"I have always loved iridescent/metallic colours and have been fascinated by fused glass – I believe Friendly Plastic will allow the creation of similar effects without some of the limitations – it is full of creative potential and an exciting new medium to work with."I cannot remember how I came across Friendly Plastic, since moving to New Zealand. I had seen it many years ago at a craft fair at Alexandra Palace, London - it was the bright metallic colours that caught my eye, when passing a jewellery stand. I think because it had been used for jewellery, I did not think of using it myself - I had not appreciated the full potential of the product. Anyway, I am just glad to have rediscovered FP.
There is so much information available on the internet - I still have not read it all. I have spent a lot of time looking at http://friendlyplastic.blogspot.com/ and also looking at the web sites and blogs of Liz Welch and Jana Ewy, which I have found very inspiring:
www.rarebird.ltd.uk and http://rarelizzie.wordpress.com/
www.justbananas.com and http://www.janaewy.blogspot.com/
I have been thoroughly enjoying creating pieces of marbled Friendly Plastic - it gets quite addictive. Although jewellery is something I have never made before, I intend to make the best pieces into pendants, to enter The Heart of Friendly Plastic 'Marbling Magic Design Challenge'. The deadline for this challenge is 15th June - I will post a photograph of my competition entry.
I have also ordered lots of exciting goodies from www.rarebird.ltd.uk in the UK - this website seems to have the greatest range of accessories for, as well as colours of, Friendly Plastic. I just cannot wait for this order to arrive. So far, I have just been experimenting with marbling for this challenge but I know there is so much more to try and learn. My main idea at the moment is to make mosaic tiles out of Friendly Plastic, reminiscent of fused glass, for creating pictures and decorative mirror frames.
