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I have never used polyshrink before with stamping and was wondering if there is anything I need to know before I begin. Do I just stamp, cut and cook? At what temperature do I cook? Also, what are the little sanding blocks for that you order with the polyshrink? I ordered some but I have no idea what to do with them! What do you do with the finished product?
I love Poly Shrink - Check out the Loads of Love gallery - there are samples with the little pickup truck that are too cute!
Use the sanding blocks to sand the front of your poly shrink. If you don't sand it - the image you stamp will smear. Stamp with StazOn and I color in with the pastel chalks. Punch your hole if hanging your image and I shrink with my heat gun. I hold it down with a stylus (or some type of item (skewer) so you can keep your fingers back away from the heat. Don't freak out when the image curls all up in a blob! Keep the heat gun on it and it will lay back down flat. Sometimes it doesn't go completely flat - then I take the back of a stamp (the wood part) and press it down right away to flatten. You can also shape it after you shrunk it, while it's still hot. For example, the wings on a butterfly or dragonfly, you might want them to be a little curved, justs adds dimension.
Good luck with the shrink plastic! My 10 yr old daughter just made earrings with the Mon Ami heart set and some beads - they're really cute.
Check out this card - I loved it - I changed the colors to Pretty in Pink and Gable Green and did this at all my workshops and stamp clubs for awhile - everyone loved it - sold tons of poly shrink!
Wow! Great explanation! The Loads Of Love cards did turn out really cute. Now I get how this stuff can really add to a card or page...how fun. I can't wait to try it.
So StazOn is the trick, huh? I would have just used a regular classic pad...glad I asked! Of course, now I have to go buy some because I don't own any. Bummer...
I too love poly shrink! I used it for my Christmas cards. I hung tiny mittens off of small jump rings. I use the kind that is pre-roughed, stamp with my regular ink or trace a pattern with a sharpie, color with Prisma pencils, hole if needed and shrink. I was taught to shrink it on a piece of crumpled paper to prevent it from moving around too much. The paper will brown but not burn. Kids love to watch it shrink!
I have a tip sheet on polyshrink, don't know where I got it but here it is. Hope it helps you.
POLYSHRINK Tips , Techniques, and Ideas
1. The standard black ink pad works fine. It is permanent ink! You just need to be sure to sand with our sanding blocks, first one way and then the other sort of a crisscross pattern. It gives the ink something to “hang�? onto. It also keeps the plastic from sticking to itself without "letting go".
2. The other color pads tend to bleed and once they shrink they are not water fast and will run if gotten wet. I have tried sealing them with fingernail polish, laminate, etc. but they bleed when I put it on. I don't recommend using them.
3. Our markers work well to color in the black-stamped image. They do not bleed or run when I apply a sealant. You can also use the colored pencils or chalks to color in an outline stamp. You don't need too much color since they intensify when shrunk. I prefer the Fabrico markers. They provide the most vivid colors and reliable results.
4. Also remember to punch holes in plastic before shrinking and make sure the holes are larger than you want them. When I use the regular size hole punch it shrinks down to the 1/16 in. size.
5. I have found that one of the best sealants is plain, cheap, clear fingernail polish. I have also found that using fingernail polish allows you to sprinkle on glitter while it is still damp. You can then add another coat of polish if you wish. You can also use Crystal Effects as a waterproof sealant over SU! standard markers. This way they won’t smudge if they get wet. It also creates a nice shiny, smooth look to finish your shrink art.
6. One of the best tips I ever got was to make a shrink ruler. Using a Fabrico marker just trace a regular ruler onto a piece of shrink plastic and then shrink it down (use the oven for this). You will then be able to determine what an image that measures say 3 inches will shrink down to by looking at your 3 inch mark on your shrunken ruler.
