More New Stuff

Adirondack Alcohol Inks (Brights and originals) are here; fabulous vibrant permanent colours that can be applied to the surface of your Friendly Plastic, or used to colour Friendly Plastic Pellets.  In fact you can use them with any non porous surface.  A tiny amount goes a long, long way.  Apply the colour any way you like – with a brush, drop it on, or use the purpose designed applicator tool to pat it on for interesting mixes.  For the image above I simply dropped colour on and used a straw to blow the colour about.  The circles are created by dropping one colour into another.  If you use the Blending Solution as well, you can dilute the colours and achieve wonderful subtle effects.  I use Isopropyl alcohol (available from the chemist)  as well sometimes, to push the colour away.

I have got in stock lots of colours all available singly, including the Mixatives (Gold, Silver, Copper, Pearl) which are great for adding a metallic sparkle to the inks.

 

All of these samples were created on Silver FP using alcohol inks.  This one made use of a straw to create abstract effects.  Great fun, but sometimes a little unpredictable, especially when you run out of puff in all the heat we are having here in the UK at the moment.

I messed about with a Clay Shaper tool to create the lines in the background, and the dots are made using a Sakura Souffle pen.

As yet I have not done anything with these samples because I have been too busy with other things, but I will get there.  In fact  I have a whole heap of things I want to tell you about, but they will have to wait until after the weekend.

 The new stuff does not end with the Alcohol Inks, I have Laser Meshtoo.  Incredible value for money packs of what we have always called Sequin Waste or Punchinella.  They are only £1.95 for an assorted pack of different shapes and sizes of holes (where the sequins have been punched out) and they come in lovely co-ordinated packs.

 

If you check out the website you will find more stuff that is new including colour co-ordinated tags, buttons and cords.  All sorts of stuff for working with and embellishing your Friendly Plastic.

I am off to teach Filigree Forms this weekend at Horncastle College for the East Yorkshire Embroidery Society’s Summer School, so I won’t dilly and dally chatting further now.  I will try and post next week to let you know how it all went and what wonderful stuff they all created (and they all will create wonderful stuff, I have my whip ready!)

NEW STUFF

E6000 is finally here all the way from the USA.   I am talking about glue;  in my opinion the very best glue to use with Friendly Plastic as it is very Strong but always stays flexible and makes an enduring and hard wearing bond for earring backs, brooch pins and generally any application where a strong bond is essential.  

I have managed to get some of this very strong E6000 glue in stock along with a few other things that might be of  interest to you.  Check out the website  .  

If you are a regular follower of this blog, or have been reading The Art Of Friendly Plastic blog, you will be aware of how useful Alcohol inks are for colouring the front of your sticks of FP, and for colouring up FP pellets.  It has taken me a while, but I now have a selected range of Adirondack Alcohol Inks in stock in individual colours rather than the packs of 3 so you can choose exactly the colours you like.

Just a little sample of some of the colours blended with the Mixatives (gold, silver, copper and pearl).  A TINY amount goes a very long way.

As you can see, I currently have a limited range, but I should soon be getting some of the Brights range to add to this.  

Alcohol inks can be used on any non porous surface to create fabulous effects.  I use it to colour the surface of my paler sticks of FP.

The FP sticks above have been coloured with alcohol inks and permanent ink pads.  The image below is of a pendant that was made using FP Pellets, Polished Pigment Powders and Alcohol Inks.

Jana Ewy  in the US does some wonderful things with alcohol inks, check out her web site to see a wild world of vibrant colours.  The cards below are some she made using a spreading technique that involves dropping tiny amounts of isopropol alcohol into the applied inks.If you want to see some of the amazing things that can be done with alcohol inks then take a peek at some of the many Youtube videos  featuring Tim Holtz amongst others.  It should convince you that alcohol inks are a necessary part of your art and craft kit.

I have some more interesting new products for you to check out, but they will have to wait until the next post.

