Handmade gift how-to from Christy Petterson, Indie Craft Experience co-founder
WOVEN PLASTIC EARRINGS
Christy Petterson
GIVE SOMEONE AN EARFUL: Christy Petterson's Shrinky Dinks earrings
Remember Shrinky Dinks? I recently fell in love with them again and I think you'll like them too. Pretty much anyone who knows me can vouch for the fact that I love big earrings. This pair is nice because it's a transparent white and goes with any outfit. It's the perfect accessory for a busy girl!
Supplies
One pack of Shrinky Dinks Frosted Ruff N' Ready
Two earrings hooks
Two 1-inch eye hooks
Two jump rings
Scissors
Needle-nose pliers
Hole punch or drill with tiny bit
Baking/cookie Sheet
Wax paper or brown bag
Stack of books or something flat and heavy
Oven
Estimated cost: $15. Will make multiple pairs of earrings.
Step 1: Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Step 2: Cut six strips of Shrinky Dinks about 3-4 inches long and half an inch wide. It can be difficult to estimate, but Shrinky Dinks will shrink to about a third of their size once they have been baked.
Step 3: Weave the strips together with three going horizontally and three vertically. Just think "over under over under." Punch a hole at the top of one of the middle strips (unless you have a drill and feel comfortable using it. If that's the case, you'll create your hole later.).
Step 4: Place a piece of wax paper on your cookie sheet. You can also cut open a brown paper bag and use that. Place woven strips on the paper. Space the strips so there is a little bit of room between each one.
Step 5: Bake your woven creation for 1-3 minutes. Don't wander off! If you leave it in the oven too long it will start to turn brown. It'll curl up (which is really freaky and you might feel an impulse to yank it out of the oven – don't do it!), but if you wait a few seconds it'll relax a bit.
I don't have a window in my oven, but I peek a lot. If you peek too, make sure you only open the oven a tiny bit so that too much heat doesn't escape. Once the earring has relaxed you can remove the sheet from the oven with a pot holder. Now you need to move quickly. Transfer the Shrinky Dinks from the hot wax paper onto a new piece of wax paper. Put another sheet on top and then the big stack of books on top of that. In the few seconds after they comes out of the oven, the Shrinky Dinks start to harden.
Step 6: After about a minute, remove your beautiful woven charm. If you didn't punch a hole earlier, drill a hole at the top of one of the middle strips with the tiny bit. Make sure your hole is close to the edge.
Step 7: Using the pliers, open up the jump ring just enough to slide it through the hole in the charm and then slide the eye hook through the jump ring and close it. Attach the earring hook by bending the eye hook through the hole in the earring hook using the pliers. Done! You've got an earring!
ARTIST Q&A
How did you get into crafting?
I've been creative my whole life. This started with my mom doing craft projects with me when I was little and I always pursued art and craft classes all through school. In sixth and seventh grade I always had a friendship bracelet pinned to my jeans!
How long have you been in the business of indie crafting?
I discovered Jenny Hart of Sublime Stitching in 2003 and from her website and the links on it, I found a whole new generation of crafters that I could really relate to. I started taking it more seriously the following year and it sorta took over my life in 2005.
What kinds of crafts do you specialize in?
I make jewelry. Actually, I make earrings. It's that specific. Earrings are what I love! I dabble with book binding and sewing and my earring designs incorporate screen printing. I sell my earrings and other creations under the name "a bardis" and I write a blog by the same name - www.abardis.com.
Why is making stuff better than buying stuff?
It's more personal. You're creating something unique and special instead of buying the same ol' thing everyone else bought. It's more fun too! Imagine making earrings in your apartment sipping hot chocolate versus battling the crowds at the mall!
What's the best thing people can learn from crafters during these tight economic times?
Crafters are really industrious. If they need something they buy the supplies and make it themselves, which is often a lot cheaper than buying it new. The extra-awesome crafters can take "trash" and make something amazing out of it. When times are tough you have to make sacrifices but crafters have an aesthetic eye so even if they are sacrificing they make it look good.
What's the story behind ICE and how's it different from other indie-craft organizations in Atlanta?
The Indie Craft Experience was created in January 2005 by myself, Shannon Mulkey and Susan Voelker. We were inspired by indie markets in Chicago and Austin and felt like someone needed to put Atlanta on the map. The indie craft scene is very internet-based so everyone is very connected from city to city, and it just seemed like Atlanta had zero presence. At first, I wished someone would create a show here. Later I realized that someone was me! Atlanta is wonderful in that way. It's big enough so there is a lot going on and enough people that you can get lots of support and enthusiasm from folks. At the same time, it's small enough that if you want to be a leader in something you just have to get moving and make it happen.
When I met Shannon and Susan at Young Blood Gallery and Boutique in 2004 it seemed like we could make it happen together. While our goal was to put Atlanta on the map, we don't think of ourselves as a local show, and from the beginning we reached out to crafters from other cities. Even at the first ICE in June 2005, we had participants from LA and NYC. I think that's what makes us different from other organizations here. We are involved on the national scene. ...We even represented Atlanta at the first annual Craft Congress in Pittsburgh last year.
Nov. 15 mark[ed] our eighth Indie Craft Experience. It's really exciting to see how it has grown over the years. I'm proud that we created something from scratch. I think the combination of ICE and Youngblood has created a great infrastructure for Atlanta's indie craft scene.
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