Crayons and the Household Iron

There has been a ton of chit chat on one of my Yahoo groups about Encaustic Wax. Well, there is NO WAY I can start another addiction at this point! LOL!! So, I thought about Traci Bautista's work with melted crayons.

I got out some Crayola crayons, some inexpensive neutral-colored cardstock, my household iron (I had to fight the dust bunnies for it......), some regular foil, and an old kitchen cloth. I spread my stash out on my washer and dryer (what?!?) and got to work.

Cover your iron with 2 layers of foil. Try to wrap it around tightly so it won't move too much while you work with the crayons. (It would probably be best to use the "Heavy Duty" foil rather than the standard foil.) Place your paper on top of the old cloth.

Start melting! :)

Some tips:

1) Don't try to put the foil over your iron when it is turned on.

2) Empty the water out of your iron BEFORE you start.

3) Have a good sense of humor and some burn salve.

These first 2 papers I made by rubbing the crayons directly onto the iron (remember it is covered with foil!) Then I smeared, rubbed, twisted it onto the cardstock. This took quite a while and several layers and crayons. The results are OK and you have more control over where the colors are placed with this technique. I did press and hold the iron in some spots after all of the colors were on the paper. That is where the "wrinkles" come from. After I had the results I wanted, I turned the paper over and ironed the heck out of it on the back side.

For these next 3 papers, I broke the crayons into small pieces and put them on top of the paper. Then I "ironed" on top of the crayons. I moved the iron very slowly over the paper lifting it often and putting it back down in a different places on the paper. I also held and pushed the iron down in some areas on the paper. This was MUCH faster and I think I like these results better.

I was surprised that the colors on these papers seem very stable. I can bend and fold the paper and the wax seems infused into the paper. There is no cracking of the colors at all! Neat! Now.... I'm gonna see if I can actually create a project.........
Ta for now! ;)