Tallbabydoll

Please forgive the pic, had to use my scanner. I haven't poured any pillars in a lonnnnnng while. I loved the way this candle looks, then it got ruined. I was SOOOOOOOOOO disappointed. I pulled it out to see how it turned out before doing my repour. Well this was a mistake to say the least. The repour melted the outter edge and the wax over flowed down the side ruining it. It must have been to hot because it melted a small dent most of the way down the side. IMO this is one of the most time consuming techniques, but I LOVE the effect. It's probably my favorite style. By the way, this is a white-grey-black candle. Kinda funny since my scanner tends to want everything to be in these shades any ways lol.

Yaley fo and scent blocks are complete garbage, and way over priced on top of it. The price may not be as high ($5.99 an oz) in their showroom, but the product isn't worth a dime IMO. The only things I'd still buy would be color blocks, steric, vybar, molds, and pillar wax. I never had any problems with any of these yaley products. I know many here say the wax is garbage too, but to be honest, I've never found a pillar wax that I'd consider to be better, and haven't found any to be as clear.

Candlewic has the best prices I've found anywhere. Plus right now they are running a special of BOGO with an order of $80 or more before shipping, there are some exclusions though. HTH

Personally I don't see this $1 per oz working with pillars. I just weighed one of my 3"x3" which was 11 0z and a 3"x6" which was 23oz. There is no way, at least not in my area, people are going to pay $11 for a 3"x3" or $23 for a 3"x6". Maybe in some of the high end stores, but not a direct sale from me, or in a craft market atmosphere, I wish.

It also depends on the scent/fo. Some are created with the intent of being a nice and subtle. They are not designed to be strong. Then some like lavender for .i.e. are very in your face, so you'll want to cut back. I found 1oz pp of lavender was way overpowering. The cold throw was almost to strong when I had it in my office (a small room). When it was lit, it gave me a headache. So with that (and some other florals) I found .5 oz to be much better. I like my sweet (bakery and fruits) and fresh scents strong, and my florals/musks/designers a little lighter. So I start my testing accordingly, 1oz pp with the sweet or fresh, and .5 oz with the florals etc. If they're to light or to strong, I bump it or down accordingly. HTH

Liquid here, deep vibrant colors, and much faster than scraping the blocks. I was having to use a whole red color block to get 1 1/2 #'s of wax a true red. You can even make your own color blocks or chips if you wished to make sure your getting consistant coloring. Also IMO it seems cheaper in the long run. But your right about the quality making a HUGE difference, just like fo. The first bottles I tried were from a craft store and total crap. My second go was from Alabaster, LOVE them. My only complaint is with the packaging. Oh and too many colors to chose from, spend to much $ lol, they have 30 colors.

No it would not be safe by any means. Straws are very flamable. You never want to place anything flamable in a candle. In time the wax will melt, the straw will shift and could come into contact with the flame, very bad idea.

No not neccessarily. What your probably seeing is either wet spots, which is where the wax doesn't adhere to the jar, or a mottled look, both have an oily looking appearence IMO. As for the oil droplets on top of the candle, wax will only hold so much oil. You can, and most do, add addatives that will increase the amount of oil that the wax will hold. Not using enough of these addatives or not throughly mixing the oil into the wax will cause "sweating." Sweating is when the oil seeps out on top and or sides of the candle. Yankme's wax can't hold anymore oil than the wax we use, therefore their candles cant be any stronger because of a high percentage of fo. Most use the max the oil will hold, unless it's a strong fo and using the max would be overkill, like with lavender. That is a very very stong scent and using the max makes the candle to strong to have lit for long, it'll send you right out of the house. Therefore to have a pleasing scent throw, less oil can and should be used.

I just switched to 4794 for my votives. I read most users of this wax having great success with 36z and 44z, both of which I have. Well I've just begun testing these scents Bubblegum, Sun Ripened Raspberry, and purely Herbal. In all 3 the 36's are drowning and the 44's though doing better, to small of a flame for my liking. It's almost struggling to stay lit. These votives are gonna last FOREVER at this rate lol. Are maybe these oils just to heavy? I wouldn't think so, and so many others use these wicks with this wax, I find it strange that I'm having such troubles. Anyone tried the 700 series with 4794 yet, if so where should I start with the testing? Or have any other suggestions?

Ok, found my heatgun, went back to how I used to do it. Pour my wax in the mold, then heat the outside to melt the congeled wax, place my pic and cooled. Putty held just fine. I used spray mold release and IT CAME OUT Wooo Hooooo. So I made more, everything was going great. Then I realized something, my bf did me a favor and trimmed my pics, well he trimmed off the first word "A" from their phrase. So I have to melt these down, as well as print another 25 pics and trim them. What a waste of time and ink. GRRRRRRRRRR! I think I'm jinxed on this order. And it's my first commercial order.:rolleyes2

Hurricanes then votives. I don't make containers, but have had requests for them. I just don't want to start the testing process all over again and add another wax to the mix, already use 3 different waxes and only have a 1 bdrm house. LOL

I've got to make the 1260 work, I bought a case of it.

