In this episode, learn how to use Friendly Plastic Pellets with molds to create unique mixed media and found object artwork.
The best challenge is to use what you already have and incorporate it into a piece of finished art! It's lots of fun and the possibilities are endless. Enjoy!
We'd love to hear your comments and feedback.
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
I'm excited to share the next in the series of videos. This technique is QUICK! and was a favorite at the recent Stitches show in Birminham England. Enjoy!!
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
In this episode of Friendly Plastic TV, Linda Peterson shows how to create image transfers on Friendly Plastic. This is a subject we have covered in the past, but now - it's even easier!! Find out how - NOW!
Have you tried this technique? What do you think? Let us know in the comments :)
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
In this episode, Linda Peterson shows you how to create a vintage ring with filagree findings and Friendly Plastic. They are fun - QUICK and Easy! Give them a try!
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
By now you've probably have a few favorite techniques with Friendly Plastic. Let's mix them up a bit and add fun fibers to give a vintage chic feel to this necklace
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
Amaco Friendly Plastic 40 Stick Assortment ~CelebrationIm currently busy in the studio creating what I call like to call a vintage grunge look in Friendly Plastic - which is this month's feature for FPTV...but until then, I thought you'd like this snippit from Liz Welch - my UK friend and fellow Friendly Plastic Addict. Not surprizingly her work is in print again....read her article:
I hope you enjoyed today’s Create and Craft with Friendly Plastic and The Little Book of Secrets Kit. More about that in another post, but I wanted to tell you that I am in print again! Check out this month’s issue of Make Jewellery Magazine, for the project. It is called Neon Lights and features an inlay technique using Friendly Plastic and Envirotex Lite. I have used really bright and up to the minute colours of Fuchsia Pink and the new Citron yellowy green. The technique is very simple and involves using small circular cutters and a needle tool to scratch in a design.
The set is made up of a pendant created in two halves and melded back to back, earrings that are reversible and a ring inset into a silver plated Amate bezel. Envirotex Lite coats all three elements of the set making them have a glass-like super glossy appearance great for whatever part of the world you live in because the Envirotex Lite protects the Friendly Plastic from any extremes of temperature. Mind you , the only extremes of temperature we have been having in the UK recently are more likely to freeze your Friendly Plastic: melting in the sunshine is not a likely option at the moment!
I have often been asked how to apply Envirotex Lite, and the answer is “with a bit of preparation and care”. Jana Ewy and Linda Peterson both use this 2 part resin and I can’t remember which one gave me th tip about using Blue Tak to support the work and lift it off the surface. Make sure that everything is absolutely level because Envirotex is a self leveling compound and if you are on a tilt, it will run off!
Mix equal quantities of the hardener and the resin very thoroughly together and leave to stand for a couple of minutes whilst some of the bubbles created in the mixing process have risen to the surface and popped. I use a cocktail stick to encourage the resin to the edges, taking care to avoid overflows. A gentle blow across the surface removes remaining bubbles. Then all you need to do is leave it to dry for 12 hours. After that you can trim off any dribbles with scissors, or add another layer if you want. The resin needs to dry for 24 hours before you can use the heat of a heat gun to stick the two coated element back to back.
If Envirotex Lite is too lengthy a process for you, then why not try MagicGlos which does the same job but cures in 10 minutes using a UV nail lamp.
Liz will be on Create and Craft TV on January 5th I believe ...but just to make sure follow her updates on her blog: http://www.rarelizzie.wordpress.com/
Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
Add a touch of whimsey to your parties with these adorable wine glass charms!
Purchase Friendly Plastic here Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
I had been looking forward to the weekend so much: I knew that the group of people would be fun to work with, there were some characters I knew of old, and some I had yet to meet. What I had not anticipated was just how much fun, and just what a whacky and characterful lot they would turn out to be. Spontaneous renditions of camp fire songs, home-made biscuits, selfless sharing of materials, tools, equipment and ideas and buckets full of laughter.
The weekend I am referring to is last weekend’s Friendly Plastic course 3D FP in Chepstow Castle. Having arrived in the dark on Friday night, I did not get the chance to appreciate just what a lovely little place Chepstow is. After a full English (well, you only get to have it when you stay in a hotel don’t you), I drove my car, laden to the gunwales with stuff, right up to the very walls of the castle. The gates (replicas of the original 12th century gates) swung open to let my modern conveyance inside the narrow entrance and into the ancient keep itself.
Adrienne Goodenough (Lifelong Learning Manager for Cadwr – Welch Heritage organisation) followed hot on my heals and with the help of Annie we unloaded our cars and with a suitably regal wave we grandly proceeded back through the gates that were never designed with anything more than a horse and cart in mind. Not many people get the opportunity of driving in to the very heart of such an ancient and spectacular castle, but we got to do it – twice (we had to pack up at the end didn’t we).
Adrienne had organised for us to use two adjoining rooms in the castle for the course, and she had brought heaters, tables, and most essentially tea and coffee. By the time we had set up, everyone else had arrived and it was a time for greeting friends old and new, and making real those friendships that had, up until this point, been only virtual ones on various on line groups.
We began with a stroll around the castle with sketch books and cameras to hand, hoping that the rain would hold off long enough for us to get a good look at the ancient stones, towers and views. The castle is right on the river Wye and is in remarkably good order for a ruin! There were beautiful vistas wherever you looked, interesting details, inspiring textures and the time we had was too short to really appreciate all that was on offer. However, we needed to get back to the class room and start exploring possibilities.
