Vintage Poppies Candle and Card

Fall is in the air and it is time to shift color palettes and textures.  This is my latest Design Team project for Creative Charms.  The embellished candle would make a nice hostess present for an autumn dinner party and the card coordinates to make a lovely set.  Be sure to check out the Creative Charms Blog to see what my fellow designers have been making - there is a lot of inspiration to be found there!

I started with this plain wax candle.  It is actually battery operated so it is safe to decorate without a risk of fire.  The candle is scented (vanilla) and about three inches in diameter.

I found these candles at Costco last year and I have been waiting for a chance to try some projects using them.  I checked the box and the item number was 272394 if you want to see if they are still available - otherwise you may find something similar in another store.

The candles are real wax(scented vanilla) but there is no flame.  They hold two AA batteries and can be switched on and off.  The box states that the batteries will last for up to 250 hours.

The area that contains the batteries does not glow so I decided to add some embellishments to make the candle suit the fall season.  I used a variety of flowers including  Vintage Poppies in Cinnamon and some Brown Velvet Ric Rac vintage ribbon   I used a vintage sequin flower with pearl center for the center of the velvet poppy. 

I applied 1/8 inch Scor-Tape to the back of the velvet ric rac and wrapped it around the candle.  I wasn't sure what to use on the waxy surface but Scor-Tape is usually a very strong adhesive choice and it seems to be holding just fine.

I cut the ribbon so the two ends would just meet.  If they are a bit short it will not matter since the flower will cover the join.

I used a few pieces of 1/2 inch Scor-Tape on the back of the poppy to adhere it to the ribbon and the candle.

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I added two of the vintage layered flowers  on either side of the velvet poppy.  The candle is now "dressed up" and ready to give but it needs a card to go with it.

I made an A2 (8 1/2 x 5 1/2 cardstock folded in half) card base in dark green Bazzill textured cardstock.  Then I cut a mat layer at 5 1/4 x 4 inches from copper metallic DCWV cardstock.  The top layer, cut at 5 x 3 3/4 inches is some cardstock that was printed with the new Cricut Imagine machine.  When I did the make and take at CHA, there was a problem with the machine alignment and this is from the center part of the cut that was not usable.  I inked the edges with brown ink.

 I cut the "Thank You" sentiment from the Lyrical Letters cartridge at 1 3/4 inches (I actually figured out the size on my Gypsy and cut the sentiment directly from the Gypsy).

The "Thank You" is shiny but it blended in with the background paper a bit too much, so...

...Stickles to the rescue!  I used the platinum Stickles to make the sentiment stand out a bit better.

Here is the "stickled" sentiment.  I used a thin coat to let the color show through but add a bit of sparkle.

I also changed the center of the flower by removing the pearl brad (I'll use it on another project) and substituting one of the flowers from the 3D vintage brad - antique flower medley.
 

Here is the final version of the card with the cluster of three different types of flowers.

Since the cardstock was dark, I added a liner to write a note inside.  I cut a piece of ivory cardstock at 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 inches and punched the edges with the Martha Stewart arch lattice border punch.  The liner goes from edge to edge but the punching of the border creates some dark areas that set off the edges nicely.

Here is a close view of the embellishments.  These velvet and shiny flowers have an elegant old world feel and add a touch of luxury to the design.

Here is a photo of the candle when it is turned on.  There is a flicker effect to the flame and it is very realistic.

One more photo of the candle and card together.  This was fun to make and a change of pace for me with the only Cricut items the sentiment cut and the piece of printed paper.

Are you going to stay up to watch the Circut Imagine Launch on HSN?  Thinking of buying it?  Be sure to check out the message boards, Facebook and Twitter for some giveaways sponsored by ProvoCraft.  The world launch is at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday Eastern time (midnight Monday for all practical purposes) .

For those of you who receive my posts by email, there will be two posts in today's email.  I am trying to get on a different schedule for posting and needed to double up one day to change the cycle.

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Happy Birthday (again!)

This is almost (but not quite) the last birthday card I need to make this month.  The weather has turned cool and rainy so these autumnal colors seemed appropriate.  I am sure that we will get more hot weather but there is a definite feeling of fall in the air.

I used the Pure Blossoms from Creative Charms again on this card.  They are such an easy way to add sparkle and make a card special.  I hope you have been checking the Creative Charms blog to see the great projects my fellow Design Team members have been creating. 

I made this card five by seven inches - I have been branching out a bit from all of the A2 cards.  The base card is Papertrey ink "scarlet jewel" cardstock and the dark green mat layer is textured Bazzill.  The patterned paper is from the new Creative Memories Reminisce collection - this piece is from the Reminisce Photo Album Kit whic is designed to work with the Picfolio Photo Albums.  The photo above shows my "audition" of the papers and the gems.

I inked all of the edges to soften and age the papers using the new limited edition chalking ink in brown, also from Creative Memories.

The sentiment is from the Lyrical Letters cartridge.  I used Design Studio to figure out the size I needed to fit in the space available on the card.

