Mad Scientist Weekend .. well .. maybe not ;o)

Well here it is .. President's Day .. no mail .. no banking .. should be designated as no work .. but it ain't ..... so I'll babble about my poor kitchen turned mad scientist lab over the weekend ;o)

I've been playing with Friendly Plastic lately .. and Friendly Plastic pellets .. and wanted to experiment more . . specifically making molds that I can use to form shapes with the melted Friendly Plastic .. and talking chocolate candy adventures at the same time with Laurie .. got so wound up in 'molds' I became lost in a world I've never explored!

First, I watched videos .. and found that in my stash I had some 'liquid clay' .. Translucent Sculpey .. Liquid Sculpey .. TLS .. I've seen it called any one of those names but it's all the same little bottle (Michael's/Joann's) .. and I thought it was just for bonding clay pieces together but not so ..

This video was excellent!  Liquid Polymer Clay Mold
and I basically followed the instructions as laid out on the video .. how easy this should be!!  Well .. not so fast .. it WAS easy .. but also found out that I didn't plan quite right ..

 

This would have been perfect if I"d only leveled the button out somehow .. but how???  This is a super quick way to make a mold .. but will have to try with a flat backed object.

So .. what else is in the stash .. some brittle Friendly Plastic .. my 'crackers' .. but can't throw them away so I'll melt them into a pile and see what happens ..

The 'crackers' melted in with the flexible strips and bonded leaving me with a super nice fluted heart shape!!

Then I found some Easy Mold silicone putty .. OMG .. this is definitely my new favorite goop!  It must last forever cause I haven't a clue where it came from or when it entered the stash but yeehah!  So easy to use .. no formal measuring .. just mix some Part A with Part B .. and mold away!

No oven needed .. and only about 15 min from the time you put the goop on the piece you are making a mold of .. for a NO PATIENCE person .. this is all me!!

First try:

 

And then a bunny:



A panda bear and a cat:

And because I ran out of buttons .. a blend of the friendly plastic 'blob' cut out with an oval metal cutter .. backed with same shape friendly pellets melted in cutter .. adding in my silhouette .. and Magic Glos ..

Still needs another layer of Magic Glos and then a wire wrap of some sort to make a pendant ..

All buttons are fair game now!  Don't know what I'll do with the molds but sure is a fun thing to do .. having failed biology in high school I never went on to chemistry .. this is my idea of chemistry!  ;o)

Now for a blooper .. this was also done with 'crackers' friendly plastic sticks .. in a mold of a cabachon setting .. I put the mold directly on the heat tray (that's another awesome point about the Easy Mold) and melted the 'crackers' pretty side down so they'd pick up the features of the mold .. the colors when it cooled didn't 'pop' like I wanted them to .. and I'll experiment again ..



Valentine's Day = Gorgeous Flowers = Hot Diggety Dog

What's in a day .. when I realize it's Valentine's Day and start off by tripping over a sound asleep pooch .. realize I have forgotten to dry the clothes in the dryer (again) .. and remember it's my turn to drive so need to be on time .. can it get worse?

Oh sure it can .. lol .. trip over the other dog .. and they wanna EAT now!  Forget turning the dryer on Mom .. get the food ready .. give out the meds in those smelly old vienna sausages .. get a move on .. yeah yeah yeah .. we hear the cell phone beeping that it's your turn for WordFeud .. but that's gotta wait!

Whew . . ok .. dryer on .. dogs fed .. meds distributed to all three of us .. run for the shower .. time's a wastin .. uh oh .. phone again .. it's ringing .. dang it I missed it .. argh!

Ok .. shower done .. hair will just have to be in it's 'natural mess' and it's time to get out and warm the van .. but .. can it be that easy .. nope .. it's all frosty and maybe if I back up into the sunshine it'll melt faster .. go go go  ..

And then ....... the phone rings .. passenger is 'doing a favor' for the babysitter and running late .. ack .. we have to be at work by 8 .. and it's 5 til .. think we'll make it?  Don't bet on it .. cause we ain't a gonna be there any earlier than 8:45 .. so why not stop and get a cuppa coffee .. let's make it a caramel latte!!

Drop the keys .. spill the coffee .. fiddlesticks .. get to office and trip up the stairs .. didn't fall .. all is good .. see a huge pile of workload that has to be done .. never mind .. piece of cake .. and most everybody seems crabby so won't have to bother talking to anybody .. whew .. settled in .. and THENNNN...

