One day, Vesta Abel and I had nothing to do. OK - so that would never happen.

Actually, we had plenty to do, but decided it would be fun to have a “swap” of sorts. I would give her some Sheer Heaven to play with, and she would give me Ultrathin Shrink Plastic. And we would then share what we had created.

Vesta came up with some great little mocassins (see the next article), but I was stuck. I have never done so well with shrink plastic - everything I ever made with it turned out looking like, well, plastic - and we all know how I feel about plastic! But Ultrathin is different - it turns out looking and feeling like metal - or very thin ceramic and it’s very durable.

What would I make if working with metal or thin ceramic? Earrings! I only have about 250 pairs, so I could always use more.

These earrings were made according to the steps shown for the Cat Earrings on the following page. The stamp used was the Birth Moon for July (Birth Moons Cre8it).

Ultrathin is thin - even after shrinking, so I punched 1/8" holes across the bottom and embellished with black fringe. (Fringe Benefits, Cre8it)
About Ultrathin
We have already mentioned that Ultrathin remains very thin after shrinking. That means that cuts can be made or holes punched after it is shrunk, as well as before. The finished piece can easily be trimmed with scissors if need be. The other interesting thing about this material is that it does not shrink uniformly in both directions - it ends up wider in one direction and taller in the other. Ultrathin comes in letter size sheets and the shrink ratio is the opoosite of what you think it would be. If your image stands upright when the sheet is in portrait position (tall), it will shrink to be wider. If your image is upright when the sheet is in landscape position (wide), it will shrink to be taller and thinner. When you are making a pair of earrings, make sure both are cut from the same orientation on the sheet, or they will not match after shrinking.
What You Will Need:
Ultrathin Shrink Plastic (www.artseeds.com)

Heat-set Pigment Inks (We used Chalk Inks in Yellow Ochre, Peach Pastel, and Burnt Sienna), and Memories Permanent Black Ink

Rubber Stamps of your choosing

Scissors and Decorative Scissors

Hole Punch (1/8")

Heat Tool (Ranger’s Heat-It works best)

Earring wires (Sterling Earwires - Cre8it)

Silver Embossing Powder

Marvy Wet Looks Marker (any color)

Sharpie Marker, Black

Bamboo skewer

Jewelry pliers (channel nose, round nose)

Extra Supplies
(for other earrings shown in the article)

Black Fringe (Fringe Benefits-Cre8it)

Colored Wire

Crafters Ink by Colorbox (Hunter Green, Sky Blue)

Note: Stamps used will be identified within project instructions.
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