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Review by Brenda Peters
Embellishments have to be about the coolest thing ever. Embellishments are to a digital scrapbooker like nails are to a carpenter. A carpenter needs nails to build his structure and hold it together. Without them, it would be difficult for him to build a sound structure. And so it is with embellishments. They help us to build a sound structure, so to speak. Embellishments help to bring everything together in our layouts and assist us in telling our stories.
Yes, embellishments are wonderful little bits of digital bliss when building a layout or a greeting card. But what makes these little items so cool is how versatile they are. For those of us who enjoy crafting, embellishments have helped us bring our crafting projects to a whole new level. And so, “Hybrid Crafting” was born.
What I want to share with you is just one of the many cool ways that I have found to utilize my digital embellishments. I really think that you’re going to like this one. Who doesn’t love candles? I know I do. I want to show you how you can create beautiful, personalized, printed pillar candles that anyone would love to receive as a gift. Yes! I actually said printed! You won’t believe how easy these are to make! And, what’s really cool is that no one will ever believe you made them yourself. Trust me. They’re going to think you bought these from the store.
I purchased a few white and ivory pillar candles from my local dollar store. You’ll need to know the height and circumference of your candles, so use a tape measure and then jot the dimensions down. Here are a few other supplies you will need before we get started. If you love crafting as much as I do, you probably have most of them around your house already.
- White tissue paper
- Sturdy cardstock
- Tacky spray adhesive or a tacky glue stick (anything that allows you to reposition)
- A working printer is a must!
- Wax paper
- A heat gun (If you don’t have one, I’ve heard that a blow dryer’s hot setting can work, although I’ve never tried it myself.)
- Scissors or X-acto blade, ruler and cutting mat
- Organdy ribbon, glitter, gems and brads (optional)
There are so many ways you can decorate candles. Why not use your candle like you would a greeting card? You can use word art embellishments to create a Christmas, Birthday, Thank You, Thinking of You, or Friendship themed candle. Create a theme that will match the décor of your home. Add flowers, swirls, ribbons and sparkle embellishments! Some of the antique embellishments would be beautiful on a candle. And remember, embellishments can come in the form of brushes and templates as well. You’re only limited as far as your imagination will take you. So, decorate away and have fun with it!
I start out my project the same way I start out constructing a scrapbooking layout. I use Paint Shop Pro X, but this article isn’t software specific.
First, I use the measurements from my candle as the size for my layout, along with a transparent background, raster image and 300 dpi. With my new raster file open, I start dragging embellishments onto my layout until I am happy with how it looks.
After I drag all of the elements I want to use onto my layout, I create a new bottom layer. I then use the Weave Brush to fill in areas with the color pink. I also use the Crayon Tool on a layer under the embellishments and color in different areas to add color. For example, the blue on the title and the green inside the Henna Border.
I really enjoyed making this next example. I don’t know... it must be a girl thing. I thought the embellishments in the Doodlelicious Collection would be really cute for a girly candle. I use different background papers and layer them on top of each other. I then use the Eraser Tool and the Weave Brush from Lori Cook's Grunge Patterns and simply erase different portions from each background layer until I am happy with the result. I then add a bevel to the title to give it dimension. Next, I add flower embellishments.
Some additional examples:
Just have fun with it. In these last two examples, you’ll notice I keep the shape of the layout rectangular. They will actually wrap around the whole candle and the two ends will meet in the back.
Now for the nitty gritty! I’m ready to print them out on tissue paper.
NOTE: While I have printed on tissue paper many times without ever doing any kind of damage to my printer, there is always the possibility of doing damage to a printer when printing on anything other than printable medium. If you decide to print on tissue paper, you will do so at your own risk.
Ok... with that said, make sure that you take these precautionary measures and you shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
Here is what I do. First, I spray my cardstock with a light coat of tacky adhesive. I want just enough tackiness that will allow me to adhere the tissue paper to the cardstock firmly. Moderation is the key. I make sure to get the edges fairly well. I do not want my tissue edges folding up while in my printer, causing a paper jam. But, I also want to be able to remove the tissue from the cardstock after it finishes printing.
NOTE: The tissue paper that I use appears to have a smooth sheen on one side of the paper. I make sure that this is the side I print on. So, when attaching the tissue to the cardstock, put the rough side down.
I smooth my tissue paper over my cardstock with my hand, repositioning and working out all of the air pockets and wrinkles.
Once it is securely in place, I trim off the tissue around the edges of the cardstock. You can use scissors or an X-acto blade and ruler, whichever works best for you. Make sure not to cut the cardstock; you want it to go through the printer evenly.
After trimming, you’re ready to print. But first, make sure your printer settings are set for printing on transparencies and high quality printing.
Now, we’re going to cut out our images. If you have an image with straight edges, like a rectangular layout, you should cut out your image with a straight edge and X-acto blade before peeling the tissue paper off of the cardstock. It will make for a nice clean edge on the top and bottom of your candle.
Otherwise, I peel the tissue paper off and then trim around the images. This way, I can re-use my cardstock when printing on more tissue paper. I hope this makes sense.
Arrange your image on your candle. The tissue will still have adhesive on it, so it will stay on nicely.
Once your image is in place, trim off a medium piece of wax paper and fold it in half, lengthwise. Now, wrap it around your candle with the two ends of the wax paper meeting. This is where you’ll grab the wax paper to hold your candle firmly in place. Try to have a nice firm hold on it without causing any wrinkles in the wax paper.
Next, heat your candle with the heat gun. It’s important that you make sure not to aim the heat in any one area of the candle for too long. This will damage the candle. You want an even amount of heat over the whole candle. You’ll notice that as you’re heating the candle, the image will start to appear clearer through the wax paper. This is good. This means that you’re melting a layer of wax from the paper onto your image. Don’t be too quick to take the wax paper off, let it cool for a few seconds before you do.
Now, move the wax paper to another part of the candle that needs heating. Keep doing this until you have your image completely melted onto the candle. If you happen to notice any wrinkle marks on your candle from the wax paper, just re-heat it again with a new piece of wax paper. You’re done when you can feel a nice coat of wax over your whole candle image. You can also put the gloss back onto your candle (or work out any fingerprints or scratches on the candle) by lightly heating over the entire candle without the wax paper.
That’s it! Go ahead and decorate your candle even further with brads, ribbon, gems or glitter. For glitter, just heat up your candle with your heat gun and then lightly sprinkle with glitter. To give as a gift, insert the candle into a drawstring, mesh bag and attach a stringed gift tag.
All Projects by Brenda Peters
Brenda is a self-proclaimed computer geek whose fascination with computers and digital graphics has led her to Scrap Girls. Now, as a part of the Layout Design Team, she considers Scrap Girls to be her home away from home and has found herself to be completely captivated with digi-scrapping the lives of her beautiful little grandchildren.
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