Since it isn't strictly shrunk plastic, perhaps "Shrunken Treasure" wasn't the best choice...
I have been dabbling in all sorts of media lately and I'm loving it. My history with shrink plastic is verrrrrry looooooong indeed. Close to 20 years. Sadly, the heyday of inkjet printable shrink plastic is behind us. Shrinky Dinks was sold off over two years ago and so many who had thrown their hats into the inkjet printable shrink plastic ring have long since pulled them out leaving few choices for shrinky dink artists like me. In the interest of the love of vintage illustration and jewelry, I have embarked on a journey to try new things!
My first stop is printed metals. Tin, copper, brass, aluminum, steel, whatever. The result has been nothing short of amazing and there are many ways in which to get an image onto metal. The process is much more time-consuming, but the outcome, jewelry that is actually metal, is superior to shrink plastic in that it is much more resilient. I have had many in the past comment about how they aren't "into plastic jewelry". Those people are missing the point; shrink plastic is fun, it's beautiful, lightweight, and the level of care I give my jewelry is quite wonderful. But, it is plastic and as such, can be broken. Shrink plastic is not for everyone. What I love about printed metal or faux tin or whatever you want to call it, is that it is much more water resilient and won't break. Now, metal can be bent, but it is just more permanent than it's plastic counterpart. Also, it is still very lightweight and easy to wear so that doesn't get lost with the switch to printed metal.
My second stop is printed polymer clay. Again, lots of ways to get an image onto the clay. A plus is it's ready availability (all crafts stores carry it). The transferred images look good. My only dislike is that it can be heavier. Not a lot, but it is heavier and it's thicker so that clean crisp look I get from plastic and tin can't be duplicated. However, I will say some of the illustrative jewelry I've seen has been great none the less.
All of that being said, there is just so much to try that it has left my head spinning. I am always trying and making new things. My Etsy store has suffered for it. I now only have about 25 active listings as opposed to my usual 275+, but I'm okay with that. For now. I'd really like to establish new additions to my line-up and not have them simply limited to shrink plastic jewelry. I believe that mixed media is where it's at and where I'd like to grow my business. We'll see!
