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Friendly Plastic Basics – Fusing Strips together on a griddle – Video

Monday, November 23rd, 2009

The Fracture and Fusion technique of fusing strips together on a griddle is one of the best Friendly Plastic Techniques developed. In this video Jen shows you just how easy it is to begin working with Friendly Plastic.

Well, I did promise a bunch of 5 minute videos! If you have something else you want to see how it's done, just let me know!

This video is going to show you several things. It will show you how to fuse strips using the griddle method. I'll show you how I use finger cots because my fingers just can't handle the heat. I show you how to tap strips together. And then I show you how to eliminate bubbles.

So, just watch this 3 or 4 times and you should be able to fuse your own Friendly Plastic strips together. What fun!!!

Check out more of Jen's work on her blog at www.jen-lowe-designs.blogspot.com

Posted in friendly plastic fracture and fusion video, friendly plastic how to video, FRIENDLY PLASTIC VIDEO, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

A Quick Video on Melting Pellets by Jen Lowe

Friday, November 20th, 2009

Well...Jen beat me to it!...getting her video up before I taped mine for the month...but actually this is perfect timing because I will be showing how to use Friendly Plastic Pellets in molds.

However, before my video goes live, check out this Quickie Video by Jen Lowe Designs. Great basic information on working with pellets. Then on Saturday, I'll take this a step further with a video on using the colored pellets in molds....so....lots to look forward to...

okay.....Lights...camera....(buttered popcorn).....ACTION!!!

Posted in friendly plastic how to, FRIENDLY PLASTIC VIDEO, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

A 5 Min FP Quickie Video by Jen Lowe – Working with Pellets

Thursday, November 19th, 2009

Posted in Beginner's Friendly Plastic How-to Video, Friendly Plastic Pellets, FRIENDLY PLASTIC VIDEO, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Design Challenge Inspiration from Jen and Jana

Sunday, November 8th, 2009

Today's inspiration comes from the other Friendly Plastic Queens - Jen and Jana.

Jen will always find ways to incorporate unique objects into her work. Below she uses some scrapbooking charms with ribbon mesh wire.

Enjoy the eye candy!

Just inked up a pice of white Friendly plastic, cut a circle, popped into an old K&Company finding, dropped a bling into it and covered it with Glossy Accents....then strung it with just a few simple beads:

and a scrap of Fracture n Fusion cut and popped into another K&Company finding. Maybe an hour tops?
But just too cute for the office or just for fun!

And here's one for formal nights. Used Linda's latest technique - Glisten and Glimmer in a Nunn Design finding.....
Jana Ewy shares some of her past and present pieces:...

This snow bunny was created for my sister many years ago.Thought you might enjoy seeing a little design from my past.

Tear-drop shaped pieces of Friendly Plastic have been attached to a beautiful brass filigree Butterfly. It is simple, yet elegant and can become a necklace, bracelet, or even a brooch.

Let your creative flow... try this same concept with marbled Friendly Plastic, or inlay pieces one on top of the other. How about making an impression into the plastic and creating a Friendly Plastic filigree Butterfly? Hope this has helped to get your creative wheels turning. Be sure to check out the AMACO site as well as the Friendly Plastic blog for more ideas and information on the 2010 Design Challenge.

Posted in CHA design challenge 2010, Friendly Plastic butterflies, Friendly Plastic Jewelry, Friendly Plastic mixed media, Jana Ewy, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Naming your Butterflies – Challenge Deadline extended to November 18th

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Jen Lowe has been hosting Friendly Plastic party after party! I think this is a great idea she came up with to name your butterflies, especially since that is one of the categories for the Design Challenge at CHA in January 2010....read on!

We have had the most fun naming our butterflies this week. While I can't share photos yet of those that are being submitted, I can share mine.

Now this one was made with 100% scraps. Look at it closely! Nothing but scraps and loads of fun. Do you see over on the top left....the openings with the mesh? So we named her: "That one wing made it impossible to fly"

I think names should tell a story. So why not have fun with your project? Who says it has to be just one or 2 words - give it any name you want!

This next one is named: "Too puffed up to fly". Can you tell we were going with a whole theme here especially if you look at the last blog? None of my butterflies can fly. Hidden meaning - none are being entered since I was one of the winners last year. So see, put a play on the words! Have fun with it! We were just giggling up a storm around here!

And Rose, we named yours for you as well!!!

"Too Puffed" was made with ooze in cookie cutters.....but we also made up our own technique by oozing around a tool handle to create the center part. How fun is that? When you lay her flat, she looks flat....but she's really quite puffed up!

The rhinestones were in the net. The bottom layer was oozed through fantasy fibers. The centers were connected by using the hot water method and then shaped backwards.

I think I need to go shopping and find more things to oooze through. That or make some more butterfly girls! So much to do I don't know where to start!

