Stuff that melts!

[Looser]

Many of us have used embossing powders with a heat gun to add dimension & texture to our work--just look @ StampWilly's Oldies Challenge entries.

But many of us have also used other meltable materials on our stuff & here's your chance to share your stories with others!

So... Tell us what you do & how you do it. If you have a sample to share? Fine! But it's not required. This is not a challenge, but we might be able to employ some of our techniques when we do our party projects...

[Looser]

It's no secret that I love wax crayons.  I often color my stamped images with them--alone or in combination with inks & paints.

One thing I sometimes do is apply the crayons & hit them with my heat tool--rather than 'burnishing' (rubbing) to do the satin finish I so like.  I work on heavier CS for this, but thinner papers also provide interesting results. And... Like doing layers of EP by re-heating, I can re-heat the first layer of crayon & add new colors.

[howdyheidi]

Not recently, melted crayon artwork seemed really big in craft stores and online.  This was more like melting a crayon and letting it run  down the page.  It does look bright and cool.

I havent tried that yet, but I do like your idea of applying the heat gun to melt the crayon as you use it.  That would be fun to try.

Sorry I dont have any other meltable products that I can think of!

[Far North]

Does my dripping ice cream cone count? 

[Looser]

Does my dripping ice cream cone count? 

What flavor, Jan? 

Heidi. The melted crayon technique you've seen is probably 'encaustic'.  It (often) involves melting the crayon & moving it with an iron. The redults are very interesting.

[stampwilly]

I have melted crayons before with just the heat tool. This gives a fun background. I have also slightly melted acetate with a heat gun to curl it a bit when I made butterflies out of it. Here is a picture. http://stampwillydesigns.blogspot.com/2012/03/technique-tuesday-inked-acetate.html  flowers look good doing this too.

Melting shrink plastic is fun too, to make embellishments or charms.

Stampwilly

[Looser]

Melting plastic is fun, but it's good idea to do it in a well-ventilated space since the fumes can be a problem.

Another of my fave 'melts' is acrylic paint--especially the 3D ones.

Just as April (StampWilly) knows how long to heat her acetate just 'til it curls, melting any material has its own learning curve. Be prepared to have lots of 'failures' along the way. 'Sok! The failures often lead us to new ideas--such is the art of ART!

[CarefreeSadie]

I like bees wax.  I use it in a metal pot and melt it in a ranger melting pot.  I dip things in it.  I have dipped flowers, die cuts, chipboard, well I guess I dip just about anything that doesn't hop back out.  I really like flowers after they are dipped and then brush the edges with pearl ex.  Then use the heat tool to set it and the Pearl Ex doesn't rub off.  It's different looking and interesting.  I have looked into encaustics because it just seems so neat to me but haven't ventured yet.

[Far North]

Daniel you are right melting things takes a good eye for knowing when it is done and often a few seconds longer can be disaster.  I still recall several times as a kiddo when my projects were not successful and wax was everywhere.  It certainly slowed my enthusiasm for melting stuff. 

But since then I dabbled with melting crayons, sealing wax, ribbon, material edges on handmade small flowers, acetate, candles and soap for adhering stamped images and liquid applique for puffy snow on cards. Another product that melts is Wonder Under (WU) a sheer woven fabric adhesive which one generally sandwiches between 2 layers of fabric and when ironed the 2 fabrics are adhered together.  Another use is to adhere fabric to paper.

Daniel is  liquid applique what you are describing as 3-D acrylic paint?  If not, please as you said "Tell us what you do & how you do it".

Thanks!...Jan

[Looser]

I'm so enjoying hearing what we've done/are doing with 'melts'. TY for all the posts!

Sadie. Your wax dipping sounds neat. Speaking of candles... Have any of us ever embedded stamped paper onto a candle? You do the stamping on tissue, place it on the candle surface & use a heat gun. The wax melts thru the tissue. It hold the tissue in place & seals it. Makes great gifts.

Jan. The 3D paints I use are mostly the ones from Duncan--Tulip & Scribbles. I like to smear them on or do lines & such. Then I heat them until they bubble & melt.  You can also 'melt' many regular acrylic paints, but how thickly you apply them & how wet they are when you begin to heat them is a learned process. As you share, enthusiasm helps! Good for you!

[howdyheidi]

Daniel, I have seen a tutorial by Gina K and I have a candle sitting on my craft table in order to try that sometime. 

[Far North]

Heidi, I have made dozens of stamped candles over the years...you will love what a nice finished gift they are without much of a time commitment.  Love how complete GinaK presents everything you need to know.  Enjoy!

[Far North]

I just posted 2 examples in the gallery.  The first is a tag in which I used melted tyvek.

The second is a distressed stamped pumpkinwith a background that uses a technique to adhere embossing powder to melted Wonder Under.  I was going to use this as my inspiration for a pumpkin challenge during Inktoberfest but I didn't have enough time with winter coming on.  The pumpkin can also be used as shaped card (straight edge on left) or the three pieces on the pumpkin are great for paper piecing. Then I read Neysa was planning a pumpkin challenge but now we know that didn't work out for her to host either.  So finally I am simply sharing.-LOL!

Thanks for looking...Jan

[yellowcherrios]

Great examples Jan!    your Tyvek example reminds me of my craft project I've done a couple of times where I iron plastic bags from the grocery stores/target/walmart/frozen food bags/etc together so they become one sheet.  I've made one sheet into a folder to hold some papers I used to take on errands and it did help out once in a rain storm.  lol!    Other than that I haven't gotten the knack for getting the bags all perfectly melted as one, so most sheets I have made I use outside to line the shelves on a shelf unit where I hold plants etc.  It does help with not scratching up everything and the added thickness from ironing multiple bags together helps not to blow away in our wind.

The only thing I can think of right now for melting for card-production is craft foam and shrink-a-dink (as stated before).  Now that I think about it, maybe heating craft foam isn't considered "melting"…it shrinks….but then again so does "shrink-a-dink"… hhmm….    To be considered "melting", does it need to become a liquid as some point (even if that point is past the point you stop to use it)? lol!  Leave it to me to get analytical about the definition of a word. 

But really…can you melt shrink-a-dink to a liquid?!?   

[Looser]

...But really…can you melt shrink-a-dink to a liquid?!?   

ROTFLMAO. Melissa! Of course you can melt shrink plastic to a liquid. but I'm not sure which volcano to suggest as your heat source.

When it comes to 'melting', it's natural to think about applying heat to turn a solid into a liquid. That said, many solid materials will turn liquid with the addition of the appropriate 'solvent'. Some waxes & plastics will melt a bit when acetone or alcohol are applied. 'Melting' need not be a total liquification.

Loving the posts from all--especially yours & Jan's!