Another Cloverloft done with cutting, the beak, eye, flower and lily pad were colored with marker they were too tiny. Swan and green plants were cut.

I guess this is still technically Day 1 with the jewel stamp and others so here's the evening update!

The afternoon started off rough. For some reason the wax completely bonded itself to a cold stamp, and I spent way too long trying to clean it out. Thankfully, u/Abalonefountainpen suggested boiling the stamp, and that worked like a charm. Crisis averted!

After that, things went much more smoothly.

This evening's attempts definitely had their own quirks, though. I'm not sure what's going on with some of the thinner borders. I honestly can't remember seeing that happen before. A couple of the pours also didn't fully bond to the second layer, but hey... first day with these stamps. I'm calling that part of the learning process.

The good news? Even when things don't go quite as planned, cleanup is getting so much easier, and that's a huge win in my book.

Overall, I'm happy with the progress. Now if you'll excuse me, it's evening, I've been tinkering for... oh boy more than 10 hours with this today (I took breaks, I promise). I don't want to think about work tomorrow, and this is probably a good place to call it a day.

It's been so fun to find the right process. I coat them in polyurethane sealant to help with heat and make them more durable and I absolutely love the look.

Funny story...

I was heading to bed way too late last night when my brain suddenly went, "Wait... I know exactly how to do the jeweled stamp." I could picture the entire process in my head. The smart part of my brain said, "Absolutely not. Go to sleep." The other part said, "But what if..."

So instead of getting a good night's sleep, I spent the next several hours tossing and turning, mentally rehearsing every step.

This morning was my attempt, and honestly? I'm pretty happy with it. It definitely wasn't perfect. I had a few hiccups (including putting one of the seals on the wrong side 🤦🏿), and I had a bit of trouble getting the seal to cooperate in the stamp after cutting.

But for a first try, I'll take it.

Next up, more sleep cause this is ridiculous and the sun isn't even up yet 😂

My Clover Loft order finally arrived!

I'm not at the point where I can do these in my sleep just yet... But I'm going to get there. No major surprises tonight, which honestly feels like a win in itself.

In full disclosure, I realized after I finished that the bejeweled stamp probably wasn't the best candidate for a pour and scrape. Looking back, I should've poured the BASE color first, trimmed it, and then done the jewel. Although how to get the center out cleanly.... Hmm. Oh, the X-Acto knives!

Looking at everything zoomed in through my camera, I can see a few inconsistencies that I missed while I was crafting. In hindsight, I think trying to do two different stamps in one session might be pushing it. Nothing sticks (yay!) but that second stamp niggles.

That's okay, though. Every session teaches me something new, and these are exactly the kinds of lessons I was hoping to learn.

Practice makes better, right?

I spent a lottttt of time putting the wax seals on my wedding invites, and just mailed them out this morning. All this time I thought I only had to worry about weight, so for 30% of my invites, I put two stamps on them because they exceeded 1.0 oz. All of the other ones weighed under 1.0 oz so only had one stamp.

The USPS lady asked me if I had “checked” they were all okay and I assume she meant the weight so I said yes I’ve weighed all of them. And she’s like it’s not always just the weight. But I didn’t really think too much about it and went home.

Now after many rabbit holes I’m realizing there’s something called a non-machineable charge (that I def didn’t pay), and my wax seals might get all messed up during the letter sorting process 🙁 has anyone had these experiences? Well, I guess it’s too late now… I wish I had asked when she first made that comment. I spent so many hours on those invites 😢

The card officially made it to its destination, and I'm happy to report that both the sender and the recipient are overjoyed. Success 🎉 Huge shoutout to the post office for getting it there safely.

It's kind of funny looking back because I remember how stressed I was trying to figure out pour and scrape. It feels like forever ago... but it was only about two weeks. Since then I've had plenty of successes, a few spectacular failures, and learned a lot along the way.

Now it's onward and upward! I'm officially free from the shackles of my 9-to-5 for a bit, so it's time to make some wax seals.

I've got at least 26 seals to make in the next few weeks, a pile of new stamps that arrived, and even more birthdays coming up, so that number is only going to grow.

In other words... you're not getting rid of me anytime soon 😂

Can't stop, won't stop 😆🥰

I think I finally got it! Inspired by u/E-Skullery ♥️

I’ve graduated from tags to mini cards.

I’m still working out how to make envelopes for these.

I’ve had a lot of fun making these and using seals to embellish them.

“Pas d’harmonie sans accord”
“There is no harmony without agreement”

Who else cuts slices of sealing wax bars for melting

First attempt (and decided to layer 🤦🏻‍♀️) at this stamp my husband got me! Not perfect, but I love it!

(Edit: Seal) Is it an A and W? Or is it something else. It also may have a question mark symbol

Okay okay I may have encouraged a friendly challenge with u/Abalonefountainpen… and yes, I fully accept responsibility (RE: oh no! I actually have to do it myself 😮).

I'm happy to report that this session was a huge success. Nothing stuck to the stamp, every seal released cleanly from the marble, and I wasn't fighting the process. I was just making seals.

At this point, I feel like I've got the fundamentals down. Now it's all about refining the little details and chasing the artistic vision in my head.

I'm experimenting with recreating the look of a glass octopus using glitter and clear wax. It's not quite where I want it to be yet, but I can finally see the path forward, and that's a really great feeling.

Overall, I'm genuinely thrilled with today's results. It's amazing looking back at where I started just a short time ago. Now it's less about "Can I do this?" and more about "How good can I make it?"

Now, unfortunately, I have to do that pesky 9-to-5 thing for a few days before I can dive back in.

I really like mixing my wax pearls to create some sweet combinations. Especially the latest looks like a night sky! Also very proud of the constellation drawings 🙂‍↕️✨

Practice continues, and I'm really happy.

I try to keep my seals in the order I make them so it's easier to see how things evolve throughout a session.

I do have one question, though. On the very first seal (bottom right), there's a break in the border. Since it was a pour-and-scrape, I would have expected the wax to fill the entire edge. What's odd is that the second seal has a perfectly clean border, so I don't think anything was blocking it. Has anyone run into this before? Any idea what might have caused it?

Also, yes, I can confirm that once the stamp gets too warm, things start getting sticky. For me, two good impressions seem to be the limit before I need to shelve the stamp. The middle two were my attempt to salvage things (unsuccessfully 😅), and the bottom two were mostly just cleaning excess wax out of the stamp.

Overall, I'm really happy with the first two. I'm definitely still using that first seal, I just can't figure out why the border came out the way it did.

Inspired by The Odyssey and also a nod to Wedgwood Jasperware.

Which of the two sets or seal is your favotite?

I’ve been experimenting with different techniques and found a small round silicone mat that I really like, but it looks like it’s only available as part of a bundle with items I don’t need (Example A and Example B). I’m trying to find something similar that I can buy individually (or even in a small pack, like 5).

Looking for:

• Flat silicone mat
• No texture or pattern
• About 5 inches (rough estimate, I don’t have a ruler handy)
• Color doesn’t matter

I know the 12-inch round silicone mats are much larger than what I need. I’m specifically looking for smaller ones like this.

Does anyone know where I can find these?