only has a small stock of the DVDs so be quick if  you want one and you live in the USA because sending them from here costs more than sending them to you from Jens.

Enough of the plugging, here is what I want to show you in the few minutes before I grab my glass of wine and get on with supper:

This was a spot of Oooze (Gold Swirl) through some halloween net with spiders web on it, embedded in another bit of Friendly Plastic, and covered with a layer of Envirotex.

Here is the same piece (on the left) plus another similar piece that has had an extra 2 layers of Envirotex added plus some decorative dots in between the layers.

 

This pendant and earring set (not finished yet) have 3 layers of Envirotex with added spots.  The base design is created using Peel Offs.  Taking photos this close up shows up all my imperfections!  The pendant is about  3cm (about an inch and 1/4) wide, and the brooch below is only 3.5cm wide.

If you remember this brooch from an earlier post where I got all excited about Magic Glos and showed you my first trial of the product; well this now has another 2 layers of Magic Glos on top (with added spots of course!)  I like the spots as they work well with the embedded Accent Beads and the Ooozed Friendly Plastic beneath it all.  Whilst Envirotex takes 12 hours to be touch dry, but 24 to cure completely, Magic Glos can be cured in 5 mins under a UV lamp.  It is more expensive, but it is much more convenient for small batches or one off pieces.

No doubt I have said this earlier, but I tend not to cover most of my work with Envirotex or Magic Glos because I work in three dimensions a lot, and I also don’t always need a gloss coating.  However, if you are worried about protecting your work from heat and age damage then either Envirotex or Magic Glos is the way to go. 

I hope to have Envirotex up on the web site some time this week, so keep an eye out.

If I don’t get off this computer soon, there will be rebellion in the household, I really do need to go and make some supper.

Going Vaguely Mouldy

I  have been sneaking in to the pit of extraordinary messiness that is my studio, and instead of tidying up I have been playing. What a surprise, I am very good at displacement activity!

As you will see below, I have been making moulds using the two part silicone moulding compounds that go by various names – Siligum, Easy Cast, Amazing Mould Putty to name just a few.  I even used the remains of the moulding compound that the Opro gum shield people sent when I was taking a mould of my son’s teeth for his sports gum shield!  It is the same stuff, and although the colour varies from make to make, I can’t really tell much difference between them all. 

All of these items have been taken from casts of buttons, beads, charms and odd things I have found.  There is very little difference between the speed at which the compounds cure – all the moulds for these cured within 5 minutes.  I had been scouring my boxes and drawers for buttons and odd bits to take a mould from, and I went to the market and bought a whole load of single buttons to try out (nothing cost me more than 50p)

This a close up of one of the pieces taken from a mould of a button.  I used Pewter Friendly Plastic and then coloured it with Adirondack Alcohol Inks.  This is about an inch (2.5cm) across so I was pleased with the level of detail the moulding compound picked up, after all, the original item was a cheap plastic button that cost about 30p in the market.

The button that this came from is REVOLTING – a totally naff mock pearl middle with plastic “metal work” around the edge.  I much prefer my version.  This was made using Friendly  Plastic Pellets which I  pushed in to the mould (after melting them in hot water).  The colouring all came afterwards with acrylic paint, Alcohol Inks and a metallic pen.  I did learn that I need to be more careful to get the blob of pellets smooth before I push it in to the mould, but I still like the damaged and aged look the cracks give.

These did not come from buttons, but objet d’art that I found around the place.  The nice thing about the silicone putty is that it does not damage anything that you put it on, and it comes away cleanly (in fact it is a great dust remover for all the nooks and crannies that the duster does not reach!).  Friendly Plastic Pellets were used again here, this time I coloured them before I moulded them, using metallic bronzing powders (real bits of metal, so masks are advisable).  They got a thin coat of copper paint and some patination solution afterwards as well, but it was really late when I did this and I think I should have  been more careful as I missed bits.

