Think Crafts Blog – Craft Ideas and Projects – CreateForLess

Our guest blogger, Jana Ewy shares her insight on the tools she uses for her wonderful designs…Welcome Jana!

Here are a few of my favorite Friendly Plastic tools.

For Cutting: quilters cutting mat, quilters clear acrylic ruler, a mat knife (or utility knife) and a pair of scissors.   Since I use small strips of plastic in most of my designs, using the ruler, mat knife and cutting mat, allows me to measure and cut perfectly straight strips. Since I am a bit of a perfectionist, I prefer this process better than hoping for a straight cut with my scissors. Once my strips are cut, I will use the scissor to cut them into smaller pieces.

For cutting any other shapes, that do not require a perfectly straight cut, I use my scissors.  Friendly plastic can be cut into just about any shape using scissors. I will trace my pattern onto the back of the plastic and then cut it out. If you notice from the photo I prefer a scissor that is easy on the hands.

For Heating and Softening: griddle, nonstick baking sheet and a heat gun.  I came up with the griddle method of heating and softening the plastic a few years ago. This process has opened the door to so many new techniques and has allowed me to design in a whole new way. I never loose my excitement and fascination of watching a design happen. By placing a non-stick baking sheet onto the griddle and keeping the temperature at a constant setting of between 200 and 250 degrees, the plastic can be softened, fused together, inlayed, swirled and marbled.

I use a heat gun to fuse two pieces together, softening the edges and for free form designs. It can also be used instead of the griddle for small projects and abstract designs. Just remember that the flow of the air can easily move your pieces around.

Creating Swirls and Marbling: the needle tool and the marbling comb.  The needle tool is great for creating spirals and swirl patterns in the softened plastic. I also use it to pierce a hole through beads and to help to lift the cooled plastic from the baking sheet. You can never have enough needle tools around if you ask me.

The marbling comb, another one of my bright ideas, was designed to create basic marbling techniques, from the cascade pattern to the octopus pattern, or a design of your own. My favorite is the wavy chevron pattern.

Cutters: cookie cutters, craft cutters, clay cutters.  Whatever they may be called… collect as many as you can. They come in so many shapes and sizes, and are perfect for cutting out jewelry components. I use a cutter for almost all of my components. They are quick and easy to use. Keep them in a dish of ice water with a few drops of oil added to it. This will keep them from sticking to the warm plastic.

Craft Knife: I use a craft knife to cut around shapes cut with the cookie cutters, that don’t pop out on their own. This happens quite often, so count on using your craft knife most of the time.

There you have it … my favorite tools to use.  There are so many unique and fascinating tools out there that can be used with Friendly Plastic, I hope you discover a few of your own.

You can visit Jana’s website at: www.justbananas.com.  For some great project ideas using Friendly Plastic visit AMACO’s website at: http://www.amaco.com/projectcat-friendly-plastic-6.html.