Friendly Plastic Class 16th April

Saturday turned into a really warm day in more ways than one.  The glorious weather had everyone peeling off layers of clothing and turning up the air conditioning as we all began to swelter in the sunshine pouring through the windows at the Husqvarna Studio in Nottingham.  Thank goodness it was a small class and we didn’t have too many hot water baths and heat guns going!  The warmth and friendliness from all of the group made for a really enjoyable day, and the staff at Husqvarna always give us a warm welcome with coffees and helpful assistance when it is needed.

Sam, Zoe, Frankie and Mary had travelled from various parts of the country supposedly to make a Little Book Of Secrets in Friendly Plastic and paper.  However, as they were all familiar with FP, it took only  moments to establish that we did not have to stick to making a book if we didn’t want to.  This meant that I could indulge myself by teaching them the things they wanted to know about, and of course this took us a long way off the notional course title.

Mary was the only one to actually finish a book, and she did so using wonderfully vibrant colours, no doubt reflecting the temperature in the room.

One side is made using the hot water Piecework method and stamping, and the other side is made using my Lacework technique adapted to look like knitting.

Here is Mary working away on her book cover.

 

Frankie took to the Lacework really quickly and created this lovely heart.

Here is irrepressible Frankie and her technicolour heat gun.

Among Frankies many talents is jewellery making, and not only was she wearing her own fabulous steampunk creations, but as soon as I had demonstrated the Tubeads, she got into making beads as well.   The one below is made by recycling all her scraps and colouring them with Metal Flake and Pigment Powders.  A quick application of varnish and the colours will sing.

Frankie was well on the way to making her book covers, but she got diverted into trying out all the other techniques I was showing.

Sam was also fascinated by the Tubeads, but her particular quest for knowledge was to get to grips with Peel Offs and Friendly Plastic.  Below is a bead she made  after watching me make a mess of my demo (I ended up with holes in my bead, but hers looked just great.  In fact Sam wore her bead as a necklace for the rest of the day.  The one below is another one she made using the same technique.  If you want to see Sam’s necklace then visit her blog.

Sam working away being very neat and tidy.  (You might just be able to see her Tubead around her neck)

Sam didn’t just stick to Tubeads and Peel Offs as you can see below. 

Mary enjoyed using Peel Offs too, this little holographic dragonfly settled into the warm Friendly Plastic and looked charming – it twinkled and sparkled in the sun.

Now Zoe was in to trying everything, and seemed to have a great time trying out all the techniques.  If it weren’t for the iron in the background this would be a great shot of her.

Zoe tried Lacework, Piecework, stamping, Peel Offs, Tubeads, embedding, spot welding, Pellets  and Oooze.  I think she went home with a headful of ideas, at least her blog suggests that she did!

Here is a close up of Zoe’s Ooozed diamond.  The fabric was tricky as it was stretchy, and this photo does not do it justice at all.

All in all, it was a most enjoyable day, and I hope everyone went away with plenty of ideas to follow their own Friendly Plastic stories.

Category : Classes, Workshops and Demos, Embedding FP, Husqvarna, Other Peoples work, Papercraft, Teaching and Talks
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