For shrink plastic pieces that are to be used in making jewelry, artists generally use a 1/8-inch punch, which results in a 1/16-inch hole. That’s perfect for most jump rings.

Notice, though, that the distance from the edge of the piece will also shrink proportionately. Be sure to punch any holes far enough from the edge to allow for wide enough margin after shrinking. The plastic is fairly strong, but it can break or tear on under stress if the margin between the hole and the edge is too narrow.

When shrinking plastic cups or other industrial (not artist-grade) shrink plastic, you may need to experiment to get holes that are the size and shape you want. As I mentioned in my last post, the plastic from the cups, especially, shrinks drastically in one direction but hardly at all in the other.

You may need to improvise. For example, you may have to punch long, narrow, lengthwise holes before shrinking in order to end up with more or less round holes after shrinking.

The same principles apply to assemblage, though you may want bigger holes.

Luckily hole punches are made in all kinds of sizes and shapes nowadays. We’ll talk more about those another time.

Someone accidentally shrinking the clear top of a delicatessen container is said to have led to the invention of shrink plastic as a toy. That led to the popular product, Shrinky Dinks. Shrink plastic as an art medium was later discovered by artists.

Artist-Quality Shrink Plastic

Artist-quality shrink plastic, such as that sold by Lucky Squirrel, is wonderful. it is easy to use and shrinks uniformly. Be sure to visit the Lucky Squirrel web site and view their gallery to see the many fabulous things you can make with true, artist-quality shrink plastic.

Artist-quality shrink plastic is far advanced from the children’s toy shrink-plastic kits many of us played with as children. I love using it to make jewelry and other projects.

However, artist-quality shrink plastic can be expensive, and it comes in a limited number of colors. Shrink plastic sheets come in practical, versatile colors such as black, brown, opaque white, clear, and frosted. Still they are limited colors, and it is fun to experiment with shrink plastic from other sources.

Shrink Plastic from Unusual Sources

For art fun cheap, we like to find, salvage, and experiment with the commercial shrink plastics that you can often get for free. The more you look around, the more you will find examples of heavy shrink plastic that is used commercially and then discarded. Often you can save the plastic, decorate it, and reshrink it.

You can find many products, sometimes for free, that are actually made of or packed in shrinkable plastic. Always check the recycle mark on plastic containers. (Remember the deli container lid that started it all.)

Check the plastic containers in your pantry and at the grocery store, especially picnic supplies. If the number in the center of the mark is a 6 (in the U.S., at least), you should be able to safely shrink it with a heat gun or in an oven.

The mark in the picture below is a 5. That means it is not shrink plastic, so don’t heat it!

How to Shrink Plastic

To safely and evenly shrink plastic, you can use your kitchen oven. Put the pieces on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. The smoother the surface, the more evenly the plastic will shrink; so place the foil shiny side up.

Or you can use the kind of heat gun that rubberstampers and other hobbyists use to activate embossing powder. Those are just the right temperature. You can buy them in hobby stores such as Michael’s and Hobby Lobby, and sometimes other places. The price ranges from about $10 to $20 in the U.S.

Caution: Always be careful. Work in a well-ventilated area. Do not overheat. If you smell anything, if your eyes water, or if you notice anything odd, stop. Never try to shrink any plastic you can’t identify. Even fumes you can’t smell could cause long-term damage. Never heat Styrofoam!

Clear Shrink Plastic

As mentioned earlier, the tops of many deli containers are Type 6 plastic, which you can use as shrink plastic. So are some of the large, clear clamshell containers that deli sandwiches come in.

Most embossed features, like the recycle mark and any borders, will shrink out, so experiment and see what you can do. After all, it’s free.

Some clear drink cups sold in grocery stores are also shrinkable plastic. After a party or picnic, you can wash them and use them for shrink plastic.

However, because of the way they are stretched into cup shape, they will shrink drastically in the vertical direction and only a little horizontally. If you plan ahead, you can use that as a special effect, but don’t plan on using the cups as you would regular, flat shrink plastic.

Stained Glass Colors

Many stores sell Type 6 plastic cups in transparent colors: pink and blue all year ‘round, and red and green around Christmas.

