going for a dip

... oh don't I wish

:)

actually, here I am dipping things into beeswax again

(please don't look too closely at the sink full of dishes in the background!)

I'm dipping hydrangeas again, but this time I'm dipping a whole section at a time

(see THIS previous post for an earlier hydrangeas in beeswax session)

another change: I'm using a mini crockpot for melting the wax

and today is a particularly photogenic day with all the afternoon sunshine

- wee hah -

I'm soaking it up

aren't they pretty in an old jar?

I also love how they look in a simple bowl on the table

pure loveliness in my view

wax on

it's another dried hydrangea inspiration

you may have already read about dipping the dried blossom in beeswax for the do you like my hat collage

and this is how I did it - it's just a pie pan of beeswax melted in a 200 degree oven - pick up the blossom with tweezers - and dip it in the melted wax

set the blossoms on wax paper 

and you're good to go

they're still fragile, but have some sturdiness and body so they can be incorporated into other things

* * *

projects like this strand of hanging blossoms

a garland? 

a mobile?

pure joy is what it is

and today I was pirating some beautiful green hydrangeas in the local Kohl's parking lot

cars were driving past and I just kept my head down

I was thinking

"you don't know me"

beeswax collage

I just love working with beeswax

it gives an age and patina that is so natural and real

I made this collage using an old book cover and one of my own photographs

the book text is from an old french textbook

I used a bronze chain with jump rings as a hanger

*

and then for this one, which is quite a bit smaller

I made inchie collages and attached them to 2 inch portions of an old book cover

I used glue to adhere everything first

then I mod podged tea bag paper over it all

and then dipped them in beeswax

the beeswax was in pellet form

I simply put some pellets in a foil tray

and heated it in a 200 degree oven

(be careful to heat the wax JUST to melting - the burn point for beeswax is 181 degrees)

then immersed the pieces into the melted wax

you can rub the beeswax with a soft rag to get a bit of a polish

or leave it rough if you'd like

either way is beautiful in my opinion

*

I have many more posts about using beeswax

just click the "beeswax" and "beeswax how-to" labels below to get to them

p is for ......

this week's inchie is brought to you by the letter "p" and the challenge blog Inchy by Inch.

P is for ... plant

something everyone is quite busy with at this time of year

I started with an Inchie Arts  ivory inchie square;

adhered a scrap of flowered paper;

decoupaged some pressed fern leaves;

glued poppy seeds to the edges;

added the word "plant;"

glued a dried hydrangea piece;

and then dipped the whole business in hot beeswax.

The Inchie Arts inchie square was the perfect thickness for the poppy seed edges. At first I thought of using beads, then I thought of glitter - but none of that seemed to fit with the natural colors. The poppy seeds are such a pretty faded purplish gray color. The way I did it was to first dip the edges of the inchie in white glue, and then dip the edges in poppy seeds. I used a generous amount of glue which dried beautifully and evenly without the matte board warping - and then dipping it in the hot beeswax insured that nothing will fall off. These archival quality matte board inchie squares can take a lot of "abuse" and still hold their shape :)

Thanks for looking! Have you tried making an inchie yet? (wink)

Beeswax Final (.... and an announcement)

I'm thrilled to announce that I'm a new member on the design team for this company: inchie arts, llc.

I've loved their product since receiving a box of Inchie Squares from a dear friend as a birthday gift last year.

It's a thick, high quality, acid free, archival material that is extremely useful in the making of "inchies" (1 inch square), "inchies +" (1.5 inch square) and "twinchies" (2 inch square).

I was happy with cereal box cardboard until I started using these.

There really is no comparison.

They take the glue, the inks, the watercolors, the collage, the beeswax - beautifully.

They give your inchies that special heavy feeling that makes you want to hold them in your hand and drop them on the table like poker chips. That might sound kinda weird - but it's a very tactile thing to hold a handful of inchies.

As you know, I've been playing with beeswax for the last 2 weeks ....

I also received materials from inchie arts to "play" with at about the same time.

So, I'm wrapping up my beeswax tutorial with these two twinchies.

I used the "Twinchie Squares" in white.

In these examples I used:

oil pastel

and collage.

In the oil pastel example, I really worked the pigment into the twinchie square base. I used several layers of color. Rubbing in, rubbing off, rubbing in some more, scratching off. If you haven't tried oil pastels and you're the sort of person who used to love finger painting as a kid, this medium is definitely for you. It's very hands on, can get pretty messy, but is very satisfying for creating your own colors and depths of color. You definitely need to apply some type of coating to oil pastel though. It will continue to rub off every time you touch it if you don't. I used beeswax, but an acrylic medium also works great.

