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Friendly Plastic at the NEC STITCHES SHOW – by JOZART

Monday, February 22nd, 2010

Stitches is the British version of the CHA Show held each year in Birminham England. Although it's not the size of CHA, it doesnt lack for talent, demo's or creative inspiration. Personally, I think this show is much easier to manage and alot more up close and personal. I thought you might enjoy these show highlights from Jozart - one of the attendee's:

The highlight for me was the superb demonstration by Liz Welch who is so expert at Friendly Plastic techniques and I am thrilled that I will be taking a full workshop with her later in the year. She spent so much time giving us ideas, hints and tips and made Caz and I beautiful pieces to keep.

I also enjoyed Fran Seiford's workshop Painting with Powder which I know I will try again.

Down to earth now after a really colourful magic day.

Liz Welch, some of her samples made today and the lovely brooch she generously gave to me.

Fran Seiford from USA demming her Painting with Powder Technique

Caz with the shoe cards we made on the Woodware stand. My effort at the front.

Tim Holtz made me a Grunge Paper Rose for my beret

Claudine demonstrated her sticky back canvas techniques

Suze Weinberg's UTEE dem

The bargain hotel, not bad eh? The Chase Coventry, about 15 mins from the NEC

Be sure and visit JOZART's blog for more creative inspiration. Thanks for sharing!

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Friendly Plastic, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, art doll necklace, claudine helmuth, craft and hobby show england, craft trade show, fran seiford, friendly plastic demo, jozart, stitches, suze weinburg, tim holtz | No Comments »

The Key to Impressions in Friendly Plastic by Liz Welch

Monday, February 15th, 2010

The KEY to making a "good impression" - no pun intended - is to think outside the box....literally!. Here Artist Liz Welch uses an impression of a door key to create this amazing texture, reminiscent of metalwork that would literally take hours- not to mention the costly tools necessary.

I love how Friendly Plastic can fool the senses!!! Great Job Liz!!

Now.....how far does your imagination go? Why not give it a challenge. Look for objects around the house that have interesting areas. Maybe it is the holes in a sewing bobbin...or a coiled up piece of wire...or how about a buckle on a belt?

What is your KEY to a great impression?

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, Texture and Impressions, friendly plastic textures, tip and technique | No Comments »

Video from Liz Welch – FPUK – creating moulds to use with Friendly Plastic

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

It looks like Liz and I were on the same page with the videos! Check out Liz Welch's latest video on how to create a mould to use with Friendly Plastic. Then watch the Friendly Plastic video for tips on using FP pellets in the mould.

Have you seen Linda Peterson’s video on using Friendly Plastic in moulds? If you haven’t, go and check it out now on the Friendly Plastic Blog. The reason for pointing you in that direction is because it ties in very nicely with my latest FPUKtv video on how to make the moulds using a two part silicone putty called Easy Mold. As the name suggests, it is really easy to use, and it is quick to make some exciting moulds from your precious bits and bobs.

Easy Mold comes from the same stable as Envirotex Lite and it is simple to mix the two differently coloured putties together, press the ball of smooth putty around an object or push an object in to the putty. You leave it for anywhere between 5 minutes to 20 minutes depending on the amount of putty you use, and then gently remove the object from the putty (or the other way around in some cases) and hey presto, you have an incredibly detailed reusable mould.

Whilst there are loads of lovely moulds out there to buy (cake decorating / sugarcraft moulds, and the fabulous range from Krafty Lady), sometimes you want to do your own thing. I have found it excellent for making multiple copies of objects that are precious to me that I don’t want to use in a project, or that I only have one of when I need 10. Markets, car boot sales, and charity shops are great places to find interesting things to mould; so is your jewellery box.

The moulds are flexible so they are really easy to release from, and you don’t have to stick with using Friendly Plastic, why not try polymer clay, paper clay, Hearty, or any of the other modelling compounds out there.

Like Linda, I prefer to use hot water to soften my FP for moulding, it makes it much easier to handle (not sticky or too hot). You can use up all your scraps in a mould as well, and then simply paint the surface afterwards using acrylic paints. My personal preference depends on what I am trying to achieve: If I want total control over detailed colouring then I go for Friendly Plastic Pellets, but if I want a background colour with a metallic look that can still be altered, then the FP sticks are the way to go.

The other nice thing about the putty is that it seems to have a long shelf life as long as you keep the lids tightly closed, so you are ready to make a mould whenever the inspiration takes you.

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in FPTV, FPUK, Friendly Plastic Pellets, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, making molds, mould making | No Comments »

Friendly Plastic Snowflake Ornaments by Liz Welch

Friday, February 5th, 2010

This picture seems quite fitting today as it's snowing outside my studio window located in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri. We are deep into winter and experiencing one of the harshest winters we've had in the past several years.