Although the course was aimed at creating 3D pieces in Friendly Plastic, not everyone was ready to take things that far. But this was of no issue at all as the techniques that are handy for construction, forming and moulding are also very suitable for 2 dimensional work.
We looked at construction methods – joining and piecing, forming using bowls (or gourds and oranges as things turned out), moulding, layering, texturing, re-colouring, Lacework, Friendly Plastic Pellets and loads of other things besides. When everyone had a handle on these useful techniques we discovered the castle was about to close so we had to get a wiggle on and decamp for a spot of socialising in a lovely little restaurant bar called The LimeTree Cafe Bar. Having enjoyed home-made soup and rolls in the The Chepstow Castle Inn at lunchtime, everyone still seemed to have plenty of room for delicious tapas at The LimeTree.
The evening was relaxing, and a superb opportunity to get to know one another better. Neet and Vonnie had both brought their other halves with them (they had been off stomping across the hills in the rain), and Nathalie had her 12 year old daughter Marianne (who was also doing the course).
The following morning the sun made all the autumn colour on the wooded slopes of the river Wye glow in perfect harmony with our uplifted spirits. Everyone was looking forward to another exciting day in great company (with Lynne’s delicious home-made biscuits to fend off any untoward pangs of hunger.
Back into the embrace of the ancient castle we all strode (toddled!) ready for the days activities. Everyone had some sort of an idea about what they wanted to achieve and today was the day that they would do it. Using the skills they had already learnt they set to, with a small amount of guidance from me. You can see the results for yourself, they are tremendous. Everyone took some aspect of the castle itself and used it to create their wonderful bowls, boxes and artwork. This little Box was made by Maxine who was very new to Friendly Plastic, but she managed to ge eh textures and colours of the walls beautifully.
Annie’s bowl made initially over a gourd using Alcohol Ink coloured Friendly Plastic Pellets worked beautifully and captures the colours of the wooded slopes of the valley.
Kate was one of the more experienced in the group and managed to perfectly recreate one of the towers of the stone keep using small pieces that she textured in a wide variety of ways including stamping and OoozeI Her colours are subtle and the tumbledown effect should always remind her of Chepstow Castle. Like everyone else she still has some finishing off to do, but the construction is complete. Fabulous Kate.
Lynne’s colours hark back to dashing days of chivalry and sumptuous velvets, but her textures and shapes come directly from the castle itself. She even managed a very neat spaghetti trim round the top – reminiscent of jousts I think.
Adrienne’s bowl is like burnished metal on the inside and is of a most interesting shape as it was moulded around a gourd. The outside texture was achieved using lace but until it gets it legs put on, it bears a remarkable resemblance to one half of Madonnas bra! Or perhaps it could be some medieval warrior princess’ breast plate in the making!
There are so many photos and I want to show you them all, so I am putting all the rest into a gallery for you to view. Remember that at least 4 of the girls (whether they were 60+ or 12 or anywhere in between) had not worked with Friendly Plastic before.
I am delighted by what you achieved girls, you worked so hard and put so much of your personalities into the weekend, I only hope that you are as proud of your creations as I am. Make sure you send me photos of the finished items so I can blog about them and put them on the gallery pages of my website. Even if we never touched any Friendly Plastic again (God forbid!!!) I would still thoroughly enjoy your company.
So who is game for next year and what shall we do?Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.
Im currently busy in the studio creating what I call like to call a vintage grunge look in Friendly Plastic - which is this month's feature for FPTV...but until then, I thought you'd like this snippit from Liz Welch - my UK friend and fellow Friendly Plastic Addict. Not surprizingly her work is in print again....read her article:
at were never designed with anything more than a horse and cart in mind. Not many people get the opportunity of driving in to the very heart of such an ancient and spectacular castle, but we got to do it – twice (we had to pack up at the end didn’t we).
We began with a stroll around the castle with sketch books and cameras to hand, hoping that the rain would hold off long enough for us to get a good look at the ancient stones, towers and views. The castle is right on the river Wye and is in remarkably good order for a ruin! There were beautiful vistas wherever you looked, interesting details, inspiring textures and the time we had was too short to really appreciate all that was on offer. However, we needed to get back to the class room and start exploring possibilities.
The following morning the sun made all the autumn colour on the wooded slopes of the river Wye glow in perfect harmony with our uplifted spirits. Everyone was looking forward to another exciting day in great company (with Lynne’s delicious home-made biscuits to fend off any untoward pangs of hunger. 
Kate was one of the more experienced in the group and managed to perfectly recreate one of the towers of the stone keep using small pieces that she textured in a wide variety of ways including stamping and OoozeI Her colours are subtle and the tumbledown effect should always remind her of Chepstow Castle. Like everyone else she still has some finishing off to do, but the construction is complete. Fabulous Kate.
Lynne’s colours hark back to dashing days of chivalry and sumptuous velvets, but her textures and shapes come directly from the castle itself. She even managed a very neat spaghetti trim round the top – reminiscent of jousts I think.
Adrienne’s bowl is like burnished metal on the inside and is of a most interesting shape as it was moulded around a gourd. The outside texture was achieved using lace but until it gets it legs put on, it bears a remarkable resemblance to one half of Madonnas bra! Or perhaps it could be some medieval warrior princess’ breast plate in the making!