The thing with using beeswax on oil pastel is that some of the oil pastel will melt and swirl around in the beeswax - giving it a softening effect. So just be careful - and know that you'll lose some definition in the heat of the wax.

For the collage example, I wanted to follow the same image I had done in the oil pastel. I thought it would be fun to see the differences. I used only torn or cut paper from a magazine. The magazine paper is sometimes tricky to glue down because of it's slick coating, but it stuck perfectly well to the twinchie square base. I think in the past I've had trouble because cereal box cardboard has a slick surface as well. I used to sand it as prep, but even that would still sometimes fail and everything would peel up later.

I dipped this in beeswax as well - which I just LOVE with collage. It really gives the layers of paper a depth and transluscence that I love. I applied the krylon pen edging after the fact, because it will dissolve completely off in the hot beeswax.

Thanks for hanging out with me through almost 2 weeks of beeswax!!!

It's been so much fun ....

I think we all wish we could get together now for a beeswax fondue party

.... at my house!

Now THAT would be fun!

a beeswax test (part 4)

I wanted to experiment with beeswax as an effective paper coating.

What better thing to try it out on than these paper beads?

I know there are a lot more possibilities out there - but I used what I have on hand.

(click on the images for a larger view)

this is a plain bead

this is a bead coated with "mod-podge" decoupage medium

this bead has diamond glaze on it

and this is the beeswax bead

Here are some of the differences: 

The mod-podge and the diamond glaze needed to be painted on. 

The beeswax bead was dipped.

The mod-podge and the beeswax dried quickly.

The diamond glaze took a couple of hours to dry.

The mod-podge bead will need more than 1 coat.

The beeswax bead needs to be buffed with a soft cloth.

The beeswax gave the paper a transparent effect.

The mod-podge and the diamond glaze did not.

***

I liked the beeswax best.

Here's a necklace I made with the paper beads and some wood beads from Africa that I already had in my bead stash:

Dipping a lot of beads was easy.

I strung them onto some wire and loosely coiled it up.

I dropped it in the hot beeswax and let it soak for about 3 minutes.

When I took it out, I carefully uncoiled the wire and hung it up to dry.

It was completely "set" in about 2 minutes and ready to buff with a cloth in about half an hour.

You have to wait a little while before buffing because the beeswax is so sticky at first.

That's it.

***

... next, I want to see what happens to different mediums treated with beeswax - like oil pastels, watercolors, collage, pen and ink, etc.

some fun comments and some FAQ's (on beeswax):

‪neva gagliano said...

can't wait...FONDUE PHOTOS...great party idea, a bunch of us around pots of wax, dipping...
i'll send results!

Neva - can't wait to hear how that went! Wish I coulda been there!

‪Terri Kahrs said...

These are AWE-some, Kimmie! I've got to get try this when I have a bit of time to play. The results are amazing! I can see these paired with fabric for great assemblages! Thanks so much for sharing this great technique. Hugs, Terri xoxo

Terri - that was a great suggestion - something I will do again and again. The lighthouse staircase turned out great just sewn very simply onto a piece of muslin - thank you for the idea!!

‪neva gagliano said...

one question. do you use the little pot of beeswax inside? since it doesn't have pigment in it, it seems like it would be ok...just wondering.

Neva - beeswax is virtually NON-toxic - in fact I wouldn't be surprised if the vapors were actually healthy! Adding pigments is another story though - I guess it depends on what you might use.

‪jgy said...

Great tutorial and great effects!
I wonder what it would be like to dip small objects in Bees-wax too. 
Enjoy!!

jgy - I am definitely on the the same page as you - and have been experimenting with dipping objects in it - there is more to come on that topic :)

‪Chriss Rollins said...

thank you Kimmie,

ok, you say that you melt the wax in 'this thing'

is this thing electric or do you put it in the oven or on the top of the cooker or maybe the microwave... My friend Chriss says that she has a wax pot for manicure of hands and will bring it over next time she come...not sure I can wait that long... so is your crock on the hob to heat the wax... my hob is gas.

Chriss - I'm not positive about what a "hob" is - but my guess is that it's your cute british word for stovetop :) ..... if you heat it on the stovetop - use a double boiler!!! direct heat is dangerous for beeswax, which from what I understand will smoke and catch on fire ?!? .... anyway - I hope you know what I mean by double boiler - maybe there's a cute british word for it that I don't know .... but in the meantime NOT ON THE HOB!! o.k.?