The office door opens and a lady comes in wanting a signature .. argh .. flower arrivals already .. c'mon folks .. can't ya do this stuff at home?  Trudge on over and give her my name .. and she says OH .. well these are for YOU!!

They ARE?  Hot Diggety Dog!  I gotta pretend I'm mad about this .. not supposed to waste money on flowers .. ha ha ha .. how sweet!  Of course I'm snatching the card .. what does it say .. who did this?  Well, well, well .. just as I suspected .. and I'm not sharing .. it's a secret ..

So .. what's in a day?  Lots and lots of ups and downs .. but on THIS particular day .. I've been treated to something very special .. and unlike ice cream, eating out, nerves, and anxiety .. I won't even get a tummy ache!  Yeehah! 

Guess I better stop babbling ..

Friendly Plastic Pellets - Faux Porcelain Cameo Cabochons

Friendly Plastic Pellets - what a fun project to try! Following the basic instructions from an expert, Linda Peterson, you HAVE to go visit her blog -  How to Create Faux Porcelain Cabochons  -  I attempted to create a faux cameo!

The pellets are super easy to 'melt' .. just took a pan of leftover water I had boiled for my cuppa cocoa .. and poured it over a small amount of pellets in a small, old, foil pie plate that I use for different crafts. Once that hot water surrounded the pellets they changed from the white appearance to a clear kind of 'blob' that stuck together .. even though I could see the shape of the pellets they seemed to automatically gravitate to each other and melt together - neat! I fished out the blob .. then remembered I was supposed to cover my hands with baby oil .. ack .. I don't have any!! Bring on the Vaseline quick!

I smeared vaseline on my hands and tried to form a ball shape .. LOL .. good thing nobody was watching .. it sure was slippery! Even though I had melted what I thought was a very small amount of pellets .. I had way too much for what I was attempting .. note to self .. use less and add more if needed .. and with boiling water use caution .. the 'blob' is HOT!

Although hot when fished out the product cools pretty quickly in my opinion so I right away put into the empty shape I wanted and using my slippery fingers molded a sort of domed circle shape .. not too bad considering I have zero skills in the molding department! Ok .. so now my 'blob' is totally white and back into a hard plastic consistency .. and on to the image I want to transfer ..

I chose an image in just plain black and white .. and after making SURE it was ok to use a laser printer image (thank you Linda) I printed out a small rendition of the image on plain office paper. As a side note, I was very glad to learn that I don't necessarily have to use an ink jet printer .. and that even magazine pages, laser jet, and who knows what else .. will work!!!

Found some Gloss Gel Medium at Michael's .. never heard of this 'stuff' and never tried it. Plunged right in and using my fingers coated the image .. let dry (which was quick) and did it 2 more times, so a total of 3 layers. Trimmed the image with very sharp scissors but didn't even try to cut close for detail. The shape looked 'funny' and  was kind of a rubbery consistency on the top side of the paper and just regular paper feeling on the back. What to do .. should I just do like Linda's video and apply .. or should I try the wet and rub off the back paper to see what kind of mess that makes. Gosh, was I surprised!

I opted to get the paper off .. and dunked it in cold water .. lightly started rubbing and off the paper came .. incredible .. leaving me with a small kind of clear edged 'sticker' for lack of knowing what to call it .. but the black ink stayed intact! Flipped it over . . patted dry with paper towel .. then put a light coat of the gloss gel medium on the back side and centered (yeah, right .. I can't see straight but that's another story) on the 'cameo' shape. Another coat on top of the image to smoothe it down .. and let it sit to dry .. this whole process goes very quickly -

This is actually 'resting' in the shape I formed it in .. (Vintaj Setting) but not glued down just yet .. I like it . but think it's missing something .. gotta think about this ...

Coated with 2 coats of clear nail polish kind of brightened it up and smoothed out my finger lines from smearing the gel medium .. yay! Still think the edges aren't what I'm looking for .. soooooo

Right before leaving for work .. I applied black crackle nail polish to the edges! I love it .. the crackle 'cracked' leaving some of the white showing through and kind of a vintage lace look ..

Will definitely be dry when I get home .. haven't a clue what I'll do with it next but I'm LOVING this .. thank you Linda!!



Questions I still have:



My favorite resin is Lisa Pavelka's usually found in the clay section at stores like Michael's and Hobby Lobby .. BUT .. how do I use it on something that is already domed?


** Update** I emailed Lisa and she replied!!  Thank you Lisa!
"It the piece is slightly domed you can add Magic-Glos and it will intensive the piece.  My recommendation is to add it in layers and cure in between layers. By adding it in thinner layers you can achieve more control of the look and placement of the glos."

