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Friday, April 6, 2012

Faux Encaustic Looking ATC and Give-away

Sadly some sort of a computer glitch has caused all of the images in this post to disappear, and I am unable to correct the problem.  Sorry!


I'm participating in an Easter Blog Hop so I thought I'd do a little tutorial on creating an ATC that has sort of a faux encaustic look. This began as an experiment, but I'm please with the results. 
I started with the image of the angel and egg on the sheet music.  I found this lovely image on Pamela's wonderful Vintage Digi-stamp blog.  I opened it up in Photoshop Elements and selected and used some of the colours to create a second coordinating image by using a photo of a collection of gears, over which I put a texture layer at a light opacity to get that coordinating aqua colour while still letting the gears subtly show through.  Wait, don't panic!  If you aren't comfortable using Photoshop or other photo editing software you can easily make an ATC like this with any scrapbooking paper or printed image you may wish to use. The background piece needs to be 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" (standard ATC dimensions) and the accent piece is a little smaller to allow some of the background to 'frame' it.

The next step is to melt some wax (I used soy wax because I had it) in an old electric skillet.  I found this little electric skillet at a thrift store for $3.50.  Once the wax was melted (I set the skillet at 300 degrees F) dip the paper in the wax just to wet it.  I then just held it up to let the excess wax drip off and let the wax dry for a about a minute before I set it down on a piece of parchment paper.  I'd like to try using bees wax next time because I suspect it may give a nicer, warmer look because of the subtle colour of the wax.


At this stage I decided to use an old credit card to scrap off some of the wax (front and back) because I wasn't happy with how thick and uneven the wax surface was.  I kept the scrapings to reuse them for another time.


My next step was to use some distress ink to knock back the starkness of the page.  In hind site, this step would probably be better done before waxing the paper so that the ink is sealing under the wax.  Because the ink wiped readily from the wax, I used a bit of quilt batting to blot the ink to create a bit of texture and then to keep it from rubbing off later I sprayed on a layer of SpectraFix.  This product is sold as as a fixative for pastel, charcoal, pencil, and mixed media.  After a bit of drying time the distress ink was 'fixed' on the surface and no longer rubbed off.
Fortunately this fixative is all natural and oder free so you can safely use it indoors.














Once the fixative was dry I cut the pieces out and then it was on to the sewing machine.  If you prefer, you could use glue at this stage, but I like adding a bit of stitch.  I used a zig-zag stitch to secure the background to a 2 1/2" X 3 1/2" piece of Fast2Fuse.  I like the structure that it gives the finished ATC while still having some flexibility.  I also add a piece of printed card-stock that has my name, etc. on the back of the ATC.

I then used a straight stitch to layer the angel piece over top of the background.

Here you can see what the ATCs look like once the sewing is finished.



The final step was to use some copper coloured acrylic paint to 'guild' the edges.


I always make a small series of ATCs.  In this case, one is for a swap with my GOE fibre arts friends, I always keep one for myself, and this time round, one is for YOU!  That's right, one will be part of the give-away for the blog hop (more about that in a moment).





And here's a closer image of one of the ATCs.


And now for the details of the giveaway...


One lucky reader will win one of these ATCs plus the other bits of 'blog hop candy' as pictured (Cloth, Paper, Scissors DVD which includes all 6 back issues of the magazine from 2008-great for ideas and inspiration; soy wax-so you can try this tutorial; various papers including some wonderful old dictionary pages-again so that you can try this tutorial).  For a chance to win, please leave me a comment telling me what you like to do to express your creative/artistic side.  I will be randomly drawing a winner on Monday, April 9th.  Please be sure I have a way of contacting you if you win.  Good luck!




Don't forget to check out the other blogs on the blog hop.

Happy Easter ~ Happy Spring!

93 comments:

  1. I love this faux-encaustic technique!

    I do lots of things to express my creative side - but mostly I make fiber art and quilt. (like this: http://kitlangfiberart.blogspot.ca/2012/03/ontology-of-rabbit.html)


    Thanks for the great tute!

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    1. Thanks Kit. It was a fun experiment. I will certainly do more with wax and paper. I checkout out your blog too. Nice work. Glad you gave me the link.