‪layers said...

how interesting to use a pan for a frame.
also interesting how artists develop their own processes--- I melt my wax in small metal cups and tins-- in an electric frying pan-- or a pot sitting on the frying pan with a candy thermometer in the pot.
I got most of my supplies from Goodwill except the wax of course.

layers - great great great idea!!! I know that the incaustic artists use something like an electric frypan with small containers nested inside it ..... and the Goodwill - that's where I get all my vintage bakeware that I use for frames and stuff.

‪sukipoet said...

I love chunks of beeswax like this too and often buy one lb pieces at farmers markets from beekeepers. I didnt know that about putting it in the oven. 

If you freeze the chunk you can then hammer it to break into smaller pieces.

sukipoet - you're right - I tried smashing my block after freezing it - it worked amazingly well - now I have a block of beeswax in the freezer - I hope no one mistakes it for leftovers :)

‪ELK said...

i love this...is bees wax for rookies like me?

ELK - yes - only problem is, you're no rookie, gf :)

‪~*~Patty Szymkowicz said...

there is something oh so magical and wonderful about beeswax ... you've used it brilliantly Kimmie and how you've framed your collage is excellent too!

great tip on popping it in the oven for leveling!!!!

someone gave me a good tip on breaking the wax bricks into smaller chunks ... put your beeswax in the freezer in a plastic bag for several hours, then place it in another sturdy plastic bag and drop it onto a hard surface, smacking it down hard several times...good therapy to get the wild out!
we have a concrete slab and quarry tile floor in our kitchen, it works like a charm 
whatever doesn't break up, pop it back in the freezer and repeat 

I'm scared of knives so I go with the smack it method

Patty - letting the wild out :) .... brilliant! and yes, knives are scary ....

beeswax part 3

Today I want to show you what happens to photographs when you play with beeswax.

I have these photos cropped to a smaller size so I'll be able to dip them into my mini crock of melted wax.

They're 2X2, 4X3, and 4X4.

***

Before dipping, I sand them with sand paper.

For these photographs, I've sanded them all differently and to varying degrees.

***

This one had the edges sanded and then I did a swirl motion overall.

***

Next I drop the photo into the melted wax.

I let it sit for about a minute.

This allows the paper to come to the same temperature as the wax and I get a finer coating of wax that way.

Otherwise it comes out blobby and white with a thick wax.

***

I use tweezers to pull it out and I let it drip for about a minute.

***

Next, I use my bone folder to scrape of most of the wax.

When I do that, it takes some of the photographic coating as well and I get an even more distressed effect.

***

Here's a closeup of what I mean:

***

You can repeat the dip and scrape method as often as you want to.

Repeated dips and scrapes give you an increasingly altered effect.

Here are my final photos after dipping and scraping 2 times:

Let me know if you're trying this at home - or if you have any questions.

I some more fun with beeswax posts planned for later this week too.

beeswax part 2

This is the beeswax I use:

I have also used beeswax in pellet form.

I prefer my block of wax - probably just because it looks so cool and my Dad gave it to me.

I simply cut off (using a big chef knife) small chunks of it and melt it in this thing:

I have a small saucepan lid that fits perfectly over this - it helps speed up the melting process to have a lid on it.

DO NOT LEAVE HEATED BEESWAX UNATTENDED

it is FLAMMABLE if it gets too hot.

For larger sized projects (like this one) I simply spoon the hot wax liberally over the whole thing.

Let your spoon sit in the wax for a minute or two so it gets to be the same temperature as the wax.

Otherwise you'll just get a big cold blob of wax on a spoon.

I do spooning of the wax while the project is on a piece of foil with the edges folded up:

I prefer a thin layer of wax - so all I need to do is pop this in a 200' oven for about 5 minutes.

WATCH CAREFULLY TO AVOID OVERHEATING THE WAX.

The even temperature of the oven causes the wax to soak in nicely and spread in a thin layer.

All the excess wax just flows off the piece and onto the foil.

Here's a close up shot so you can see some of the texture of the wax:

Next week I'll show you how some more beeswax how-to's.

***

This particular art piece I've mounted in a baking pan as the frame:

This piece IS for sale.
You can find it in my etsy shop HERE.

beeswax

... this is before beeswax

... and this is after beeswax. The thing with beeswax is that it makes your paper more transparent or translucent and it enriches the colors. You can see how the swirls on the background paper show through where the bird is - and the text, because it came from a book, has faint text showing through because of what is printed on the reverse side. 

... here is a closeup of before

... and here is a closeup of after. You can also see some of the white color of the solidified beeswax showing up underneath the raised parts of the text and in among the string.

I'll show you more about the process I used here tomorrow. Today I just wanted to point out the differences.