How BirdQueen Designs Turns Shrinky Dinks Into Wearable Art

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• "The Chocolate Cuppy Cake Necklace ($15) was inspired by Megon Dee, a friend who owns Corazon Cakery in Baltimore."
• "Drawn from nature, the Rice Paper Butterfly Necklace ($36) has a design that's both striking and bold, with a high-contrast print."
• "The Red Poppy Necklace ($36) is a design I've had for a while, but it remains popular. The asymmetry appeals to people, and I love the vibrant red. Because it's so popular,
• "The Red Poppy Post Earrings ($12) are a recent upgrade. I used to have a dangle earring available, but there was something "off" about them in my opinion. These are simpler,
• "The Peacock Half Bib Necklace ($45) has also been around for a while, and it's most popular in green. The
• "Even though this color doesn't occur in nature on peacock feathers, these Gold Peacock Feather Earrings ($15) are my favorites to wear with almost anything—
• "The Folk Flower Bib Necklace ($50) was inspired by the folk art and bold colors from Pennsylvania Dutch hex signs. Keep an eye out for more necklace and earri
• "The Beige Folk Flower Necklace ($18) is a more subdued piece from the Folk Flower Series."
• "The Spear Bib Necklace ($65) is a new design with simple lines. Customers always comment on how they can't believe it's flat! In person, it really looks 3D."

You've probably spotted BirdQueen Design's plastic jewelry on display at boutiques all throughout the area (stockists include Arcadia, Tselaine, and VIX Emporium, to name a few), and for good reason: The idea behind the line is nothing short of genius. Jewelry designer Gretchen Diehl renders each illustration by hand, scans and prints the image onto ink jet shrink film (remember Shrinky Dinks?), and then bakes the design, which shrinks to become lightweight, durable wearable art.

As for upcoming projects, Diehl (who earned her MFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts) has a few things in the works: "My dream for the next few years is to get a little knitwear line going," she says. "I'm ordering fabric printed with my own designs, and I think I will start by making simple scarves, then maybe graduate to tunics and stuff like that." In the photos above, Diehl tells us which BirdQueen pieces are her most popular and the inspiration behind some of her favorite designs.
· BirdQueen Designs [Official Site]