Decorative Candles

Using your favorite rubber stamps is such an easy way to personalize those inexpensive plain white candles into a one-of-a-kind piece of  artwork.  I often turn to this technique when I’m looking for that perfect item for someone special who already seems to have everything.  I can choose images and color combos that fits into their home décor, making it a heartfelt gift that is definitely for them alone.

For this candle I used my current favorite Stampin’ Up! stamp set Just Believe.  To add a bit more interest to this solid image, I used markers to color in the flowers and stems before stamping.  I added a coordinating greeting card, masking off a horizon line and sponging in various hues of greens and blues.

I finished this gift by wrapping it in a clear cellophane bag and adding a quick gift tag and piece of ribbon.  Who wouldn’t love receiving (or giving!) this wonderful gift!

PROJECT RECIPE:

STAMPS:  Just Believe, En Francais, French Filigree
PAPER:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy, Marina Mist
INK:  Not Quite Navy, Wild Wasabi, Certainly Celery, Garden Green, Bashful Blue, Marina Mist
ACCESSORIES:  Basic Pearls, Taffeta Ribbon, sponges, dimensionals, XL Oval punch, Two Tags die, cellophane bag, tissue paper

Missing Spring

With these cooler fall days we are having in the midwest, I’m finding myself spending more time inside.  Today I decided to sift through the pile of my cards that I just can’t bare to part with.  Do any of you have that problem … you know, make a special card and then can’t handle the idea of sending it off in the mail because you will miss it too much?  Maybe I’m just weird, but this seems to happen to me quite often.  Anyway, this was one of those cards I absolutely adored.
  

I have seen the butterfly pansies used in many others cards, wanted to try my own hand at creating something with them.  I must say, after my very first attempt, I was completely hooked.  I love every idea I come across that is quick, easy and gives GREAT results – this is definitely one of those! 

Many of the products used in this card are now retired, but this can still be recreated using any current items.

PROJECT RECIPE:

Stamps:  Watercolor Trio
Paper:  Orchid Opulence, Old Olive, Whisper White, Cottage Wall DSP
Ink:  Old Olive, Orchid Opulence, Yo Yo Yellow, Elegant Eggplant
Accessories:  Butterfly punch, Scallop Oval punch, Small Oval punch, 5-petal flower punch, ribbon, rhinestone brad, brads, markers, aqua painter

Playtime

A few weeks ago I found some time to play with more of my new toys, now am finally finding some time to share this quick little gift project with all of you.
 
These fun treats were made using the new Candy Wrapper die, then decorated quickly with a strip of designer series paper and some trim cut from the Tasteful Trim XL die.  It took a little bit of playing around for me to figure out how to twist the ends properly, but once I successfully accomplished this task it went super fast!  I’ll admit … I’m slow to catch on to stuff like this.  <sigh>  Four mini Dove chocolate squares stack perfectly inside!

Both of these dies can be found in Stampin’ Up!’s new Holiday Mini Catalog and are available for sale now through January 3, 2011.  I can already see that these items are going to be added to my FAVORITE list!

PROJECT RECIPE:
Stamps:  Tiny Tags
Paper:  Soft Suede, Baja Breeze, Elegant Soiree Designer Series Paper
Ink:  Soft Suede, Baja Breeze
Accessories:  Big Shot, Candy Wrapper BigZ L die, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, Vintage Trinkets brad, Jewelry Tag punch, ribbon

Black & White

Things have been hectic in my little corner of the universe, leaving very little time for me stamp.  While I find the time to rediscover my stampin’ quarters, I’ve decided to revisit some “oldies but goodies” that for one reason or another never made it to my blog. 

Black and White is one of my favorite color combinations, always seeming to leave the impact of clean and simple elegance.  If you look closely these two cards are made using the same basic products, but have completely different looks  (I think so anyway).

On this first card, I broke up the “whiteness” by wrapping a length of ribbon under the main image, tied it in a bow and hung a simple layered sentiment from the bow.  The single red gem in the center of the floral petals gives an eye-catching splash of color.  This card can go from birthday, anniversary, sympathy, etc., with a quick change of the sentiment.

I changed up the layout in this next card, opting for a quick and easy layering of punches.  Since I still had all my embossing folders, texture plates and butterfly die sitting on my desk, I decided to use them once again.   A single piece of gingham ribbon wrapped around the butterfly draws the eye naturally to the focal point.  Adding a border punch to a single edge of the bottom layer retained the clean lines yet added the touch of elegance I was hoping for.

 

Project Recipe:
Stamps:  Tiny Tags, Hope Happens
Paper:  Whisper White, Basic Black
Ink:  Basic Black
Accessories:  Elegant Bouquet embossing folder, Backgrounds 1 texturz plate, Beautiful Wings Embosslit die, Scallop Edge border punch, Scallop Square punch, square punch, Jewelry Tag punch, rhinestone brad, Organza ribbon, gingham ribbon, dimensionals

Spooky Witch

While wandering around the internet, I came across a card made with one of the newest Halloween stamp sets offered from Stampin’ Up!.  I love how the originator used a piece of ribbon to create the illusion of a skirt (sorry, I don’t remember who I cased this from – really need to remember to write these things down!).  I hoped my club members would have fun with this during their last meeting.  I was not disappointed, it was definitely a HIT!

This is my take on the original idea.  I added some shimmer to the background, lots of bats, sponging and even a spooky moon peeking out from behind the “witch”.

Here is a closer look at the shimmering background.
 
I’ve taken several photos of the card and can’t quite seem to be able to pick up just how beautiful the sparkly background truly is.  A few drops of shimmer paint mixed with some rubbing alcohol and sprayed over a background is a great finishing touch.

PROJECT RECIPE:

STAMPS:  Wicked Cool, Bring On the Bats (jumbo wheel)
PAPER:  Concord Crush, Pumpkin Pie, Pear Pizzazz, Very Vanilla
INK:  Concord Crush, Pear Pizzazz, Pumpkin Pie
ACCESSORIES:  brads, blender pen, dimensionals, crochet ribbon, oval punch, decorative label punch, Scallop Squares Duo Bigz Die, champagne mist shimmer paint