Sunday, November 25, 2012

Shrinky Dinks...new to me!

Maybe everyone already knew this but I didn't! Last week a new attendee, Debbie from Morgantown, introduced me to the wonder of colored pencil on Shrinky Dink plastic. I have been in experiment mode since then.

It is thin, strong, and lightweight with a nice surface texture on both sides -- the pencil turns into a matte finish and captures a surprising amount of line detail...color neatly! The non-frosted side ends up very shiny -- almost like a coat of satiny resin.

The really cool thing is that after you bake it (325 degrees for the shrinky plastic), you can back it with polymer and bake at the polymer temp and it bonds with the clay. No glue or liquid clay needed. It seems like you'd really have to use some force to separate them. However, I don't know what, if any, long-term reaction might come into play between the polymer and plastic. If anyone knows, please leave a comment.

A regular hole punch in the plastic before baking shrinks down to a perfect size for button holes or for jewelry wire to pass through.

If you bake with the shiny side up and then embed the matte side down in the clay, you end up with an image behind a glossy finish. Make sure you don't touch the glossy side before it's cool so you don't make marks in it.

It's not a fast process because you're drawing and filling in a larger image than the final size. But it's another fun tool in the kit for making delicate but strong jewelry components.

I am very impressed by how strong the plastic is.
That little teeny piece of eyelash that extends out is not in danger of breaking.
I went very light with the colored pencil on this first one so it remained
very translucent.

I colored too dark and lost detail.
I added more colored pencil on this after baking to insert some highlights.
I realized that this technique would benefit from white outlines rather than black.

You have about 10 seconds of working time to bend the plastic after it
comes out of the oven. I baked it on a 5x8 index card so I could just bend
 the card into the curve I wanted. The plastic clung to the card and took on
the curve. I wish I would have done this one with the shiny side out. I used
thin permanent marker for the black lines and turquoise
colored pencil for the background.

As you can see, this design is similar to the one above.
I drew my original design on a piece of paper so I wasn't
just winging it and I would have a template to use again.
The plastic is clear so it's easy to trace any pattern.

The frosted surface is lightly textured and is a fantastic base for the pencil.
 I also tried graphite drawing pencil and it worked just as well (though the
shiny side turns out nicer than the matte side). I determined that rounded
corners shrink more uniformly than square ones. I cut the polymer
flush with the surface of the plastic and pressed it onto a
swirly texture stamp to add decoration to the back.

I left the mitten above and the fish below unbacked with clay because the color looks good
on both sides and I didn't mess up the shiny sides when baking.



I draw this flower on a piece of paper and then used it as my "pattern" by
putting it under the plastic and using it as my guide for drawing on the film.
Even if you don't consider youself an artist, I bet you could sketch a photo
well enough to make a nice pendant or brooch.

22 comments:

  1. Thank you foe sharing all your experiments!
    Polymer frames are nice, maybe it is a way making a link between the two materials...

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  2. Love your shrinky dinks! It's something I've always wanted to have a play with, but haven't got round to yet! Your designs are just lovely! :)

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  3. Have fun with the shrinky dinks. The kids and I use them a lot to make ornaments for christmas or for windows and keyrings etc. Haven't been as arty as you though! We use sharpie markers for lovely vibrant colour.

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  4. Great experiments !
    I played a bit with it, but never tried to combine it with polymer, although as the bake temp is lower, it is indeed a great idea...

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  5. Great experiments !
    If it is stable with polymer clay, it is indeed a great new tool for projects... I experimented a bit with it (bought it under the pretense it would be used by my daughter, as usual), but never tried combining it with clay...

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  6. Oh, these are really wonderful! I love the floral one with the turquoise background. Please check out my new book on making jewelry from shrink plastic, Shrink! Shrank! Shrunk!, on Amazon.

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  7. I also love playing with shrink plastic. Don't forget that it comes in black also. Even more possibilities!

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  8. I used to play with using this for jewelry components years ago. You have inspired me to pull it out and try it again! I never thought of combining it with polymer clay.

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  9. I like PolyShrink the best - it comes in white, black, transluscent and clear. I did pieces years ago with polymer clay and they're fine today.

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  10. I like PolyShrink the best for shrink plastic - it comes in black, white, clear and transluscent. I did pieces with polymer clay and shrink plastic years ago and they are still fine so I don't think there's any problem with combining the two

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  11. Thes have turned out really nice. My daughter is an artist she has great fun with the shrink plastic.

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  12. I see Liz' comment here that her pieces have lasted over time. I asked on the shrink plastic art board I administer if anyone had results to report. One artist says she did this as early as 2008 with not issues. Also, there are many 'warnings' from artists about raw PC in contact with shrink plastic. I've never seen one about cured PC. But for all things shrink plastic, you can also go to LuckySquirrel.com. They do mention using the 2 together at the bottom of this page - again with no warnings. Although their results says you need glue to hold them together. http://www.luckysquirrel.com/info_q_a.html

    So I hope the verdict is in & we can look forward to many more of Artybecca's great adventures : ) - Chris O

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  13. Thanks for the information about melding it with polymer clay! You could also use a Dremel to make holes...I got a Dremel Stylus, that you hold very much like a pen and it is invaluable for putting holes in polymer clay.

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  14. These are great, Becca!Of course It helps if you are a talented illustrator in the first place...:)

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  15. Since it shrinks (obviously) how long did you make your bracelet?
    Very pretty work😊

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  16. 10 inches -- the length of the Shrinky Dink sheet -- shrinks to about 4 inches. Don't quote me ... I'm not measuring a piece in front of me, that's just my estimation from memory.

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  17. These are beautiful! Did you cook the shrinky dink plastic before you added the polymer clay? Also - I was looking at your clay earrings that you made to go with an outfit - you mentioned curing it - is that polymer clay?

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  18. hi Juliette,
    You have to cook the Shrinky Dink before doing the clay step. The Shrinky Dinks shrink, but clay doesn't. The nice part is that the Shrinky Dink plastic and polymer really like to bond together so you don't have to use any glue or liquid clay to stick them together. Just make sure the clay wraps around the edges of the plastic and the bond will be very sturdy when the item has cured.

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  19. hi Juliette,
    You have to cook the Shrinky Dink before doing the clay step. The Shrinky Dinks shrink, but clay doesn't. The nice part is that the Shrinky Dink plastic and polymer really like to bond together so you don't have to use any glue or liquid clay to stick them together. Just make sure the clay wraps around the edges of the plastic and the bond will be very sturdy when the item has cured.

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