Tecstiliau Meirionnydd Textiles

Eventually I am getting around to telling you about the second half of my Welsh Expedition, and I apologise now for having taken so long to do it.  Life has been a tad busy.

Having spent a wonderful day with the Mid Wales Embroiderers making masks, everyone helped me pack up and pointed me in the right direction for a fabulous journey through deepest (and wettest) Wales to Dolgeliau.  About half  way,  I suddenly had a moment of dejavu:  I drove past a farm track that seemed incredibly familiar, and I had a flash back to when I was about 10 and had spent 2 weeks camping with an organisation called Forest School Camps at a farm in Mid Wales.  There were about 60 kids aged between 6 and 16 all camping under canvas and cooking on wood fires, learning woodcraft skills, singing songs, getting filthy and very wet, and generally having a glorious time.  As I drove a bit further on I knew beyond doubt that I would find a little general store-cum-sweetie shop on the corner,  and a footpath leading up the valley to the farm.  And there it was.  The whole episode brought so many memories flooding back to me, and I could almost see the gaggle of kids wending their way along the valley to the shop.  Nostalgia is a wonderful thing.

Anyway, I arrived safely in Dolgelliau at a lovely little house overlooking the valley.  My hosts were Joan and Chris Robson who made me feel most welcome despite the fact that they had very recently moved in to their new home.  The views from the bedroom window across the valley were superb.  It amazed me that the mountains on the other side were illuminated with the full glare of the sun one minute and then completely obscured by clouds the next, as they surged in from the sea,  scouring the hillsides and blanketing them in foggy grey.

Saturday morning I was due to give a talk (”From Here To There And Back Again”) to Tecstiliau Meirioonydd Textiles and the rain was kind enough to hold off whilst we unpacked my groaningly full car.  Perhaps it was the fact that it was a Saturday morning but no one appeared to go to sleep, and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and be amazed by what you can do with “plastic”, so this boded well for the workshop the next day.

After taking one member home to Corris, and a quick visit to a craft centre (where we found some Sheep Poo Paper!), Joan kindly took me for a drive out to Barmouth and the journey was a real treat.  The scenery spectacular and we were lucky enough to witness a wonderful rainbow sitting really low over the estuary (the rain had stopped long enough to leap out of the car and take a photo or two).

In Barmouth itself there was a drum band playing.  They looked wonderfully colourful and really happy and “in the moment” as they say.  The band was made up of all sorts of people, young and old, but they all seemed to love what they were doing and they injected energy and colour to an otherwise slightly damp and  grey Barmouth.  The rhythm and noise was energising.

Joan and Chris fed and watered me well that night and Sunday arrived all too soon.  Joan had shown me some of her lovely textile work, and proved herself to be completely organised, and meticulously thorough in her recording, detailing and labelling.  I am envious of people who can do that – it is most definitely not my strength!

Sunday was a Bend It Shape It day and I have to say that all you lovely Welsh ladies (if not by birth then by geography) tackled all that I threw at you with a will, and you didn’t flinch when I threw some more techniques at you.  It was a Sunday, it was wet and you all put your hearts in to discovering the pleasures of working with Friendly Plastic and what it can do for your textile work.

Everyone embraced so many techniques.  This is just one person’s work for the day.

Almost everyone tried all the techniques, and some had a natural leaning towards Oooze,  whilst others found Lacework to be their thing.  Patchwork seemed to appeal to most of you lovely ladies.

Patchwork and bead making were the favourite techniques here, although she  (I am sorry, I can’t remeber whose work it was) obviously had fun trying out everything that we covered.  I don’t allow any slacking in my classes!

Discussing what everyone did and how they did it is all part and parcel of the class; I believe that students usually learn as much from each other as they do from the tutor. 

I know I had a thoroughly good time with the ladies of this lovely group, and I hope you enjoyed yourselves too.  I look forward to hearing and seeing what you all do with your workshop samples and whether you go on to use Friendly Plastic in any of your creative projects.  When I say “any”, I know that you all do so many different things, it is quite possible that Friendly Plastic will turn up somewhere in all the activities.

