Time Workshop/Tutorial Part 2 - Shrink Plastic Clocks

The next elements for the card are the shrink plastic clocks.  I love these as they are so cute and the hands go round and they just feel and look nice:)

Now this is a long post, it gets more interesting today, so I think you will want to put the kettle on before you start reading!

Materials
Hero Arts cling stamp CG186 Big Clock
Frosted Shrink Plastic
Sanding Block
Distress Ink Stormy Sky (this is a fantastic shade!) and Pumice Stone (we've got these on special offer on the website)
Tim Holtz Foam Applicator or Cut 'n Dry Foam
Tim Holtz Game Spinners
Black permanent ink pad suitable for shrink plastic or Black Stazon

Sand the frosted shrink plastic to give it a key for the ink.  If you sand it you can then use an ink that isn't permanent to tint the plastic.

To do this start with the block at the centre of the piece and rub towards the top of the shrink plastic so that the block goes right of the sheet.  Sand until you have a matt finish.  Turn the piece 180 degrees and repeat until your sanding completely covers the piece in downward stripes. 

Now turn it 90 degrees and again starting from the middle sand off the side.  Turn 180 degrees then sand again to complete the cross hatched sanding.  You will achieve a nice even sanding all over.

Brush away the dust.  Then take the Stormy Sky Distress Ink Pads and add colour direct to plastic from the ink pad.

When it is completely covered, wipe away most of the ink with kitchen towel.  You will see a faint tint of the ink remaining.  As the colour will intensify when shrunk you want it quite pale.

Add a small amount of the Distress Ink Pumice Stone randomly wiping off any excess so that it remains pale.

Stamp the Hero Arts Big Clock stamp with a permanent ink.  Stazon ink will dry quickly, but others may remain wet and you will have to be careful cutting out the image.

I found that the clock is about the same size as the largest circle of the nesties, so if you hate cutting out circles you and use this through your die cutting machine. 

If the edges are rough or uneven you can sand them with the block to smooth them out but shrink plastic is very forgiving when shrunk.

Incidentally, I didn't mention yesterday but I used Tim's Gadget Gears Sizzix die through my Cuttlebug, you only need to use the 2 B plates.

You need to make a hole on the centre before you shrink.  The punch, or eyelet setter tool needs to be 1/4" (about the same size as an office hole punch) as the hole will obviously shrink too.

Now the fun bit, heat with your heat gun.  Try not to panic about it sticking to itself, generally if you leave it alone it will sort itself out. 

Just a tip here, shrink plastic doesn't stick to wood so if you don't have a non-stick craft sheet you could use a wooden chopping board.  Also, being metal, tweezers can get hot, I prefer to use a lolly stick or wooden dowling to hold the plastic in place while heating (it does have a tendancy to fly away!).

When the piece has completely shrunk, splat it with an acrylic block or something simliar.

This photo shows the difference in size after shrinking.  The clock is just over 3 1/4" or 9cm full size and 1 1/2" or 4 cms when shrunk.

I added the game spinners but felt the piece needed a little more tidying.  I pressed the edges around the Stazon ink pad.

Now as I was playing I wasn't just going to make that second one the same was I?  Of course not! So the next post is an another idea to try.

Jill