Plastic beads

I made shrink plastic beads when I saw this article on A Monthly Rubber Stamp Club back in 2003. I remember liking the outcome and wanted to give it a try again. I cut large triangles out of shrink plastic about 3" wide and 8-1/2" long. Roughed the surface with fine sand paper. I used chalk ink on the background and stamped flourishes with alcohol inks and a smaller flourish with black Stazon ink.

I placed the plastic onto a craft sheet with thick vellum on top and heated in the oven at 250 F. until they shrank and hardened. I wasn't worried that some of the pieces were misshapen, as they will be reheated and shaped into the bead shape. I colored the edges black with a black sharpie pen.

I ran a bobby pin with Versamark ink to facilitate its later removal (per the instructions in the above mentioned article). Clipped the bobby pin close to the edge of the wide end. I used a hemostat to hold the bobby pin while creating the bead. With a heat gun, re soften the plastic and wrap it around itself. Allow to cool.
When I made these beads 5 years ago, I had no trouble removing the bobby pins. This time, it was difficult to remove the bobby pin and caused some of the bead to break. I wonder if the type of bobby pin makes a difference? I decided to use the bobby pins as a design element. I think it has an Asian flair.