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    2. Thanks Linda - and thanks for stopping by! :)

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  2. Linda, thats super unique ATC, beautiful work. I love the electric fryer for heating, great idea.

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    1. Thanks Lee. Thrift stores are wonderful for finding useful treasures!

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  3. Lovely ATC and how-to. Will be giving this technique a try. I do many things to express my creative side...mostly just by creating - and dabbling in many different media and techniques. Everything is in the mix. Found objects are the cherry on top! Hippity Hoppity...

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    1. Thanks Susan. You sound a lot like me. There are so many great media to play with. Why limit ourselves to just one! LOL

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  4. I love your ATC. I try to do an ATC each day!!! but sewing, journaling, lettering, quilting also make me happy! I have never heard of that brand of fixative but will have to look for it! thanks for the tip.

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    1. Thanks Lisa. You must have an amazing collection of ATCs if you make one every day. Wow!

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  5. AMAZING!!!! Love the techniques and how you did the step outs, amazing ATC, fingers crossed on a chance to win. TFS TFS http://pammejo-scrapbookflair.blogspot.com/

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  6. Great tut Linda. I am painting several gourds right now and keep thinking of trying new techniques on them. My fiber arts group is meeting in my "barn" on the 21th to do some dyeing. Will direct them to your blog and see if they want to try a version of your techniques. Have the iron for melting wax and have tried it on soft sculpted cloth doll faces.

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  7. Beautiful ATCs. They are absolutely lovely. I do many things to express myself. I write, craft, create. Paper crafting is my favorite, but the one thing I have not done it get into making ATC cards. It is something I have considered, but the right inspiration has not hit me. Your incredible ATC bight be just the inspiration I needed.
    KathyJo
    http://skrappindiva.blogspot.com

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    1. Thanks Kathy Jo. Glad I could be your inspiration. If you like paper crafting this will fit right in. As I said in the tutorial, you don't need to sew - you could use glue or brads or whatever. Have fun!

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  8. Beautiful ATCs amazing project ! X Fab

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  9. I love your project! Richt now I am into working with metals but I do a bit of everything.

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    1. Thanks! Working with metal is fun. I've done some of that too. Even sew it on my machine, but it's really hard on needles.

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  10. Your ATCs are beautiful, Linda. Great tutorial and technique. I love to make books and alter books, and ATCs are perfect little additions to the book pages. TFS.

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    1. Thank you Barbara. I've done some altered books too. They're a lot of fun aren't they?

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  11. Great information, and beautiful cards! Art cards are what kept me creating during a very bad creative funk... I love creating art quilts based on gardens, flowers and more found in nature.

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    1. Thanks Sue. I too use are as a sort of therapy. It really is good for the soul! Hope you're out of your funk (soon if not yet) :o)

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  12. LOVE your ATC, great tutorial... I think I need to add your encaustic technique to my things to try!

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    1. Thank you Lyneen. You'll enjoy it. It's fun and easy.

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  13. I have not done true encaustic yet, but love this technique, I will try it. THANKS so much for sharing it.

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    1. Thanks Jean. I haven't tried true encaustic yet either, but this just seemed like a fun thing to try and I love how it turned out.

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  14. Fantastic! I have an old electric pan like that (I used it when I did batiks) it still has wax in it. Looks like I might be pulling it out of storage soon :)

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    1. Perfect Amanda. It's great when you can find a new use for something you already have.

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  15. Oh my, would sure love to win this one. Loved it! I've also done a little work with encaustics and am working on a couple of ideas with it still in my head. I also have an Etsy shop full of ATCs so it's right up my alley! Might even inspire me to get busy with my own wax and still have a few art card blanks...WOW...and I'd better stop this cause I'm inspired! How beautiful this is. This is my shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/julianap Thanks for sharing! Juliana

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    1. Thank you Juliana. Have fun trying the technique.

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  16. Linda this is AWESOME!!! I'm so inspired...I am new to ATCing and I love all the techniques you shared on how to do the encaustic and adding stitching! Simply wonderful! Thank you for being a part of my hippity steampunk Easter Blog Hop!!

