Welcome to Expressive Candles Newsletter Issue 6

Hello everyone. How is everybody today? Happy New Years! What a year too. I have to say, Expressive Candles was very busy. You may not have seen it on your end, but we saw it on ours, 100s of virtual visitors walked into our store every day. Last year was so big because of people like you. You told some of your friends about our site, and then they told some of their friends. Thank you for making 2003 the biggest year ever. We hope to shatter that this year with so many new products and sales.

In this weeks issue:

What's New
20% Off on all candles until Jan. 15th. Yup, we still have this great sale going on until the middle of the month. Stock up now and save money. In case you didn't hear about it last month, we have a new 16oz Jar style. It is a little more sleek and much nicer looking.

On Tues January 13, we will be offering a new candle. It is a Valentine Chunk Pillar. More information to come on the 13th.

SCENTS! We have updated our scent list and added about 10 new scents.

Still very new is our Triple Layer 16oz Jar Candles. It comes with three scents and multicolored.

We have decided to extend the Breast Cancer Awareness tarts until the end of the month. We will continue to give proceeds of our sales on this particular product. Expressive Candles will continue to support various charities and organizations every month. This is our way of giving back to the community. Thank you for all your help.

Upcoming News
We have a ton of new things coming up. New scents will always be coming in as well as new shaped tarts. We hope to have a new candle or two out in Jan as well.

For those living in south Florida, we will have a booth at the Craft Fair in the South Florida Fair Grounds in West Palm Beach. February 27th to the 29th.

The Big News, from last month.
Expressive Candles is expanding into Expressive Candles and Gifts. Relatives in our family are also crafty and we will be offering their crafts online too. This will mean a complete redesign of our web site to accommodate all the new products. Keeping it all in the family will ensure the same customer service and quality of products.

Also we plan on offering an affiliate program. This will allow other people to sell our candles on their web site and earn a small percentage from the sale. It will be an exciting time for 2004. Allot of changes and new products.

Embossed Votive Holder Shade
Create the look of a Stained Glass Votive Holder

Supplies Needed:
Most items can be found in the Scrap booking/Stamping section of your local craft store.
Straight-Sided Clear Glass Votive Holder
Vellum
Craft Markers of various colors
Hole Punch
Decorative String
Embossing Powder in your choice of color
Versamark Ink Pad
Embossing Heat Tool
Scissors
Tape Measure or Ruler

1. Measure the height and circumference of your Glass votive holder with a tape measure or ruler. Use these measurements to cut out a piece of vellum. It is important to make sure that the vellum does not extend past the top of the votive holder because this will increase the risk of a fire hazard.

2. After you have planned your design with your stamp(s), use the Versamark ink to stamp the design onto the vellum. At this point the design will be clear.

3. Now sprinkle the embossing powder onto the stamped design. Turn the vellum upright and make sure all stray powder has been shaken or tapped off. Also make sure that your entire design has been covered in powder. You will be able to see this because the embossing powder will stick to the design that you stamped with the Versamark inkpad.

4. Use your Embossing Heat Tool to heat the powder. But be careful because the heat tool can get VERY hot! You will now have a beautiful raised design of the stamp you chose! Let cool for 1-2 minutes.

5. Now you can just color inside of the design on the opposite side of the vellum. Darker Colors look better for this as they give a bolder appearance when the candle is lit. Allow to dry for approximately 5 minutes or the colors may smear.

6. Finally, use your hole punch to make holes in the center of the shortest sides of the vellum. Run your string through these holes and tie around your votive holder!

And… VOILE! A One-of-Kind Votive Shade that was fun and inexpensive to make!

For More info about Candle Scaping, please check out the book below.

Creative Candlescaping : 70 Bright Ideas...

Every month we will include an article from Expressive Candles, as well as ideas and articles submitted to us.

We Want to Hear from You
We are looking for people interested in writing any articles or ideas about candles and decorating candles. Expressive Candles hopes to build a large selection of articles and ideas submitted by the user. This will benefit everyone, the more ideas, the more people will enjoy their candles. It could be something as simple as a two sentence idea. Please send ideas and articles to feedback@expressivecandles.com

Contest Winners February
Congratulations to Charlotte of . She won a free Candle for referring 28 friends to our web site. Thank you so much Charlotte.

Congratulations to Beth Winnies of California. He won a free candle in our monthly drawing of Newsletter members. We also Thank you Beth.

Testimonials
Hello,
I HAD to write to praise you on your teddy bear tarts. I have never had a tart keep it's scent through the whole burning process like these do. My sister was just commenting on how she loves to burn tarts but the ones she buys from Hallmark loose their scent after the second burning and she has to throw the wax away. When I received these tarts...I put three in the tart burner, they have gone through 3 tea lights and they still smell wonderful. I will surely recommend your tarts to whom ever asks about the ones I have. I just wanted you to know how pleased I am with my e-bay purchase from you. Thank you so much. I WILL be buying again. Have a Great Labor Day Weekend.
Carole

Thank you again for visiting Expressive Candles and signing up for our free Newsletter. See you again soon. Remember to tell your Friends about Expressive Candles. Have a nice day.

Michelle Gauthier
President