Hi my lovely readers,
I have been addicted with shrink plastic. In USA they called it shrinky dinks, which is also the name of the brand. However, i have no luck in finding shrinky dinks in Singapore or even Jakarta. Searched and browsed Singapore craft blogger, got few info that shrink plastic available at Bras Basah complex (Art Friend or Art Mark) and they come in different names.
Since, i only want a piece for trial, i do remember Daiso got sell shrink plastic, but not all branches, depending on their stocks. So, i just try my luck and went to Daiso at Plaza Singapura and bravo i found it. It cost S$2 for a sheet size about A4 paper size (forgot to take picture @_@). They only have the clear/transparent sheet.
Before we move on to the tutorial, i need to explain a bit about this type of plastic. The base material consists of thin, flexible polystyrene plastic (#6) sheets (The same material for the food container). Prior to heating, the plastic sheets can be coloured with felt-tip pens, acrylic paint, coloured pencils, etc. and cut into shapes. However, oily or waxy substances (such as cheap coloured pencils, crayons, or oil paint) are not suitable because they melt or burn in high heat. When heated with the Easy-Bake Oven, a conventional oven, or a heat gun, the plastic shrinks by about five-eighths and becomes thicker and more rigid, while retaining the coloured design. (I gathered the info from wikipedia).
I'll be using a heat gun instead of using oven. If you want to use oven, better buy another small and cheap oven for your craft usage and do not mix with the oven you use for food (this is not a food grade plastic) and do it in your most ventilated area at your home.
Okie dokie, let's start the tutorial ^_^
What you'll need:
1. A sheet of shrinkable plastic
2. The drawing you want to shrink it
3. Oil based marker
4. Coloured pencils
5. Sharp scissor/cutter
6. A heat gun
7. A punch hole
Gather all the tools needed
Quick brief about Ranger Shrink Plastic. I bought online from Singapore scrapbooking supplies website called http://www.mapletreehouse.com/ 1 packet consist of 5 sheets with the cost of S$7.88. For me, this is the best shrink plastic compare to Daiso. Daiso's too thick, very hard to cut with scissor.
I follow the instruction written on back of the packet, that you need to sand the sheet with 320-400 grit sand paper (totally optional). I sanded it in cross hatch direction, cause i am going to coloured it with pencil colours. And the sheet need the teeth to grip/capture the colours from pencils. Oups, i already trace my drawing into the sheets before taking pictures ^_^
This is the picture that i want to shrink it. It's from my hand drawing.
Trace the pictures as many as you want using oil based markers or sharpies, acrylic paint, and even coloured pencils. When i read the tutorials from the internet, many advised that avoid using water based marker, as the colours will run when heated. My oil based markers is from Zebra. Got them from Popular bookstore.
Colour, colour and colour. I like to colour them on top of a white sheet of paper, so you can see the colour more clear/easy. You can always comeback to outline the edges.
Cut into 2 and you want to punch a hole before heating.
Carefully and patiently cut into your desire shapes. You may use cutter, die cut machine or just scissor. But pay attention when cutting curve. You need to slowly in order not to break/crack the plastic. I have done that many times :(
Let's heat them. First time i do, i never thought about using baking tray. I just heat it on the floor and the plastic flew all over the place. I also use a wooden chopstick, cause it will become very hot and you do not want to touch it, so use a chopstick.
In about seconds the plastic will start to crumple. Don't panic or scared (first time i was panic), it will start to open, shrink and flat. Sorry, no photo, cause both hands were busy. 1 holding heat gun, the other hand hold chopstick. Once the plastic lay flat, the shrink will stop.
Again, do not touch the plastic cause still hot. I am using cotton glove or napkins to pick up and quickly flatten with ruler or heavy book to make the piece nicely flat.
You will do the same with the other piece. After cool, the pieces will become rigid, hard, and flat. The colours also darken.
The pieces shrunk about 1/4 of the original size. Now you can attach a jump ring and make keychains, earrings, handphone charms, pendant, etc. Oh almost forget, it would be better if you spray or brush small amount of acrylic sealant to the charms, to protect the colours.
The charms i made using Daiso's. The red colour that looked like a teardrop was made by my friend, Yanni, who stayed at my house during her transit to Lijiang. Also, there is 1 moustache, but the piece broke into 2 already :(
Haha, found this picture from my handphone. She helped me coloured the moustache.
After that we go crazy in posing with the moustache :))
Hello Mario!!!!
Borrow hubby's glasses ^_^
I made this piece a night before making the lion charms. I was using oil based markers to colour. After heated, the colours look like glass deco.
Okay, that's the end of my tutorial. My pieces not always come in perfect shapes. I failed many times before. Most often the piece crumpled into 1 piece @_@ but don't worry, keep on practice ;)
Please if you have any questions, comments or suggestions, just leave them in comment box below.
See you on my next post!!
Let's Make Them.
