From Mary Vogel Lozinak Stamp to Super Chic Circus Rat Earrings

Happy MONDAY!!! Susan here today with my first official post since returning to the VLVS Design Team. YAY!!! My fingers are inky and I have a fun project to share today.

Did you participate in the Mary Vogel Lozinak Link Up last weekend??? It was so much fun and I haven't been able to put my three plates of MVL stamps away!

The inspiration for this project is the Mary Vogel Lozinak "Rat Face #18522" stamp. This stamp just makes me laugh out loud!!! I was rummaging through my craft stash and I came across some shrink plastic...and this stamp SCREAMED "earrings"!!!

Per the instructions of the shrink plastic, you need to gently sand the plastic to rough up the edges. I wiped away the dust with a cloth and then stamped the rat face with Black StazOn ink.

Then I colored the image with my Ranger Distress Markers.

After punching a 1/16" hole in plastic, I placed them on a piece of chipboard in the toaster oven and watched carefully not to let plastic burn. It's magical to watch it shrink right before your eyes!

Here are my shrunken rats in comparison to original stamped size. 

The size is 45% of original size...perfect for earrings.

**A NOTE** The distress markers were not heat set after baking. I lightened the color by gently dabbing with a damp cloth. I also sprayed with a polyurethane to seal afterward.

I used some poly-coated wire to string the rat heads with some beads and closed the wire with a crimp bead. I finished off by wiring these to a pair of standard earring hoops. Voila! Custom earrings : )

Presenting my stamped Circus Rat Earrings!!!

Thanks so much for dropping by and welcoming me back to the Viva Las Vegastamps! Design Team. This is a new month and you will want to subscribe to the VLVS Blog if you haven't already. The Viva Las Vegastamps! players will be bringing you posts every day! Don't forget to check out the Viva Las Vegastamps! store.

Thanks so much for visiting! If you would like to see more of my creations please visit my blog, sbartist : painting in the dark HERE. Have an inky day! Sb