More Friendly Plastic

Hi,  life is a bit hectic at the moment, what with house-hunting and my first grandson on the way - yes, that's right, it's a boy (!!!), so I've not posted, or visited, as much as I'd like however, I would like to share a little something I made with friendly plastic a couple of weeks ago, while I was trying it out for the first time:

I think it does actually look like metal?  The frame is a small mdf collage frame which I have painted with an Adirondrack paint dabber in Juniper, then gone over it with some Paper Artsy Fresco Metallic Glaze, to give it the sparkle factor.  Two different FP pieces were trimmed to fit then cut in half and placed inside the frame in opposite corners...

...and heated until soft.  The joins were then pressed together and and I lightly tapped all over with the handle end of the needle tool to get a hammered finish.  A rose charm was sunk into the centre whilst the FP was still warm and a little Antique Gold Rub 'n' Buff here & there when cold.  I edged the frame in a gold leaf pen but tried to keep it quite simple apart from that.

This stuff is great fun to play with, and it's certainly something I will try again in the future, particularly with the jewellery.  If you fancy trying this out, the currently Craft-Room Challenge is Bling, Glitter & Sparkle and one lucky random winner will receive a jewellery kit containing Friendly Plastic, sponsored by Liz Welch of Rare Bird :-).

Maria x

Bling & Glitter/Sparkle - Craft-Room DT Creation

Hi, it's time for the next challenge over at the Craft-Room.  The Shabby/Vintage entries were absolutely stunning!  This time it's the lovely Debi's turn to choose the theme of Bling & Glitter/Sparkle - check out Debi's blog to have a look at her beautiful projects and scrapbooking pages.

This month we are sponsored by Liz Welch of:

The prize is one of the wonderful jewellery kits incorporating Friendly Plastic, which Liz is well known for.  

Click on the banner to visit the shop.

As Liz is sponsoring this challenge and offering a jewellery kit as a prize, I decided to take the plunge and have a dabble -  it's something which I have never used before, nor have I made any jewellery.  At a bit of a loss for where to start, I checked out Liz's blog, Rare Lizzie, and also had a look on YouTube for some hints, tips and techniques, and generally some inspiration.  These are what I made:

I purchased the hardware from Rare Bird and used the FP in a couple of different ways:

Rectangular Tray Pendant

For this I used a tray pendant, cut the two pieces of FP to fit and heated them whilst they were in the tray then pressed the seam to fuse them together.  While it was still soft, I used the end of the handle to gently tap down to create a hammered effect (I made a little picture like this as well, which I'll upload later in the week).  I put a coat of resin over the top and cured under a UV lamp for about 20 minutes (I believe the little nail ones work just as good).  I then added the metal flower and another coat of resin.  After the second coat I ended up with a couple of air bubbles at the top so I pierced them and added a third coat which made them invisible.  I love the shimmer of this under the glass like top.

For this one, I used a lacey heart pendant and the oozing technique.  I heated my FP on my craft mat with a heat gun, then when soft I pushed the pendant over the top so that the soft plastic oozed through.  You can then use transfer foils on the back to finish and some cord or leather to thread though. 

Now, I know they're not perfect but I'm pleased with them for a first attempt. I think I like the tray pendant best and intend getting a few more of these and experimenting - this stuff is really good fun, there's no waste as all the little bits can be used up in other projects.  You can even stamp into it (dip your stamp into cold water first to stop it sticking)!

Of course you don't have to use FP in your creation, but we would like to see your Bling & Glitter/Sparkle in other ways, and one lucky person will win a jewellery kit to try this fabulous stuff for themselves.

Have a great week.

Maria x