Mould n Pour Friendly Plastic Moulds

I have had great fun the last couple of days with a batch of Mould n Pour I've just bought, and Friendly Plastic. It's only the second time I have bought it and the first time I wasted a lot of it and didn't do very well, but this time I am much happier with the results.

This is a friendly plastic frame taken from one I bought in Poundland, and a Tim Holtz Ornate Frame:-

And here are some musical instruments and a dressform and sewing machine which were novelty buttons, and the dolls house sewing machine from the other day.

So here is the canvas from a few days ago, but with the sewing machine and dressform replaced with the ones I have made, and another mould I made of a pair of scissors:-

I found it really satisfying and fun to make these items myself, as I felt more of the project was done 'from scratch'. I made some more moulds today but they are drying as I used clay and have glazed them. When I bought Mould N Pour before I thought it was expensive but that's because I made such a mess of it. Having managed to make a dozen moulds this time, it was well worth it. You can get the Mould N Pour from The Artistic Stamper or The Altered Element.

Slide Mailers

Have any of you ever been asked to demonstrate something without preparing for it, and made a start thinking, 'I don't know where this is going'? Well, this happened to me with these slide mailers. I had my class on Tuesday and had planned on doing something else, but one of my students had brought along some slide mailers and asked if I would show them how I would approach them. So I made this single mailer, but had no idea what colours I was going to go for, stamps, etc:-

I slapped on acrylic paint in two shades of pink, then some smears of gold, and gold crackle paint on all the corners. I added Crafty Individuals crackle stamp all over, front and back, in Brushed Corduroy and Victorian Velvet, then the same with their flourish in Sepia Archival. I used a large tag shaped Hero Arts stamp which has a clock and the Eiffel tower and the word Time, but just pressed the microscope glass into the piece of the image I wanted, and adhered it in the aperture with a little bit of French book text. I had intended to use accent beads to fill in the little space above the slide aperture but I couldn't lay my hands on it quickly enough so I used Heather Mix Flower Soft as it was on my workdesk. I then added a Pewter Friendly Plastic Eiffel Tower art mould to the front (you can get Friendly Plastic from the Altered Element). I thought I would use a bit of artistic licence and used more Flower Soft at its base, as a sort of jardin des Tuileries effect!

This double one was made in a similar way, but colouring the mailer with Distress Inks instead of acrylic paint, and using some image transfers I had prepared, on the front and inside the mailer.

I did Slide Mailers a while ago for a magazine article but it was fun just to have a little play this time!

Friendly Plastic Tutorial - Part 2

This is Part 2 of my Friendly Plastic Tutorial for the Altered Element DT. I do hope you will have fun making some art moulds and jewellery.

Beaded Dragonfly Art Mould

1. You will need Friendly Plastic Sticks in a selection of colours, from the Altered Element, a selection of beads, some stamens or wire for antennae, and Krafty Lady Dragonfly Art Mould AM 308 from the Stamp Bug, www.thestampbug.co.uk. Have a bowl of cold water ready.

2. Cut a piece of Friendly Plastic roughly the size of the body of the dragonfly, and two pieces for the wings.

3. Place the beads in position and then place the body piece of fp over them and melt to soften.

4. Start to melt the first piece with your heat gun about 15 cms away. This is just so it is sticky so the wing pieces will stick to it in a moment without blowing out of position.

5. It will start to look shiny and you will see the shape of the beads appearing.

6. Place the wing pieces in position, coloured side down and start to melt them.



7. You will see them become shiny and more metallic and they will sink down into the wings, taking on the shape.



8. Dip your fingers into the water and start to press the molten friendly plastic into the shape of the mould, and continue to dip your fingers. If you have long finger nails you can use your knuckles.

9. Pop the whole mould into the bowl of water. After about one minute it will be cool and you can very easily pop the dragonfly out.




10. The beads will probably pop out. This is ok as the main thing is you are left with the impression so that you can now glue them in with Glossy Accents.

11. You will probably have some rough edges to tidy up. You can snip these off with scissors, or use a craft knife and cutting mat. Any decent size scraps can be saved and reused.

12. It is possible to neatly push in all the pieces sometimes, whilst it is molten, so you don't have to do any trimming, as in this picture - it is easier when there aren't any beads.

13. Turn the piece over and soften the top of the body very gently with the heat gun. Either use stamens, or curl a piece of wire to form atennae, and press them into position in the softened plastic.

