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Beaded Necklace with Shrink Plastic Pendant |
Using the Dreaded “P” Word in Beading
What
is the dreaded "P" word you ask? Polymer clay? Nope, but
close. Plastic! Specifically, shrink plastic. Remember ShrinkyDinks?
Like that. :-) Now don't run away screaming just yet, this is cool
stuff, trust me. Besides, even if I can't convince you to try shrink
plastic, there is some other interesting stuff in this feature like a
simple method of wrapping cabs and some fun links.
ShrinkyDinks
always frustrated me because they came pre-printed and didn't give me
a chance to make what I wanted out of them. Talk about stifling
creativity! Luckily that's all over. You can buy big sheets of plain
shrink plastic at pretty much any craft store and it even comes in
different finishes; clear, frosted, and canvas white. You can buy a
Refill
Pack of blank Shrinky Dinks material. Better yet, there is a
special shrink plastic product made especially ofr use with your
inkjet printer, that's what I used for this project. Look in your
local craft store for a Print-n-Shrink Paper Pak, of course it's not
paper at all, it's plastic, but who am I to argue with marketing
people?
Basically, this stuff lets you print your own graphics
right on the plastic. Clipart,
and other images that incorporate simple shapes and few colors seem
to work best. Supposedly you can even use photographs, but I'm a
little skeptical. It's definitely worth a try though, wouldn't it be
cool to incorporate pictures of loved ones and pets into your
beadwork?
I scanned in a drawing of my own for this piece
because that's what got me excited about this in the first place.
I've tried graphing my drawings for beadwork, but for many of them
the scale would have to be HUGE to get the kind of detail I want. So
the idea of being able to incorporate my drawings into my beadwork
this way was really exciting to me.
I started with the drawing
shown below. BTW, I hope I haven't offended anyone by using a
pentagram for my example as that was not my intention. The literal
meaning of "pentagram" is simply a five pointed star. To
me, it is just a pleasing geometrical construction but even the
"occult" meaning is quite harmless I assure you. Read this
article if you are interested in learning more about the meaning
assigned to the pentagram throughout history.
After
baking, the plastic shrinks to about 40% of it's original printed
size so play around with your image to figure out what size it needs
to be. Take a copy of your original and size it to 40% to see an
approximation of the final size then adjust from there.
The
Print-n-Shrink sheets are not full sized, so make sure to follow the
instructions in the package about how to place your images so that
they print in the right place. Test it out on paper first to make
sure you've got it right.
If you don't want to mess with this
printer stuff you can use regular shrink plastic (which is cheaper
too) and draw directly on it with colored pencils or permanent
markers. You can also use rubber stamps to create exciting designs.
Just make sure to sand the surface of the plastic first with fine
sandpaper so that it will hold the ink better. Comotion Rubber Stamps
offers some tips on working stamps with either frosted
or distortable shrink plastic on their web site.
When your
design is ready you need to cut it out (using scissors or an exacto
knife) and punch holes if you want them. A 1/8 inch hole punch is
best for this. I opted to make mine without holes because I wanted to
wrap it like a cabochon for a less "plastic-y" look. Then
just pop it in the oven on a non stick baking sheet or a piece of
cardboard at 250° for about 5 minutes. Watch it (it's fun!) and
take it out as soon as it flattens out.
Here's what mine
looked like when I took it out of the oven:
Well,
it actually looked rather a lot better than that but my scanner gave
me some problems. The colors come out really vivid and clear. With
some darker colors you may have to lighten the image a bit before
printing because the colors intensify when the plastic shrinks. Once
the piece has cooled off, either spray the back (non shiny side) with
spray acrylic or paint it with nail polish to water-proof it.
Ok,
now on to the beadwork part! Last time I did a feature on wrapping
(Chunky
Marble Bracelet) I used brick stitch which worked fine for that
project, but would be too stiff to work well here. I decided to use
Right Angle Weave for with this project. Here's how I did it.
Start
by making a row of right angle weave that fits around the
circumference of your piece. To do this, pick up 4 beads and tie them
in a circle. Go through the first bead next to the knot and pick up 3
more beads. Go down through the bead your thread is coming out of to
form a second loop.
Continue
around the loop you just made through the next two beads. Pick up 3
more beads and go up through the bead your thread is coming out of.
Continue around the loop you just made through the next two beads.
Continue adding loops in this manner until you reach the length you
need. Note that the loop alternates direction each time. No need to
keep track, you should be able to tell from where your thread is
which direction you need to go in to make a loop.
Now
we need to add a second row. The direction your thread is traveling
in at the end of the row will dictate which direction you need to go
in to add the next loop. Basically, you need to travel around the
last loop you made until your thread is coming out of the bottom
bead. Then pick up 3 beads and go through the opposite side of the
bottom bead to form a loop.
Now
travel around the new loop until your thread is coming out of the
bead in the new loop that is on the side you want to continue on.
Then pick up two beads and go through the bottom bead of the second
to last loop in the first row and the opposite side of the bead you
left in the last loop you made, completing the second loop in the
second row. Continue completing loops across the bottom of the first
row until you reach the end. Again, the direction of each loop
alternates.
Now
wrap the beadwork around the edge of your plastic (for a cab or stone
slice, you may need more rows of RAW) and connect the two ends. Work
your thread around to the bead at the far end of the row then pick up
a bead and go through the corresponding bead on the other edge. If
your thread is coming out of the bottom of the bead on the first end,
then go up through the bead on the second end, if it's coming out of
the top, then go down. Remember, you are always completing a loop.
Now pick up the final bead of the loop and go through the bead on the
first end from the side opposite the side you left. Then go through
edge bead in the remaining row that is on the side that your thread
is on.
Complete
the final loop by picking up one more bead and going through the edge
bead on the other side.
Now
use the spaces between the uppermost beads to add another row of
beads. The beads are smaller than the spaces so this will have the
effect of tightening the beadwork around the plastic. Don't pull it
too tight yet. With a new thread, add another row of beads between
the bottommost beads. Now tighten both new rows simultaneously to fit
and secure your thread by weaving it into the work.
Now
you have a wrapped medallion with plenty of opportunities for
embellishment. I continued by adding a row of triangle beads in
between the beads that form the central spine that runs around the
edge of the piece. This row is marked on the above graphic with a
blue arrow. From there I improvised to fit the piece. You can hang
fringe off of it, do free form netting around it, whatever. RAW
positions the beads to afford maximum access to the holes so it's
easy to go off in any direction you wish. Go wild! :-)
What's
that? You can't draw you say? Besides the gazillions of free
graphics on the web, you can also purchase clip art CD's and
books. The Dover
Pictorial Archive Series is great for this. Even if you don't
have a scanner, you can trace your designs onto the plastic easily
since it's clear. Have fun!
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