Shrink Film Jewelry

I am thrilled to be a member of the newly organized design team for Sakura Hobby Crafts!! Twice a month I'll be sharing a project that uses Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer. For this project I made two pins using shrink film and Crystal Lacquer.

Here's the supplies that I used: rubberstamps, Graphix Matte Shrink Film, 300-400 grit sandpaper, jet black StazOn ink, fine point Sharpie markers, Tombow dual brush pens, 3D Crystal Lacquer, Martha Stewart fine crystal glitter, Crop-a-dile Big Bite, assorted beads, jewelry findings.

The very first thing to do is condition the shrink film by lightly sanding the surface in a crisscross pattern. Sand the length of the film sheet, rotate the sheet 90 degrees, and sand the width of the sheet.

For the main images on the pins I selected two of my favorite stamps--one by Acey Deucy (Victoria Station 760) and the other by Stampers Anonymous (P2-636). The heart image on the larger pin is from Rubber Stamps of America and the star burst image from Comotion Rubber Stamps. When you select stamps keep in mind that the image will shrink by as much as 50 percent when the film is heated. The best images have a good balance of white space.

I used StazOn jet black ink to stamp the images on the prepared shrink film. Take care not to smear or smudge the image when stamping on the film. Let the ink dry completely before proceeding. Then, cut around the images and color with markers. The colors will intensify when the piece is shrunk.

Next you're ready to punch holes in the film for attaching jump rings and beads. I used the 1/8 inch setting on the Crop-a-dile. It's important to remember to punch the holes before shrinking the film!

Now the fun part--shrinking the pieces!! The pieces can be baked in either a regular or toaster oven at 300-350 degrees for 2 to 3 minutes. Or, heated with an embossing heat tool on a heatproof craft mat. I tried both methods, and like the heat tool better. The process goes a lot faster with the heat tool, and I'm all for instant gratification :) The pieces curl and jiggle during the shrinking process, and then relax back to being flat. Give them a minute to cool down before touching.

When they're completely cool, apply your choice of Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquers. For this pin I used clear lacquer on the large piece, pale yellow on the star burst image, and red on the frame around the heart image. The Tombow markers that I used on the main piece have water-base inks that reactivate with the application of the 3D Lacquer, resulting is some distinctive color effects.

Unique color effects from Tombow markers and 3D Crystal Lacquer

On Victoria Station pin I used red crystal lacquer in the upper right corner and clear crystal lacquer over the remainder of the pin. While the crystal lacquer was still wet, I sprinkled the Victoria Station pin and the star burst and heart charms with fine crystal glitter.

They are almost pieces of jewelry. Just need to attach a selection of beads, crystals, and the shrink film charms with jump rings. The final step is to attach pin backs using Sakura 3D Crystal Lacquer as the adhesive. Ta-da!! Drum roll!! One-of-a-kind jewelry pieces.

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