What's Up Wednesday ~ Embossing on a Candle

 Have you ever tried to emboss a candle? It's to that difficult and turns out so very pretty! It's a great gift, too! Now, technically you don't emboss directly on the candle itself. Keep reading for directions and a video on how this is done. Then give it a try yourself!

This is the candle I used to demonstrate this technique at a recent team meeting. I learned how to do this many, many years ago! Be patient with your first try as you might get some "bumps" in the wax. But you can smooth those out. Ok let's go!

First you'll heat emboss your image on tissue paper. Stamp the image in Versamark ink, sprinkle on the embossing powder, tap off the excess and heat. Because the tissue paper is so flimsy I hold it against a piece of cardstock while heating. Once heated trim the tissue paper around your image.

Lay your embossed image on the candle and gently hold in place at one end. Using the heat tool start heating the candle at the other end of the image. You'll see the tissue paper melt into the wax and "disappear". This is what you want to happen! Don't hold the heat tool too close as that melts the wax to much. You only want to melt it enough to absorb the tissue paper. Keep moving the heat tool around until all the tissue paper is melted into the wax. 

If you have bumps in the wax from the heat tool blowing on the candle here is what I do. I back off a bit with the heat tool and melt the bumps while rubbing over them with my fingers lightly. This will smooth out the bumps like they were never there.

NOTE: I recommend starting with a white or off white candle color. Once you've perfected the technique then try a colored candle. When picking out a colored candle look at the bottom to see if there is a nice amount of color layered on the candle. Usually colored candles start with a white "base" and are dipped in the colored wax several times for the finished look. When heating the wax for this technique br careful not to linger in any spot long enough to melt through to the white layer.

Here is a candle I embossed over 25 years ago! It's a Close To My Heart image repeated on all four sides of the candle to create a wrap. 

HINT: once your candle burns down enough to create a nice well, stop burning the candle itself. Instead place a tea light or one of those little battery candles in the well to "light" the candle. 

Here is a video of the process from the team meeting. 

I hope you give this technique a try! It's easy once you get a bit of practice. Maybe start out with a small image and a votive candle.  Have fun!

Michelle Loncar

Independent Stampin' Up® Demonstrator 

Images©Stampin' Up

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