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January Birthday Card feat DIY Ribbon Candle

Hey crafters!

Winter is certainly upon us here in Canada now after having a non-white Christmas season! Today being a pretty cold, cold day and yet - its a bit better than Weds was - lordy that was cold!!!

For all you out there - please help our urban wildlife, toss them some food if you can!  And provide helpful guidance to any ill-informed or naive pet owner to not leave their pets outside - if its too cold for  us, its too cold for them!

OK - a change in colour is one of my priorities in January - BAM -  right away I put away all the past Holiday decorations and start bringing out whites plus some cheery colour!  Its sort of a minor catharsis I think, to purge out the emotional remnants of participating through Thanksgiving to New Year's celebrations. I know women play out the bulk of the preparations for this often leading to a huge release when its all over. Clear the decks!

So right away this year, we had a birthday to consider and blue and orange seemed a perfect colour combo to accompany the brighter days of a January winter!  



Still on a multi-fold kick for my cards, and I chose TURQUOISE and ORANGE as my colours for a RIBBON CANDLE card!  And of course, white as its clean and refreshing.  The DIY Candle is one of my fav tricks for birthday cards.  Simple to do but it takes a wee bit of labour. Great way to use your stash of ribbon too - always a good thing :)

HOW TO
Have ready: bamboo skewer; sheet of school paper; white, plus 2  preferred colours of medium to heavy cardstock; narrow ribbons in co-ordinating colours; glitter{flakes or regular}; birthday greeting stamp; white gel pen; paints{for candle and for flame}; white glue (or hot glue gun) and double-sided adhesive tape; routine crafting tools.  Optional: diamond-shape gem accent {for candle flame}.

Here's what I did.....

1. Layered turquoise and orange cardstock onto the center and side panels of the folded white base card. [ Optional: ink the edges of the layers first ]
As per my usual preference, I've left a small 1/8 in. white border around the coloured cardstock. Adhered with double-sided adhesive tape.
TIP: secure the 'center' turquoise panel well because it needs to support the most weight when the ribbon candle is attached.


2. Created " candle " by cutting a thin bamboo skewer into an appropriate length and rolling the skewer with a strip of regular lined school paper.  (Helpful: a strip of glue tape down the center of the paper aids in tightly rolling up the skewer.) (( And why not complete 2 candles and set one aside for another project.)

Once paper is on, I painted each with SPUN SUGAR Distress Paint from Ranger.  Immediately while the paint is still wet, I rolled them in pink glitter flakes....pretty!  Leave them to dry on a protected surface.



3. Create a " candle flame " - which I conveniently cut with a thin die from a birthday candle die set or cut freehand.  Covered with gold paint and a dash of silver glitter. You may wish as I did to squish a gem accent into the wet paint to help emphasize the flame's glow. Set aside.


4.  Tie a series of  narrow ribbons around candle body. Use in decreasing size and in which ever pleasing fashion as I did. Its adequate to tie one knot as you will use white glue {or a hot glue gun} to secure the candle in place.  Leave knot facing the front of the candle.

5. Secure both candle flame and ribbon candle to center panel - centering and adjusting each piece together to fit.  Use a strong adhesive [ white glue or hot glue or similar.]  secure.



TIP: this will make the card front "heavy" - I added 2 layers of cardstock to the back panels of the card to help balance the weight. The folds should help, but its best to make the card stand well on its own beforehand.

I also used a white gel pen to add candle flame glow lines - is that a correct term? :) AND couldn't help it, but I scribbled glitter glue around the edges. Why not!

 6. Create a stamped greeting and attach to a convenient spot. Make sure it won't interfere with the card being inserted into an envelope [unless you don't mind extra postage if you are mailing the card in a larger envie!].

7. FINALLY, I know with this design, the only place to write a few lines is on the back. So I added some playful squiggle drawings, and glitter in a not-too-fussy manner before a written message was added.

And there you have it!  I think its darling. I'd like getting one in the mail, wouldn't YOU?

*If you place the address on the envelope before inserting card - it makes life much easier, lol.

Thanks for reading my post and looking at this project - here's to a lovely 2015 ahead and congrats to those who have birthdays in JANUARY!!!!!!!!!! 

Cheers :)

Challenge Entries

  1. Clear it Out Challenge Jan 6-2015







Comments

Lisa Mensing said…
This is amazing, great design! Thank you for sharing with us at CIO.

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