Batiking with StencilGirl® Stencils

‘I have never tried that before, so I think I should definitely be able to do that.’

Apparently, Pippi Longstocking never said the above, nor did Astrid Lindgren.

Whoever else came up with it, was, in my opinion on the right track though. It’s undoubtedly a rule I apply to most of my creative adventures.

The Creative Team theme for this month is ‘Wearables’, and it made me think about methods to print on fabric.

Over the years, I’ve stamped, stencilled, gel printed and screen printed fabric.

On my bookshelf, however, there’s an old (second-hand) book on batik. I have never really tried wax-resist dyeing before, so I grabbed this chance to give it a go.

How hard could it be?

From what I read, the minimum of what I needed was: wax, brushes or sponges, fabric, dye and some household items like a bucket, something to stir with, rubber gloves, an iron and ironing board, plus absorbent paper.

I also needed a pan to melt the wax in, however, when I went online to order wax and dye, I found a jar of cold wax. It seemed more manageable than the hot wax, so I ordered the cold wax.

I thought that I was all set, but once my order arrived, I realised that the cold wax meant that the temperature of the dye bath needed to stay under 50 degrees Celsius.

Which would not make things easier at all! And, I would need to buy a thermometer…

Let the experiment begin!

Once I got the thermometer, and I had my white cotton washed and cut (I cut it to the same size as my favourite shawl), I went to work. Watch the video to see how I got on!

Applying the cold wax through a stencil with a sponge was entirely doable. Sometimes a bit of the wax seeped under the stencil, but I decided just to go with it. 

Because the wax was a bit hard to see on the fabric, I wasn’t sure if I had applied enough of it. I was relieved to see the design appear once I got the material into the pink dye bath.

Rinsing the paint from the fabric was more challenging than I expected though. And, although I made sure the water was never too warm, I already suspected that some of the wax dissolved due to the rinsing.

I decided that it would be OK if the second dye bath would cover the white design and went ahead.

Unfortunately, the second dye bath covered more than just the white design. It also covered everything I wanted to stay pink! For some reason, the second wax application hadn’t permeated the fibres as well as the first time. 

While the fabric was still wet, I was hopeful that it would turn out OK. Unfortunately the next day I found the result super disappointing.

Even ironing the fabric to get rid of the wax residue did not provide a better result.

Can I still make this wearable?

I figured I had two options left to turn my craft fail around. One: I could do one last dye bath. I still had one pack of very dark dye left.

Or, two: I could up the contrast by adding bolder strokes to the fabric with another type of fabric dye I had in my stash.

I did not want to risk the chance of investing more time and effort in another dye bath. I would instead save that pack of dye for another time.

So, I opted for the bold move and painted a big circle pattern all over the fabric.

Because this dye was very wet, I could only paint a couple of circles at a time and had to let the paint dry before I could move on to the next row of circles. 

It took me a whole day to paint the circles and then the textile dye had to dry for another 3-6 hours before I could fixate it by ironing the fabric for 5 minutes.

The result is very loose, splotchy and irregular. I love how it turned out, though. You can see the stencilled pattern peeking through, and this colour combo is one that I can actually wear.

Once I was happy with the fabric, I hemmed it. And, in an attempt to finally get rid of the last of the wax residue I threw my new shawl in the washing machine.

When I took it out again, I realised the backside actually looked better. 

Oh well...

At least now you know. Sometimes I know what I’m doing, and sometimes I just fly by the seat of my pants. And, though I rarely show my craft fails online, like everyone else, I do have my fair share of them.

Anyway, there’s no turning back now. Luckily I do love my new shawl!

Until next time!

Marsha Valk

Stencil used:

ATC Mixup Missigman #1 Art Marks by Rae Missigman

Mixed Media with Stencils and Cold Wax

Hi all, it's Gwen back with a new project focusing on paint, texture, and stencils.


This month I created a mixed media panel using some of my stencil designs combined with a product I've really been having fun exploring... cold wax. More specifically, water-soluble cold wax.

I love the different looks and textures I was able to get from a single medium and I wanted to walk you through some of the process for creating this piece.

To start, I made two masks. I knew that I wanted to use them to mask off a few areas of my piece and I wanted them thick so I could build up the cold wax around them so I used cardboard. I stenciled with my Decorative 6 Petal Flower stencil and some ink onto the cardboard, used a pencil to add about a 3/16" buffer around the edge of the design, and then cut them out.

Next I took a 6" x 8" x 1" cradled wood panel that I'd collaged, stenciled, and layered with mediums and glazes. (I used my Decorative Flower Stamen Medallion and Ornamental Circle Cluster Screen stencils along with some of my rubber stamp designs from PaperArtsy.)

I used some Pyrrole Red acrylic paint and a stencil brush and pulled out my Decorative 6 Petal Flower stencil again and stenciled the image in a few places on the panel and let it dry.

I took the cardboard masks I'd made earlier, cut one in half, then lined up the pieces with my stencil design and tacked them in place with some removable adhesive.

Most cold wax is oil based and you mix it with oil paints. However, I've started to see some water-based wax paints and cold waxes and mediums on the market and these can be mixed with acrylic paints. In this case, I took some Powertex water based cold wax and mixed it with Anthraquinone Blue (one of my absolute favorite blues.) You can see from the photo that you can mix in a little or a lot of the same color to get a range of values to use on your piece.

I spread the wax onto the panel with a palette knife. In some places I kept it very thin so that it was more like a glaze which allowed the design underneath to show through. In other places I built the wax up so it was quite thick, especially around the edges of my masks. I used my fingers to smooth and work it in some places.

When my wax base was spread the way I wanted it (and I put some on the sides of the panel as well,) I brought out some Ceracolors - these are water based wax paints. I used some turquoise and gold to add just a few swipes of color and shine into the piece.

While it was still wet and workable, I used one of my handmade mark making tools to add some texture and marks into the wax.

Next, I carefully removed my cardboard masks to reveal the stenciled areas and hints of the collage. I used my fingers to smooth and work the wax along the edges where it had been touching the cardboard until I liked how it looked.

At this point, I decided that I wanted to heat emboss over the stenciled areas. If I had been thinking ahead, I would have done this before adding wax to my piece. (Because wax melts. LOL.) But, I decided to try it - worst case scenario, I had to redo some wax.

One of my PaperArtsy stamp sets (EGL03) features several of my stencil designs in smaller and more detailed versions that work great when paired with their matching stencils. I stamped the 6 Petal Flower in the center of the stenciled version using pigment ink, then added some of my new Dead Sea Blue Boho Blends embossing powder, shook it off, and very carefully heated and melted the powder (I used the lower heat to keep from melting the wax and, fortunately, it worked.)

I've said it many times before, but I just love the look and the texture I get from adding heat embossing into my work.

I felt like the piece really needed some embellishing to finish it off, so I added some African vinyl disk beads and also pulled out some of my new Boho Beads and added just a few of them on top of the stenciled designs.

Beads are another of my favorite ways to add texture and a unique look to my work.

A few dangles from my collection of Turkmen jewelry parts were a great finishing touch. I adhered the final embellishments and then set it aside to dry. (Cold wax can take a few days to dry completely, depending on your climate.)

Here are a few closeups so you can see the texture from the wax, heat embossing, and the added dimensional elements:

That's it for today! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe even came away inspired to try a new product or technique to amp up the texture in your work.

Happy stenciling!
Gwen