This lot is a mixture of mouldings taken from items of jewellery, old beads, and some fabulous knitted wire that my good friend Erica makes using her knitting machine (she makes wonderful jewellery using very thin coloured wire, and as she is a perfectionist, it is always absolutely beautiful)

Now this strange piece is only about 3 inches long and I moulded this around a lovely beaded necklace that my sister made me.  The original item is really lovely, but I wanted to explore the fabulous texture of the rope of diverse beads, and this is what I came up with, which is not lovely, but merely interesting.  Once again I used the Pellets and coloured them after moulding.

I really like this moulded piece as I love oriental influences, and I coloured the pellets after moulding using acrylic paints, alcohol inks and Rub n Buff to make it look a bit like Chinese lacquer work.

This is my very favourite piece, partly because I love the vase that it comes from (not mine unfortunately).  This moulding  measures about 3″ tall and again I used pellets, acrylic paint and alcohol inks plus Rub n Buff gradually building up the layers of colour.

As you can see, I have had fun avoiding tidying my studio and playing with mould making.  From my experiments, I don’t think there is much to choose between the different 2 part silicone moulding compounds, they all take a minute or two to mix together in your hands (just like mixing plasticine when you were a kid, but softer).  Once the two colours (usually white and another colour mixed together in equal parts so no measuring is necessary) are smoothly mixed with no streaks then all you do is push it around the item to be moulded and leave it for 5 minutes (more if the mould is deep or big).  I did discover that you do need to take care to have a big enough blob of compound to successfully mould deep things – one of my more pointy buttons nearly went through the bottom leaving a hole.  Another tip is to try to make sure the top is smoothly moulded around the item leaving a neat edge and not lop sided or you will find your mould less tidy to use leaving you with raggedy edges.

The moulds are flexible so you can manage a degree of undercutting, but take care not to enclose some element of your model completely or you wont get it out and your mould might be ruined.  Balls can be enclosed completely, you simply have to cut the mould in half once it has cured.  This could give you possibilities for making large hollow beads using a golf ball perhaps as the former.  I did this many years ago and it worked a treat.  If you are interested in getting your hands on some of this wonderful moulding compound then I might be able to source it for you, but I don’t want to keep it in stock if no one wants to buy it.  Half a pound of 2 part silicone moulding putty will cost around £18 to £20 I think, but it does go a long way, I made all these moulds (almost 30 of them) out of slightly less than half a pound of putty, which makes each mould average out at about 65 p a mould.  The compound keeps for a long time too, I have had some for a number of years and it worked absolutely fine.  Don’t forget that the moulds can be used again and again but they can’t be resoftened and remade into new moulds unfortunately.  So if you are interested then drop me an email at enquiries@rarebird.ltd.uk and I will get some in to stock for you.

If you do not want to go to all the bother of making your own moulds (I thought it was great fun and I am now looking at objects differently to see if I can take a mould from them), then go and check out the Krafty Lady Moulds.  There is a fabulous range of these, and if  you are in the UK then The Stamp Bug is the place to go and find them.  But do visit the Krafty Lady web site to get some ideas.

More Classes

OK, get your diaries out.  I have some Friendly Plastic classes coming up in November that might interest you:

First Impressions

10th November at Gillian’s Crafts, 8 Victoria Street, Derby. DE1 1EQ  01332 332133 .  Please book directly with Gill at the shop.   10.30am – 12.30  £9.99

This is an introductory class for those who want to know a little bit about how Friendly Plastic works for their specific craft.  We will primarily be creating textures using rubber stamps, fabrics and found objects.  These little sample pieces can be turned in to cards, jewellery or what ever you fancy.  If we have time and the inclination, we will look at a couple of other techniques to whet your appetite.

Bowled Over

10th November at Gillian’s Crafts, 8 Victoria Street, Derby. DE1 1EQ  01332 332133 .  Please book directly with Gill at the shop.  1.30pm – 3.30pm   £13.00

Extend your texturing skills into 3 dimensions.  We will make a lovely little bowl with colour and texture both inside and outside the dish using lace and textured fabrics to create the impressions.

