Die Cut Bracelet

Flex your creative muscle and make this Die Cut Bracelet by Melony Bradley. It looks amazing and best of all, it's cheaper than store-bought jewelry.


 

Materials:

• Tim Holtz's Alterations Bird in Cage Bigz
• Staz On ink in black
• Background stamp
• Shrink film
• Sizzix embossing folder
• Chalk ink
• Swarovski stones
• Paint
• Threaded eye pins

Instructions:

1. I picked Tim Holtz's Alterations Bird in Cage Bigz die for this project. For the sake of economy, I trimmed the shrink film to fit on the bird and wing parts of the die only since I was not quite sure how the intricate cage shape would respond to the whole heat process.
   
   
    
2. I decided to cut off the bottom part of the die and use the bird shape sans the legs and branch.
    
3. The package says to sand one side of the film if coloring by hand or rubber stamping with 300-400 grit paper. I chose an intricate background stamp and used Staz On ink in black. I inked the wing solid black to contrast with the scroll-look bird.
   
   
    
4. Shrink film is easy enough to use. For charms, make sure you punch or pierce your hole first. There simply will be no doing so afterward. Be sure to use a punch large enough as the hole will shrink along with the film and images. It only takes a couple of minutes to shrink so don't go too far while its baking. Don't be alarmed if the whole thing completely curls up, it will straighten right back out. Here is the actual size of the die compared to the shrunk version...
   
   
    
5. I popped the bird and wing stacked together in place to heat fuse together right in the oven. I decided also to place them on a painted and distressed wood circle since the dies turned out so teensy.
   
   
    
6. For the flowers, I used a layered flower die and embossed with a Sizzix embossing folder for some added texture. I used chalk ink to color, going with an olive and black color scheme.
   
   
    
7. I lightly painted the edges to look more vintage and added some Swarovski stones centers along with some threaded eye pins. I can't wait to do more with shrink film! It's really cool to work with...It also comes in ink jet friendly sheets so I am eager to try printing photos on it!