Stamp Something 4 Fall

Well...I was supposed to be out the door 15 minutes ago for an appointment to get my hair cut. I got in my always dependable Durango and she wouldn't start! All three of the guys already left for the day...so now I'm stuck. Luckily my stylist is super nice and understanding so she squeezed me in for tomorrow morning. Hopefully it's no biggie (I'm thinking battery)and my hubby can figure it out when he gets home. Oh well...it means I have some time to post this morning after all.

It's another fun challenge from the girls at the Stamp Something challenge blog...stamp something fall! I need to swap out my summer decor on my buffet so I was already thinking fall. I decided to stamp myself a candle.

I used a couple of my favorite retired stamps for this project - the oak leaf is from Autumn Leaf Prints and then I stamped the Weathered background inked in Creamy Caramel over the leaf pattern when I was done. I inked up the leaves with my Petal Point Chalk Inks in the Earth Elements. SU! used to sell these, but discontinued them a few years ago. I really liked using them...especially with this stamp set.

If you've never done a stamped candle...you should try it! All you do is:

• cut a piece of tissue paper to fit around your candle.
• Stamp your design on the tissue paper - craft or chalk inks remain bolder in color, but classic inks can be used with good results as well.
• using your glue stick, add a bit of glue to the ends of the tissue and wrap around the candle.
• cut a long piece of waxed paper - this is going to create a sling type holder for the candle.
• Lay the candle in the middle of the wax paper and draw up both ends around the candle to create a sling. Hold on to the ends, while the candle hangs inside the waxed paper holder.
• Use your heat tool moving it constantly over the area where the stamped image is. Be sure to keep the wax paper tight over your design. You'll start to see the tissue paper become almost transparent as it melts into the candle.

Please note: Every candle will have a different wax melting point, but you should see a change begin to take place within a few seconds. As the candle heats up, the pressure from the wax paper should push the image into the melting wax of the candle, embedding the image onto the candle. I've found that inexpensive candles work best as the wax is not as soft. (plus if you mess up it's not a big deal ;-)

• When your image looks consistently melted into the candle, slowly peel the wax paper off the candle. This works best while it is still warm.

Hopefully I described this well for you, but if you have any questions...just ask. Since I'm stuck here at home for the day I better make good use of my time and do some cleaning or maybe some stamping! :-) Enjoy your day!