These snowflakes are the artwork of textile and Friendly Plastic artist Liz Welch, who resides in the UK. She is credited with developing the "Oooze" technique of which these snowflake ornaments were made. This is a great way to capture a snowflake forever!

To see more of Liz's work or to attend one of her workshops visit her blog: www.rarebird.wordpress.com

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Friendly Plastic, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, friendly plastic embellishments, snowflakes | No Comments »

A sneak peek into CHA ….only 4 days away

Wednesday, January 20th, 2010

I am proud to say, that I get to play host to Liz Welch's necklace and jewelry ensembles at CHA
this year! I sure wish Liz could attend...but if not in person...by jewelry and in spirit of course! We will be demonstrating Friendly Plastic during the entire show at booth 2409 - so stop on by! And dont forget to join us at our Design Challenge Reception in the booth on Monday 11am! Stay tuned to the blog for the winners to be announced! Until then enjoy Liz's artwork! She writes:

I have finally got around to finishing up some pieces of jewellery in time to get them off to Linda for CHA, but I thought you might like to see them before they arrive at the show. I apologise in advance for the poor quality of the photos, but it has been so gloomy recently that the natural day light was not enough to illuminate the pieces properly and I ran out of time to get out my lights and do it all properly. Consequently what you see is my “record” shots that I keep so I know what I have been up to.

This is a necklace that I began in November by making the fabric beads.

The flower end caps are made of FP as are the tubeads and the round pink beads. The others are assorted bought beads.

This one is not going to CHA, it will stay at home with me! I used Linda’s Shimmer and Shine technique to create the design, but I added a few layers of resin adding decoration with each layer. The bezel is hammered and punched copper shim (I obviously had some aggression to work out on this one!)

The main components for this necklace and earring set you have seen in an earlier post. I used some curled wire embellishments with the addition of Friendly Plastic beads worked directly on to the curled wires. These curly wires compliment the curvy shapes of the inlay. For those who have not read my earlier post, the inlay is the waste bits of some Peel Offs.

They are coated in Envirotex Lite with added colouring in between the layers.

Earrings to match. The backs of the earrings are simply coloured using my foiling technique.

To be honest, I can’t remember if I sent this one or another I made that is a bit similar, but the thing to notice is the tubead which is made from recycled bits of FP coated in some strandy sort of glitter.

This is one that you might have seen in an earlier post, but I included it in the CHA package because it showed some different techniques.

I have inlaid natural shells into FP, pushing them in deeply so the plastic oozes up and around them.

This bead (part of the shell necklace above) demonstrates that I do occasionally succumb to the feathering technique, although I hardly ever use a comb because I like the random nature of my feathering. However if you like the quick and easy and very regular pattern that the combs make, then they are a ideal tool.

It has taken me almost a week to write this post and consequently I have forgotten the other things in the parcel that went to CHA! So I shall stop here and try to be better at posting next week. I have lots to tell you about, just not enough time to sit at the computer and write it all down.

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Amaco, Friendly Plastic, Friendly Plastic Jewelry, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

Liz Welch Class Schedule for 2010 – UK Friendly Plastic

Thursday, January 7th, 2010

Direct from RareLizzies blog (aka Liz Welch) here is the information about her upcoming classes in the UK. Liz writes:

I have updated my web site with the class dates for 2010. To save you the effort of checking it out, I am detailing them below just in case you might be interested in any of them. They are not exhaustive, and I am open to ideas and suggestions.

19th January 2010 moring class @ Gillians Crafts in Derby. See Gill’s web site for more details and to book the classes.

By The Book (morning class)

This little book is only 2 inches square, and can easily be made in the 2hr class. Texturing and colouring techniques will be covered, as well as “Beads on Strings”.

Linda's Notes: I personally have one of these beautiful books by Liz Welch and I can assure you this is a class that you do NOT want to miss!! Both Liz and Gill (owner of Gillians Crafts) will keep you laughing all day long!!

Dancing Dolls (afternoon class)

Learn how to make a Lizzie Doll using free form modelling techniques.. You may well have time to make more than one of these little ladies.

9th March 2010 10am – 3pm Bend It Shape it Gillians Crafts in Derby Book directly with Gill

A day full of wonder and exploration. Learn as many techniques as you feel able to – an excellent way to really get to grips with what Friendly Plastic can do for you. I always try to tailor the class to the needs of the students attending, and we cover all the favourites of Lacework, Oooze, Impressions, Patchwork, simple beads, inlay and much more.

7th April 2010 Morning – First Impressions – Buttons and Motifs for Textiles and other crafts @ Husqvarna Studio Nottingham Book Directly with Husqvarna please.

