Digital Divas Sensational Sunday Tutorial and October Special Guest Designer

Whimsy friends,
as promised we have a wonderful treat for you today.
Our lovely Claudia, who is a bit of a whizz at creating beautiful
stamped and hand coloured candles, has put together a wonderful tutorial for us all!

But before we share Claudia's Gorgeous Candle Tutorial, 

let me share with you the fabulous creations made by our wonderful

 October Digital Guest Designer

Tammy Bowlus

Tammy used the sweet Sweeping Witch Tia from our Brand New Some Odd Girl Digital Range.

I love the sweet slimline shaker card design Tammy created with the lovely Slimline Stars Background.

Tammy's second creation used Crissy Armstrong's adorable Gnome Trick or Treat image.

Another fantastic slimline creation using the gorgeous Slimline Hill House Die and a few Ghosties!

Tammy's final creation, used three really fun images from another new stamp range this month,

Meljen's Designs. Little Frankie, Cat O Lantern and Crazy Broom Witch made for a really fun trio.

Another gorgeous Slimline shaker card design, look closely at the little shaker elements too,

they're such a fun and fabulous match for the images! Fabulous creation Tammy!

Thank you Tammy so much for being our October Digital Guest Designer,

we absolutely LOVE what you created for us all.

Sweet Sunday Digital Team Tutorials!

If you'd like to watch the video first,

Head straight to the very end of this post.

The first thing you will need is a good sized church candle, in cream or white is best

and with a smooth surface, no texture or glittered finish as this interferes with the melting process.

It is recommended that this be done with a rubber or clear stamp, as this is a bit tricky in digital.
But as we are the 'Digital Team' Claudia has braved putting the fragile tissue paper through her printer!
Claudia doesn't recommend this, as it can be a difficult process, so if you do try, please do so understanding the risks.

Claudia suggests that a rubber or clear stamp is a safer option for this technique.

The next thing you will need is of course an image to colour.
Claudia did use her printer for this as she is a Digital Diva so wanted to use a Digital Image,
but as mentioned above, she recommends using a rubber or clear stamp as a safer process.

Claudia has used the stunning image Christmas Manger by Crissy Armstrong for this Tutorial.



You will also need a colouring medium, pencils and alcohol inks work well,

watercolours are not recommended as the water can cause tearing of the tissue paper.

It is possible if you're very careful however, so if that's your medium of choice, you can of course try.

Claudia recommends putting a paper towel or something absorbent beneath to absorb any

extra moisture and use a very light hand, so as not to tear the tissue.

It's good to do a test run with your tissue paper, to know how much pressure can be applied before it tears.

You will also need a heat tool to melt the wax, baking paper to hold the image in place whilst

you're melting the wax and of course tissue paper to do your colouring onto.

For best results it is recommended to carefully attach the very fine tissue paper over

cardstock before commencing the colouring and using a light hand so as not to tear the tissue.

Claudia used pencils as her colouring medium for this tutorial.

Claudia worked on two images concurrently, the tissue version for the candle and the second

which is on cardstock for an accompanying card, this makes such a lovely finished gift.



She has not shown us the colouring process in the video,

but we will have to convince her to show us next time as her colouring is delish!

Once the images are coloured up, the next stage is to fussy cut the tissue version of the image.

The cardstock backing makes it easier to fussy cut the very flexible fragile tissue paper.

You can leave a white edge around the image, as this will become invisible once the wax melts over it.

The next step is to lay just the tissue portion of the coloured image over the candle, removing the

cardstock backing that it was coloured over and laying it exactly as you wish it to appear on the candle.

Using a good length of baking paper to wrap around the candle, which will hold the image firmly in place

so that the melting can begin. Leave a handle of paper at the back to 'grab' whilst doing the melting.

Now the transformational part! Using your heat tool, move carefully and evenly over the candle to melt the wax

over the image. Do not hold the heat tool too close during this process. Take care not to burn your fingers,

it can become quite hot when you are turning the candle during the melting. 

Claudia explains this process brilliantly in the video. It's fun to watch it transforming!

You will be left with a lovely image on the candle and the tissue paper edges just seem to disappear

into the candle seamlessly, leaving a beautiful image on the candle.

Claudia chose to create a card to accompany her candle and so coloured a

cardstock version of the design also, to create the accompanying card.

Here is Claudia's beautifully finished set, such a stunning gift!

Video Tutorial

Huge thanks to our amazing Digital Diva Claudia for this stunning Stamped Candle Tutorial.

We hope you will enjoy creating with Claudia's wonderful tutorial.

Be sure to let us know if you give it a try over on our Whimsy Stamps Facebook Page.

We will be back soon with the November Digital Release, can you believe it?!

It'll be Christmas before we know it!

Hugs and happy crafting,