Good day everyone. Carole sharing a tutorial on how to use shrinky dink material. They are tons of fun and I'm constantly amazed at how much people of all ages enjoy creating with them.
There are a few different styles of shrink film sheets you can buy. I've found clear, matte, white, ink jet compatible, etc. These can be found at Michaels, JoAnn's and probably other local crafting stores. I've found them in both the scrapbook section and the kid's craft sections, so if you cannot locate them ask a store associate to help you find them.
The instructions that come with them are simple and easy to follow. For this tutorial I started out using clear shrink film sheets, but didn't like the effect for what I was doing and moved on to the white ink jet compatible shrinky dink sheets.
Not having sand paper handy, I used an emery board to rough up the surface of the shrinky dink material.
This helps the plastic to hold the ink better. With Valentine's Day fast approaching I decided to use a Love themed stamp.
Using Cherry Cobbler Stamping Up ink I stamped my image onto the the shrink film and cut the image out with a pair of scissors, leaving a small border around the image. If you have rough edges use your sandpaper to smooth it a bit. Next I punched a hole in the shape as I wanted to make a charm.
Tip
You must punch the whole BEFORE shrinking! Very important to remember this.
I've forgotten this step a few times so I know first hand that "hand slap to the head" feeling! The instructions for shrinking calls for using an oven, but I have found my heat gun is faster and easier to use. I put the shrink plastic shape onto a paper plate covered with aluminum foil.
I turned on my heat gun and held it about 4-6 inches from the shrinky dink shape. In about a minute the shape started to shrink and bend in all kinds of crazy ways.
Do not let this alarm you! It will look like it's going to bend and melt right into itself and be ruined, but it will not. Keep the heat gun pointed at the shrinky dink and the shape will straighten itself out.
Once this happens the shape has pretty much shrunk to it's final size. If the shrinky dink is not totally flat at this point, use the bottom of a glass or an acrylic stamp block and flatten the shape as soon as you remove the heat gun from the shape and it is still a bit pliable. This will flatten it nicely.
Since I wanted a charm for a necklace I added a jump ring and then a clasp to the shrinky dink. I attached the clasp to a silver jewelry chain I purchased for dirt cheap in the Joann's jewelry dept. And a simple necklace for Valentine's Day.
You can also cut shapes from your Cricut, Imagine, Silhouette, Cuttlebug, Big Shot, Grand Calibur, Sizzix machine, whatever die cut machine you have at your disposal. I also like to use punches with shrink film. Especially stamp and punch sets from Stampin Up.
Super easy. You can color this material with inks, pens, pencils, whatever. Have fun experimenting.
It's a quick, easy and fairly inexpensive craft to have fun with, so feel free to try different things. And please let the children in your life share the fun with you!
Have a great weekend!
PS. Don’t forget to sign up to be follower we are looking for #5625 if it’s you email us at cuttlebugchallenge@gmail.com. Follow us on Pinterest as well :) there's a small pin button now at the bottom of each post.
Here’s the link of the Linking Party for your twitter, Facebook, and blogs! www.passionatelyartistic.com/2012/01/craft-and-hobby-association-with.html