7. Use Crystal Effects to glue on pin backs, magnets, etc. You can also use a hot glue gun but it is messier.
8. The metallic colors do NOT do well on the poly shrink unless you do an extra step after you shrink (keep reading). Also, the metallic colors seem to bubble when you shrink the plastic by heat gun so I would use the oven. The black poly shrink with the Gold Colorbox or Encore pads looks striking. Pigment ink will not dry on poly shrink unless you emboss it - just like vellum, coated cardstock and other non-porous surfaces. When you use pigment inks shake on some clear embossing powder AFTER shrinking and heat again so ink will be sealed. If this step is not done the pigment ink will wipe off or smear. If you try to put the clear embossing powder on before you shrink, it will bubble and slide off and create a real mess.
9. The Stampin’ Craft pads would work well because they would be permanent and not require sealing.
10. It is also important to note poly shrink has a grain and if you stamp the same image twice, once horizontal and once vertically they will come out differently. Very important to know this if you are doing earrings.
11. Shrink plastic using one of two methods; either your embossing heat gun or in the oven.
Heat gun method: Place plastic on a heat resistant surface. Use a chopstick to gently hold down the plastic as you are aiming the heat gun 2 inches over plastic. It will curl as it shrinks. This is normal and will flatten out once entire shrinking process is completed. When it is not shrinking anymore, use the back of the wood block to smash the still warm plastic completely flat.
Oven method: Preheat oven to 275 degrees (not to exceed 300 degrees). Place poly shrink on a Teflon cookie sheet. Hint: To minimize the distortion during shrinking it is important to shrink your designs slowly by maintaining a low temperature in your oven. Remember that oven temperatures vary from oven to oven so if your designs curl too rapidly, your oven is too HOT regardless of setting! Watch your design shrink while it bakes! As if shrinks, it may curl up into a ball but then it will open up and flatten out. When it is completely flat you may remove it from the oven. Use a spatula to carefully place design on a flat surface to cool. It will take approximately 3-5 minutes to shrink.
12. Poly shrink comes in different “colors.�? Opaque, black, clear and white. The opaque and white seem to not show the sanding marks as much but you can get rid of all sanding marks even on the translucent by adding a coat of sealant (clear fingernail polish or Crystal Effects.) The black is great for using gold Colorbox or Encore pads.
I have had difficulty coloring these plastics with chalks and/or colored pencils (even when sanding.) So I wanted to use Staz-on pads instead.
To get a nice, light colored background, dip a rolled-up paper towel into the Staz-on, and rub it onto the plastic. You can make a nice, smooth coat.
To color in an image, use one of the applicators from the chalk set. Press the applicator in the Staz-on pad, and use it to apply the color. You can get a light or a dark coat.
Sponges work well in Staz-on too.
I stamped a butterfly in black, then filled it in with pumpkin, blue, and green sponged Staz-on. Beautiful!!
fabrico markers in the catty work great too.
The standard black pad works fine. But the staz on works best. I do use the classic ink pads on polyshrink, but be sure it dries before you color onto it. The white craft pad does NOT dry even after using the heating tool. Okay now for the coloring aspect. I use chalks, colored pencils (any of the 3 types SU carries), markers, fabrico markers, writers (journaling markers). Just keep in mind that the color used on the polyshrink will get a shade darker when it has fully shrunk down to smaller size. My favorite is the metallic pencils on black polyshrink. Also the black polyshrink looks great with the silver and gold encore or color box pads.
Before using any of the waterbase items (classic inks or stampin write markers) I do recommend using the sanding blocks on the polyshrink first. It isn't always necessary to sand the clear polyshrink if you use the staz on ink. Just be sure it dries first before doing anything else to it whether it's coloring or punching a hole with the hole punch, etc.
You can also use Crystal Effects as a waterproof sealant over SU! standard markers. This way they won’t smudge if they get wet. It also creates a nice shiny, smooth look to finish your shrink art. Looks great with a little dazzling diamonds with the crystal effects on polyshrunk jewerly and embellishments. Also looks great as magnets!
If making jewerly out of the polyshrink, make sure you use the hole punch before shinking with heating tool. Also, for pins, I use the adhesive pins. OR you could use Crystal Effects to glue on pin backs. Or attach magnet to back
I make pins and wine charms with the translucent and white Poly Shrink. I make WOW pins with the black Poly Shrink, by using a technique called "Intaglio".