** Additional question I asked .. was can I use my fingers to spread the Magic Glos over my piece .. and love this answer too:

"Absolutely, you can use your finger to distribute Magic-Glos. Please make sure that after using your finger you wash your hands or wipe them with a baby wipe.  You want to make sure you do not touch your eyes."



Will the gloss gel medium transfer picture work on resin clay .. oh I'll be in trouble there .. ;o)



If I use the other one step glazes .. again .. how do they not run all over the place on a domed item?



How to incorporate Flower Soft into this type project ..?



Yep .. gonna have fun with this stuff!

Craft Show Sellers .. Oh My! And Non Sellers . .

Wow! Craft shows every weekend wear me out!  Set up is a nightmare because I help my friend who has itty bitty glass items that have to be handled with lots of TLC .. and then tear down is the reverse nightmare getting everything packaged.

BUT ..... I love to go!  Hustle and Bustle .. and OMG all the hot sellers this year just totally baffle me!

Paracord .. bracelets and necklaces in all kinds of color combinations and patterns .. selling from $5.00 to $7.00 on the bracelets and from $10 to $15 on the necklaces. 

Decomesh -- giant wreaths made from a product called Deco Mesh or Decomesh .. not sure which.  Beautiful colors and some of the designers had incredible mixes of holly, bells, ornaments, etc intertwined with the mesh to make quite a presentation .. prices ranged from $35.00 to $65 and up ..



Scarves .. these were most definitely my very favorite!  Twirly and relaxed looking scarves for any color combination you can think of .. some knitted, some crocheted but both same concept.  The scarves were flying out the door more than other things mentioned here .. I think mainly because women were the shoppers and it was kind of chilly out .. not to mention the beauty of the designs.  There are several on Pinterest ..

http://pinterest.com/pin/159314905538485256/

And the last item I saw so many purchasing were items made of duct tape / duck tape / duck tape brand duct tape!  So I NEVER in a million years thought I'd buy something made from duct tape .. but .. I did!  Took it home and said what did I do here .. lol .. is this a trend .. do I need this?  But yeah, I do!  It's a neat little purse with side ziplock pockets!  It also inspired me to try (my first project) making a 'purse' myself!

Non Sellers .. felt bad for the vendors ;o(

Jewelry wasn't selling unless it was extremely unique .. bottlecaps, charms, pendants .. nope .. not selling ..

Vinyl / paper crafting .. not selling and there were some really nice presentation of items with vinyl sayings!

Picture frames with names / words spelled out in everyday pictures - not sure what that craft is called .. awesome looking but vendors very disappointed in sales

Sweatshirts / shirts ..

Scroll saw / wood items / primitive type things like snowmen, santas, etc

Overall it's kind of weird this year .. every weekend for the past month or more we've been at shows .. and there seem to be less people shopping and much more selective in what they buy.  Still have 3 more to go to .. can't wait to see what other projects I can learn ;o)

Paracord 5/16/12 at OneTrueMedia.com

So much fun!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

Paracord * Buckles * New Knots * Butterfly * Bracelets!

Nothing like a lazy weekend!  Storms with the full complement of thunder and lightning - chilly to way too hot for me .. and all that cord sitting there to figure out what to do with .. not to mention tons and tons of videos with knots I've never heard of .. and lots of them that seem impossible to me .. good thing I didn't enlist in the Navy - I would have flunked Knots 101!  BUT .. I did find time to do some creative adventures .. and these have no rhyme or reason .. they just seemed fun and can be so different each time .. I also flunk Lighter Handling 101 .. sigh ......

Uh oh .. garage door is opening .. and I haven't done a smidgen of work .. not even close to trying to pretend I cut the grass .. ummmmmmmmmm .. ok .. grab the phone .. get outside .. look alert (NOT) .. and guess what I found!~!

The lilacs smell so 'springy' and nice - the butterfly just posed prettily for me to capture the picture before flitting off to discover new blossoms! 

And then ................ bummer ............ had to cut the grass before more rain arrived ..........

Now .. bring on the shackles .. can't wait to try them!  IF I can find some ......

Firemen's Bracelet - Paracord Thin Line Cobra Weave - Red/Black

Tricky ... but I really like this weave .. and the color combinations are endless .. this one came out really nice with the mix of colors .. from my new paracord stash ;o)

Of course I didn't stop at just one ..... had to try another color combo -

Challenge is going to be figuring out how to make a keyring .. in the black/red combo .. off to watch more youtubes ...