14. You will get used to the art moulds and how much friendly plastic you need to cut to fit them. Generally if they are deep moulds, you will need more as they will sink down and you will need more up the sides of the mould. You can easily add more as you go along if you have misjudged it. If you don't use too much, it is easier to poke all the bits into the mould so you have no overhang to trim away.

The unbeaded dragonfly:-

The final beaded dragonfly:-

Microscope Frame Friendly Plastic Karantha Pendant

You will need friendly plastic sticks, microscope sized memory frame, and Karantha Blossom and Leaves stamp, all from the Altered Element. You will also need necklace findings and small beads and trimmings to finish off the piece, and Metallic Rub Ons, or Rub N Buff from the Altered Element.

1. Cut a piece of friendly plastic to fit the frame.

2. Soften the plastic with your heat gun until the edges begin to soften and the surface takes on a crazed appearance.

3. Arrange a flower and sprig of leaves from the Karantha set on an acrylic block, and 'ink up' with Versamark.

4. Stamp into the softened plastic and allow to cool before removing.

5. Rub with Metallic Rub Ons or Rub N Buff to highlight the stamped image.

6. Trim off any edges that have frilled and fit it inside the frame.

7. Cut a tiny circle from a contrasting colour using a Crop-o-dile or similar. Soften the top left of the piece where the centre of the flower is, place the 'dot' in position and heat for a moment until it sinks into the background piece, but avoid overheating it as you will lessen the embossed design.



8. Thread some co-ordinating beads and a wire embellishment (I didn't make this, it was from a chutney jar!), using bead filament, and attach to the back of the friendly plastic piece with strong double sided tape such as Red Line.



9. Tidy the back by covering with co-ordinating paper.

10. Thread onto a suitable chain.

 

Square Memory Frame Pendant

You will need a Square Memory Frame and Friendly Plastic from the Altered Element, and Crafty Individuals stamp CI 252, and Krafty Lady Art Mould AM 263 from the Stamp Bug. Suitable chain and findings.

1. Cut a piece of Friendly Plastic (Blue Swirl) to fit your square Memory Frame.

 

2. Ink up Crafty Individuals CI 252 with Versamark.

3. Heat the friendly plastic until crazed then stamp, and leave to cool.

4. Rub the piece with Metallic Rub Ons or Rub N Buff.

5. Make up a Small Floral Heart art mould AM 263 using Gold/Black Friendly Plastic. You will only need about a centimetre for this little mould. Adhere to the centre of the piece with Glossy Accents.

6. Add a suitable chain to make a necklace.

Friendly Plastic Cuff

You will need Pewter/Black friendly plastic stick, Karantha Blossom and Leaves, Accent Beads, Rub N Buff or Metallic Rub ons, Bracelet Clasp

1. Soften a whole piece of Pewter/Black friendly plastic until it is crazed and softened at the edges.

2. Arrange all 4 of the Karantha stamps on a long acrylic block as shown and ink up with Versamark.

3. Stamp into the softened friendly plastic and leave to cool.

4. Turn over and heat the reverse until shiny and bend into a cuff shape - you can use your non-stick craft sheet to hold it as you bend it.

5. Rub with Green Metallic Rub On.

6. Use the small hole of your Crop O Dile or similar to make a hole either side of the back of the cuff, and set with eyelets.

7. Add jump rings and a bracelet clasp.

8. Cut 2 more pieces of the Pewter friendly plastic so that when placed together, they are large enough for the Karantha flower. Soften with the heat gun, press the stamp into the pieces, and leave to cool.

 

9. Cut out with sharp scissors.

10. Add green rub on.

 

11. Soften slightly with the heat gun and curl the petals upwards.

 

12. Add co-ordinating beads to the centre with Glossy Accents.

 

13. Adhere the flower to the cuff, in the centre but slightly offset, using strong glue. This is the final cuff.

More Ideas

CD and Friendly Plastic Brooches

These are just CDs cut into wedges and coloured with Wild Plum, Denim, and Eggplant Alcohol Inks. I've them added accent beads, friendly plastic art moulds, an image transferred vintage lady, some cogs, a button, and a rose made from a roasting tin. I have stamped the backgrounds with a Crafty Individuals Flourish using black Archival ink, and then wiped it straight off to lift some of the alcohol ink in a swirl. I then coloured some glossy card with the same alcohol inks to go on the reverse, and added brooch backs. 

 

Another Option

This pendant was made with a Tim Holtz Ornate Frame, simply cutting a piece of friendly plastic to fit the oval aperture, softening it with the heat gun, then adding a friendly plastic small dragonfly art mould, and some beads.