When Eileen Hull came to town last year and was kind enough to make a guest appearance on “Style With A Smile” (the “Towel Cupcake Redux” episode), she asked me to join in the next Sizzix Blog Hop. I actually met Eileen at CHA a few years ago when she stopped me in the aisles because I was wearing crazy pants plastered with images from my book “Flowers that Wow.” Of course, we became instant friends.

towel cupcake redux

For the uninitiated, here’s how the blog hop works: Sizzix has sent various designers different dies from the new Fresh Vintage line, designed by Eileen Hull. And every Tuesday and Thursday through Nov. 3rd, the designers present their projects using the featured dies, and we all get to ooh and aah over each other’s creations.

I was sent the die for the Leaves. When I looked at the shape, I realized that they were also the shape of flames. So I decided to make candles with faux flames made from the leaf die. They’re a more eco-friendly alternative to candles because they never have to be replaced, and the flame never blows out. Watch the video above to see how I made them. Directions and photos are also below, as well as information on how you can win this die.

sizzix fresh vintage blog hop

I used 5mm copper tooling with this die for the large and small leaves/flames, and aluminum (actually a piece of aluminum roof flashing from Home Depot) for the medium leaf/flame. I buy my copper tooling from Whimsie Studio. The Sizzix Bigz dies work great for all materials, from metal to paper to fabric.

I wanted the smallest flame to have a “hotter” color, so I stained it with some cranberry alcohol ink. Then I layered the three flames on top of each other with some Tacky Glue.

I made the candles themselves out of PVC pipe, which I cut into various lengths. Then I wrapped different scrapbook papers, which were sprayed with Super 77 adhesvie, around each PVC section.

ImageStamps by Photocentric also participated in this blog hop, and I received some of their stamps designed by Lara Scott. I decided to stamp some of the scrapbook papers with graphic words like “Moments” to add some high impact.

I then put a little piece of dry floral foam at the top of each candle so the flame would slide right in stay secure. On a few of the candles, the floral foam slid down when I tried to insert the flame, so I put a little dab of hot glue to hold the floral foam in place.

I made a bunch of candles for a festive arrangement. They would look great on a mantel or as a centerpiece.

sizzix bigz leaves by Eileen Hull

WATCH THE VIDEO OF THIS PROJECT AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE


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