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    1. Thanks Leslie. And thanks for organizing the hop.

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  17. This is such a beautiful ATC. I love the texture of the stitching. I like to make pretty things of all sorts, usually out of paper, but I use many mediums. www.morninglasstable.com

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  18. Love your tutorial Linda and I would love to try it!

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  19. Great tutorial, Linda. One question for you-maybe I missed the info...what "material" is the picture on after you have Photoshopped it? Pretty sure you aren't dipping your computer screen into the wax! I'd love to try doing this as a family Christmas card-using the old family cottage picture as the base.

    Lauren

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    1. Thanks Lauren. Actually I did dip my laptop into the wax. It's a bit tricky to get through the sewing machine, but the end result was totally worth it. LOL

      Seriously, I printed it on regular printer/copier paper. Nothing special at all.

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  20. Love it when experiments go right!

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    1. Absolutely Susan. You'd think I'd have more of a plan when doing a tutorial, but I figure "go for it" and if it's a fail I don't have to post it. LOL

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  21. Have never tried wax before - your tutorial makes it seem very doable - thanks!
    To express my creative side I usually like to play and experiment with bits and pieces- and definitely no planning involved! Paint, pencil, collage, pastel...hmmm and maybe now wax too - :-)

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    1. Go ahead and try it Linda. It's very easy and a lot of fun!

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  22. That is a lovely ATC! They are so much fun to make. I haven't tried wax in my projects, but it's on my to-do list. I haven't met a craft I haven't liked yet. My favorites are papercrafting/scrapbooking, quilting and jewelry making. I mostly papercraft since my time is limited.

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    1. Thanks Lisa. With limited time time this technique will be great for you. It really came together quickly.

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  23. I have never seen this particular technique before. I make altered notebooks and may have to try this for some of my embellishments.

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    1. I haven't seen this technique before either. It was just one of those moments of "I wonder what would happen if..." and in this case the results were great.

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  24. Beautiful I love angels and this one is so pretty

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    1. Thank you. You should check out Pamela's Vintage Digi Stamps. She has other wonderful angels too.

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  25. Really lovely project combining hte beauty of Easter with the elements of Steampunk!

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  26. Wow! This looks like fun! Creatively I'm at home with the camera..and making cards for Operation Write Home!!! Trying to make more time for experimental stuff! Thank you for sharing this technique!

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    1. Thanks Paula. Being from Canada, I wasn't sure what Operation Write Home was (although I guessed correctly) so I Googled it to read more about it. Good for you! What a great cause. I bet it means so much to the soldiers when they receive something that someone has made especially for them. Kudos to you!!!

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  27. Hi Linda - this ATC is fantastic!!! I love the tutorial! I have been wanting to try this for quite some time - I have all of the stuff, just haven't sat down to do it. Your tutorial is very inspiring.

    I have posted a link on FREE VINTAGE DIGI STAMPS about your terrific tutorial. Thanks again! xo

    -pamela :)

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    1. Thanks so much Pamela. As I've said when leaving comments on your blog, your images are fantastic and your generosity in making them available to all of us is amazing. Thanks for the link too!

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  28. Hi. Thanks for the tutorial. I am just now getting into ATC's and your tutorial is very informative. Right now I express my creativity by quilting. I am trying to breakout and give painting a go, but it is a hard thing to do. Have a great weekend!

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    1. Thanks Lei. I know what you mean about painting. I find it intimidating. I use paint in some of my mixed media pieces, but I'm still in awe of true 'painters'.

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  29. I love your work. I am fairly new to arty things but have found that I enjoy the small ATC size to try out new ideas. Right now I am trying out beading.

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    1. Thanks! ATCs are great for trying new techniques aren't they. They don't require you to invest too much time or material until you're sure you like the technique. As you'll notice from some of my work, especially the Bead Journal Project pieces, I LOVE beading. Beware...it can become addictive! LOL.

