They had me at "paper"

I have loved paper since I was a little girl. Notepads, stationery, wrapping paper, cards, you name it, and I loved it. I remember when one of my best friends moved to Brazil (and then South Africa), and it gave me the opportunity to purchase pretty stationery to write long letters to my new pen pal.

Last weekend, the weather was lovely and my husband and I spent the afternoon shopping at the funky outdoor mall and eating out on the sidewalk of my favorite French cafe, Petit Chou. I spied this fun little paper shop and knew I had to pop in.

Oliver's Twist had some lovely Cavallini cards and rubber stamps, along with some other custom cards and stationery. I spotted wax sticks and seals, and decided to pick up a few. I've always been intrigued with wax seals, and couldn't wait to give them a try. The directions for the wax sticks made it look so easy...pop it into your glue gun, heat for five minutes, shoot and press. Voila! Wax seal!



And it would have been easy, too, if I had a standard glue gun. But I realized too late that I have a mini glue gun, so the sticks were too fat.

No problem! I have watched a TON of period movies where the Jane Austen character heats the wax with a match or candle, drips it onto paper, and presses in. Piece of cake, right?

I decided to drip the wax onto waxed paper, and then peel it off later. Well, the match did make the wax melt, and did you know that wax can catch on fire with no need for wicks at all? Surprise to me! After a few tries, I finally got something useable, and I managed not to burn the house down. Alas, it didn't exactly peel off the waxed paper as planned, but with a little coaxing, I made it work. Instead of a metal "press", I used a rubber stamp, pressed lightly into the wax, and waited for it to cool before lifting up. It doesn't hurt the stamp at all, and works quite nicely.



I made this card for my nephew, Joey, who will be turning fifteen next week. Joey is just an all-around great guy...he is sweet, funny, helpful, soft-spoken, and big-hearted. We're blessed to be his godparents!

{recipe: Little Pieces stamp set for wax seal (from SU), Pure Luxury Ivory card base, Soft Suede and Not Quite Navy cardstock, Soft Suede ink, Webster's Pages journaling card and paper (Seaside Retreat collection), twine, Swirls Cuttlebug embossing folder}

Thanks for stopping by the cafe today!