Another gift from this weekend...

We have been very fortunate in our move to Germany that we've made some wonderful friends here already - both German and non-German! My husband's work colleague and his family very kindly invite us to join their celebrations often, and Karneval was no exception. Since my offers to bring food or wine are always turned down, I decided instead to make a candle for them, since I know how much his wife likes candles! And now that I have a heat tool...I can!! :-)

I used the Bodacious Bouquet stamp set along with Regal Rose, Certainly Celery and Apricot Appeal inks. If you haven't made a candle yet, it is SOOOO easy! I'm hoping to teach a class over here to some of my new crafty buds in the next month or two. First step is to cut some tissue paper (regular tissue paper used for dressing up gift bags, etc.) so that it covers the candle around and top to bottom. Next, stamp on the tissue paper with regular dye inks. Now, wrap the tissue around the candle holding it tight so there are no wrinkles, and start heating the candle. The paper will "melt" into the wax, giving the appearance of having stamped onto the candle! If you have some waxed paper it can help.

Next, I decided to make a band for the candle to dress it up even more. So I pulled out the oh-so-yummy Petal Patch paper from the 06 spring mini to make a small band. Then, I stamped some flower and leaf images on whisper white cardstock, cut them out (I know, I actually cut out some pretty detailed images...can you imagine???) and then I adhered everything together and popped it onto the band on top of some grosgrain ribbon. Check out the close up to see the details better.

Lastly, I made the card. Quite basic using Certainly Celery, Apricot Appeal and Whisper white cardstock along with some grosgrain ribbon. For the scallops on the apricot layer I used the corner rounder with the guide removed instead of the slit punch. Since I wanted a large piece to layer with, I couldn't use the slit punch, and I like these smaller scallops a little better anyway. However, it works just the same. Punch, then move the punch over and line up the edges and punch again! And this way, you have VERY minimal waste!! I stamped the greeting with the Happy Everything set, and voila, a coordinating gift and card, completed in just under 1 hour (Have you ever SEEN me cutting out small detailed images?? I'm slow!)

TFL!
-Jana