Coming in 2017......... A New Time in Our Life

As of December 29th, 2016, I am no longer working at Duke University. It's a bitter-sweet time in my life, but I know this is the right choice for me and my husband, Wiley.  We have all kinds of plans and know there will be life changes and not all of them will be easy.

Stampin Up has been an exciting part of my life. I love making paper crafts, trying new techniques, and making some fantastic products.  This will be my hobby with benefits. The biggest benefits is making new friends, like each of you. So let's start talking about all the things we enjoy in life.

I will start with more about our family. Wiley and I were married on April 10, 2010 at a not so young age. We presently have 3 cute fur babies, 4 children between us, and 4 grandchildren. Wiley built our home in Raleigh, North Carolina, then later he added a 1100 sq ft craft room.  He is crafty in his own right. Wiley was a builder, then a builder inspector prior to retirement. The work on our  home makes it our own personal paradise. As Wiley has been retired for about 2 years, we feel this is the beginning of our time together.

One the other hand, I have been a critical care nurse, followed by a pulmonary triage nurse. Our patients have pulmonary fibrosis, a terminal illness. It was easy to love these patients, and I enjoyed doing things to make their lives more comfortable and improve their quality of life.  As a retired nurse, I will be assisting with a support group and soon will be going live with a new blog for patients with pulmonary fibrosis. More about this later.

Now lets take a look at some of the fantastic project created over the holidays.

This set of candles were made for my daughter. Each one as been cover in Epson salt, and the "L" was embedded in the side of the largest one only. 

 I just love Santa anything. So it is not surprising to anyone that knows me to see me make a a Santa candle. Actually, this one is made with a napkin and glitter.

 Peppermint candle anyone? This candle was painted in red paint and then Epson salt was added only to the red areas of the candle. Hmm looks like I need to fit that bow.

Made with Stampin Up products.... Just think of all the things we will come up with for the other holidays?


Some created with paint, others with napkins and the another one is with all Stampin Up products.

Let's start with how I used Stampin Up to create this lovely candle.


Supplies needed:

Wax paper
SU heating tool  129053                  
 Festive Flower Builder Punch 139682
This Christmas  DSP
Natural & Old Olive Baker Twine 135837
Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments
Crushed Curry Stampin Write Marker 131901
Big Shot 143263
Big Shot Magnetic Platform 130658
 
-Get all your supplies together. This is super important. Working with candle wax you don't have time to stop an chase down needed supplies.
-Prepare your paper. Tear your DSP paper so it is straight on one end and torn on the other. Make it any height you want it to be.  Be sure there is enough to go completely around the candle without a lot of overlap. Also be sure the ends across the top are close to being the same height.
-Tear off enough wax paper that it will wrap completely around your candle with extra for you to hold in the back.
-Place your DSP around the candle, being sure it is where you want it to be. Now wrap the wax side of the wax paper around both the candle and the DSP. Gather the extra in the back.
-Using your heat tool, start heating the wax paper to the DSP and the candle. The wax paper will get shiny as the wax from the wax paper starts to melt to the DSP. Move slowly around your candle.
-When you have completed about half way around the candle, sit it down and rub wax smooth from top to bottom.
-Wrap the wax paper back around the candle with the part you just completed and repeat the heating process. Remember to rub the wax smooth with your hands.
-Now we can sit it aside and make your flower, greenery and tie your ribbon.

Your candle will feel like wax all over, even in the paper area.

Product List

Big Shot

[143263]

$110.00

Big Shot Magnetic Platform

[130658]

$40.00

This Christmas Designer Series Specialty Paper

[141628]

$13.00

Festive Flower Builder Punch

[139682]

$18.00

Heat Tool

[129053]

$30.00

Natural & Old Olive Two-Tone Trim

[135837]

$4.95

Pretty Pines Thinlits Dies

[141851]

$26.00

Rhinestone Basic Jewels Embellishments

[119246]

$5.00

Crushed Curry Stampin' Write Marker

[131901]

$3.50

I hope you have enjoyed making your first candle. Stay tune as we will be doing more candles in the future.

Come by the store and get all your Stampin Up products. Thank you in advance for your support.

Elaine