About two weeks ago I took another basket making class. I can't remember what the name of the basket was supposed to be but I do remember it was supposed to be much taller than what I came up with. During the class I ran into a few problems, mainly that some of my materials were woven wrong side out and I wanted them right side out. So, I took some rows out a few times to fix it. Add that to me messing up the pattern a few times and I found myself pretty far behind. So, I decided I didn't need a tall basket and that a shorter basket would suit me just fine. Here are my two baskets (one I made a few months back) in an unfinished state.

In the next photo, I am getting ready to stain the baskets. I am using a stain provided by the instructor. As soon as I started applying the stain my eyes started itching really bad. I won't be using that stain again.

And here are photos of the baskets once they were stained. I am very pleased with them and will use them right away. I think I may use them to carry art supplies around it when I go to ArtFest next week!

I have a fun and colorful project for today's show. By mixing a variety of papers and assorted colors of wax, I create a bright, inspiring wax covered collage.

To follow along, gather these supplies: 

• Variety of papers for background

   

• Focal image (I used a collage sheet from Teesha Moore)
• Wood board for foundation of collage
• Purified beeswax
• Pigment wax cubes
• Hot wax art stylus
• Melting pot
• Heat gun
• Scissors

   

• Paper towels
• Dedicated paintbrush for wax
• Sanding block
• Rub ons

I have been trying to get some things made up for ArtFest. I finally finished and mailed off my trading cards.

I made the trading cards by printing out an image that I had drawn onto watercolor paper. Then I painted each picture with watercolor paints. It was pretty fun and very relaxing. If I had a bit more time or imagination I would have added some type of clever saying in black in around the face, kind of like a border. But, since I was short on both I decided to leave them as is. I think they turned out pretty good. I am pleased with the fact that the card is all mine. No stamped image, collaged image or anything. It's something I drew. Hurray for that. (Although I won't be giving up my stamps or collage images any time soon.)

I also have fat book pages made and am in the process of making charms to swap with people in person at ArtFest. I have some really great images that I bought from LandOfEnchantment on Etsy that I am using for my charms. I just love the way they are turning out! I'll share photos when I get them finished.

I have been melting a little wax lately in my studio, trying to see what I can do with it. I really love the depth and texture that are created when images and paper are covered and textured with wax. I initially thought I would spend a day working on several different boards, just experimenting. But, one thing I realized is that it takes me a lot longer to work with the wax than I thought it would. Instead of having 5 or 6 different pieces/experiments, I was only able to do two. One is very ugly. I like the other one well enough for a first try. I really love the way it feels.

I think my next podcast will be about how to make something like this. Well, about how I make something like this. I am sure there are a ton of different ways to achieve the same technique.