You will need:
Black Poly Shrink
Translucent Poly Shrink
Jet Black StazOn ink
Large Stamp (like Dragonfly from Wonderful Wings)
Corner Rounder
Metallic Pencils
Sanding Block
Big Background Stamp (like French Script)
Heat Tool
Gold/Silver Zig Painty
-cut a 4" square in black polyshrink
-round all 4 corners
-sand all edges
-shrink square with heat tool
-immediately press big background into hot, shrunken plastic
-outline square with zig painty
-stamp dragonfly with StazOn onto translucent shrink plastic
-allow to dry
-color in with metallic pencils
-shrink dragonfly with heat tool
-add dragonfly to square with glue or part of a dimensional
-add foam pin or magnet to back of square
WOW! WOW! WOW!
*NOTE* polyshrink has a grain and if you stamp the same image twice, once horizontal and once vertically they will come out differently. If doing earrings, keep this in mind so the earrings do not become 2 different sizes.
Other poly shrink ideas that I had accumulated from other demonstrators post.... I haven't tried them yet, but will when I get the chance....
1. Use the shape punches on the poly shrink to create embellishments and charms. I have used the leaf punches and colored with fall Pearl Ex colors. Be sure to punch a hole at the top of the shape before shrinking. The leaves have made cute additions to fall cards after being threaded onto the metallic ribbon. The snowflakes are a very nice touch on a swing tag for a box. Another thing you can do is to use the shape punch as a “background" to attach another shrink item on top. Just be sure the shrunken punched shape will be a bit larger than the other shrunken image. Use the Crystal Effects to glue them together. This is a very nice finishing touch!!
2. Use it to make jewelry. For example use the Stipple Butterfly stamped in gold on black poly shrink as earrings. I like the rainbow Spectrum pad on white too.
3. Use poly shrink to make bookmarks. Cut desired length and width keeping in mind what you want your finished size to be (use your poly shrink ruler you’ve made to help you determine this.) Stamp, color images, punch hole in top and shrink. Or you can just make standard card stock bookmarks and just add poly shrink matching “charms�? attached to the bookmark itself or attached to tassels. The Button Bear set is cute for doing this. Stamp on cardstock and then shrink a button bear on white poly shrink and put it on end of ribbon for the bookmark.
4. Make a pinwheel topper for a pencil. Cut a square shape and then cut from each corner, angled in towards the center. Do not cut all the way in, leave about a 1/2-inch circle in the center. Punch the very middle of that center circle. This is where you will put a straight pin through to attach to the eraser. Then use any stamp to create a colorful pattern. Shrink and bend poly shrink to resemble pinwheel while it is still warm. Attach to pencil top with pin.
5. Make lapel pin using the Button Bear set. The Bear was my main stay for the pin, I punched the holes in her feet and poly shrink the accessories. Colored and attached them with the little metal jewelry “O�? rings (jump rings) that you can get at your craft store near the jewelry section. Then put a self-adhesive pin on the back.
6. Make a charm bracelet. Just choose your favorite stamps or choose a similar theme. Stamp and shrink as usual. Using the jump rings attach these charms to your bracelet.
7. Create poly shrink gift tags for Christmas or any other gift-giving occasions.
GOLD BUFFED SHRINK PLASTIC
1. Draw a design on shrink plastic with a permanent marker. An outline shape with no details.
2. Cut this shape out & color with watercolors.
3. Paint about 4 different watercolors in a random fashion all over…layer the colors a little. A light wash will do, color intensifies as the plastic shrinks.
4. Bake on a shrink plastic baking board (craft store buy) with baby powder under the plastic to keep it from sticking to the board.