It is worth figuring out how to deal with the uneven way the cups shrink, because their deep, rich, stained-glass-like colors make wonderful embellishments for paper arts or beads for jewelry-making. They can be used in assemblages or attached to canvas in acrylic paintings.

I recently found a package gorgeous purple shrinkable cups at a dollar store. They also had other colors, such as blue and green. Always check the Recycle mark, however, before shrinking.

Solid Colors

Solid color cups made of Type 6 (shrinkable) plastic are sold in many grocery, drug, and discount stores. I haven’t tried the solids yet, but they are basically painted opaque white shrink plastic, so they should work.

Preparing Cups for Shrinking

Here is how I prepare shrinkable plastic cups for shrinking into a flower shape:

1. Use kitchen shears or other strong scissors to cut the cups vertically from top to bottom.

2. Cut the ends into a rounded shape, cutting off the rolled edge. They should then look like this:

3. Be sure to trim off any splinters, such as the one shown in the picture below.

While soft and harmless when cut, they can be hard and sharp after shrinking. It is best to get rid of any sharp points before you shrink.

4. For some purposes, such as assemblage, you may want to punch one or more holes in the round center, which was the bottom of the cup, or in one or more of the “petals.” I recommend using a strong, cheap 1/4-inch metal hole punch. It will take some strength.

Note: To sharpen the punch, use it to punch holes in aluminum foil first.

4. Use a heat gum carefully. Do not get it too close to the shrink plastic or any other plastic surface, such as carpet, that can melt. (Ask me how I know this!)

Note: If you have some metal kitchen tongs or insulated tweezers from a tool kit, it’s easier to hold the plastic without burning yourself. Or you can shrink it on a cookie sheet (covered with a sheet of aluminum foil) in the kitchen oven.

Here is a scan of some cups that I shrank hurriedly to illustrate this post. I have had better results in the past.

My current scanner has a very shallow depth of field, so only the parts of each cup that actually touched the glass scanner bed are in focus. Still, you can see the effect.

When you shrink cups in the oven, the shapes should shrink very flat. Remember, that you can always reheat and reshape shrink plastic even after it has been shrunk.

5. Some artists use wooden spheres, wooden eggs, and other shapes from hobby stores to shape the heated plastic. You can also use a block of wood to flatten shapes while they are hot.

Note: The purple cup turned out to be Recycle 5, but I tried shrinking it anyway. It did not so much shrink, as shrivel. But I think it is interesting and could be used in a mixed-media painting or an assemblage. I would NOT recommend heating any plastic that is not labled Recycle 6, however, especially in your cooking oven. Who knows what toxic gases I released by shrinking that cup?

Making Shrink-Plastic Leaves

One of the amusing things about shrinking plastic cups is how much they shrink vertically. Instead of cutting petal shapes, you can cut out long slender leaves (like willow leaves), running from top to bottom of the sides of the cup. When you shrink them, they become round, fat leaves, because they shrink only in length.

Have Fun Shrinking Plastic…and Let Us Know What You Discover

I’m sure you can make many other shapes as well. Please come back and tell us what you did. If you post your creations somewhere on line, leave us a link, and we’ll go see them.

If you don’t care about archival qualities, nail polishes can be used as paper glazes. The glitter is usually very fine and well distributed, it’s easy to get even coverage, and it’s waterproof, too.

I have tried using nail polish. Except for the smell, it worked fine. The artist trading card I used it on still looks great three years later.

Unlike acrylic medium, nail polish is probably not archival. It has chemicals in it that may deteriorate whatever art work you put it on. And be warned, even after two or three years, it never loses that nasty nail polish smell.

Another disadvantage is that you cannot layer water-based media (watercolor, glitter glues, and paper glazes) on top of nail polish. So plan carefully before using it. Still, it could be fun to try out on a project that you don’t intend to be saved.

I would not recommend buying nail polish to use as a paper glaze. It is more expensive than real paper glaze and has too many disadvantages.

However, many of us already have partially used bottles of irridescent or glittery nail polish that we will never use up. So why not experiment with it?

Acrylic Medium for a Waterproof Glaze

have some fine glitter that I plan to mix with acrylic gel medium, and maybe tint with colors. I will do that to create a truly waterproof item or to achieve an effect that isn’t available with my glitter glue, paper glaze, and dimensional paint collection.

