Lisa's Shrink Plastic Addiction!

The Bead Shop is somewhere that I have wanted to work at for a long time, and so when a vacancy came up I applied straight away. I was very happy to be offered the job, and so I left my bar job and entered the beading world.

Before getting my previous job, I graduated from Nottingham Trent University, where I specialised in mould making and casting with resin. Whilst this was always a technique that I loved, I soon spotted a new favourite once I began working here at The Bead Shop – shrink plastic!

I immediately saw the potential of working with this new medium, and rushed out straight away to buy a pack of permanent markers to get designing!

I love this Cityscape necklace...

I have found that shrink plastic has really unleashed my inner child – I remember shrinking crisp packets when I was younger – but whilst reminiscent of that, this technique clearly offers far more scope! I was surprised by the amount of detail you can achieve with shrink plastic, whether through using printed designs or hand drawn ones.

So far I have created many pieces, and find it brilliant that I can bring my love of drawing in to my jewellery making. It is amazing to be able to wear my doodles, and it’s also a cheap way to satisfy my creative cravings.

As I have found myself so encouraged recently, I have been on a mission to do one creative thing every day, and with Halloween fast approaching I decided to draw inspiration from the fantastic Bead Shop window display and design some spooky pieces like the bat. (Shown below).

Although the Ghostbusters necklace isn’t very scary, I do love it. As I wanted it to look authentic, I found it useful to trace the image on to the plastic. I wasn’t convinced that I would be able to freehand draw the circle otherwise!

Out of the shrink plastic pieces I have created so far, I think my favourite has to be the Meg & Mog necklace. I took the image from the front cover of one of the books I used to read at primary school. I almost ended up choosing the cover of The Funny Bones book, but I think that will be one I attempt for next Halloween.

I really love working with shrink plastic, and have really been inspired by its many possibilities. I think I’ve managed some pretty fun necklaces so far, I hope you like them too!

Lisa x