We’re major proponents of art and creativity at our house. And everyone in our house has been inspired by Johwey’s adventures in encaustics. A month or two ago, I was melting crayons with a hot iron and using the iron to ‘paint’ in a sketchbook. Rinoa was very interested and really wanted to try it. Sadly, I refused, as a hot iron and liquid wax were already pushing my danger limits. Putting a hot iron into the hands of a 7-year old wasn’t something I was willing to try do (yet).

We did agree to try something similar though. For our first attempt at this pseudo-encaustic art, we wanted to keep it simple. We took a trip to Target, our favorite non-Walmart store, and picked up a couple big boxes of crayons.

Rinoa took out the colors she didn’t want to use, like brown and black, and arranged what was left in a pattern of her choice. Her chosen pattern was essentially a backwards rainbow with a couple white crayons mixed in.

We glued them to the top of a black canvas using normal white craft glue. We took turns glueing each crayon and we played a game of ‘whoever gets the white crayons wins’. She had the ability to see 11 turns ahead and realize that I was going to get the 2nd white crayon, so she made the decision to rearrange the crayons a bit.

After the glue dried, we put the canvas up on an easel and used a hair dryer to melt the crayons and blow the hot wax down the canvas. The melted wax mixed naturally with the neighboring colors and created the effect.

There were no injuries, and the mess we made was minor. The project was a lot of fun and the result is a lovely piece that we’ll cherish almost as much as seeing our creative, innovative, and intelligent children grow up.

encaustic mixed media on braced panel

For my third encaustic painting, I actually had to scrape the board clean twice because I wasn’t liking where the artwork was going – a testament to how forgiving encaustics can be! Gotta love that! Of course, while I was working on this, I was getting frustrated – calling out to my muse and thinking she went on vacation that night without notice! lol! But all is forgiven since I’m happy with how it turned out!)

I am smitten!!! And what could be better than playing with hot wax and a blow torch on a cold, snowy day? lol! (This is my second cradled panel for a series I’m hoping to complete.)

encaustic and mixed media on cradled panel

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and is welcoming the new year with an open heart and an open mind. I, for one, am very excited for 2012. For one thing, I’ll be celebrating my birthday on 12/12/12 – how awesome is that?! Only once in my lifetime will that happen! But of course, it’s a long ways away. In the meanwhile, I can see myself playing a lot in my studio (once homeschooling is done, of course). I’ve invested in a new medium – encaustics – and I am in love! Encaustics is the most exciting, most sensuous medium I’ve ever played with. I’m feeling that this year will be a very productive year for me. (I hope, I hope, I hope!)

Here’s my first encaustic painting that I did last night. I’m not sure if it’s done already but I’ll let it rest for now. What do you think of it? And what are you looking forward to this year?

encaustic and mixed media on cradled panel

Can you believe it’s holiday season again?! Seemed like the year just started and now we’re nearing its end! Where I live, it’s even time to take out our winter coats because it’s getting ridiculously chilly outside – although the cold weather didn’t stop Rinoa from riding her bike this morning for an hour!

Anyway, I wanted to share what I prepared for the holiday shows I’m participating in this year. The first one was last Saturday and it went well considering the fact that most people were not in a Christmas shopping mood yet – too busy preparing for this week’s Thanksgiving dinner – and my two daughters kept asking me for money so that they can shop around! Rinoa definitely rocked the house with cards that featured two of her awesome artworks. (I’ll be sharing more on that in a future post.)

I have two more upcoming events – Rockford Handmade Market on December 1 at the Prairie Street Brewhouse and Holly Jolly Market on December 2 and 3 at the Millenium Center. (You can find more details on the right sidebar.) If you can’t come, worry not! You can shop right here at the site! :)

Mini Tree Kirigami Holiday Card

Mini Tree Kirigami Holiday Card (cover)

Gift with Bow Kirigami Holiday Card

Gift with Bow Kirigami Holiday Card (cover)

Reindeer Kirigami Holiday Card

Reindeer Kirigami Holiday Card (cover)

Star Kirigami Holiday Card

Star Tree Kirigami Holiday Card (cover)

Kirigami is the Japanese art of papercutting that involves a folded base and usually has a symmetrical design. All the cards featured here were hand-cut with an X-acto knife and are available at the shop.

Thank you so much for all those who posted a comment for my Fall Giveaway! I had fun reading the comments. And the winner is Trea Newsome! Congratulations, you will receive the cards in the photo. Please email me your mailing address this week so I can send them to you.

I want to share part of my process when making cards. I usually start with a 12″ x 12″ cardstock paper. (I have tons of them!) I cut an 8.5″ width from the cardstock to make either 1 large card that measures 8.5″ x 5.5″ or 2 small cards that each measure 5.5″ x 4.25″. I then use the remaining 3.5″ width from the 12″ x 12″ cardstock to make 2 mini note cards that each measure 3.0″ x 3.5″. I use these mini cards a lot to write short messages (especially thank you notes) that I include in the packages I ship out.

A diagram of how I partition a 12x12 cardstock for use in making cards.

I normally make cards in batches and I usually have a theme for each session. It makes making a mess easier to handle. Here are samples from my autumn-themed cardmaking session. This first one measures 5.5″ x 4.25″.

The corrugated board on the card is from a coffee cup sleeve. I ripped off the top layer to expose the corrugation and then I painted it with crackle paint. It’s a great way to reuse items that will otherwise just be discarded.

Below are some of the note cards I made. The design is mostly made up of scraps and leftovers. Again, it’s a great way to stretch supplies and minimize waste.

Fun Fall Giveaway

Fall is my favorite season! I love how the leaves turn yellow, orange, and red – making everything outside feel so utterly romantic! I love seeing leaves pile up on my driveway and watching the wind rustle them away. I love the anticipation of the coming holidays and the sweater-perfect weather. But fall also means that winter is just around the corner and I don’t like winter – it’s so depressing! I’ve been wanting to move to a warmer place but it also means that I lose experiencing fall every year. Sometimes I’m torn. I don’t know which I like better – having an autumn season to enjoy or escaping the dreary months of winter. How about you? If you had a choice, would you prefer to live in a place where the climate is moderate or in a place where there are four seasons?

To enter the giveaway, leave a comment below with your thoughts on my question and I will choose one lucky winner who will receive 6 adorable mini note cards like the samples I showed above. Comments will be closed this Sunday (October 23, 2011) at 10:00 PM CST. You can double your chances of winning by retweeting this post or sharing it in Facebook. (If you do share it in Facebook, please mention it in your comment.) I will announce the winner on Monday.

Here are more fabric art collages that I used as signature wraps in a handmade art journal. Great way to use fabric scraps and other remnants! (Keeping very busy at the studio, preparing for some upcoming art shows! Yay!)

Finally playing in the studio again. Here are some “DJ Pettitt meets Rebecca Sower“-inspired fabric art collages that I used as signature wraps in a handmade art journal.

Earlier this week, I discussed the hapa-zome technique which involves beating plants onto fabric with a hammer to create an imprint. I thought Rinoa would have fun smashing flowers so for Friday Art, we made a few cards using this technique.

We usually lay the fabric on a block of wood before hammering to protect our work surface but since the fabric was stitched on a card, the card acted as the buffer.

I mentioned that we use a plastic sheet over the flowers when we hammer so the flowers don’t get squooshed. Most of the time, the flowers get pressed on the plastic sheet which I discovered I can also use. I love the idea of being able to preserve the flowers. In this last sample, we used the pressed flower on the card – keep in mind though that you won’t be able to scrape the flower off the plastic, you would have to use it with the plastic. (So just cut the plastic to shape before adhering to your project.)