I would normally have a picture to show you of this, but stupidly I bundled up the samples and sent them off to Gill not 10 minutes ago, having completely forgotten to take a photo!!!  How stupid is that?  I will have to see if Gill can take one and send it to me so I can upload it for you all to see. 

This class is absolutely fine for beginners and those with some experience alike.  It is a wonderful next step from “First Impressions” and the expertise acquired in the morning class.

Bend It Shape It (Any Way You Want It) 

21st November at Stitched Up and Fleeced (Sue Lancaster’s studio) 49 Nethergreen Road, Sheffield  S11 7EH
07879 424989  Email:   Stitchedupandfleeced@live.co.uk   10am – 4pm  £40  Please book directly with Sue.

The very best way to get to know Friendly Plastic.  We work through a whole host of techniques including my Lacework and Oooze techniques, plus Piecework, impressions, foiling, embedding, some beads, and generally anything everyone wants to know.  We use hot water and dry heat to achieve our aims, so you learn loads about the easiest ways to work with Friendly Plastic in your own environment.  You will make between 10 and 20 sample pieces to use as you wish in whatever creative medium you are currently working in.  Friendly Plastic is so versatile that it suits textile people, jewellery folk, paper artists, mixed media players, model makers, costume designers and many others that I have not even thought about.  One thing you will be sure of is that you will be going home with  a head stuffed full of ideas and a bag full of interesting and decorative samples.  If you are a regular reader of this blog you will have seen some of the things that people get up to on these Bend It Shape It days, so beat the grey November skies and forget abut all the things you need to do and come and discover a whole new world of creativity.

 

Rocky Mountain High

The title for this post is most appropriate as I am still on a creative high from my trip to the US and Colorado.  Unlike Jen Lowe and Linda Peterson, I did  not post whilst all the activity of the Starving Artists Playground was happening – I don’t know where they found the energy!  A 7 hour time difference (and therefore pronounced jet lag) added to a general lack of sleep and over excitedness  means that all blogging activity has had to wait until I have at least half a brain cell working coherently.  For those of you who are feeling a bit bamboozled and don’t know what the Starving Artists Playground is, then visit Jen’s blog or the Friendly Plastic Blog and you will see that it was an event dreamed up by Jen to bring together lots of creative people for  a weekend of ”playshops”.

Almost two weeks ago I flew to Indianapolis (Mid West) to visit my sister and do some serious craft shopping before flying on to  meet up with all the Friendly Plastic Gals in Colorado.  Boy did I do some shopping!  My suitcases were pretty darn full anyway as I  had to take loads of stuff out for the Playground, including large amounts (3kg) of Galaxy chocolate plus an Emergency Bar (I did not realise that there were so many different types of cleverly packaged bars of chocolate in Sainsuburys, and the one with “Emergency Bar” seemed too good to resist).  Once I had offloaded the chocolate then there would be plenty of room for all my shopping (Ha!). 

My sister had a surprise for me, she had organised a car to take me from her house to the airport; not just any car, but a stretch limo!

There was acres of space for all my suitcases full of shopping!  I felt like royalty and a complete pillock all at the same time – thank goodness for smoked glass windows.

On arrival in Denver, I was greeted by the craziest bunch of women wandering around with “Wanted” posters

This is Jen trolling around the airport searching for me.  Linda and Jana were similarly supplied with posters.  Jana had arrived from Las Vegas on an earlier flight and had been greeted with her very own Wanted Poster too.  Linda and Jen had pinched images from the web of Jana and I and added digital Friendly Plastic enhancements in the form of crowns!  Well, at  least it kept the crowds of onlookers happy wondering what these loony ladies were up to!

At Jen’s house the four of us spent a day and a half playing, getting to know each other, sharing ideas and generally having fun.  Jen had prepared so thoroughly that she was ready ahead of time for the influx of 24 ladies with creative intentions and loads and loads of food.  I have never been to a house so dedicated to creative play.  This is Jen’s play space upstairs, she also has a dedicated basement too.  Everywhere is full of her creations, and all her materials are soooo neatly organised.

