Decorating Candles

For stamp club this month, we were going to decorate candles. "Were" is the operative word here...

But, we also had a Pot Luck planned. So we all sat around chatting and munching, and pretty soon, it was time for some to take off for other obligations - and we'd done NO STAMPING!

They said it was OK, that they'd really enjoyed the day, even if we didn't stamp. I felt a little like I'd let them down, but they insisted it was OK.

They had a chance to get to know each other better. We have two new ladies to our group this year, and they've been a wonderful addition.

Most of the rest of the club members have been in club at least 5 years (thanks, gals! I appreciate you more than you'll ever know!), so have already formed a bond.

I'm sure Justine and Ruth (aliases, but they'll know who they are!) have felt a little out of sync with the rest of them, but know a bond was formed on Saturday that will last the rest of club. Hopefully, they'll decide to join us again next year.

We all got to know more about each other - families, children, pets, interests. All those things that draw us to each other.

Justine & Ruth are both more scrapbookers, than stampers, so there's a lot of new territory to cover for them. I've been trying to plan club meetings this year as a re-education for my long-timers, as well as introducing new ideas to the "newbies".

But I digress - back to the candles of the today's blog subject !

Here are a couple I whipped up as samples for everyone. I've made these countless times over the years, but they make such great gifts, I couldn't find any at all, and had to create new samples!

This one is a short white candle that I picked up at a local dollar-type store. This year they cost $4 each, but when I first started decorating them, they were $1. Inflation!


I stamped on white tissue paper, and melted the tissue right into the wax of the candle, using the heat gun. It doesn't take much time at all.

The biggest thing to remember is to turn the heat gun off every once in a while and roll the candle onto your scrap paper to round it out while the wax is setting. Then heat a little more and repeat the process.

I used Scenic Season stamp set and Handsome Hunter ink. Then I added a red grosgrain ribbon to finish it off.

When I get ready to give it as a gift, I'll put it into a clear cello bag, add a gift tag, and add more ribbon to close the bag.

This is the simplest candle I think I've ever made, but I like it a lot, because of its simplicity.

And this is candle I had in my stash - but the only one, so decided I'd use it as a sample, too, so they'd get an idea of how other shapes and sizes looked when completed.

I brayered the tissue with a Spectrum pad that I'd made using Stampin' Up! inks. For this pad I used Real Red, Pumpkin Pie, Only Orange, Apricot Appeal, and YoYo Yellow.

If you can find un-inked Spectrum pads (we used to carry them but don't any longer), you can make your own color combination using our re-inkers! I also have homemade pads in pink combos and blue combos.

The candle was so tall I had to turn the paper 180 degrees and brayer again, so that I'd get it all covered with ink, and not transition blatantly from YoYo to Real Red - too hard on the eyeballs!

After I brayered the tissue, I embossed with gold embossing powder and the Bella Toile background stamp.

Then I melted the stamped/embossed tissue into the candle, making sure to pull it against the candle tightly as the wax melted.

Once that was done, it looked OK, but seemed to be missing something, so I dug through my stash of already cut Big Shot dies and found the flowers that are on it.

And to finish it, I added some gold ribbon that we used to carry.

This candle is about 6 or 7 inches tall, whereas the candle with the tree scene is only 4 inches tall.

Here's my "lion king" lounging on the chair in the computer room the other day. He's so handsome! sigh..















Don't forget about The Twelve Days of Christmas specials that SU is offering until December 24th! Go here to see everything. It's Big Shot oriented product, and I've already got a list of things I'm going to HAVE to have!

Let me know what YOU HAVE to have, and I'll be glad to place an order for you.

OH - and, it's time to book those workshops for Sale-A-Bration - YES, it's THAT time of the year again, already!

Call me!