Description[]
Elaine Elwick Barr is creating some amazing jewelry using Shrink Plastic and Ed Roth's mini stencils. Here's her tutorial on how to turn a mini stencil into charms for necklaces or earrings.
Type of Craft[]
Jewelry
Difficulty Level[]
Mid-level
Supplies Needed[]
The necessary tools of this trade; Shrink Plastic, Stencil 1 mini chimp (or any mini-stencil), ink spray or paint, fine grade sandpaper, heat tool, scissors, poker or needlenose plier to hold shrinking plastic down, some beads and findings to complete your jewelry piece.
Directions[]
Start by cutting a piece of shrink plastic and sanding it on both sides. (For this piece, I used the frosted shrink plastic, which is a frosty sheer.) Sanding in a cross hatch pattern will help the sprays stick to the plastic. Color one side of shrink plastic, I used the sprays in Neon Pink, Neon Yellow and Blue. Spray just a few dots and then blot with a cosmetic sponge. Turn shrink plastic over and sponge stencil designs with spray in black. Spray just once into a cosmetic sponge and blot lightly through stencil. Remove stencils. Cut images out with scissors, along the edges of design. Using a holding device, I used a paper piercing tool but you could use a Popsicle stick or tweezers, and heat directly from the top with heat tool. The plastic will start shrinking and warping don't freak out, it will curl back out and flatten. Be sure to move the heat around to each part of the image to make it an even heating. These images are pretty small, so they are easy to shrink in this way. Something larger or more complex in shape may be better off in a toaster oven. Once shrunk all of the way, you can use some kind of flat object to flatten out the charm. Here is the shrink comparison with the original sizes of the stencil, the charm on the left is really dark looking in this picture which reminds me to mention when adding color to the shrink plastic, always keep it light. The color becomes more concentrated as it shrinks and will intensify.
Additional Photos[]
