Amazing technique

Just caught up with the Anna Marie show on Create and Craft the other day. She had some wonderful samples of what looked like baubles, with little scenes inside, viewed through a snowy round aperture at the front.

She showed us how to do them, just a polystyrene ball where she directed a heat gun at the ball and slowly melted away a hole. She made the opening and the hole inside bigger, until she had the size of the 'cavern' that she needed. Then just decorate.

Couldn't find any pictures of the finished items on either her website or the items for sale on C & C, but you should still be able to catch up with the programme from Thursday 22nd at 12.45, although all I get when I go to the 7-day catch up for that programme is the items for sale.

Lynda

That sounds like a lovely idea, one year I might have a go!

Sounds fascinating, fumes?

Looks like none, Karelyn. Anna Marie did the technique in the studio on two balls, one after another: held the balls in her hand (would stand mine in a washed tuna tin, myself), no mask, nothing. The polystyrene just sort of disappears.

Lynda

Quick google came up with this re: fumes:

"Styrofoam is polystyrene, so melting polystyrene gives liquid styrene. The fumes of styrene are moderately toxic when inhaled. In practice, it is not easy to melt polystyrene without burning it, except in a lab. Burning polystrene produces many other toxins, some worse."

Don't think I'll be having a go anytime soon, based on that!!

Having a look on the internet, including at Dow, who make Styrofoam (which, apparently is blue in colour), Styrofoam is extruded polystyrene, whereas the stuff used for all sorts (including craft items) is expanded polystyrene, but of course this isn't helped by the fact that the Americans call polystyrene Styrofoam! Whether it makes any difference, I don't know, but there were obviously no fumes on the programme and I'm sure C & C would have looked into this for safety reasons. There are lots of heat-cutters you can buy to make polystyrene shapes, so maybe it depends on the temperature of the heat you're using. When Anna Marie said what she was going to do, that was the first thing I thought of, so was quite surprised that she didn't don goggles and a mask.

Lynda

Ooer Tina, maybe not for me then unless I opened up the conservatory and did it there.

Will let you know when I've tried it myself. It may be OK because it doesn't get hot enough to give off any fumes, rather than being heated as in set fire to.

Lynda