If you already have glitter and acrylic gel medium handy, why not try it?

Glue as the Base for a Paper Glaze

You can also experiment with mixing glitter into any glue that dries clear. Elmer’s makes a clear glue called Galactic Glue that already has glitter in it, but you can find other cheap, clear waterbased glues if you look for them.

Even if the glue starts out milky or opaque, as long as it dries clear and flexible, it should still work well as a paper glaze. For example, plain old Elmer’s school glue and similar products should work just fine. You may want to thin it with water—or not.

Gum Arabic for a Watercolor Glaze

Gum arabic is the binder that holds watercolor pigment on the paper. You can buy it in dry form or already mixed with water. If you have some, you might try making a paper glaze with it.

The dry form would probably be best if you want to make a thicker glaze that will suspend glitter particles better. But if you already have the liquid form (or you have both), why not try it?

There is no reason you can’t also try adding a bit of glue or acrylic medium to make the glaze a bit more water resistant. If you want to use watercolors over the paper glaze, of course, you would want to use only a little bit of acrylic medium. Otherwise, the watercolor won’t stick properly.

Consider the Glitter

Remember that not all glitters are waterproof, so you may not get the effect you expect. On the other hand, you may achieve something unexpected and wonderful. Be sure to make notes on what you did so that you won’t forget.

It’s fun to just play and experiment. I recommend also mixing a very small sample and leaving it in an airtight container for a few days or weeks to see what happens. For best results, try to mix gently to avoid air bubbles.

Storing Homemade Glazes

When storing homemade paper glazes, you may want to float a a very thin layer of water on top and/or lay a little piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface to seal out the air and keep the glaze mixture from drying out. Then be sure to add a tightly sealed lid.

I suspect that the glitter and any confetti you add will sink to the bottom of the acrylic medium faster than it does in the glitter glue or paper glaze gel. In that case, it may need to be stirred.

But that could depend on the type of acrylic medium that you use. The thicker and more gel-like the medium, the less the glitter and confetti will settle.

Why Not Experiment?

Homemade glazes also may not spread as easily or evenly as the store-bought kind, but it’s worth trying. In fact, they may be better. You never know till you try.

If you do try it, please post a comment to let us know how your experiments turned out. If you post your results on your own blog, we would love to see the pictures and read about them, so give us a link.

I think I have figured it out now. I just successfully deleted a spam comment that had somehow gotten though—without deleting your comments!

Thanks for your patience. This post will be deleted in a few days, when regular visitors have had a chance to read it. Now back to our regularly scheduled programming: Art Fun Cheap!

But paper glazes also impart a quality of their own. There also seems to be a bit of acrylic medium in paper glazes that can add strength and a smooth, slightly glossy finish to paper. They are especially useful in collage or assemblage but can also be used in paintings.

Paper glazes are especially fun to use in small works such as artist trading cards.

They are also fun to use in art journals and altered books.

I often use use paper glazes to turn ordinary memo cube (square) paper into small origami paper or to decorate completed origami items.

Elmer’s Paper Glazes

Elmer’s Shimmering Shapes are transparent, pale-colored gels with brilliant glitter and tiny confetti suspended in them. The six colors come in tiny jars in a clear acetate box. The package includes a small brush for applying them.

They are sold at most drugstores and discount stores and Office Depot in the U.S. I have even found them at a large party decoration store.

[Outside the U.S. you should be able to find the same (or similar) products, perhaps sold under a different name. Please leave a comment here at Art Fun Cheap to help others find them, too.]

At about $5.50 (USD) for a package of six little jars, the glazes may seem a bit pricey. But the fabulous Pixie Dust, a clear gel with multicolor transparent glitter in it (upper left corner in the photo above), is worth the money all by itself. Because the multicolored ultrafine glitter is transparent, you can glaze right over text without impairing readability. It truly is as though touched by fairies.

Add to that the Pizazz (purple gel with multicolored tiny, tiny confetti, center of the bottom row in the photo), and those two alone are more than worth the price. The other gels are useful, too. All impart a lovely semigloss surface to paper in addition to the ultrafine glitter and tiny confetti they contain.