A wholehearted thank you to  you lovely ladies in Wales for welcoming me and making my trip to your glorious part of the world so much fun.

Video Post

Ok, I fibbed.  I am not going to tell  you about the second part of my visit to Wales, I am going to give you a quick slide video lesson on how to make an Ooozey Pendant.  Wales will have to wait until the next post – sorry.

Welsh Expedition

I am sure it was wet everywhere in the UK last weekend, but it seemed doubly so in Wales.  Despite the rain obscuring the view, I found myself driving slower and slower just so I could admire the scenery – it was glorious, in fact it was breathtakingly beautiful in places, and just stunning everywhere else.  Obviously I was overcome by the beauty of the scenery because I could not hold my camera level as you can see from the photo below.  (Barmouth Bridge).  It was very windy, and the sun shone just long enough to get out of the car and take this photo.

So why was I in Wales?  I had been invited back by the Mid Wales Embroiderers to teach them how to make masks. I had been to Llanidloes last year to present my work to them and introduce Friendly Plastic to them in the form of a Bend It Shape It workshop,  and the gluttons for punishment asked me back again!  It seemed to make sense to make the most of the opportunity and combine a visit to Tecstiliau Meirionnydd Textiles Group as well.  TMT wanted a talk and a workshop, so it was a full on few days.  Everyone was so very friendly and welcoming that the trip was great fun and not in the least onerous.  I will give you the low down on the group on Dolgellau in my next post.

You can see from the photos below that the Mid Wales Embroiderers worked really hard and produced some cracking masks that simply needed finishing off with a few stitches and a fabric trim.

These masks have been worked in Lacework, laminated to fabric and then moulded to the head former.  

The image above shows a mask in the making in the background (Pat Gibson did such a brilliant job of looking after me that she did not get quite as far as the others during the workshop – thank you Pat), and one that has been  laminated to fabric in the foreground.  Not much Friendly Plastic needs to be used to create stunning effects.  The excess fabric can be cut off, sliced off with a soldering iron, or frayed depending on the effects that are wanted.  The eye sockets are yet to be clearly outlined and have their fabric removed.

This lovely mask (slightly out of focus I am afraid) cleverly makes use of sequin trim to outline the eyes.  Really striking.

Chrissie, who made this mask really jumped in at the deep end and proved she could swim like an Olympic champion.  Chrissie had never worked with Friendly Plastic before and she did this class, creating a stunning mask ( you should see it in the flesh to appreciate it) and then she spent the next day listening to me yattering away  about my my creative journey weaving FP into my textile work as I gave my talk to Tecstiliau Meirionnydd Textiles group, and followed it up with a second workshop Bend It Shape It .  That is what I call dedication (or lunacy!)

This is another mask that needs final resolution of the eye sockets, but the colours jump out at you and combine so well with the synthetic sheer fabric that it is laminated to.

This fabulous mask cleverly combined wire within it to add a new dimension for embellishment and also a contrast in materials.  Plans were afoot to add beads and things hanging down.  The fabric to which it was laminated was a narrow chiffon scarf.

Masks in the making, I wish I could show you them all, but this post would go on for ages.  Every one of them  was a gem, and when they are finished off I really do hope all you lovely and talented ladies will send me photos so I can show everyone else your wonderful masks.

As Pat had been doing such a good job of hostessing, she had not quite got as far along with her mask, so I asked her to try on the head piece of my butterfly costume instead.  Pat is really tall and elegant and when she put it on, she towered over the rest of us so we had to get her to sit down so I could fit her in to the picture.

Thank you so much Mid Wales Embroiderers for another lovely day spent with talented and enthusiastic people who worked so hard to accomplish such beautiful masks.  A huge thank you to Pat and her husband Laurie who found space in their idyllic home for me,  so I did not have to travel down on the day of the class.  Pat, I am still green with envy over your fabulous studio space.

