Shrinkles advice

[Seahorse]

HI

I always thought the instructions said which side i should stamp on.One side is rough,the other smooth.But it doesnt say.
Which side do you think i should stamp on?

[Seahorse]

Ive experimented and printed on both sides, but as I was shrinking it with the noisy heat gun my boss turned up so I had to stop.
He has been sat here for what seems like an eternity.
Im sure he has some work he could be getting on with,somewhere else,grrr.

[beadsbydesign]

Rough side!

[swirlyarts]

Yep - the rough side :)

[Seahorse]

Cool, thanks.It bleeds a bit tho , but luckily Im cutting the stamped bits out.
Ive just made some iddy biddy playing card symbols in the shrinkles, they look so cute!!

Oh, and whats the best thing to heat them in?
Mine fly around, Im thinking something high sided that wont melt, any ideas?

[Seahorse]

2 questions.
How do you shape the plastic before it sets without burning your fricking fingers?
What are the best paints/inks/pens to use to colour the pictures in?

[swirlyarts]

I heat mine in the oven - Gas 3 for about 5-10 mins - keep checking on them though!!!! As for colouring in I just used regular colouring pencils - I found that felt pens just didn't give me the colour I wanted as they came out very faint.
Little playing cards sound great!!

[Seahorse]

Little playing cards sound great!!

Thanks for the info.

They are just the symbols at the moment.
I was gona do cards but the stamps I wanted to use are too big in comparison the their size, the size I wanted, and the size they would have shrinked down to(Ive worked it out that they shrink to a third of their orignal size).
But I may do a big one and see how it come out....yes, thats what Im gona do right now.

[Seahorse]

Swirly, I have made a playing card, tho it didnt shrink down perfectly, it has wobbly sides.
Any idea what Im doing wrong? I may try things in the oven to see if things go more even.

Hopefully when i get my butt into gear I will get some pics taken of my work in february, including the card so I can show you the outcome.

[swirlyarts]

I was advised that if it goes all wobbly then to heat it more/for longer on a flat surface. I use a baking tray and leave them to go completely flat - don't be tempted to take them out too early. I made a larger shrinky for a friends daughters birthday card and as it was so big it stuck to itself on the edges but I just used the end of a wooden spoon to prise it apart and it eventually went flat all the way round. I suppose if you are using a heat gun then it is quite tricky to get it to heat evenly all the way round.

[Seahorse]

Grr, just used my heat gun on shrinkles on a flat surface ad its still ended up in a contorted mess.I thin kil have to make things at work then cook them at home.

[swirlyarts]

I was going to ask how you'd got on - you will have to let us know on Monday how it goes :D

[Seahorse]

Ive packed my stuff away fopr te day.Ive been trying to rubber stamp onto bottles, not easy at all.
I shall do some shrinkle cooking and let you know of the outcome.
Hopefully I can go home soon as im owed 3 hours worth of lunches.

[swirlyarts]

Oh - lucky you! I don't know why I'm saying that as I get to be at home all day! Have a good weekend :)

[Seahorse]

I cooked some shrinkles at the weekend, the colors bled and it look like a shrinkles cow pat.

I think I must have over cooked it.

[swirlyarts]

Oh dear - what did you use to colour them in?

[Seahorse]

I used Stazon inks but didnt colour them in.

[swirlyarts]

There is a particular brand of ink that is supposed to work well on shrink plastic but I don't know what it is! Not much help I know.....

[Seahorse]

Hehe, but thanks for mentioning it tho.

Ive already spent a fortune on on stazon, so many colours to try!
It was odd, the black was fine but the red did a big splurgey thing!

[goldy1]

When using the heat gun just keep going. You think your going to over do it but they go to their original shape eventualy. to flaten them let them slightly cool then put some thing none stick on them.
I use a none stick backing sheet cut up with a tile on top. It comes in very handy.

[Seahorse]

Good idea, thanks.

[mollymandy]

Morning seahorse i pm you hope you got mess ok never pm before on this forum so hope you got mess thank you dear ,just had a little parcal from another forum button swap lovely lovliy colours oh and thhe phone bill not so lovely.http://iam.homewithgod.com/christianstuff/engel15/angel1.gif

[Seahorse]

PM received.

Darn those bills.Think im getting a credit card bill soon.yuck.

[Seahorse]

Can you use watercolours on the rough side of shrinkles?

[Heart and Design]

Hi, you should be able to use any medium that will stick to the rough side on the shrinkles, the only thing to watch for is if the finished item gets wet, the water colours will just run off.
I have used pearlescent chalk on mine which can look great, the colours deepen and give a nice effect when shrunk. I have also used gel pens on it, they go really sparkly when shrunk.
I love shrink plastic, but seem spend a lot of time shrinking things and not actually making any cards from them.
Have you tried the shrink plastic that you can put through your computer printer and then shrink. Thats good fun.

Paula