Originally there were three or four varieties of Elmer’s Shimmer & Shine paper glazes. Each variety offered six small jars in a little blue box. For example, the glow in the dark variety had lovely semi-opaque pastel colors with ultrafine silver glitter.

I could never understand why they were $5 a package, though, until I found some on sale and tried them. Oh, my! ALL the varieties were fabulous.

Apparently the other varieties did not sell as well as the Shimmering Shapes, so when Elmer’s got smart and repackaged in clear acetate, so you can see the glorious contents, apparently they discontinued the other varieties.

If you can find the discontinued varieties in the old blue package, and the jars are still full (not evaporated and not discolored), grab them (except the Shimmering Shapes, which are better purchased fresh in the new packaging). They are marvelous!

The dark gels with microfine gold glitter and the milky glow-in-the-dark colors with ultrafine silver glitter are equally fabulous in their way. And remember that you can layer paper glazes with watercolor, acrylics (under), and other media for special effects. Whenever I find old packages of Shimmer and Shine, I buy them.

BigLots Paper Glazes

BigLots (a discount store chain in the U.S.) sells an imitation of the Shimmering Shapes glazes, called Sparkle & Dazzle, for only $1.99. (There are probably similar chains in other parts of the world, so except for the brand names, the information here should still apply.)
BigLots Diamond Dust is not quite as good as Elmer’s Pixie Dust, but it is still excellent. BigLots imitation of Pizazz is a sort of gray, rather than purple, but it is just as good as Elmer’s. It looks fabulous on black. Those two colors alone are well worth the $1.99 price.

The other glazes are more intense colors than the Elmer’s versions, which can be good, but the confetti in these is all the same shape, hearts, while Elmer’s has different shapes for each color. I use these, though, as colors, sometimes avoiding the confetti if I don’t want hearts.

BigLots glazes are a super value, but not a complete substitute for Elmer’s, which are clearly superior. I use both, but if you can only buy one brand, buy Elmer’s. It is well worth the higher price! And it’s available in the middle of the night at drugstores and grocery stores.

However, now that Elmer’s has discontinued the other varieties of paper glazes and sells only the one kind, you may want to check BigLots (especially now, not long after the holidays), because they have been selling a set of 16 different paper glazes in one package. I don’t know if they still do, but they are worth looking for.

Paper Glaze Brushes

The new Elmer’s Shimmering Shapes paper glaze package includes a nice little brush, while the BigLots package doesn’t include a brush anymore.

I don’t use the brushes to apply the glaze. I like to apply a very thin coat of glaze with my fingers. Yes, it’s a little messy, but the effect is much better. Besides, do we ever outgrow the pleasure of applying paint with our fingers? I don’t think so!

Save the brush! You can always use the paper glaze brushes to apply glue or other messy substances later.

Using Paper Glazes

Because paper glazes are water soluble and dry with a raised textured surface if you apply them thickly, you can use them to create an amazing variety of effects. Here are a few details from the painting at the beginning of this article.

I hope you will try some paper glazes. They are easy to find in the U.S. Hopefully they are not too hard to find wherever you live. In another post I’ll talk about how you might try making your own if you can’t find them in the stores. Have fun!

Even if you don’t feel that you can draw well enough to create a magic horse that comes alive like this, I guarantee you will enjoy watching this video. For awhile it seems a little boring. The guy just works in silence, and you can’t always see exactly what he’s doing, but it is interesting enough to keep watching—if only to figure out what he’s up to.

Then—at the end—the results just take your breath away. Please watch, and tell me what you think. Can you do what he did?

ATCs can be miniature paintings or collages, quilts, drawings, photographs, or assemblages. They can be quilted, crocheted, knitted, or sewn and stuffed. They can be hand drawn, or made entirely with computer graphics—and then embellished by hand—or not.

ATCs can be made of metal, wood, paper, cardstock, fabric, leather, canvas, wire, twine, plastic, lace, or any combination. They can be embellished with feathers, beads, thread, glass, stones, faux or real gems, eggshells, buttons, mesh, and…anything that will fit on them.

