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Friday, March 16, 2007

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! ;)

6 comments:

  1. Great Job!! I had a blast with the crayons too..... then I went and bought just a "litttttle" box of ecaustics.....(ok, so there was 10 or 12 diff. colors)
    Played with those....and now I'm waiting on a 140.00 order. LOL
    Soooooooooo BECAREFUL!!! It gets reallllllllly addicting!!
    Be sure to show us your projects....
    Hugs, Mary Lou

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  2. Susan these are beautiful results you acheived with the crayons!!! Can't wait to see what you do with them!
    Aileen Roberts
    otm@outsidethemargins.com

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  3. I am wondering if you could use a heat gun to melt and drip the crayon? Or a hairdryer to blow the wax around?

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  4. Susan , I was so glad to see you say about not getting into more tech because of the cost. Sometimes I feel like a dud cause I can't afford the different stuff for all the techs that is done. Crayons, iron , and alum foil is what I have and I loved your results. I am makeing some today.. thanks again, Becky

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  5. It's very pretty. I am going to try it, but I think if you try to grate the crayons with a grater,there will be an even flow of the crayons.Stamping greetings
    Yvette venteryvette@yahoo.com

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