Before everyone began arriving on Friday, the four of us went off for a spot of retail therapy and to collect some last minute supplies.  Here is Jana rummaging around in a fabulous little ribbon and button store in Niwot called The Berry Patch.  For those of you who are not from the US reading this, you might like to know that Jen’s house is north of Denver, not too far from Boulder in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.  Anyway, the ribbon store had HUGE amounts of ribbons and other stuff:

This is just a tiny weeny selection of what they had to offer – thin ribbons, fancy ribbons, textured ribbons, patterned ribbons, silk ribbons, ribbons with dangly bits, over-the-top-in-your-face-ribbons, discrete ribbons, bling ribbons, buttons  of every size, shape and texture, and some amazing jewellery, the like of which I have never seen before.

We visited 6 stores in very quick succession, including a fabulous hardware store that stocked EVERYTHING under the sun (I am hardly exaggerating at all, promise!), two art stores, Hobby Lobby (infinitely better than Hobbycraft in the UK), and finally the supermarket to buy essential food stuff etc for the weekend.  Jen had allocated a list of stuff to everyone so this was my chance to go and buy some things for fondue dipping and a ten tons of loo roll.

Whilst at the fabulous hardware store, Jana showed me what Silpat was – it is a mesh of silicone strands in a regular woven pattern encased in clear silicone rubber.  It is very flexible and has a tacky non slip surface, and I think that the product comes from France so we should be able to source it here in the UK.  I will have to get on to that one.  I had never seen it before, but now that I have, I understand how Jana gets her lovely Fracture And Fusion cuffs to mould so beautifully.

We also found a heap of other useful things that I shall add to some later posts, as I am sure you don’t just want to hear about our shopping trips!

Back at Jen’s we had a crisis – we needed a whole heap of “stones” for the wire wrapping and bashing playshop, so Linda, Jana and I got stuck in and made 10 stones each to wrap.  Jana used her scraps for Fracture and Fusion, I recycled some of Linda’s big box of scraps and added metal flakes and Pearlex Powders, whilst Linda made some lovely faux stones using Friendly Plastic pellets.

Linda kindly coated them all in Envirotex Lite ready for the Playshop to begin.

Friday night was Fondue Night, and there was an excess of cheese and chocolate fondues, so no one went hungry.

Everything began on Saturday morning 8.45 sharp.  Besides the Friendly Plastic Playshops that Linda, Jana, Jen and I ran, there were fabulous sessions on Silver Art Clay, Polymer Clay (extruding and focal beads), wire bashing and wrapping, ribbons, Faux opals, water colour  painting, clever little Nicho boxes and sooooo much more.  I got to take the Silver Art Clay with Sherry and Peg’s polymer clay Focal Beads amongst other things, and if there is any time in my creative day that I can spare, then I would love to play with either of these, 2 hours was not enough. 

This was my first attempt at Silver Art Clay, and I used my Salizah Arabesque Cutter to make the shape, which created a bail at the same time.  I could add a bead to the little dip in the top section of the pendant.  A little note to Sherry – thank you for being such a lovely, thorough and patient teacher, you were great.

Peg had thoughtfully made some wonderful canes and slices of Polymer Clay for us to use, and she taught us how to create this “Lentil” shaped bead.  She then showed us how to make some fabulous long rectangular beads whose name I cannot now remember, but mine turned out to have a zebra’s backside on it!

 

I think the hardest part of all this was making the canes and Peg had done that for us.  Thank you Peg, you make the most wonderful beads.

My playshops revolved around Oooze, Lacework, Lizzie Dolls (as Linda christened them), and a “Whatever Trevor” session when I showed people whatever they particularly wanted to know about.

I have to confess that I was totally useless at remembering to get my camera out, as it was hectic and we were all having so much fun, so I apologise for the distinct lack of photos, but here is Becky from Amaco and Sherry the fabulous Silver Clay artist having a go at Oooze.

