| Instructions 1. For this technique, don't sand the shrink. 2. Marbelize 2 sheets of canvas white shrink (2 sheets per bracelet) - directions below. 3. Stamp the 3-4 pet tags onto the marbelized shrink (don't apply ink to the big dot on the pet tag stamp where you would normally punch a hole for a pet tag) with ZimInk. The cat tag bracelet above fits a medium-large wrist. The dog tag bracelet fits a small wrist. Stamp dog/cat images inside the tags with the same color or a coordinating color of ZimInk. The dog tag pieces above are stamped in copper ZimInk, as are its stamped dog decorations. The cat tag shapes are stamped in gold, and its cat images are stamped in dark green. ZimInk instructions are here. 4. Carefully cut the tags out. Punch holes on the both sides of the tags (a 1/8-1/4" punch), either single or double holes (depending on the number of jump rings you'll want to use to connect the pieces of the bracelet, double is more secure). 5. Shrink all pieces flat. Heat with a heat gun until it curls, shrinks, & lays flat. If you are shrinking with a heat gun, you'll need to gently hold down your piece with a wooden skewer or chopstick (to keep it from blowing away!). 6. Now, you'll reheat all the flat tags, one at a time, & re-shape them around a jar (approx. the size of a peanut butter jar) to give them a nice curve. Reheat the shrink until soft, then quickly pick the piece up & wrap it around the jar. It just takes a few seconds for the shrink to set up. Use an old piece of scrap fabric to hold the hot shrink. Experiment with scraps of shrink & different jars until you get the curve that you want. If you make a mistake, you can re-heat the shrink & try again. *At this time you can dab on metallic ZimInk or use a metallic Krylon marker to go around the white edges of each tag. 7. Apply Glass Kote to both sides of each tag - usually 2 coats. Allow to sit over night. 8. Assemble with jump rings, seed beads, & a clasp.
Mary Garvey's Marbelized Shrink Technique Use any container that an 8 x 10" piece of PolyShrink will fit in (like a brownie pan). Fill the pan with about 1 - 1.5" of warm water. Finely crumble & sprinkle artists' chalks (with your finger nail) onto the surface of the water. Use 2-3 coordinating colors of chalk. Gently swirl the floating chalk dust with your finger, skewer, or chopstick to create a marble pattern on top of the water. Gently lay a piece of shrink down on the surface of the water. Now peel the shrink off the surface & lay to the side. Repeat with remaining sheets of shrink. You'll need to add chalk dust as you go; the more chalk dust floating on the top of the water, the better. Allow the sheets of marbelized shrink to dry thoroughly before stamping. You can speed up the drying process by carefully using a hair dryer to lightly blow on the shrink.
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