Just recently someone gave me a hot tray that they no longer used so I had a go at an encaustic art technique that I saw John Buckland using in an encaustic art DVD. Basically you put your card on the hot tray then apply your wax. You then move the melted wax around with various tools or just a piece of scrunched up tissue. The hot plate that John uses is much larger, has a glass top and a thermostat. Mine is just a narrow hot tray with a steel top and only and on/off switch but it was still fun to try. I made 2 A5 pieces which I cut down to make a few cards. Before I cut them however I photographed them so I can now print them and use them as background papers for other projects.

Draw backs of the hot tray I have:

• The top of the hot tray has a slight grain to it which makes it difficult and time consuming  to clean
• It is long and narrow limiting the size of card
• No thermostat control so you have to keep turning it off all the time
• It stays quite hot for quite a while

but then it was built for keeping plates and food warm and not for encaustic art.