The Last day of the Friendly Plastic Marathon

We are winding down the Marathon and have enjoyed every single creatively intense moment that it brought! There was never a dull moment! Seriously....could there ever be a dull moment with us????

I think the most important thing that I took away from this week and really every time I am around Jen is "don't follow directions"! If it isn't going to injure you in some way or burn down the house - then go for it! Explore! Experiment and create! So what if it doesn't turn out the way you wanted? Maybe its better...or maybe it isn't...in any case...you've released creativity and its flowing and somewhere down the road you are bound to discover something amazing! Thank goodness Friendly Plastic is an expensive medium to do just that with.

Yesterday we explored more alcohol ink techniques and painting with alcohol to remove color and create effects.

On top of that, we added fine silver punched shapes from paper type clay.



Jen also explored using a white pen to create designs on alcohol inked non-heated friendly plastic. Then she placed it on the griddle where she embedded the SeaHorses



Once the resin was applied....WOW! You can NOT believe the depth of this piece and unfortunately a good picture to show the depth is beyond my photography skills.

It seems that when working with Friendly Plastic it tends to "grow" and morph into little excess shapes. One of the advantages of this is that even the smallest piece of Friendly Plastic can make a piece of jewelry pop!



The FP has been taped on...because....I have other shapes in other colors that I can interchange with a little piece of double stick tape to coordinate with any color I have on! And the tape does not hurt the silver surface in any way....gotta love that!

We did take a afternoon break for some local sightseeing! My studio is nestled in the Ozark Mountains of Southern Missouri, just north of Branson. It's a gorgeous area full of lakes and touristy things like country music and such. But what a wonderful place to host a crafty retreat! Would you like that?

Here are a few highlights from yesterdays Branson tour to share.

Here is Jen and I on the deck of Bass Pro's floating restaurant White River Fish Company on Taneycomo lake



Just a block up the road - next to Starbucks and located in one of the original buildings from the late 1800's early 1900s in historic downtown Branson is the Plum Bazaar Bead store - can't miss it the building is painted two shades of purple and every inch of the store is crammed full of wonderful and unusual beads...it's a must go to destination! The ladies of the store were very helpful and friendly!






Next a little sightseeing. Branson is known for it's beautiful lakes with crystal clear water, luscious ozark mountains and outdoor sports, music shows and family activities.

Taneycomo lake was created then the dam was built in the 1950's. Above the dam is Table Rock Lake and below is Taneycomo



Because the water comes from the bottom of this 250+ foot tall dam, the water is very very cold and great for trout fishing. Now, Jen didnt believe me when I said the water was cold...so she had to stick her foot in...



I think she figured out I was right......but the cold water did feel good on a hot day like yesterday.

The fly fishing was great. These anglers caught several while we were standing there.



This is the view of Taneycomo from on top of a scenic look out



And this is a view of Table Rock Lake and a view I had out my bedroom window when I was growing up.


And last night we finished up a few pieces and relaxed watching a movie.

Jen's gone home now, I tried and tried to convince her to stay and bribed her with chocolate, but she still had to go! It's okay though because we will be together again in October for a much bigger retreat at her studio. Jana Ewy and Liz Welch will be there too!

I say we should try to plan a big FP retreat to the Ozarks.. We have low cost airlines that fly directly into Branson. What do you think?.....am I twisting your arm?? Just a little???