Create buttons and motifs to adorn your textile and sewing projects as well as for jewellery and paper craft applications. We will explore dragging and marbling, cutting and hole making, and you will learn how to seal your work. Buttons are hand washable.

7th April 2010 Afternoon - Going Mouldy – making moulds and using them with Friendly Plastic Husqvarna Studio Nottingham Book Directly with Husqvarna please.

Learn how to use 2 part silicone putty to make moulds. We will then fill them with Friendly Plastic and make our own motifs or embellishments for textiles, scrap booking, paper crafts or jewellery. We will be using inks, paints and Friendly Plastic Pellets to achieve the effects want.

24th April Oooze and Aahhs – Full day workshop @ Husqvarna Studio Nottingham Book Directly with Husqvarna please.

Spend a day Ooozing and extruding with Friendly Plastic and assorted things with holes in, and you will be “aahhing and ooing” at the effects you discover. Whether you are a paper crafter or a textile person or love jewellery, this is a very versatile technique that creates incredible textures and effects that will have you rushing home to try it out some more!

22nd May Get Stuck In – full day workshop @ Husqvarna Studio Nottingham Book Directly with Husqvarna please.

Multimedia approach to Friendly Plastic – how to stick lots of different things in your FP projects so that they won’t come out again without the aid of glue! If you want to you can make a fun note book cover with all the pieces you experiment with. Embed mirrors, beads, buttons, wire, yarn, feathers, sequins, motifs and whatever takes your fancy. Then piece it all together to make a panel for the front of a book or the top of a box.

3rd June Brilliant Beads – full day workshop @ Husqvarna Studio Nottingham Book Directly with Husqvarna please.

All things beady (using Friendly Plastic of course) - round ones, cylinders, wonky shapes, drops, focal beads, wrapped beads, bent beads (Tubeads), recycled beads, mixed media beads, moulded beads…. and the list goes on. We will cover as many things as you want to, and it will be up to you if you want to make enough beads for a project or, to try out as many different bead techniques as you can fit in the day.

All the classes are suitable for beginners as well as those with some experience.

This is the current list of workshops that are open to everyone to book on to, as opposed to the ones I am doing for guilds and clubs. Please book directly with the venue. If you have any queries about what we will be doing in the class then email me at enquiries@rarebird.ltd.uk

I will also be at Stitches Trade show at the NEC in February demonstrating for All About Crafts / Pottery Crafts, and some of my textile work will be on display at three venues this year, the first of which is Sewing for Pleasure at the NEC in March. I will blog about that closer to the time.

If you are in Anaheim USA at the end of this month and are going to CHA then visit Amaco at their “booth” as the Americans call it (a “stand” to us Brits) and you will find Linda Peterson and Jana Ewy demonstrating FP for the company. You will also find some of my jewellery on display if I get it to Linda in time!

Posted in Bead Making, Colouring FP, Events, Exhibitions, Information, Teaching and Talks, Textiles, classes, liz welch, pellets Tagged beads, beginners, books, classes, dayschools, Dolls, embedding, friendly Plastic, Gillian's Crafts, husqvarna studio, inlay, jana Ewy, lacework, Linda Peterson, liz welch, lizzie dolls, moulds, oooze, tubeads, workshops 1 Comment

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Friendly Plastic Classes, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, friendly plastic classes uk, gillians crafts | No Comments »

Friendly Plastic – Hope on a canvas by Jen Lowe

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

Today's blog is a reflection....and how artist Jen Lowe uses her convictions as portrayed in her artwork. This also goes along with the Butterfly Project sponsored by AMACO with regard to the holocaust.

Here are Jen's thoughts:

Tonight's topic is Penance - thinking reflectively about your life's path--and what changes you might want to enact.

Penance is defined as a feeling of regret for one's wrongdoings. Last year,I talked about making penance art. But it was penance for what happened to the Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. My feelings of regret for what someone else did that was wrong.

Several months ago, I started tonight's project. There's over 80 hours tied up into the making of it. Not something you can do in a day. But I think huge, time-consuming pieces of art are necessary every now and then in order to make us stop and give thought to what we are trying to accomplish.

Notes of Hope - my gift to Amaco because of their generosity in supporting the Holocaust Museum in Houston. If you read my blog, you know that they have sponsored a contest for the second year - making butterflies, 1.5 million of them, one for each child who died in the Holocaust.

Notes of Hope - is a collaborative piece. While the design and majority of it was completed by myself, I have contributions from Linda Peterson, Jana Ewy and Liz Welch. And we all 4 have signed the canvas. It's big. 20" x 16". Considering that strips of Friendly Plastic are only available in 1" widths.....just imagine how much product was used to create this!!! And in the process of making it, I've spent many hours thinking about the art the world has lost in the death of all the children...and the children's children that they might have had.

Notes of hope - I have a lot of them!