Now Jen’s house is large by UK standards, but fitting 24 women in so that they all have some creative space is pretty impressive, and although Jen has a capacious basement, last year things spread out on to her deck because they had such lovely weather.  This year, there was snow – 2″ of it.  In the UK that grinds everything to a halt, but not so in Colorado – people travelled 2 or 3 hours through freezing icy conditions from Nebraska and the other side of the mountains to get here by 8.45am on Saturday – pretty impressive and dedicated I think.  The picture below is of Jen’s deck, I thought the image of her sun lounger covered in snow epitomised the sudden change in the weather perfectly.

Days full of creativity interspersed with some madcap initiatives by Jen (the Naughty Hat, and some incredibly embarrassing quizzes – fine if you are plastered, but way, way outside any Brit’s comfort zone!), plenty of food, and so much friendship and good humour.  What a fabulous time we all had, and I cannot thank Jen and her cohorts of helpers enough for making this such a wonderful “2nd, but not annual” event.  Everyone went home with heads full of ideas and possibilities, and new found friendships.  A truly super event.

Linda, Jana, Jen and I had an extra day together, which we spent it in Estes Park (Higher up in the Rockies) ”Elk Hunting” which Rose thought was a euphemism for more shopping, but we truly did go looking for Elk, which by the way are ENORMOUS, much bigger than I was expecting.  Linda was loony enough to get up close and personal to a huge bull elk.

Linda eventually got so close that she could have touched him, but she took an incredible photo that no one else had the guts to take except with their cameras set on max zoom.  They can be dangerous beasties when they feel like it, but he was just lazing about having a snooze.  His harem was feeling a bit skittish, I think they had been spooked by a dog.

Weirdly, there was more snow on the ground lower down the mountains in Boulder than there was in Estes Park, as you can see from the photo below.

 Jen thought I was mad because I was busy photographing bits of interesting bark on some railings  instead of mountains and more Elk.

I tried some salt water Taffy from the Taffy Shop that Jen used to go to as a child.  I can’t say that I liked it very much, but it was good to try it out, now at least I know what it is.

After a bit of window shopping and some more photos of interesting textures, colours and shapes, it was time for me to get to the airport and head home.  The whole Starving Artists Playground event was a huge success, and I thoroughly enjoyed being part of it all. I made new friends, got inspired, tried things I had never tried before, lost a lot of sleep, gained a huge amount of stuff (see the picture below of some of the goodies that headed my way, this was a gift bag given to all participants, not my shopping.  I don’t think there would be a picture big enough to hold all of my shopping!), ate too much fondue, tried Taffy, and discovered a whole enclave of beautiful creative people who I would love to meet up with again in the future.  Thank you one and all.

 

Tintern Abbey

What a lovely weekend I have just had.  Tintern Abbey near Chepstow in the Welsh borders was the venue for 2 days of Friendly Plastic creativity.  The weather was fantastic, the only time I have EVER been to Wales when it has not rained!  The Abbey glowed in the sunshine; nestling in a natural curve of the river with deeply wooded hills all around, it was a tranquil and inspirational surrounding in which to work.

10 delightful ladies arrived laden down with stuff to experiment with, plus cameras, sketch books and above all, enthusiasm.  Although the room was small, we still managed to squeeze everyone in, so we all got to know each other pretty quickly!  Adrienne Goodenough who is the Life Long Learning Manager for Cadw (Welsh version of English Heritage) organised everything, brought tea and coffee, lunches and way too much cake than was good for us.  Without Adrienne’s excellent organisation the weekend would not have happened, so I want to say a very big thank you to you Adrienne.

Louisa, Liz, Carolyn, Pauline, Adrienne, Annie, Shelagh, Wendy, Rose, Liz, and a space for Rachel who could only be with us on the Saturday.  On the table is a small selection of the creative endeavours of the group

We spent the first part of the morning wandering around the Abbey, taking in the atmosphere, admiring the stonework, sketching and recording ideas, shapes and textures that appealed.  Although for some, this was not their usual route in to their creative work, but everyone got something from the time spent looking, thinking and absorbing.