I’ve seen cards made in each of those techniques and from each of those materials (and probably others) in various combinations.
One artist I know used to cut up her “failed” watercolor paintings into ATCs and embellish them. Her cards were highly prized by other artists who were lucky enough to trade for them.

Trading ATCs

For several years I belonged to a small but avid group of artists who met monthly to trade ATCs. There was so much creativity and inspiration in the group! Each artist worked in many media. We were constantly inspired and learned a lot from each other.

We generally stored our cards, both the ones available for trade and the ones just for display) in three-ring binders. At meetings people would look at each other’s binders and swap cards one on one.

For example, I might find two cards I really wanted but be willing to trade for up to four cards. The other person might find just three cards he wanted. We would strike a deal at three cards and each take the three cards we liked best from the available cards in the other person’s binder.

I like that much better than another plan I have heard of, where each artist makes a card in the same design for each person who is expected at the meeting. So you might have to make 10 or 20 or 30 of the same design. How boring!

With our way, artists are more likely to experiment. Some cards are one of a kind. Others are made in multiples. Originality is prized, but each card is not required to be hand made. With people experimenting and making many different designs, you can have a fine time trading each month, even with only three or four people.

The Two Rules for Artist Trading Cards

When making artist trading cards, there are only two rules: the exact size, and not selling them. That is, (1) artist trading cards must be 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches and not be too thick to fit in standard trading card (baseball or other game) sleeves and pocket pages. And (2) artist trading cards must be traded or freely given , never sold. Otherwise, they are not “artist trading cards.”

Those who choose to make artworks in the 2 1/2 x 3 1/2 inch size are free to sell them under the name of ACEOs. (I forget what that stands for.) Just please do not call them “artist trading cards” or “ATCs.”

Never sell artist trading cards that have been given or traded to you. That would be highly unethical. People have worked, sometimes for many hours, to make a gift to share with friends.

It would also be a violation of copyright. In other words, it would be illegal. If anyone is going to make money from any artist’s creation, the copyright laws say that the original artist is the only one allowed to do so unless you have a signed contract with them that says otherwise.

Artist Trading Card Demo Videos

There is so much variety in artist trading cards that I’m starting a new site just for ATCs. Eventually it will look a lot like this site.

So far, I have collected a bunch of videos of artists making ATCs that you can watch at the new site, Artist Trading Card Ideas.

Sorry there is nothing at the main URL yet. I have collected a lot of cards from friends who have given permission for me to display them, though. And I have scans of dozens of card designs that I made in a variety of media.

I have already written much of the content. When the main site is launched, I’ll let you know.

Meanwhile you can watch some interesting videos on making artist trading cards (ATCs) and ACEOs.

Just too much fun to play with!

http://www.zefrank.com/flowers/

You can also use it to make mandalas, kaleidoscope patterns, and such, in a huge variety of styles.

From palest pastels in tiny patterns on a white background…

to bold, bright patterns–even just black and white.

I’m including a few examples from the site here, but please go to the site and look through the list of saved files (right-hand column of the main window there). You will be amazed and inspired.

Go. Have fun. Destress. And you can email your creations to your friends (or yourself).

While cheaper than the best pastel sets, I’ve found decorator-type chalks to be expensive, usually about $15 for a limited palette. I didn’t buy any until I found a nice set in a compact, layered crystal case at Wal-Mart for $10.

The case is compact, sturdy and portable, with plenty of colors at a great price.

I’m sure you can find it at other stores, too. I have a similar-looking case of watercolors, possibly from the same manufacturer, that I bought at Office Max.

My favorite chalk for backgrounds in sketchbooks and on journal pages, though, is sidewalk chalk. It’s cheap and it comes in a huge variety of delicious pastel colors (richer and deeper than they appear in the picture below).

As usual with very cheap art supplies, each brand of sidewalk chalk has limited colors. But all brands have different colors, so you can make a nice palette by buying sidewalk chalk from several different sources.

Recently I even found glittery sidewalk chalk, made by Colorific.

So keep your eyes open and experiment with fun things you find in drugstores and discount stores. If the fun art supply you try does not meet your needs, there is bound to be a child you can pass it along to who will be delighted with it. And when you find something you like, please come back and tell us about it.