This canvas represents just about every technique imaginable in Friendly Plastic. It is a labor of love!

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Friendly Plastic, Friendly Plastic wall art, Hope on Canvas, Jana Ewy, Jen Lowe, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News | No Comments »

First day of Winter and Jumping for JOY!!!

Monday, December 21st, 2009

Today is the first day of winter for the northern hemisphere....that means its the shortest day of the year....but it also means that from now till summer the days will get warmer! Makes me want to jump for joy!

That's what I thought of when I looked at this beautiful piece by Karine Collignon of Bijouxartcreation. Karine says Liz Welch was a big inspiration in helping her create this piece.

So jump for joy....winter is here....but that means we're one day closer to warmer weather....

What will inspire you to create today?

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Art Doll, Friendly Plastic, Friendly Plastic Jewelry, Karine Collignon, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, art doll necklace | No Comments »

Friendly Plastic Artist Liz Welch creates Tubeads

Monday, December 14th, 2009

What are "tubeads" you ask? Read on as Liz Welch explains how she created these beads and was inspired by the Glisten and Shine technique:

Well I didn’t fib; in my post of the 26th November I showed some of the effects I had achieved using Linda Peterson’s Glisten and Shine technique, and a quick (and fuzzy) example of a tubular bead that I had made. I mentioned that I hoped to be able to show you more of these beads and now I can. I call them “Tubeads”, and I can also tell you that I have little packs for sale of the equipment I use to make the beads, but I am getting ahead of myself; here are some of the pendants and things I have made so far (and there are loads still in the pipeline – no pun intended).

A small selection of the beads I have been making. Some of these are simple unadulterated Friendly Plastic in the colours it comes in, but most of them have been recoloured in some way. I have used transfer foils, metal flake, Pigment Powders, Glisten And Shine (Linda’s technique), embossing powders, and glitter as well as pens and alcohol inks. You can see two different sizes of bead with correspondingly different hole sizes, and there are some beads that gently curve (or could be straight if you wanted to make them so), some that curve sharply, some that make circles and some that form curlicues. All possible because of the cord that you make the beads around (more later).

For those that know me, I am useless at straight lines, give me curves any day!

I was a little slow bending this one, and it wrinkled a little, but I liked it anyway.

I like a little bit of glitter now and then

The top Tubead was scrap FP recoloured using cream transfer foil from the Earthtones Pack which I added extra colour to using a variety of methods including scratching, refoiling, and metal flakes.

A simple piece of Royal Blue FP with wire wrapping and some rubber donut beads.

This one is a mixture of plain Teal FP and some of my Glisten and Shine coloured FP. If you look closely I had not perfected my seams, but now I have the equipment I can do them sooo much better than that.

Tubeads combined with fabric beads gives a lovely contrast in mat and gently shinty finishes. Fancy headpins finish the look

A closer look at the earrings.

And the secret to these fun Tubeads is silicone cords which stretch. FP is wrapped around the cord, shaped and cooled, then the cord is stretched and this action releases it from the bead which can be pulled off with ease. Clever eh? Now I can’t claim this basic technique as my own because Jana Ewy showed it to us all at The Starving Artists Playground in Colorado at Jen Lowe’s place. Jana was using tubing, and I had never seen such stuff before in the UK. On returning home I searched and searched, tried out a number of different materials and eventually settled on silicone cord which is stronger (lasts longer) and I could get different diameters more easily. It is non stick, good and stretchy, robust, and tolerant of heat.

The second part of the process is in getting the rolling right, and my solution to this was to use some fine silicone sheet (not the thick stuff you occasionally find in cook shops, nor the teflon sheet either). It is beautifully silky smooth and rolls a perfect tubular bead.

The other great thing about the silicone is that it will withstand heat from either the heat gun or hot water so if the FP is not soft enough then it is really simple to reheat it by whichever method you choose.

For the kit and full instructions including how to achieve a really good seam, visit my web site http://www.rarebird.ltd.uk/Kits_Packs.html at only £3.50 it is a bargain! (you can tell I am excited can’t you!)

Linda Peterson is compensated and endorsed by AMACO. The guests features may or may not have any affiliation with AMACO.

Posted in Friendly Plastic Beads, Friendly Plastic Jewelry, Linda Peterson, Liz Welch, Plastic Industry News, Tubeads | No Comments »

Glisten and Shine Inspiration in Friendly Plastic

Saturday, December 12th, 2009

I believe one of the greatest compliments you can receive as an artist is to be inspiring to others and for them to take your technique and expand on it in ways you may not have dreamed of. That is exactly what Liz Welch did with my Glisten and Shine technique....she took my simple technique one step further and did amazing things with it!

Look in as she shares her story:

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.

See our lastest FPTV video on this technique on youtube: username - friendlyplastictv or click here.