A Candle for My Muse Project Tutorial

A couple weeks ago in the Journal Pages group one of the page prompts was about environment. This reminded me that I created sort of a candle for my muse. I thought I would give a quick and dirty tutorial for it.

You’ll need:

A blank altar candle from the international section of your supermarket
Rub-ons

Yep, that’s it. So here’s my supplies.

Now some might call my collection of rub-ons a mite overboard. But I don’t judge you for your collection of 40 bottle openers and that perfect one that you sometimes have to bid on at the.very.last.second. and wait weeks for it to arrive all the way from the UK. Oops. Got a little sidetracked there.

Clean your candle with window cleaner, being careful not to scratch it if it’s one of the colored ones. That color is just a very thin film on the outside of the glass.

Decide which rub-ons you want to use and where you want them to be placed. This is very important as many rub-ons (especially the Hambly ones!) cannot be moved once they touch the surface. Experiment layering them. My main design is a pink Hambly frame with a FancyPants tapestry flower on top of it.

Once you know where you want them it’s time to put them into position. Remove only the backing from the one you are applying. Don’t get ahead of yourself. Be careful not to touch the design (again, especially with the Hambly ones. They will stick to even your fingers!) Put into position. If it’s a large design or wraps around, a spot of transparent tape will hold it n place.

Use the fancy applicator that came with the rub-ons. It looks like that stick your kids are eating their summer popsicles off of. Rub the design firmly, being careful not to move the paper. You’ll see it start to change color underneath as it transfers. It becomes more transparent. Lift the edge JUST A LITTLE to check on it. Rub some more if you need to. After you have transferred your design rub it lightly with your finger to make sure it’s well and truly down.

If you'll notice, I changed my mind about the quote I was going to put on. It didn't show up well against the red glass. If you do goof up, and you’re working on a clear glass candle, you can use an x-acto to scrape it off. On the colored glass it will scrape off the color unfortunately.

For my candle I used a combination of Hambly Screenprints, FancyPants, and K & Company.

My finished candle

Here it is with the white candle I had previously made and use in my studio now.

Let there be light!