Posted in CHA design challenge 2010, Friendly Plastic butterflies, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Organizing Friendly Plastic – A Tip from Jen Lowe

Friday, October 23rd, 2009

Leave it to Jen to be completely, sickenly organized! Today she shares a great tip on organizing current Friendly Plastic colors:

So, are you like me? I get confused as to what colors of Friendly Plastic are still available.....and what are discontinued. I decided it was time to put an end to that and have made up 2 keyrings with samples. One has all the colors that you can currently get at Amaco.....and the other is made up of samples of what is no longer available (and might be more likely to be "snappers".)

For the current colors, I cut 3" pieces:

and labeled the back:

Then I did a separate key ring with 2" strips of what you can no longer order:
(but I really do love some of these colors and you might find them at Thompson's in Denver, just north of Wadsworth and Colfax).

And then I hung them over my workbench....along with my ring of mini sharpie pens.

In case you are wondering, here's a list of the current colors and their order numbers:

1. Metallic solid copper/black 70641C
2. Metallic solid Fuchsia/Black 70645G
3. Metallic solid gold/black 70646H
4. Metallic solid green/blue 70648K
5. Metallic solid purple/black 70656V
6. Metallic solid red/red 70657W
7. Metallic solid silver/black 70659B
8. Metallic solid royal blue/black 70658X
9. Metallic solid burnt orange/black 70640B
10. Metallic solid Indian red/black 70649L
11. Metallic solid pewter/black 70655T
12. Metallic solid flat gold/black 70644F
13. Metallic solid black/black 70638X
14. Metallic solid white/white 70662E
15. Metallic solid light blue/black 70651N
16. Metallic solid mauve/black 70652P
17. Metallic solid orange copper/black 706545S
18. Metallic solid dark teal/black 70642D
19. Metallic solid avvacado/black 70637W
20. Metallic solid gold/white 70647J
21. Metallic solid lavender/blue 70650M
22. Metallic print cobra silver/black 70607X
23. Metallic print red spectra/red 70629L
24. Metallic print green/blue 70618R
25. Metallic print rainbow/black 70628K
26. Metallic print swirl/blue 70633R
27. Metallic print turquoise/blue 70634S
28. Metallic print pearl/white 70621V
29. Metallic print pearl mint/white 70624F
30. Metallic print pearl red/red 70623X
31. Metallic print silver spectra/black 70631N
32. Metallic print gold spectra/black 70615M
33. Metallic print confetti/black 70609F
34. Metallic print rainbow red/red 70715V

Posted in Current Friendly Plastic colors, Friendly Plastic, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Friendly Plastic Treasure Hunt

Thursday, October 22nd, 2009

When I left Jen Lowe's house she warned me..........Absolutely NO GIFTS!!! Seriously....did she really think I would listen?

Jen loves dressforms. She buys dressforms...she buys rubberstamps with images of dressforms and scrapbook paper with dressforms. And any dressform that is on "sale" at hobby lobby absolutely has no chance of NOT coming home with her. She has them on display throughout her home and studio. Some are functional and hold ribbons or packages of embellishments for future projects, while others are used to decoratively display her jewelry and other works of art.

There was one dressform in the studio, that really caught my attention....It's a framed picture with a metal cut out of a dressform. It look Naked...it was naked....and it needed some dressing up! (The poor soul..) That's when the thought.. "I wonder if I hang a bead around the neckline...just how fast will she notice??" And that's what I did. During the Starving Artist Playground, I took a class and made a big polymer clay bead. She loved it...so I thought that would be the perfect spot for it to be displayed. Timing was of essence.....I had to wait until the middle of the night to hang it so she wouldnt notice.....and that's just what I did.

Next I found another dressform in my room.....a vintage linen dressform....naked...well..except for a sprig of flowers hanging off the shoulder.....another poor soul that needed to be dressed....

This particular treasure is a collabortive effort between myself and Liz Welch. We stayed up waaayyyyy past our bedtime and played with surface techniques and we discovered some really wonderful new 'takes' on older techniques which we'll share in upcoming posts.

And last but not least I hung a pair of FP earrings featuring my new glisten and shine technique amongst a grouping of glass beaded necklaces......perfectly camoflauged......

So with the treasure hunt in place.....I headed off to the airport......confident that she wouldnt find them for months............................................which was the plan.....................UNTIL..........

Her sister Colleen calls her and says..."How was the treasure hunt?".... It's amazing to me that with all the things Jen has in their home and studio...it's like she has a photographic memory and knows were everthing is...her brain is a catalog. She immediately discovered the above piece (I mean it was in plain site....then the earrings...) and with a hint from Colleen .....she finally found the piece on the framed dressform in the studio..... So I learned two things "Jen KNOWS where everything is.......and don't tell Colleen where the treasures are!" ha ha (just kiddin ya Colleen)

I think though, that I'll just make this a "signature of mine"......leaving treasures behind wherever I visit friends.....hmmmm.....who can I visit next???