Back in our bijou room we got stuck in to learning techniques that could help to translate the textures and forms into Friendly Plastic.  Although the peg we hung the weekend on was jewellery, most people were looking to interpret their ideas in other ways!  Consequently we looked at a variety of ideas for developing the initial sampling of techniques – applying textured tiles to textiles, constructing book covers, incorporating in altered art projects, as well as jewellery.  The ability to take Friendly Plastic in almost any direction you choose is probably the most exciting aspect of the product.

We covered Impressions, Oooze, Lacework, foiling, colouring (alcohol inks and Pigment Powders, beads, Friendly Plastic Pellets, moulding, modelling, piecing, and goodness knows what else.)  It was an action packed weekend with everyone achieving a myriad of pieces to further wrk with.

In this example of work by Rose, filigree metal was used to Oooze through, and the textures and shapes are so reminiscent of some of the carvings and window shapes, as well as the lichen on the ancient stones.

 

These wonderful shapes created by Shelagh were inspired by the windows at Tintern, and are destined to be applied to fabric, stitched into and knocked back with sheer fabrics and paint (if I remember correctly)

Jewellery was on Louisa’s mind and she likes bold statement pieces and was taken with the idea of large cylinder beads wrapped with fabric.  She interpreted the pillars of the Abbey into mixed media and gave it a modern oriental twist.  The muted colours of the stonework are reflected in her choice of Flat Gold for the Friendly Plastic elements of the design.

 

Wendy was looking at textures and motifs at the Abbey, and interpreted them with stamps, lacework and Oooze.  I can’t remember where these were destined for Wendy, but I think you were planning on joining them together in some way.

Carolyn used a number of architectural stamps to create some lovely muted tiles that she plans to attach together with jump rings and then apply to fabric

Apologies, I can’t remember whose work this was, but it was lovely.  Various moulds from Krafty Lady were used as well as 3D Oooze to interpret the textures and carvings of the stonework, I think these were destined either for Altered Art and ATCs or jewellery, but as I can’t remember who made them all it is a bit presumptuous to assume anything!  (Rose has just told me that it is her work)

Liz (there were 3 Liz’s in the room) was also looking at textures and carvings (and the odd lizard!)  and she experimented with some Magic Glos as well.  It looked absolutely wonderful, but was not entirely in keeping with the soft, muted rough stonework of the Abbey.  However, it is a very good way of quickly sealing under a thick glossy coat your precious colours and textures of FP.  Liz planned to make a book cover with her tiles; Liz is in to books, she showed us a wonderful paper bag book that she had made – more inspiration for us all.

 One of the things I liked about Liz’s Ooozed piece (bottom second from the right, orange square), was that her experiments with Oooze had led her to “over Oooze” and the beaded effect blurred into one irregular area.  This was particularly appealing as it reminded me of carvings that were eroded and only partially visible.  Besides which she managed to use one of my least favourite colours of FP in such a way that I actually might consider buying some orange Mother of Pearl for the first time ever! 

If I carry on showing you everything that everyone made, then this post will become 6 miles long, and I have not got the time to do that today as I am trying to prepare for my trip to the States for Jen Lowes Starving Artists Playground (read Friendly Plastic and generally Creative Retreat) which is coming up shortly. So I will end this post by saying that although no one finished a particular piece of work, everyone became much more familiar with how to use Friendly Plastic and make it do what they want it to do.  Ultimately that was my aim for the course – to teach everyone some techniques appropriate to interpreting the inspirational surroundings of the Abbey so that they could master the material and begin to take it in their own direction;  make it truly work for them and their particular areas of interest.

I know I enjoyed every minute of the weekend (including some very idiosyncratic behaviour by my B&B hosts and their neighbours), but most of all I thoroughly enjoyed working with such a lively, entertaining, interesting and talented group of people.  I hope we can meet up again next year.