5. After the plastic is finished shrinking QUICKLY remove from oven. *DO NOT remove from board.
6. Take a deeply etched rubber stamp & press it firmly into the shrink plastic. Press until the plastic cools.
7. Now you have your stamp design impressed into the plastic. If it doesn't come out, you can put the shrink plastic back into the oven & reheat. The image should flatten back out & then you can re-stamp again.
8. Take Gold Rub-N-Buff (craft store buy), go over the tops of the image.
9. Seal with a spray sealer.
*Removing the shrink plastic from the shrink plastic baking board can cool the shrink plastic too quickly to impress the image. Let it remain on the board ask you stamp in the image.
It was mentioned - but hadn't been done yet, to try Gold Encore instead of the Rub -N - Buff. Encore may not hold up to the spray sealer on Shrink Plastic? Experiment. The gold brings out the image with a nice watercolor background.
Suggestions: You can make pins, necklaces, earrings, etc. Just be sure to punch your holes before shrinking so you can add jump rings for jewelry.
*NOTE* polyshrink has a grain and if you stamp the same image twice, once horizontal and once vertically they will come out differently. If doing earrings, keep this in mind so the earrings do not become 2 different sizes.
Oven Method:
1. Lightly sand shrink plastic with a fine grade sand paper eliminating any shiny spots. Failure to remove shiny spots will cause bleeding of colors.
2. Wipe surface with a damp cloth or tack cloth to get rid of grit & dry thoroughly.
3. Stamp image with Fabricos. Black for outline stamps & all colors for bold stamps., stamp the image onto the sanded side of the shrink plastic. Let the ink dry for a few minutes, then turn over & blot on a porous type paper (like newsprint). The image will appear lighter. Shrinking will make the image darker.
4. Color as desired with any are medium (colored pencils, chalks, markers, etc.) Some colors of colored pencils look very different after shrinking, especially reds. Coloring need not be perfect. There is no need to go all the way to the edge. Shrinking will intensify colors & small imperfections will disappear. Color on a scrap. Then, shrink it to insure the color desired. Avoid smudging after coloring by heat setting colors with a blow dryer on warm setting.
5. Cut the image out & punch any holes that are needed. Place on a non-stick baking sheet that has been sprinkled with baby powder.
6. Bake in a 300 degree oven until shrinking is complete. The finished product will be about the thickness of a nickel. Some curling during the baking process is normal.
7. Remove from the baking sheet using a spatula and flatten to cool. The colors will become more intense as the plastic shrinks.
8. Spray seal to protect your images.
Heat Tool Method:
1. Gently rough up polyshrink with sandpaper. Lightly ink stamp with black Fabrico, blot once onto scratch paper & stamp image in center of polyshrink.
2. Use blow dryer for faster drying (heat setting the Fabrico). When ink is dry, color in with any medium as stated above.
3. You may cut the image out with decorative scissors or regular scissors….depending on the project.
4. Using a heat tool, heat image until it flattens. The polyshrink will curl when heated and can be easily held in one place with the eraser tip of your pencil or stylus. While image is still warm from the heat, press the wooden side of the stamp on it to flatten.
5. Be sure to spray seal for protection.
To glue shrink plastic to pin backs or cardstock….you can use E-6000 Adhesive or hot glue
I've heard some people are making name tags out of polyshrink. I would love to do this but don't know anything about it. I've printed some tips on polyshrink but what size do I need for these nametags? Do you color them? Do you hang anything from them? Please help me! THank you!
My name tag has poly shrink flowers hanging from it with beads (uploaded below).
I got this idea from SCS Diva Diane from TX - Diane you are hanging on my bulletin board....well actually not you, but I took a picture of you from the neck to waist at Convention last summer - I loved this name tag.
You can get these premade name tag holders at Office Depot in large packages or check with the secretary at your church - that's where mine came from!
gotta jump in here, after spending lots of time making rulers out of polyshrink yesterday - saw this done so you can easily tell how small a 2" image (for example) will shrink to. i had so much difficulty with the polyshrink curling in and getting stuck on itself!!!! i was using my heat gun. I did, however, notice a HUGE difference in the gumminess of the polyshrink based on the color. the clear was by far the hardest to work with, and the transparent was the easiest. it seems to be easier to work with for small images, not so easy for longer items.
