Encaustic Painting & A Trip to the Zoo

Hello Everyone!

Today I have the results of a little experiment that I thought I would try. I have been seeing this Encaustic painting everywhere I go. For those who aren't familiar, it's painting with wax based paint and a hot iron, melt pot or heat gun. I thought this was something I ought to try (completely spurred on by the very talented Ruth over at A Love to Create), so I ordered myself one of those teeny tiny little craft irons from Amazon.

I was so excited when it arrived, I went on a hunt for the other products I was going to need. I searched the city high and low and let me tell you, this stuff isn't easy to find, and it is NOT cheap. At $40 for the clear and $30 for every block of coloured wax...my heart sank!! Then it hit me, white candles and a box of Crayola crayons...here is my result.

OK, so maybe it's not so much Encaustic painting as it is Encaustic smooshing!! But hey, it was my first time and that iron was really tiny for someone who's all thumbs! I used purple, royal blue and hot pink crayons along with the candles to make the background. It's sort of hard to see, but I sprinkled iridescent glitter in between the wax layers, the entire card is very shimmery!

I coated the base with two layers of Mod Podge, but I won't do that again! You can see the brush strokes and it really takes away from the amazing swirly texture of the wax pattern. Perhaps a spray adhesive next time?? The butterfly is from my new Tim Holtz stamp set, yay!! I coloured it with Copics.

Another round of handmade Gardenias today. Coloured with distress inks Dusty Concord, Picked Raspberry and the never-before-used Shaded Lilac. This is such a bizarre colour...it's too blue to be purple and too purple to be blue, but it seemed to fit perfectly into my palette today. The filigree leaves are from Prima. The corner pieces I made with crafter's clay and a Martha Stewart mold. I painted them with white crackle paint.

I pulled out another long lost Spellbinders die to cut out this fun frame. I used a sheet of foam, painted it with Gesso and then a layer of white crackle paint for texture. I love using the foam for this kind of accent, it makes the frame look more 3D, almost like a wood or chipboard embellishment.

MY TRIP TO THE ZOO

I thought I would throw in a few pictures of my trip to the zoo. We had great weather, a few clouds so the sun wasn't too hot and a nice cool breeze. We saw tons of animals of course, but I thought I would just show a few shots of some of the more unique creatures we were lucky enough to see.

The panthers were really difficult to get good pictures of. They were very distracted by something and were pacing back and forth in front of the doors to the enclosure. Our best guess was that someone was late bringing their lunch!! EEK!

I have never seen real jellyfish before, They were actually swimming around in quite an organized fashion. Looked a little bit like synchronized swimming. Very cool.

I know, I know, wolf...nothing new to see here, but this one was very special to us. I howled at him and he howled back!! No lie, I kept howling and he would howl, and he was looking right at me!! My husband managed to capture a bit on video and I will upload that as soon as I figure out how to do it! It was amazing!

Last but definitely not least, these little guys were the reason we went to the zoo. RED PANDAS!! Just about the cutest friggin things you've ever seen!! They move in slow motion, no hurry to get anywhere! I really wanted to jump over the fence and take one of these critters home with me, awwwww!!

That's it for today. Thank you for stopping in and for all the amazing comments. I read and appreciate every single one! If you have any questions, please let me know.