I will fill you in on the details of the second half of my Welsh Adventure in my next post.  I am still dreaming about the breathtaking scenery on my drive from Llanidloes to Dolgellau, and the warmth of my welcome there is still with me as I type this.

Gone

The Friendly Plastic Jewellery course at Tintern Abbey on 25th and 26th September is now full except for 1 place left on the Saturday only.  

I am sorry if you missed the opportunity or could not make those dates.  However, if you are interested in either putting your name down on a Reserve list for the course, or in registering your interest in another course that I might arrange, please  email  me on lizwelch@rarebird.ltd.uk and let me know the following:  

1) what part of the country you would like a course in

2) What sort of focus you would  like for the course (jewellery, textiles, card making, masks, bags, etc)

3) whether you might know of a good venue to run the course in.  

If you are more than 2 hours away from Nottingham, then it might make sense to make it a 2 day course, otherwise I am happy to do a single day.  

I am feeling a bit on the tired side today as I was fully occupied yesterday at Solihull Embroiderers Guild where I gave a talk and demo to the afternoon group and then repeated it all again in the evening for the all those who can’t make afternoon meetings.  In between the two I was royally entertained and wined and dined by Ann and Graham Smallburn:  Thank you both, for taking such good care of me and making me feel so welcome.  We were chatting so much that we were almost late for the evening meeting!

Solihull Branch of the Embroiderers Guild meet at Solihull Methodist Church Hall, Blossomfield Road, Solihull on the 1st Tue 2 – 4 or 7.30 – 9.30 pm.  They also have a Young Embroiderers Group too.  If you are interested in going along then contact them via the Embroiderers Guild contact page.  They are a friendly and lively bunch who made me feel most welcome.  I am sorry I have not got any photos for you but I forgot to take my camera.

Going, Going, But Not Quite Gone

This is a very quick post to let you know that there are now only 2 places left on the Tintern Abbey Course for Sunday 27th September and 3 for Saturday 26th September.  Please refer to the posting of April 20th for more information.

If anyone misses out, then perhaps something else could be arranged maybe at a different location.  If you are interested in a class but can’t get to Tintern then email me, and with your help we might be able to come up with a venue in your part of the world.

Taster

If you live around the Midlands and fancy a 2 hour taster session with me and a visit to a brand new craft shop, then come to  Gillian’s Crafts in Derby on 2nd June for a quick introduction to Friendly Plastic.  The class is called “First Impressions”.  Gill who owns the shop, is a lovely lady who has been in the craft industry for years and years, and she has brought her knowledge and skills to  Derby City Centre at 8 victoria Street DE1 1EQ (01332 332133). Gill has a great little classroom in which we will have fun discovering some simple things about Friendly Plastic such as how well it takes impressions, how easily it can be cut into beautiful shapes, how quickly it can be turned in to simple and sophisticated cards.  During the 2 hour session we should be able to make 3 or 4 cards and learn 3 or 4 techniques as well.  Although the simple projects are aimed at card makers, the techniques are suitable for those who want to make jewellery or motifs for textile work as well.

The little heart on the left is made using recycled scraps of FP and recoloured, nothing is wasted, every scrap of FP is re-used.  The texture is created using old lace.  The card on the right is made up of fragments of FP tht have been stamped and coloured using acrylic paints.

Sophisticated textured tiles make this a very quick and easy card to make, and the textured heart on the right is simply unique.  Angelina fibres and Oooze create this stunningly simple card.

The class costs £10 including refreshments and you will need to phone Gill on 1332 332133 or email her at gill@gillianscrafts.co.uk to book a place.  All materials and equipment will be provided and there will be no more than 10 in the class.  

This is a great way to make a start with FP, have some fun and discover a new craft shop all at once!

E.Y.E.S. Workshop

Last Saturday found me in East Yorkshire with a lovely bunch of ladies from the East Yorkshire Embroidery Society.  I had been to the group last year when I gave them my talk “From Here To There And Back Again” or how I weave my Friendly Plastic work into my textiles – the journey from where I began with FP and textiles to where I am now.  