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  30. Linda~This is amazing. I cross stitched until about 4 years ago & then I branched out into the world of scrapbooking, making cards, ATCs, & quilting. I am trying to absorb as much as I can at this age in life. I never knew this all existed before. My grandmother quilted but we didn't learn from her unfortunately. We lived too far away & when we moved closer we were busy raising families. You look like a great teacher! :) http://scrapclose2theheart.wordpress.com/

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    1. Thanks! Enjoy your creative art time now that you have the time for it!

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  31. What a beautiful card. I love how delicate it looks. I haven't tried the wax technique yet, you have inspired me to do so. I love ATC'S this will be a fun project! Thanks so much for the tutorial and I am new to blog hops this is so fun! Cheryl Sunnyoneof1@aol.com

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  32. WOW!(Wildly Outrageous Woman) Thank you so much! This tute answered two questions I've had: how to start using wax and what I can use as a fixative.

    I have dabbled in many crafts through the years, but I am disabled now with physical and financial limitations, so I mostly collage and write poetry. But I always say that the most creative thing that I do is amaze doctors by staying alive!!!

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    1. Thank you! I hope you keep on creating and most importantly amazing those doctors! :o)

      Take care.

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  33. Oh wow these are beautiful. TFS and a chance to win!

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  34. Love the atc.Thanks for the chance to win.joanshanks@eastlink.ca
    Joan

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  35. First time visiting and am I glad I came! Great tutorial_easy to understand and follow, good pictures. I dabble in all things art; my current passion being paper crafting. I recently viewed a YouTube from Cloth, Paper, Scissors on beginning encaustic. I determined my next medium of choice for play to be wax :D
    I will be checking back to see more of your wonderful artwork, as well as research your older posts.
    Thank you so much.

    cookiefootmama@yahoo.com

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    1. Thanks Teri. I'm glad you're enjoying my blog. Have fun with your exploration of wax.

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  36. Thanks Linda great tutorial. I create something everyday, my passion would be collage, which I put into just about everything i create, even my digital art. Love doing ATCs and swap them regularly.

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    1. Thanks Cass. Glad to hear you like making ATCs too. They're so much fun to create.

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  37. Great tutorial..never would have thought to use wax. I like creating paper crafts and things for my grandkids.

    ravenmc @ hotmail.com

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    1. Thanks. It just came to me as something to try and fortunately it worked out well. If you're careful with the the hot pan, I'm sure the grandkids would love to help with this project (if they aren't too young).

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  38. Thanks for the tutorial! I took a beeswax class one time and loved it, and I love to use it on my cards. I also think stitching adds such a textured look, and you can really change the look of your card.

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    1. Thanks for checking out my blog. I certainly need to get some beeswax. I'm sure it will result in even nicer finished products.

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  39. Fabulous ATC!! Thanks so much for the tutorial!!!

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  40. Wonderful tutorial Linda and your atc's are fabulous ! Thanks for the opportunity to win the goodies love cloth paper scissors ! great idea using the electric pan a great find !

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  41. Oh Linda, these ATC's are adorable! Love, love, love the tutorial. I haven't used wax on my paper crafting projects but may have to try it sometime. I love doing anything with paper - from making crepe paper or coffee filter flowers to rubber stamping and mixed media. I've also woven baskets and done some acrylic painting in the past. Now a friend is trying to lure me into quilting. Don't know if my hubby will approve as my art room has now flowed into our bedroom and basement. He might have to move out soon as I need more space...lol!
    - DebbieK
    d kaste at wi dot rr dot com

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    1. Thanks. And I'm with your friend. Quilting is great fun. Start by using some of your friend's scraps and I'm sure you'll love it.

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  42. very nice. love your step by step tutorial.
    I have been so busy making wedding/shower items for my son's upcoming wedding that I haven't been able to "play" as much as I would like. But will certainly try to find some me time soon to try this. thanks again.

    cat s.
    catbaskets@mchsi.com

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    1. Thanks Cat. Glad you enjoyed the tutorial. Have fun with the wedding prep.!

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  43. Beautiful tutorial! I just love anything to do with ATC's!

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    1. Thank you Michelle. ATCs are a lot of fun aren't they? Glad to 'meet' a fellow ATCer.

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  44. Enjoyed reading how you made your ATCs and learned some techniques I've never tried. Fabulous project, love the angel-egg print.

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