Shrinky Dinks Family Bracelet

Hello! I cretaed this to join the latest challenge of A Blog Called Hero, the Hero Arts Challenge Blog. The challenge is on Anything But A Card and I created a bracelet with stamped charms.

I did this technique a long time ago, creating crystals for a Christmas card. I also created the crystals using Hero Arts stamps. I linked the post just in case you want to check it out (Shrinked Stamped Crystal Images). I had to read this old post of mine before I started this project, just to review myself on how to use the Shrinky Dink.

I stamped a circle on the Shrinky Dink using Stazon Cotton White Opaque Ink. The stamp is from Hero Arts Tape Your Message stamp set. I then stamped the letter on the center of the circle. The stamp is from HA Journal Letters stamp set. I colored the letter and the circle with Copic marker. I punched a hole at the top of the circle to create a hole to thread the wire later on when I put the bracelet together. I fussy cut this leaving a small border around the circle and the hole.

Now, it is time to shrink this. I used my heat gun and a stick to keep the Shrinky Dink from flipping back. You can see how small the image is in comparison photo below. Don't worry if the coloring is not perfect. It will not matter once it is shrunk as seen on the photo below. What is important is choosing a bold color that will show through the clear film.

I only have a few jewelry making accessories. The beads I am using are from an old bracelet that got broken. I used an elastic nylon cord to make the bracelet. I created my own eye pin to use on the Shrinky Dink charm using a stringing wire from my stash. The letters I chose for the bracelet represents the first letter of the names of each member of my family.

Thank you for visiting my blog. Have a SAFE, blessed, brilliant and creative day!

Maria Giselle B.

 I am sharing this creation at

Hero Arts Challenge Blog~March Challenge

Shrinked Stamped Crystal Images

I came up with a card idea that I couldn't just give up on. I know the Hero Arts Holiday Cardmaking will end today, about 6 hours before I started working on this card. This is a big challenge for me, time crunch.

I stamped the images from HA Christmas Crystals onto Shrinky Dinks Crystal Clear transparencies. I used Stazon Cotton White to stamp the images. I also used the Misti Stamping Tool which is very helpful in stamping a lot of images at once, and also prevent shifting of the images when stamping on transparencies.

I cut the images separate before coloring it. I tried coloring first but the inks end up transferring to my hand. I then, punched a hole on the top of the image. I fuzzy cut the image leaving a small border around the image and the punched hole.

Here comes the magic. According to the packaging directions, it is recommended to use a toaster oven to shrink the plastic. I used my heat tool, a popsicle stick and a box cover. The plastic will curl during heating and seem to have its own mind because it will start curling and flip. This is where the use of the popsicle stick comes in, to get some control over the plastic. The end result, pretty crystal gems!

To create the card, I used the HA Tiny Flags to create a Christmas tree. I initially stamped this on a scrap paper to plan how I will mask the background rubber stamp. I used painters tape to create the tree border. I inked this background stamp with HA Soft Leaf Shadow Ink. I took the tape off and placed a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" green cardstock, to create a tone-on-tone image.

For the sentiment background, using the same colored cardstock, I stamped the sentiment from HA Snowman Christmas stamp set. I used the Misti to repeatedly stamp the sentiment with Versamark ink since the first impression weren't good. I heat embossed the sentiment using American Crafts Metallic Gold powder.

To add more detail to this sentiment panel, I rubbed the HA Unicorn pigment ink to an acrylic block. I spritz this with a little bit of water, mixed it with a small paint brush, then tapped the paint brush on my finger to create small dots.

I positioned the crystals on the tree panel. I poked holes using We R Memory Keepers Sew Easy needle. I hand sew the crystals to attach them to tree, sort of like the hooks for ornaments. I used a DMC Metallic Gold thread. I secured the thread at the back using a strong double adhesive tape. I fuzzy cut the tree which I should have done before sewing. Well, it still worked, just gave myself a bit of difficulty. I adhered this onto the sentiment panel using foam tape, then adhered to a kraft colored note card. I did snip a small portion off the edges from this green panels to create a border with the kraft color.

Here is a comparative picture of the stamp set and the shrinked version of it.

Thanks for viewing my blog. Have a blessed and brilliant day!

Maria Giselle B.

I am sharing this creation to

http://blog.heroarts.com/challenge/

November Linky Challenge-Anything Goes