Hello I have a stupid question. Im pretty new here and I was wondering if Polyshrink is only from SU?
I saw a sample of a card done in brights with little polyshrink buttons with little flowers on them and fell in love.
I would like to try some out when I get my new order but was wondering if I had to order again to get it or if I might find it at a craft shop.
(I am currently waiting for an order and its killing me, I really think it is!)
:lol:
wow, I was never interested in using poly-shrink until I saw those cute little cards with the pickup trucks on them....I am rethinking the poly-shrink! Thanks for sharing!
__________________ Wrinkles only go where the smiles have been!
I got a pack at michaels for 4.99 i think. It has 10 sheets I believe and is pre-ruffed. I haven't used SU yet, as I didn't want to put in an order either. I just used mine and it seems to work really well. I used the oven method.
Just a warning if you use the oven to shrink it, the oven is going to smell like plastic for months every time you turn it on. Mine did and I'll never do that again. I'd use the heat tool. You have better control over the plastic with it anyway.
You already have some greats tips.
I'll toss in my 2 cents worth on how to get great results shrinking
I never use chopsticks, stylus or any other pointy thing to hold down the shrink plastic while I'm heating it - it's awkward and leaves dents in the project.
Instead I have a small shallow cardboard box (it's about 4" square and has 2" high sides). Placed in the bottom of the box is a sheet of release paper (it is a special paper made by Embossing Arts Co. especially for use with heat guns and hot glue guns - it's very inexpensive and last forever).
I place the piece to be shrunk in the box, design side up (probably that isn't important!) -- and then gently wand the heat gun above the piece from about 1' away. By applying the heat in this manner, the shrink plastic moves around in the box in a very controlled manner -- it doesn't fly out of the box onto the carpet! As the piece gets smaller, I move the gun in a little closer....if the piece starts to curl, LEAVE IT ALONE and keep appying the heat - it will flatten out. At this point, I take the flat side of wood on a stamp and gently press it against the warm, shrunk plastic. This flattens it out perfectly.
I think I got this tip from someone on SCS and it has made all the difference in my attitude toward shrink plastic. I haven't had a "bobbled" up mess of a piece since I started doing it this way!
I have found that polyshrink, shrinks alot nicer in the oven. It doesn't twist and stick to itself near as much. When I bought mine I got the clear sheets and am kicking myself now. After using a sheet of the translucent that a friend traded me I think I would use it alot more
So glad this site has such sharing people. The pick up truck is so neat. I need to get out my dusty polyshrink and try again. I had tried before, but did not like how things turned out. Have a great day!
I love "the embellish holder thingy"....and it's a star screw driver! Not a phillips - who is that anyway???? LOL! You sound like me - the sharp instrument in the tool kit is a "pokey thing" and that's what I tell all my workshop guests!!! Still laughing!
__________________ Kelly Acheson - Stampin' Up! Demonstrator My Email My Blog
Thanks for all the ps tips. I didn't see something I wanted to know, so now I'm curious.
Are there any tips for printing something on polyshrink with the computer printer and creating your own designs? Will the printing smear or if I color and seal after shrinking will it be ok? Any help would be wonderful.
Thanks
inky-fingers
I've printed on polyshrink from the computer and it came out okay but that may depend on the style of computer. Mine is an inkjet style.
Northernstamper could you post the brand name you used in the oven and did you get the smell like I had for months with the Invent It brand? It was also curled up on itself and I used the heat gun to straigten it out.
Kelly the trucks are very cute, I really like that stamp set.
I made a polyshrink name tag last night. I stamped the flower from All the Best on the left side and then used the Pure and Simple alpha on my name. I cut it into a rectangle and used a corner rounder to soften the corners, then shrank it. I debated about whether to hang anything from the tag but decided against it for this one. I will try to post it later. I love ths size of it, very readable. Thanks for all the other tips on the thread, I am going to make a ruler for myself today.
