If you are like me then you too live with small, colorful, and very silly rubberbands all around your home!
~Silly Bands~
However, I may have been the only adult more excited than their children to finally get them in our possession!
But then I got to thinking...
What if we added a few PolyShrink pieces with those bodacious bracelets?
Maybe we could get something like this...
Black Polyshrink, White Paint Pen, Permanent Markers, Rubber Bands
Are you familiar with Polyshrink?
I purchased my sampler pack at Ornamentea in downtown Raleigh.
The manufacturer is a company called Lucky Squirrel out of New Mexico.
Check out those links for more detailed information.
This is my first experience with Polyshrink.
When you purchase it, the sheets are similar to transparencies.
Polyshrink is considered an artist grade plastic according to Lucky Squirrel.
There is clear, translucent, white, and black in the sampler pack.
Thus far I have cut it into shapes, hole punched and drew with permanent markers atop the surface.
And...
Pulled in my printmaking blocks!! Polyshrink is able to take oil-based printmaking ink!
I printed my block first, allowed to dry, then cut around the shape and added a hole at the top.
I used permanent markers to add some color.
My 2 daughters (10 and 5 years old) were interested in creating a name plate for a potential silly band bracelet.
Roz's nameplate, hole punched and ready for the next step!
Lucy's name plate, holepunched and ready, as well!
I encouraged the girls to write their names fairly large on the nameplate to account for the skrinkage.
Now our pieces are ready for the oven!
Yes - the oven!!
Please follow manufacturer's instructions during this step.
It is so simple and fun to watch it shrinking.
Our results..
This turned out pretty well with the image still fairly clear.
One reason may be that it is not as small as it could be.
I took it out a little early.
On the other hand, this image has a bubbled surface and unclear image.
I look forward to experimenting more with my print blocks and this cool material!
Here are some pieces sitting atop parchment paper cooling.
Please note the new height of these pieces.
To create the bracelet start by inserting one rubber band into each hole and add more rubber bands until you get the desired bracelet length and close off as you would a regular silly band bracelet.
We each chose our colors for the bracelets to go with our polyshrink pieces.
No loom needed to for this project!
It estimates to shrink approximately 45% of it's original size.
Think about this when you are making a piece for you or your child's wrist.
Don't go buy a fancy hole puncher - use the standard one you already have!
It makes the perfect hole size when it shrinks.
I love how sturdy this material feels when it has been through the heating process.
You gotta try this...
They totally agree!
having fun with my Kochettes and our creative mash-up session on this artist holiday,
hannah
What a good idea. We have a rainbow loom, Eva lost interest in it fast. I think part of the problem was her right handed mother was trying to help her left handed daughter with the instructions. Things got lost in translation. I need to go to the craft store today, I hope they have the shrink sheets. Now where did we put the loom????
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