The cut is only 1 1/4 inches tall so the letters are extremely delicate.  I used multi-cut (two times) to get a good clean cut.  You can see here how delicate some of the lines are.

Here is the cut after I carefully removed it from the mat.  I liked this font but the "starburst" at the right side did not suit my paper...

...so I carefully trimmed it off.

I managed to lose the dot for the "i" so I used a gradient gem sticker to replace it.

The gem stickers also work well to add a contrasting center to each of the Pure Blossom flowers.

Since I used a dark cardstock for the base I added an inner layer to write on inside the card.  I cut a piece of ivory cardstock to 5 x 7 inches and then carefully punched the top and bottom with the Martha Stewart Floral Vine Deep Edge punch.  It is important to center your punch to get an attractive and even design.

 If you are planning to send a card like this through the mail it is a good idea to use a padded envelope.  The gems can rub through a normal envelope and could be damaged or lost.


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Creative Charms "Deal of the Month" Projects for August

The Creative Charms Deal of the Month for August is available in your choice of two colors - blue or pink.  I made a couple of projects with the blue set to share today.  Be sure to visit the Creative Charms blog to see all of the wonderful projects my fellow Design Team members are posting to inspire you.  The Deal of the Month is only $6.99 (a $23.00 value at regular prices) and you won't want to miss this one - I think you'll want both colors!

When I looked at the felt flowers with the sequin centers, they reminded me of this image on the Lyrical Letters cartridge.  I decided to use the image for my card and add felt flowers in place of the cut design.

I used "hide selected contour" to eliminate the cuts inside the flowers.  I wasn't sure if the flowers would hide them completely and it also saved time in cutting the design.

Here is the image for my card.  I cut it in "Meadow" green Core'dinations core essentials cardstock at 4 inches.

I centered the cut on a horizontal A2 card.  I like the bold graphic look of this design.

I used a large foam square to adhere the felt and sequin flower to the largest flower in the design.  They are both five petal flowers so the fit was nearly perfect.

The two flowers from the Blooming Garden set are six petal flowers but I found that they looked fine adhered on top of the five petal bases.  The bits of the paper flowers that show look like leaves and greenery.

The two plain felt flowers needed a bit of sparkle so I added a gradient gem sticker to the center flower and a small pure blossom to the flower on the right.

Here is one more look at the finished card.  I might add a small sentiment stamp when I am ready to send this card, depending on the occasion.

The second project I made with the Deal of the Month was this intricate snowflake.  This snowflake is from the new Creative Memories Cheerful Seasons cartridge. 

The snowflake can be found at this key.  There are four layers to create the final snowflake, the base key and shift and the layers key and shift.

I used the color previews in Design Studio to help me decide on the color placement.  I think the detail in these snowflakes is fantastic!

Here are the four layers I cut.  I used Core'dinations cardstock for all of them.  The dark blue is "Lake" from the core essentials collection, the medium blue is "Nassau Blue" CoreColor Cardstock, the light blue is "Gem Moonstone" from the gemstones cardstock and the white layer is "White Gloves" from the core Couture high fashion cardstock.

I just got the core Couture glitter cardstock at Joann's while they had their 5 for $1 sale on cardstock.  This has a much different look than the DCWV glitter cardstock I often use.  The cardstock is fully glittered but the covering is not as thick as the DCWV.  It cuts very easily, just like the regular Core'dinations cardstock and does not leave "glitter dust" on the mat.  I bought all of the colors available while it was on sale (I hate having to choose between my favorite colors!).  I am sure I will be using this for many projects - particularly as the holidays approach.

Here are the shadow and first layer.

Next is the second layer in the darker blue.

Here the white layer is added without the center piece.

This is the fully assembled snowflake.  It is very pretty but needs just a bit more sparkle.

I used my hook tool from the Cricut tool set to create a starter hole in the center of the snowflake.

Then I added a large gem brad through the hole.  I pulled out the gradient gem stickers to finish decorating the snowflake.

Here is a close up view showing how perfectly the second row of gradient gems match the color of the gem brad.  I used the medium and small sizes on this snowflake.

The snowflake will work as a beautiful decoration on the front of an A2 card, either horizontal...

...or vertical.  You can adhere the snowflake with removable adhesive so it can be detached and used as a tree ornament.

To make the snowflake as an ornament you can add some silver cord or thread, secure it around the brad and then adhere a second shadow layer to the back.  You could even add another fully layered snowflake to the back to make an ornament that will always have the "good side" showing.

Here is one more close view of the snowflake, the glitter cardstock and gems.

There is so much more in the Creative Charms "Deal of the Month" set - I will be busy making projects for quite a while before I can use everything!

If you would like more information about Cheerful Seasons and Reminisce Accents (the exclusive Creative Memories Cricut cartridges) you can read my review HERE.  I am a Creative Memories consultant and, if you do not have a local consultant,  I would be happy to help you with your order.  You can order directly from my Creative Memories site - here is a LINK to the page on my site.


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