Okay, after staring at the bags of old friendly plastic I decided that I had to try using the stuff. Some of the plastic was very brittle and shattered when I tried cutting the strips with my Tim Holtz scissors. I found the metallic's weren't so bad. I read on a FP website yesterday that you can place the FP in the oven to try and recondition old plastic. I don't know if I will do that, as for right now I am happy experimenting with how the plastic is right now.
I first gathered all of my supplies...( I first tried non stick Reynolds's aluminum wrap and that worked fine) Teflon sheet, friendly plastic, Tim Holtz scissors, needle tool, cup of water, glass beads and small regular beads, and my heat tool. The plastic slides off both the Teflon and non stick aluminum easily when the plastic has cooled.
My first attempt is the photo at the beginning of this post. I cut purple, iridescent blue, silver and gold and heated the plastic until it started to melt. I then took my wet needle tool and ran it thru the plastic. Reheated the plastic and sprinkled beads on top.
Now, for my second attempt...I cut some white, red and a red metallic FP. I then cut a heart shape from the red metallic and placed it on top of the other colors. Heated the plastic and then dropped small, glass, holeless beads. I really like how this piece turned out..pretty enough to put a pin back on or add it to an ATC or a Valentine card.
my cut red/white pieces 
heated red and white plastic with beads 
close up 
random colors of FP with a button that I cut off the shank and imbedded into the hot melted plastic. 
fairy charm embedded in the red and white plastic 
black, silver and white FP with a button coin. I must say, I really had fun experimenting with the Friendly plastic. I'm not sure if I will attempt making beads and other things because most of my plastic is old and brittle, but for now..I am very happy playing with what I have on hand in my first attempts. Now, to some make cards/atc's to put these medallions on.
Wow, I can't believe that twice today I have shared art with all of you. In 2011 it could be weeks in between art projects. How fun to be able to do this today.
10 comments:
Having Fun is the best part of crafting! Love the red and white piece!!! *Hugs*
These are beautiful, Elaine! I've always wondered what 'friendly plastic' is. I had no idea! Happy New Year! It looks like you're off to a good start!
Great results Elaine! It's fun isn't it! Another technique is to press a rubber stamp into it (not acrylic or clear stamps though, they might melt) Let the plastic cool slightly before pressing your stamp in and leave it in the plastic until it's cooled before removing it. I've never done anything too adventurous with it like making beads, but there are some lovely examples around the web.
Have fun!
Cool results!
That's something I've never tried. You came up with some awesome pieces for just playing around!
Hi Elaine,
looks interesting- I never worked with FP.
Glad you had fun- love the heart and the fairy charm!
Linda
it always makes me laugh the way they call it friendly plastic as I am always burning my fingers with it! nice little creations..happy 2012
I love the red heart creation and it's so close to Valentine's day so I'm sure you'll find a great use for that one!
Thanks for using AMACO's Friendly Plastic! Your art pieces are wonderful. Here's some information on how you can recondition or fix your brittle plastic, or what we tend to refer to as "snappers". Hope this helps. I'd like to post this on our Facebook and link to your site.
I've never used Friendly Plastic. I like the pieces you're making.
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