Beeswax is a wonderful way to put a new spin on your collage and altered art!  You can use this archival and aromatic medium in many ways to create depth and texture. It is fun and exciting to work with beeswax when you are creating collages, assemblages, greeting cards, ATC’s  and well…just about anything!

In this class I will show you how to use beeswax to achieve a smooth dreamy looking collage and a beautiful textured collage.
 

Iron (small craft iron or quilting iron) - it needs to be smooth with no holes on the bottom

2. Apply a thin layer of the beeswax to the entire surface of the vertically positioned 5x7 canvas, including the four sides, with a paintbrush.

3. Put a piece of the dress pattern onto the canvas, big enough so that it will cover the sides, and press into wax.  Don’t worry if the piece of dress pattern is a lot bigger than your canvas- you can trim this off later.

4. Coat the dress pattern with another thin layer of wax.

5. Use the craft iron or quilting iron to smooth the dress pattern down and melt the layers of wax. You should do this section by section over the entire canvas and the sides.  You should now have a smooth surface to work with.

6. Trim off the excess dress pattern from the sides of the canvas with scissors…it should appear as though the sides are “finished” with the dress pattern.

7. Apply a thin layer of beeswax to the center of the canvas.

8. Cut image from “My Dear Mother” collage sheet and place onto the canvas where you just applied the beeswax.

9. Apply a thin layer of wax over the image and slightly out beyond the image on all four sides.

10. Iron the image so that it lays flat- the image may want to slide around-that is okay- just be careful when you maneuver it back where it is supposed to be and don’t let the wax burn you.

11. Apply some wax to the top edge of the image and place 9 brass gears in a curved line on the wax that you just applied.

12. Using the heat gun or hair dryer, heat the wax under the brass gears so that the wax melts and secures the brass gears to the canvas-if they try to move around, don’t worry, just put them back where they are supposed to be and heat them with the heat gun or hair dryer again until they are secure.  Basically the beeswax will act as glue.

13. Apply a thin layer of wax to the left and right sides of the image vertically and then place two pieces of black lace border that are approximately 2 ½ inches long onto the wax.  This will frame the image on the sides.

14. Heat the wax under the black lace borders to secure them as we did with the brass gears in step #12.

15. Apply some wax to the right side of the image and black lace border, sort of towards the lower portion of the image.

16. Place three brass gears vertically and heat with heat gun to secure the gears.

17. Apply three dabs of beeswax to the bottom of the image-one where the black lace border ends on the left and right and one centered at the bottom of the image.

18. Place a spiral heart charm in each spot where you just applied the wax and heat with heat gun to secure them.

19. Using the iron, melt a few small drops of a burnt sienna crayon onto the four corners of the canvas.  Make sure to clean the melted crayon off the iron with a paper towel so that you will not transfer crayon color where you do not want it later.  Be careful not to burn yourself while doing this, because it is best to do it while the iron is hot so that the crayon liquefies and is easier to get off of the iron.

20. Heat the crayon drops with the heat gun to melt them so you can use paper towel to spread the color around.  Think of it as more of a light wash of color than bold color application.  The more you reheat the crayon color, the lighter it will become when spread around with the paper towel.

21. Apply a line of wax horizontally to the top and bottom of the canvas.

22. Place a 5 inch piece of black lace border to both lines of wax and heat with heat gun to secure them.
 

2. Position the canvas horizontally and apply a thin layer of wax onto the surface of the canvas with a paintbrush-don’t worry about the sides- you can paint them later.

3. Place an old book page (with text on both sides) onto the canvas leaving about an inch to an inch and one half of canvas showing at the top.

4. Coat the entire surface of the canvas with wax again.

5. Iron the surface until it becomes smooth. You will see the text from the other side of the book page show through-This can make for some interesting effects.

6. Cut image from the Faces from the Past collage sheet, and after applying some beeswax to the center of the canvas, place the image onto the wax.

7. Iron the image so that it lays flat on the surface.  The image will become transparent and you will be able to see the text from the book page through the image.

8. Apply a line of beeswax to the bottom of the surface and place a 6 inch piece of black baroque border, heat with heat gun so that it is secure on the canvas.

9. On the right side of the canvas apply some wax vertically and place a 5 inch piece of the vintage cigar label (that had previously been cut in half lengthwise), onto the canvas. Coat with wax and iron to smooth down.

10. To the left side of the vintage cigar strip apply some beeswax vertically and place a 5 inch piece of black baroque border. Heat with heat gun to secure.

11. Apply some wax to the left and right side of the image and place three brass gears on the left side and 2 brass gears on the right side. Heat with heat gun to secure.

12. Using a smaller paintbrush, apply some wax so that it outlines the image and brass gears.

13. Apply a somewhat thick layer of wax onto the left side of the canvas and towards the top right.

14. In small sections apply a layer of wax over the layer you just applied and firmly press the texture stamp into the wax. This may take a few tries. If you do not like the way the texture is looking, no problem- just scrape off that layer of the wax and start over- This medium is very forgiving.  Continue this process until you have reached the top right hand side of the canvas.

15. Use your finger to apply Iridescent Copper paint to the textured pattern you just created.  If you happen to get paint where you did not want it- not a problem- just scrape it off and add more wax and redo step #13 for that area and reapply the paint.

16. Accent the brass gears with a dab of the Iridescent Copper paint. 

17. You may choose to paint the sides of the canvas with the Iridescent Copper paint to finish off the piece-you could also choose to use ribbon to finish off the sides-just apply wax to the sides and press the ribbon into the wax and heat with the heat gun to secure the ribbon to the canvas. It is really up to you, but whatever you do-be sure to have fun!
 

Important Safety Note:  Beeswax will melt at 141 degrees Fahrenheit, but at higher temperatures, you run the risk of having the wax catch fire, so please BE VERY, VERY CAREFUL!!! Always use extreme caution when working with hot liquids, or materials, as serious injury could occur. ARTchix Studio and I are not responsible for any injuries that may occur when melting, or using molten wax.

Please feel free to print these instructions for easy reference. (Use Landscape Layout when printing this page).

Please feel free to e-mail me at kintonbailey@yahoo.com with any questions you may have or to further discuss beeswax and its uses for collage and altered art.