Smarter Than Shrinky Dinks

It's beautiful August morning, somewhat marred by the fact that I am due at the dentist very soon for my permanent crown.

The job search has been fruitless. My last position had a vague title that makes it hard to find a compatible match. Most opportunities with the same title only pay minimum wage and have no need of my 20 years of experience. And the ones that do match my experience have titles that don't match mine, which throws me right out of the running.

But instead of dwelling on this, I choose to indulge my creative side. I take comfort in the fact that if my endeavors do not work out as planned, there is nobody here to pull me into a room and bawl me out for my errors. My failures will not be logged, published, distributed, and thrown in my face when somebody needs an excuse to be mad at me.

Wait, I thought I was not "dwelling"...

My latest epic failure of biblical proportions was the bracelet I am trying to make out of my nephew's artwork. He drew a flock of Angry Birds for his Boppy, (my Dad) which I happily copied and framed for my own art collection. I resized the drawings and printed them on a sheet of shrink plastic. After I cut them out, rounded the corners and punched a few holes, I shrunk them according to the directions. They turned out beautifully, and I was able to quickly fashion them into a bracelet.

Unfortunately, the ink began flaking off before the day was over. My attempts at sealing the ink resulted in smearing, bleeding ink, or in some cases, brush marks or lumpy, peeling finishes. I opted to try a different plastic, one specifically for ink jet printers. I purchased Grafix Inkjet Shrink Film. Good news: The ink is stable. Bad news: the plastic is crap, for lack of a better word. It's gritty, cracked, and yellow. It looks like I drew on old toenails. It's cheap and rough unattractive, unlike myself.

 



I am determined, however, to make this work! I have printed out a new set on the original, "pretty" plastic. I'll give them another chance with another sealing product (or three) before I abandon the shrinky-dink method altogether. In the meantime, I'll see if those job boards have any updates today.

A little that a righteous man has is better than the riches of many wicked.

Psalm 37:16