Friendly Plastic Inspiration

The ideas on this page are illustrated for your personal use and inspiration only. They are shown to give you ideas on the uses for friendly plastic. They are covered by copyright and must not be reproduced for resale and/or commerical purposes. Reproductions of the designs, photographs or instructions must not be shown on any other website (incl e-bay), whether for sale or not.

See Also Foil, Scrapito, Friendly Plastic & Ink Page for more ideas using Friendly Plastic Pellets

Marbling comb examples

I have used the marbling comb on the Friendly Plastic to create the effects below. The marbling comb has the advantage that its very fine needles create evenly spaced swirls/lines. As you can see from the example of the box on the right the Friendly Plastic can be laid down with either spaces or close together (as in the base of the box)

Needle tool examples

The single needle tool is used to create lines etc on the Friendly Plastic in a particular area (where you do not want to marble the whole piece through) - as soon in the examples below. I use the needle tool on the christmas trees to join the trunk to the tree (example shown further down). The single needle tool is also very useful when you are mixing small oddments of Friendly Plastic together into abstract pieces (to use up your odds and ends) as you can then highlight in specific areas.

Using scrap pieces of Friendly Plastic

Using up all your odd pieces of Friendly Plastic by making an abstract or a quilted effect.

Plastic coated wire examples

The plastic coated wire works so well with Friendly Plastic because it is plastic coated. Therefore when heated the plastic on the wire fuses to the friendly plastic - giving a very good secure bond. This is particularly important on jewellery items (examples below). I also use the wire on the christmas trees to equate to a garland.

Shape cutters

Use the metal shape cutters when you need to create exact shapes in Friendly Plastic. There is a good range of various different shapes and the majority come in 3 different sizes per shape. Particularly effective when you cut a shape from marbled Friendly Plastic and then lay that on a plain piece in the same shape using the larger cutter. When using in the Friendly Plastic make sure you do not remove the cutter before the Friendly Plastic has gone completely cold. (Remember if you make a shaped mat, like the one below, do not use for hot plates - it will melt again!!)

Sequin waste examples

Sequin waste can be used in conjunction with the cutters and Friendly Plastic to provide unusual domed pieces - ideal for jewellery, card embellishments & christmas tree decorations. In this case work on a piece of tin foil, heat the Friendly Plastic and then lay a piece of sequin waste on top. By using the a cutter as a template you can push the Friendly Plastic through the holes of the sequin waste from underneath. Allow to cool before removing the cutter and then trim to the shape with scissors.

Rubber stamp examples

Friendly plastic can be used with the rubber stamps you already have. Heat the Friendly Plastic but then remember to put the rubber stamp into your ink pad (either clear or coloured) before you put it into the warm Friendly Plastic. I always leave the stamp in to cool before removing it.

Miscellaneous Ideas

All the different ideas and techniques for using Friendly Plastic are obviously too numerous to be able to cover them all. Remember you can use many different items with your Friendly Plastic - sequins, beads, wires, ribbons etc. It is beautiful incorporated into textiles pieces - either by making holes to stitch through - or by using a synthetic material and heating it to the already made Friendly Plastic piece. Below are a few different ideas for you.