Welcome Back Carol Quance #1 Shrink Plastic Bracelet ....

"Don’t know about you but I love the Lynne Perrella images. So how about being able to take them with you wherever you go and wear them at the same time….. voila, a shrink plastic bracelet".
 

Certain peeps will chuckle at this as we’ve been having a discussion about Shrink Plastic.

There are a number of different makes on the market and you can also get White, Frosted and Black varieties. I’ve found that Shrink Plastic can shrink differently too depending on which make you use. It can shrink unevenly and leave you with a slightly crooked shape.  The make I used was Polyshrink. I’ve always found it reliable and it doesn’t tend to stick to itself when shrinking hence wasting precious shrink plastic. I decided to work with Translucent Shrink Plastic.

I used three different heart shaped dies.  

I cut out quite a few as I hadn’t decided how many I wanted to add to my bracelet and it was likely there would be a few that went wrong (no really!?).  In the past I’ve used chalks or ink pads to colour the Shrink Plastic, but I thought I would have a go and see if it worked with the Fresco Paints. 

After quite a lot of experimentation, it seemed the best method was to ..  

1) sand the Shrink Plastic.

2) Next paint the Shrink Plastic, let it dry naturally. You can see on some i have darker bits at the edges, just remember, the colour gets bolder as it shrinks, and a thin layer of paint is all that is required.

3) Now stamp it with a permanent ink (I've used a variety of Lynne Perrella stamps) like archival, brilliance black, or versafine. Remember you are staming onto paint, so these inks are better than using staZon. StaZon is great direct to Shrink, but the others are better on top of paint.

{"TIP: Regarding stamping the images, I placed the SP on the stamp rather than the other way round, you can then be sure you get the part of the image you want – it even shows through the Shrink Plastic"}. 

I also thought that the die cut shapes looked better stamped completely rather than leaving white space.  What do you think??. 

{"TIP: When Shrink Plastic shrinks any colour used will become more concentrated and darker.  Unless you want dark backgrounds, initially try testing out a light colour.

DON’T FORGET to punch a small hole before you shrink otherwise you won’t be able to attach it to your bracelet"}.

5) So, once you are ready, and the ink is dry, shrink it. Simples!

The next step is optional but I thought I would try some clear embossing over the image. 

6) Press your Shrink Plastic shape (inky side down) into a clear Embossing Pad. I found this gave better coverage rather than the other way round. I used about three coats of clear UTEE for each one. If you don’t have UTEE use ordinary Embossing Powder, It’ll just require a few more layers. If you haven’t tried this before, look for triple embossing videos on YouTube for hints and tips.

This pic just gives you a comparison between embossed and not. 

7) Lastly I applied silver Liquid Leaf to the back and along the edges of each piece of Shrink Plastic. As previously, I used yet another defunct Krylon pen and dipped into the Liquid Leaf. I found it applied best and most smoothly if I “tapped” it onto the surface of the Shrink Plastic. Here are the finished shapes. 

Time to put it all together with the aid of these tools.

I attached each piece to the chain via a jump ring and used a magnetic clasp to join it all together as well as adding some more heart shaped charms from my jewellery stash.  

 I hope you have enjoyed this step by step and how to of Shrink Plastic. Would love to see what you create. Click HERE to upload/share your artwork.  I will be back tomorrow evening with project #2.

Leandra Says: I love how the paint works so beautifully onto the Shrink Carol. THis is a fun project, and a great gift too. It makes stamping up so much easier. Did you see this LP shrink bracelet that Lin (Yours Artfully) made in autumnal tones. She stamps, and uses the paints to colour in the image, but it is not UTEE sealed, I think she may have used satin glaze instead.

Gillian Says: Stunning, I so love this bracelet. (can I have it lol). Definitely need to try this project. I prefer the embossed look which looks fab with the edged Liquid Leaf.