Posted in Friendly Plastic, friendly plastic artists, Friendly Plastic Jewelry, Jen Lowe, Linda Peterson, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, treasure hunt | No Comments »

A Friendly Plastic Menagerie

Thursday, October 15th, 2009

Thought you might like to see a small sampling of what we all did over the weekend. This menagerie is a combination of all of us FPQ's....and literally they are just fun play samples just trying out a bunch of different techniques ...see what works and what doesnt....who knows what we'll do with them but they are fun to look at!

Can you tell who's is who's???????

Posted in Friendly Plastic, Jana Ewy, Jen Lowe, Linda Peterson, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Exactly what is a “Snapper” anyway????

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

I think our creative minds must be fried to pieces but none the less, Tina (aka Tineesha) was inspired to dig out all her friendly plastic literally from the 80's and bring it on over to Jen's house...Unfortunately, most of these were "snappers" and boy did we have fun with that...

Jen got out her video and began to tape....(and of course you know that I had to nick this off her blog) --if you look real close..Jana is in the background and I am laughing hysterically....

Again...who knew friendly plastic could make your abs sore from laughing so hard?

Read on:

This is the first in a series of videos that will be 5 minutes of less and hopefully help you understand the little things about Friendly Plastic that will help you have more fun than anything with this fantastic product!!!

Now please understand - 5 minutes or less, NOT professional, in fact, today, we were all in our jammies and sweats and we played and just had the best time ever. But I think you will see - it's ok to have fun and still show you the difference between what's a good piece of Friendly Plastic....and a piece that's been around since the 80s.

Our heartfelt thanks to our good friend Tina H who played the role of Tineesha! We'll have to see if she won't come back and help us out again in the near future!!!

Posted in Beginner's Friendly Plastic How-to Video, Jen Lowe, Plastic Industry News, tina holdman | No Comments »

Friendly Plastic Fantastic Friends

Tuesday, October 13th, 2009

Now say that three times will ya??? That's a tongue twister!

The Starving Artist Playground - (2nd ever - NOT ANNUAL as Jen says "now"...(but you know she'll forget how much work this was and want to do it all again next year).)....anyway...it's now over.

While the event was a chance to experience a variety of mediums including Friendly Plastic, it turned out to be waayyyy beyond that. It was a chance to make lasting friendships, connecting with old friends, meeting new friends ...bonding...bringing people of creative spirit together. Who knew that a little Friendly Plastic could do all that?

Just look at "Two "N" Jenn and Tineesha.... (we say that because at the retreat we had One "N" Jen aka Jen Lowe and Two "N" Jenn aka Jenn Duval and then Ginni with a "G") these two (aka Jenn and Tina) had never met before and look at how happy they are to make friends....

These were some happy kids let me tell ya....

To make a long story short...Sunday was nearly a repeat of Saturday - same classes but those who couldnt take on Saturday did on Sunday...just more laughs....more fun.

What maybe suprizing to you is the fact that Jen, Liz and Jana had never met each other face to face before. So to have us four...the Queens of FP together in the same house for a whole week was beyond incredible. While this may not happen again for a while, I can assure you that we will all stay in touch more often...thru skype and jump on any chance we can to get together and be creative.

Unfortunately all good things do come to an end....and Liz left us to go home to the UK ...but not before we could spend a day together just relaxing with girl time,sorting out our ideas, sightseeing and taking inspiration from the world around us. We had just enough time to take a road trip to Estes Park.

Seriously how beautiful is this scenery....

I've been accused of this next picture being a postcard...but I can testify that yes I was this close..no I did not use a zoom, yes I did take the picture...and yes...he thought "tourist".....

Being that we "saw" wildlife....we decided to BE wildlife.

on a little more serious note...we went to Cheryl's shop Rocky Mountain Memories to check it out and do you know she CALLED IN SICK - exhausted from the weekend and did not come into the store? Her hubby was working though....great guy! (A great little store for all sorts of lodgy themed, souvenier die cuts, great stamps and more) so when in Estes Park go see Cheryl's store..it's by the clock theatre.

During the retreat we described the melted pellets having the texture of taffy....but Liz had never had Taffy so she couldn't relate....but we did find a little taffy shop ....

Not sure she liked the taffy too well...she said it tasted like something they have in the UK that she doesnt like...but I cant remember what that something is...LIZ: would you leave a comment and let us all know what that something is????

It was just a wonderful friendship bonding day. We dropped Liz off at the airport, she is now home safe and sound. We went to Famous Dave's for BBQ then came back and watched Blue Collar Comedy club....can you ever laugh too much?

So when you think Friendly Plastic...think Friendly Plastic - Fantastic Friends and remember that is more than just playing with a craft medium...this is a chance to experience and get make MORE FRIENDs!

Posted in Estes Park Colorado, Friendly Plastic, Jana Ewy, Jen Lowe, Linda Peterson, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, Starving artist playground | No Comments »

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