Re: grit of sandpaper.
By any chance do you have the white sanding blocks from SU? I would use them before I did sandpaper. The one time i used sandpaper, the ink ran down and through the lines created by the sanding and it looked ghastly!
Whatever you use, a gentle touch is better.
P.S.
I just had a thought - would those "Magic Erasers" that are being advertised for house cleaning maybe work for this?
I have found Fine Grit sandpaper works wonderfully.(240 sandpaper)
I have notice it still runs a little when I color in the images but it doesn't bleed in the scratches when I use reg grain sandpaper. (I wish shrinkydinks were still around you didn't have to scuff them up.)
I didn't see this anywhere, but I don't have Staz-on, so I use my regular ink pads. I sand my polyshrink (with an old cardboard fingernail file) and stamp. When I heat the plastic, the classic ink also is set. It doesn't smear.
Here's a little card that I put a little shrinky dink on...
I never use chopsticks, stylus or any other pointy thing to hold down the shrink plastic while I'm heating it - it's awkward and leaves dents in the project. Instead I have a small shallow cardboard box (it's about 4" square and has 2" high sides).
Great tip! You could use an old check box for this, or a kids shoebox.
__________________ Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels. -Faith Whittlesey
I tried using my heat embosser on it and it balled up terribly so I think I will bake as directed unless there is a better way.
I'm too impatient to wait the 3-5 minutes it takes to bake, so I always use the heat tool. If it rolls up into a ball, just keep heating it until it flattens out. If you've heated it until it has completely shrunk and still have one place that is curled up onto the other, don't touch it while it is still hot because you'll stretch it out and it won't snap back. Wait until it is completely cool and then gently pull it apart (you may or may not hear a little "snap" as it comes undone from itself) and then heat again. It should flatten out.
__________________ Remember, Ginger Rogers did everything Fred Astaire did, but backwards and in high heels. -Faith Whittlesey
so the ruler, cut a piece of polyshrink = about 2" x 8". use a ruler and pencil to mark each 1/4', 1/2', and 1" mark. then use a sharpie marker to make your hash marks, labeling the inch marks. I used a longer line for the inch, and marked 1, 2, 3, etc. then used a shorter line for the 1/2" marks, and a small dot/line for the 1/4". then shrink.
this will allow you to know what size your image will shrink to if you start with say a 2" image. you can use your shrunken ruler to see how large/small it will be.
Do you seal the polyshrink prior to heating it or do you seal it afterward? I would love to make one of the cool bracelets I have seen but was wondering about the finish on them.....
ALso what have you found is the best sealant? I have some stuff similar to Crystal effects and I have fingernail polish but would they come off?
__________________ Kyloe
The lesson from Charlie Brown: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.
Wish I would have read this thread *before* I made my polyshrink "buttons" last night. I used black plastic and stamped the french script on it with the white craft ink pad. I found out that the white ink does NOT set and will smear if it gets wet. HOWEVER, I used my spray acrylic sealer and it didn't smear the ink and now it does not smear.
Does anyone know if it's just the white craft that does not dry or is it all of them?
My first experience with shrink plastic was a bit of a journey...the first one (see the first link below) I found I wasn't very pleased as I could see the sanding...so I added some glitter glue but that just didn't do it...then I added the Crystal Effects and I really like the final look. HTH
There have been so many good tips in this thread, a big thanks to Stamping Fool for all the great information.
I'm adding that those gold Painty pens are great for added a gold or silver edge to the finished (shrunk) image. You might want to seal with nail polish.
I have just recently stamped one side of translucent Polyshrink, and then applied color (mica magic/ancient page) to the back. I got around the sealing the back to stabilize the color by using large glue dots as adhesive - seals the back and sticks your little charm in place. Just be sure not to paint the entire back to leave some "grab" room for your glue dot (the big one not the mini).
Here's good old Wonderful Wings polyshrink butterflies as the main design of a card. How can you go wrong with blue butterfiles?
Polyshrink 101
