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 ...

Square Knot Bracelet .. Try One .. Will it Work?

So when things go wrong .. like sitting in a Michael's parking lot .. with the smart phone being very dumb .. and not working .. I can't access my coupons!  Major dilemma!!  Hmmmm .. so call ATT and they say there is an outage .. and reset my phone for me .. in the meantime I've gone in the store and found a few things I need (right .. need) .. and the gal says she will honor the text I can't get to .. LOL .. yippee!!  Extra 15% off even when the stuff is on sale!!

Back out to the car .. and I have some string with me .. and rerunning youtube's through my head as I'm calling ATT again .. hmmm .. I'll try making a bracelet with the findings I just bought .. and the string I have ... no scissors .. fingernail clippers .. that'll do the trick!

No way to measure .. no way to make the string longer .. so here goes:

I don't think I got it quite right and I know it's not going to fit around a lot of people's wrists but it does fit around mine .. so I'm good with rejects ;o)  Actually quite a quick project and fun to learn!  Think I better try another with with the sailor bracelet string .. and maybe add some bling .. where is the bling department .. (sigh)

NOW - my phone is fixed .. ;o)  All is good ;o)))

There's A New Store in Town ~ O'Fallon IL ~ Goodies Galore

New Store?  Goodies Galore?  How Can I NOT Go?

OK, so it's the online newspapers that are causing me to go ~ they found it and had to put it in a spot where I could find it!  Said there are all kinds of things to see .. nothing consignment .. easy to find .. and actually I'm really glad to see another store in O'Fallon ~ beats the heck out of empty storefronts!  BUT REALLY .. does it have to have Goodies .. and not just goodies .. but Goodies Galore?  LOL .. ok .. it's my fault .. I saw the write up yesterday and went there right after work .. did I bother to read that they are closed on Monday .. NOPE .. did I peek in the windows .. YEP!

Soooooooooo, today after work I headed straight there - and wandered around looking at all the neat 'stuff' .. lots of things really thought they needed to come home with me - but I had to behave .. a strange concept I know ..

Hmmm .. what did I see .. furniture, jewelry, toys, children's things, clothing, tools, knick knacks, shoes, purses, luggage, books, dvd's, vhs movies etc. etc.,  (not doing justice here) and .. I had to laugh .. BEANIES!!!  Attic Treasures!!  Back in the day this store would be flooded with people snatching the beanies!  Gotta admit I didn't really check prices except on things that I thought for sure would follow me home - and everything seemed reasonably priced! 

Best of all was meeting Annette - very nice and fun to chat with.  (Not that I'd babble .. nope, not me)  I hope this store starts blogging so I can see what they get in as things start to go out!  And ............ tada ............. needed to get myself motivated to blog more ... such a slacker .. but the weather is really nice, this was a great adventure .. and really hope the success fairy helps this store along the way ...

Should have gotten more pics .. argh!  Ok .. so now to practice my mystery braiding ... or should I go get ice cream ..

Is this Ladder Stitch .. Stretch Magic .. ?

Well here I went again .. wanted to try doing 'ladder stitch' and create something fun .. but didn't want to use anything expensive to practice on .. so hmmm . let's see .. find some purty beads .. and Stretch Magic .. not sure what size either the beads or the stretch magic is .. but another adventure!

Seemed easy, other than puzzling out how to do the clasps .. added some earrings .. and VOILA!  Still don't know if this is a 'real' ladder stitch or if it's just something I made up .. but it works!! 

Memory Wire - Where Have I Been?

Where in the world have I been?  How come nobody told me that this stuff existed and all the potential for neat and interesting creations?  Thanks once again to April .. Three Sisters Crafts .. and her generous (to a fault, yep .. to a fault) outpouring of support to the local community .. I attended her most recent gala last weekend!  She not only raised beaucoup money toward stomping out Breast Cancer (all donation!!) but she even managed to serve up some make and take adventures to all of the stragglers (that would be me) who popped in.

