Likes & Loves Mini Doodle Charms Tutorial

Here's a quickie tutorial for some fantastic mini charms we'll be making at Art Camp for Women, during my class Tempest in a Teacup, October 13-15, 2012. This will be my only teaching gig this year, so I'll be putting all of my energy into insuring that everyone absorbs a whole heap of inspiration. Camp will be about self-exploration and getting to know ourselves through our likes, loves, self-admonitions and the roles we play purposefully and by chance. I promise a transformative time together. 

We'll use these mini doodle charms to adorn our tempest quiltlet, but you can use them for jewelry, fabric art or anything you want to spice up with some colorful bling.

I'll show you two distinct charms: journal charms and doodle charms. Gather up the following supplies: Shrinky Dinks - clear and frosted sheets; scissors, Sharpies - fine black and brights mixed, colored pencils, hole punch, teflon sheet, heat gun (or you can use your oven), embossing powders - (UTEE is especially nice), jump rings, jewelry pliers. Let's get started.

JOURNAL CHARMS To make some journal charms, use a fine black Sharpie and the clear sheet of Shrinky Dinks. On one side of the clear sheet, journal about things you LIKE. You can write using printing or cursive writing. Whichever you choose, leave lots of enclosed areas in your letters, because we'll fill them in with color. Just write whatever comes into your mind. We'll cut this up so no one will see the full sentences--just the snippets. "I like clouds that are big and fluffy white in a deep blue sky..." What do you like?

Once you've journaled your whole page, flip it over and fill in the enclosed areas (loops and circles within letters) with all of the colors of Sharpies you have. Take turns using the different markers until you've filled in all the loops. Make sure you're coloring in on the opposite side of the clear sheet so you don't smear the black Sharpie. It's disorienting, I know, but you can do it!

Once you've filled in all the loops and circles, you'll have a fun and fancy journal page!

Now, cut it up into rectangles. Mine are about 1.5" x 3", but you can experiment. It's not science, just play. Punch a hole in the top so you can add a jump ring later. 

DOODLE CHARMS To make the loves mini doodle charms, doodle some images of things you LOVE on the glossy (non frosted) side of the frosted Shrinky Dinks page. Again, this is going to be cut up, so don't worry so much about context or drawing skill. Just go for it! Simple is better. I love clouds, cupcakes, hearts, flowers, pencils, spools, pie, city scapes and etc. Fill in the blank spaces with swirls or dots or leaves or whatever strikes you. Don't leave much space between drawings. 

Flip the sheet over and use your colored pencils to color in the backside of the drawings (coloring on the frosty side). Mix and mingle your colors to blend them. You don't want to spend too much time on this, as some of the drawings will be lost when you cut your charms. Fast and loose!

It's time to cut again, but this time cut out some circles if you're daring! Ovals will work too.

Add a hole with your handy hole-punch, so that you can adorn them with jump rings.

Here's the tricky part. Let me show you how I do it, because I am too impatient to wait for the oven to heat up. Place the cut outs one at a time on a heatproof surface topped with a teflon sheet. Use a heat gun to heat it up until it starts curling up and shrinking.

It's gonna get crazy. It will go through little spasms (picture the wolfman transforming under a full moon) and roll around. Chase it with the heat gun until it unrolls and lays flat.

This is what it will look like when it's done. Flat and pretty!

You can see here some of the crazy forms it will go through while morphing. Don't worry, this is normal! Here's the caveat. Sometimes you'll lose one of these little gems. It will roll up and stick to itself and no amount of wailing will save it. The Shrinky Dinks will have an oven method listed on the package and it will work like a....uh, charm! If you choose to shrink them via the oven method, put the teflon sheet on a baking sheet, lay the charms on the teflon and bake.

The Shrinky Dinks get very shrinky. Here's the difference between the journaled page cutouts and the final charm.

These little guys are chillin' and ready for the SECRET INGREDIENT.

The SECRET INGREDIENT makes them sizzle, pop and zing!

You guessed it, we're gonna add some UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel) or embossing powder. Whatever color you have will be divine.

Simply stick a skewer through the hole in your charm to hold it in place. You'll need to fire up the heat gun (the oven won't work this time) and heat the bottom edge of the journal charm. Just enough to get the UTEE to stick.

Dip the edge of the heated charm in the embossing powder. Reheat and dip again to add some sparkle to the bottom edge. If the UTEE does not stick the first time, keep running over it with the heat gun hold the heat gun a good inch away from the charm) and re-dipping until it sticks, then dip again. You can try dipping in more than one color if you want to get fancy. I always want to get fancy! Don't forget to reheat the embossing powder once it's on the charm, so that it gets nice and glossy. Voila!

Your finished charms should look something like this.

Add a jump ring so that you can dangle your charms on jewelry, mixed media and the like, or use waxed linen cord or string through the hole to tie them on.

 Visit the Art Camp for Women site, click on the FAQ's tab and find out 10+ Ways Art Camp for Women Differs from the other Art Retreats.  While you're at the Art Camp site, look for the link to their newsletter. There are monthly prize drawings and free journal prompts galore. 

Let's get together this Fall and make art, drink wine and celebrate ourselves. This all-inclusive camp includes gourmet food, lodging, all art supplies, excursions and more in the breathtaking mountains of Colorado.  I would love love love to meet you there! Kelli