Crafts Unleashed

I have never used Darice’s wood burning tool or any wood-burning tool, for that matter.  I was excited for the opportunity to use a new crafting tool.  I opened the package; it comes with the wood burner, a stand, and several different wood burning tips.

I experimented with the tips on scrap wood for several hours and this is what I learned:

1. The wood you are working with really needs to be sanded down.  The rough splintered wood is very hard to make a design on.
2. The thin pointed tip works great for outlining.
3. The larger rounded tip works great for shadowing almost like a crayon.
4. It is best to sketch your design with pencil on the wood before you burn it.
5. Do not press the tip into the wood but slowly run it along the wood.
6. Mix wood-burning techniques with paint for a fun effect.
7. Wait for the wood-burning tool to fully cool off before you screw another tip onto the tool.

I used a princess cut-out provided by Consumer Crafts to practice some of the techniques I had learned.  I had read somewhere that ivy was an easy technique with a wood burning tool and I wanted to give it a try.

I began by first tracing the inside of the princess cut-out with the fine tip attachment.

Then I wanted to add little leaves.  There is an attachment that is shaped like a leaf that I thought would be perfect for the job.  Turns out it just makes scorch marks.  I wasn’t really a big fan of this applicator and was glad that I tried it out on practice piece.

Lastly, I tried the larger rounded tip to make little leaves and I loved out those turned out!

The biggest thing I learned while working with Darice’s Wood Burning Tool is not to press too hard, but too work slowly and methodically creating my image.  I am a crayon snapper, I am a high-stress person and I press down really hard on everything, whether I am using a pencil, pen, or even a paint brush.  Using the wood burning tool was a wonderful stress release for me.  There was something very calming about knowing that I had to do it slowly and lightly or I would ruin the piece.

The final and most important thing I learned is; if you don’t like it sand it off and start again!