After seeing the opportunities .. free beads .. free card making .. free entertainment .. free food and yes, FREE COOKIES .. where do you spose I spent the day ;o)

Ok, so bracelet size memory wire .. never tried it .. and PINK beads everywhere .. all sizes from seed beads to some pretty wild, large beads ... and I'm told it couldn't be simpler .. guess what .. it is simple!!  This is my very first bracelet using no rhyme or reason to create .. just stringing along and listening to varied conversations all around me as other ladies played too ;o)

The ease of completing this still astounds me .. even though the wire is brutal tuff stuff it's that way on purpose to maintain the shape .. so once the end loops are done the beads can't escape .. almost looks like a pretty slinky ;o)

 Well .. I couldn't believe how quickly this one went!  C'mon .. ask me if I want to try another project .. LOL .. yep .. I sure did!  How bout I pass on making the card .. and try making the 'other' kind of bracelet using the 'stretchy stuff' .. another project I've never tried! 

 This was fun too!  I think I made it too big and still I"m ok with it because I see the way it's done from start to finish as well as tying it of .. gotta get some of that GS Hypo Cement .. note to self!!

 Now this one was my "all by myself" trial .. using tiny green and blue beads alternating with blue and irridescent teardrop beads .. I love the color combination .. gotta get busy and make some earrings to match!

 Ho Hum .. why stop at the bracelet size .. Hey April .. do you have any of this stuff in ring size?  Yep, of course she does!!  Yeehah!  Soooooooooooooo .. although I don't have the slightest idea how or what possessed me to try a ring .. here it is anyway!  I didn't do a very good job of wire wrapping, and the size of the loop is almost big enough for both thumbs at the same time .. I still had fun attempting this and will have to kind of regroup on size .. or find someone who has extremely large toes or something to test it out for durability.

Close up of ring ~ still haven't tried the necklace/choker size .. but I'm sure I will!


Thanks April for all your generosity - I know the tremendous effort you put into all the adventures you do and can't wait for the next 'play day' .. pencil it in, ok?

Instamorph & Friendly Plastic - Adventures in Melting and Creating

Friendly Plastic - a retro craft that I never tried but one day in Hobby Lobby I saw some of the neatest colors .. and of course they jumped in my basket .. then home to see what kind of videos are out there - and it seems like there aren't really a lot - but enough to get me started.  I bought some pellets from Amazon called 'Insta Morph' and with the help of a very friendly Instamorph guru (Brian) (http://www.instamorph.com/) I decided to play with both these products together.

The Friendly Plastic is really fun - and I can see lots more projects in my future .. the Instamorph is great too!  I found the friendly plastic too 'thin' for making pendants and used the white Instamorph pellets .. they melt totally clear .. to create a very stable backing for what I wanted.  I'm hooked - have to find more time to play!

Different selections of Friendly Plastic melted over thin layer of Instamorph / then applied to bamboo piece and wire wrapped for pendant.



Friendly Plastic leftovers in many colors melted together and sprinkled with tiny glass beads, mounted on thin metal backing and wire wrapped.

 

Friendly Plastic melted over Instamorph / shaped with small cookie cutter

The other thing I tried was really fun .. took a heart shaped cookie cutter and melted Instamorph .. then used an irridescent white slab of Friendly Plastic as a top cover ~ that part came out extremely well.  My thought was to use the shape 'upside down' and make a bunny .. problem is I can't draw and the face didn't come out the way I wanted it to .. PLUS how will I do the ears .. ho hum .. this is a blooper //


Bunny Flop .. melting was fine .. shape perfect .. but can't draw .. seems like the ink 'ran' using black Sharpie

The next two are mixing products again - and what I really love about these is the variations that are possible by accident or on purpose if I'm lucky enough ;o)

Mini Cookie Cutter shape with Instamorph layer / covered with scraps for color .. wrapped with lightweight metal sheet / black color .. edges punched with paper punch.

Very mixed 'media' on this one and I love it!  Melted Instamorph then 'painted' with random colors of nail polish.  Remelted and added in scraps of Friendly Plastic around the edges .. still need to finish these pieces and either wire wrap or add to the back for hanging pendant.

This is a great craft!!!  Would love to see more information, postings, ideas, feedback!!  Let's play!!!!!