The title of Saturday’s workshop was Bend It Shape It, just like my DVD of the same name, and we covered many of the techniques that are in the DVD.  However, everything we did had textiles in mind.  All our experiments and investigations came down to how we could use FP with textiles in a variety of ways.

As you can see from the photo above, they are a great crowd to be with, full of  laughter and fun and irrevererance, and they love to talk!  I would much rather have a lot of  talkative students who ask questions, challenge ideas and generally like to experiment for themselves, than a bunch of  silent people who don’t let me know that I am not teaching them the things they want to know.  This  lot are definitely of the former variety!

We had a great day.  It started  with a spot of furniture removal:  there was a class in the room next door that had pinched just about every table in the place and we had to beg, and steal tables back so that we hd enough to work on.  That job done, we set to, investigating some basic properties of Friendly Plastic and how to heat it, handle it, colour it, join it, roll it, cut it and stamp in to it.

We used hot water baths to soften the plastic for making impressions, and we used heat guns to try out a little bit of Oooze.

Everyone had a go at Lacework, some finding it more to their taste than others, but everyone was successful.  Piecework (my version of Seminole patchwork) seemed to go down well and a number of brooches were made and proudly worn.

 

The average number of pieces made per person in a class like this is somewhere between 10 and 15, so you can see that everyone goes home with lots of ideas and techniques under their belts.  Although not everyone brought all their pieces to the show and tell at the end of the class!  If I did not know any better, all these serious faces might worry me, but I am pretty confident that they all had a good time as I am going back to visit the E.Y.E.S group in July to run the class at their summer school.  Which reminds me, I must get cracking and sort out exactly what we are going to be doing and how we are going to do it, so I am off now to go and do just that.  

Thank you ladies of the E.Y.E.S. group, I had a lovely day with you all, and I hope you did too.

Fibre and Stitch

Do you find yourself with too many bits of paper and magazines to read and digest?  You then have to deicde whether to keep them and “file” them (I have a large number of File Piles), or put them straight in the recycling bin.  If you do keep them and eventually move them from the File Pile, you have to try and ram them in to an overstuffed box of similar magazines that in all likelyhood you will not look at again.   On-line magazines avoid all that hassle:  There is no physical paper to dispose of, there is no growing physical pile of stuff to sort out, and perhaps best of all, filing is really easy and extremely quick as you simply drop it in to a folder on your computer.  What is more, I can find the virtual magazine with ease; no more shifting stuff from one pile to the next in the vain hope that I will be able to find the relevant magazine any time soon.  I am the only one who puts things in the folder, and I do not shuffle the folder like a pack of cards when trying to find something, unlike the normal physical pile on my kitchen table which regularly gets shuffled, knocked, spilt, rebuilt and generally shifted about and mixed up by all members of the family.  So I am a fan of on line magazines (mind you I could not do with out all of my paper versions as I feel that my kitchen would not be my kitchen without a good pile of them on the table!).

The reason for this preamble is that I have just written an article for an on line magazine called Fibre and Stitch.  Issue No 8 is out now and it is full of articles that might be of interest, including of course, my own!  I have written about the very many ways that FP can be used, all the different techniques that I have explored, and there are loads of images to illustrate my point.  There are 14 articles in the magazine over 78 pages plus the normal things you find in a mag,  so despite the dollar/pound exchange rate, it is still not bad value.  If you have tried Workshop On The Web, then Fibre and Stitch is similar, although it is much more like a true magazine, and has more articles. The articles might also appeal to a wider audience of folk who just like to sew and craft.   Sue Bleiweiss is the editor and she has found some interesting people to write for her, not just the usual old faces.  In Issue 8 there are articles about making felt beads, paper making, crazy patchwork, profiles of artists, creating your own surfaces to stitch on to, making textile and wire sculptures for the garden, felting and hand stitching and more.