A Review. Entirely solicited.

You know gentle internet, just from a quick scan of this blog, that I'm not inventive with my crafting, I'm a follower.  I like a trend and I like to comment (a lot) on trends.  I'm not the arty type that's given to six hours of experiment for one technique or to arrive with one card.  I can't use wet glue a lot because of the waiting time.  I don't have the imagination to be dimensionally creative - canvasses, melt pots, that sort of stuff..leaves me a bit cold in terms of personal enthusiasm.  Love what I see, but have no yearning to do.
So that's the immediate dilemma when the good people at Thermomorph ask me if I wanna review their plastic product. But above all of the things that I'm not, I'm a Desker and therefore nosey.  So I said yes.  

Step into my lab.  You don't need a white coat. Or a lab..all the science has been done really.  This stuff is incredible, like flubber. Only real.  Boil the kettle, let is sit for a bit (it has precise instructions...but I don't have a thermometer, so I erm, let it sit for a bit). Pour the water into a bowl.  Pour in some of the white balls from the green lidded pot. Try not to let them fall into a peak in the centre of the bowl. (This too is merely a tip, not a scientific requirement - you miss seeing the action).

 Before your very eyes, the balls turn transparent.  And they stick together.  It's clever. With a spatula..(OK, it was a butter knife), lift the 'mass' from the water.  It comes out of the bowl cleanly, so you won't have any probs with filthy residue and blahdy blah.  

 It's warm and malleable.  Like erm....I don't know really.  Uber extra super thick treacle, or melted plastic.  That's what it is, after all.  So..handle it a bit, then quickly dry your hands so that you can pull bits off, roll it into beads, roll it flat, shape it as you wish....

 As it starts to cool, it becomes opaque again.  And it's very easy to tell anyway, it becomes less pliable.  I had a tray of cold water set aside in which to 'plunge' stuff, just in case it was all too hot and burny. But it wasn't.  So I used it to speed up the cooling.  

Once cooled, it's plastic.  White.  If rolled or squashed thinly, it's easy to cut and sand. The Cropadile had no trouble with this thin star. And my sexy Fiskars hand drill had no trouble with the squares of pretend beads.  Although a few of them I had thoughtfully put holes in whilst the plastic was still warm...cocktail sticks.  All mod cons in my lab.  

Now I've seen Carmen's review and she did some very sexy moulding with her Thermomorph.  And it has a real purpose for her.  Not so much for me, I did just play with the making part.  But after punching sanding and drilling, it's got to be able to withstand a bit more, huh.  So.....

 
I coloured it.  The Sharpie is dry, the plastic makes it shiny.  Nice.

 I sponged and trickled alcohol ink onto it.
Worked a treat..it wouldn't sand off easily either, which I thought was useful.  I embossed it.  Silver pigment ink and holographic powder.  The heat gun melted the weak pointy parts of the star and there's a clear blob at left which caught the wrath of the heat gun too....but I just left them to cool off and they were solid again.  Clever.

 Acrylic paint works a charm.  I know this doesn't exactly look attractive, but frankly, these nasty looking blobs are SUCH A GREAT IDEA that I wanted them to look ugly - so no one will steal them when I put them in workshop baskets!

 And finally, I mixed powdered Pearl Ex into a clear glue and painted it onto another ugly blob.  Worked a treat.  And the bit of Thermomorph. that I used as a mini palette will now stay in my basket for just that...a handy palette.  Tiny is good if you never do any thing more painty than a swoosh or a flick!  

 So there you have it - and these ugly rocks are......

My new glue holders!  Great stuff this Thermomorph.  All the ridiculous bits I broke off the star edges, the useless beads and mishapen left overs..I flung them back in to more recently boiled water and played again.  There is genuinely no reason to have waste. I can see home made buttons, beads and embellishments, stamping into it will create amazing moulds and masks - it is lightweight - any number of faux metal finishes could be achieved for a fraction of the price of some of the real stuff.  I know you can think of loads of uses, because if I can... I also see Miss Dunnit at my shoulder - this stuff is perfect for the CosPlayer community too, all those pretend death rays, light sabers and twiddly bits - so much easier to make when you can use the Thermomorph.  I expect that every knob and button in the Tardis is made from it!  

You can go look at it, follow any of my links or copy and paste this into your browser - on AMazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/ThermoMorph-Polymorph-Shapelock-Plastimake-InstaMorph/dp/B00D3LAZ9O/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1385398006&sr=8-1&keywords=thermomorph+moldable+plastic

I've barely scratched the surface of its potential for craft use.  I've barely scratched the surface of its volume either - the tub was full to the brim and I think I've used less than a centimetres worth of the volume.  Originally, I coughed at the price, but frankly, it's remarkably good value. As an incentive to get some real art from it - anyone want to take on the rest of the tub and extend my review? I don't feel it should sit unused here, it's potential is crying out for attention!  Leave a comment..if there's a massive number of you, I'll get someone to pick a number.  The condition is that you extend the review. That means show it off, with photos that brag about your talents.  This is no time for modesty. Mind, you're at my blog..you already know about lack of modesty!