Lets Shrink It!

 

On this, the last day before bEARTHday, I'm going to shrink.  

Plastic, that is.  You can ONLY use #6 plastic for this project.  No other number will work.  How do you know you have #6 plastic?  It will show you on the plastic itself.  

 

Every plastic container or bottle has a recycling symbol.  The symbol is a number, ranging from 1 to 7, within the recycle triangle as shown in the photo.  #6 is polystyrene or Styrofoam, thus the initials PS.  It is notorious for being difficult to recycle, and therefore, not especially good for the environment.   Most recycling programs won’t accept it, at least those in the states, so using it in our art helps us find other ways to help the environment.  You will find it used in egg cartons, meat and veggie trays, and holding baked goods.  Although I try to avoid ALL plastic as much as possible, sometimes it's just not possible.

 

Let's do a bit of shrinking.

I have punched two 2-inch circles using my circle punch.

I laid one of the plastic circles over the stamp I was planning to use.  I wanted to be sure it would be the right size.  It was perfect, in fact.

Sadly my stamping skills leave something to be desired.  Also, like a dufus, I used DYE ink, rather than Staz-On, or another permanent solvent ink.

Originally, I had planned to color the image in, but I realized the dye ink wasn't going to dry until the plastic was shrunk.  That put a stop to that idea.

All that was left to do was clean the stamp and return it to its location.  Have I not mentioned how anal I am at times? 

This was my choice for the second circle.  My dear friend Julia of WOYWW fame sent this mandala stamp to me.  

I have never used it until now.  I really love the hearts on the mandala points.

 

This was when I realized I had messed up by using dye ink.  The ink smeared when I picked the plastic up.

 

It was time to clean and put the mandala stamp away.

That's when I got out my permanent solvent ink

to use on the next images.

As usual, my stamping abilities leave something to be desired.

At least the permanent ink won't rub off on my arm. 

Then it was time to clean the stamp using rubbing alcohol and put it away.

Now it was time to shrink the plastic.

Sadly you can see once I shrunk the plastic, it started to roll on itself.  When I tried to straighten it, it wouldn't flatten.  I fear this is a bust.

At least I have two more chances to get a decent shrink plastic image.  I used colored pencils to color the snowman, the hat, the mittens, and the scarf.

This is how much the piece shrunk.  It didn't flatten too well, though.

The second piece was even worse.  It folded back on itself and no amount of heating would release it from itself.  This was the piece I was counting on to be perfect.

Ruminations (aka things I should remember):

1. Use a permanent ink, not a dye ink when inking shrink plastic.

2. Use a see through clear heavy acrylic stamp block to flatten the shrink plastic.

This is Day 21 of 22, where I shrunk # 6 plastic in an attempt to keep it out of the landfill and turn it into art.  Unfortunately, my various attempts were woefully inadequate.  However, I am grateful you stuck by and watched as I created these failures.  Not everything I make will be a winner, I fear.