I did, well the freezer, and they never did come out. I ended up getting out the sides in chunks, and stuck them in the oven upside down so the wax would melt and drip out onto a cookie sheet. I've given up for the day. Tomorrow I will try spraying them with mold release and see if that works better, and using heat gun instead of oven to heat mold.

I use paraffin, so might not be of much help, but I love Peaks cinnamon buns. They smell like their fresh out of the oven dripping with icing. Love frosted carrot cake too.

This is the first time I have stuck them in the oven to preheat, I usually just hit them with my heat gun for a few seconds, then again after I pour the wax if it's cooling before I can get my pic placed. It's leaking out the wick hole, not the seam. I think the mold is just getting to hot in the oven and melting the putty. I'm trying to find my heatgun to use instead. The 1260 cools very fast. I did make sure the mold was very clean, but it has been a long time since it was used, and sprayed with any mold release. Maybe it's just time to spray it again. Thanks for the advice Mystical.

Country has a smell, and style all it's own? When I came up with my painting businesses name and phrase, I homed in on what's important to the consumer with a built in nickname thats easy to remember. We are "L&L Quality Custom Painting" Or catchphrase is "Where Quality Comes First" we are commonly called "L&L" It tells people what we do, custom painting, it tells them the we are focused on quality work, and the L&L is different, and easy to remember.

I'm pretty sure I saw them @ At Wix End. HTH

LOL Ty Deanna, that helped break the frustration I'm feeling right now a little bit. ANyone know if using Steric would help aide in the mold release?

OMG they wont come out of the molds!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The wax is stuck like glue in there. It's my first time using 1260, this sucks.

I landed my first wholesale account about 6 wks ago. They order 25 pic embedded hurricanes with a pic of their establishment on it. They finally sent me the pic yesterday. I preped my pics, molds, placed them in oven to warm, melted wax, poured the wax, and it started leaking everywhere. I use molder sealer putty and it wont hold. I've never had this problem before. I used to use my heatgun to warm the molds, but cant find it anywhere. I think thats the problem, the mold is getting to hot so it's melting the putty. I also cant find my magnets I used to use over the putty as a 2nd layer of protection. I haven't poured for about a year now, and can't find anything. They are now in a hurry to get this order which makes the situation that much more frustrating. They shut down for a month (I work here) and I was laid off. I planned to fill this order during that time, but without the pic I was unable. Now their open, I'm back to work full time, plus have a part time job, as well as do work for my painting company, and they want this order yesterday. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!! Ok I'm off to go search for my heatgun, probably in my hunnys tool is the work van by now, and he's off golfing. Anyone got a 4 leaf clover or rabbits foot to spare, lord nows I need some luck right now.:rolleyes2

where can others get this mold from?

No all candles are not a fire hazzard. Just improperly made, improperly burned, and/or unattended candles are the ones that you have to worry about. There's a big difference in a chunk of wax with flamable materials embedded in it, that the flame could come into contact with and ignite, and a properly made candle that has been tested to insure a safe burn. A common misconception is that all you have to do is melt wax, put a string in it and you have a candle. People do ALOT of stupid things with candles, then blame the candle when there house goes up in flames. I think decorators are the worst at this. I've seen some of the most dangerous "ideas" suggested by professionals on TV, on websites, and in magazines. Last winter I saw one put a bunch of lite votives amounst pine branches, including the branches sticking over the flames. Just because it's pretty, or "inspirational" DOES NOT make it safe. I saw another turn wine glasses unside down and place votives on top and lit them. Votives completely liquify, this is a gigantic mess, as well as a fire just waiting to happen. These people do not try out there suggestions before telling others about it. Yesterday I saw Martha Stewert making seashell candles, and she said, "These are great to go to sleep by." Are you freaking kidding me? We put warnings on each and every candle telling them not to leave burning candles unattended. Then someone like Martha, who many respect suggest that they do otherwise. I just dont get why people refuse to respect an open flame.

Votive holder and a scale here

Embedding really isn't hard, just takes some practice, and even then you will still have a boo boo from time to time. PM me if you need help. Never did an over dip so cant help there.

Hun, ok where do I start...They are all scented candles, or can be rather. You could start with any of the following, tarts, tea lights, votives, pillars, container candles, or even gel or hurricanes if you wanted. Hurricanes aren't candles though, they are a shell of wax and you burn a tea light or votive in a holder inside of it. I believe gel to be the most difficult of those I listed. I listed them in size from smallest to largest and degree of difficulty. But that also depends on the size of the pillars or containers you make as well. Anything with a wick will have some wicking issues to overcome. Tarts do not have a wick, you place them in a tart burner and get all of the benifits of a scented candle, without any of the wicking issues. Some even say they are stronger and last longer because you don't actually burn them, so your not burning off any of the fo. Votives are small, and are burned in a container, so no worries about blow outs or any of the other pillar issues. If they are burned in a tight fitting holder, you really don't have the issues a container has, or at least not to the same degree. You just have to find the wick that burns with each fo perfectly. Not a torch, not drowning, no smoking, etc. The standard votive should last about 15 hours. The scent throw has more to do with the wax formulation (the addatives you use or you could get a preblend that all ready has them in there) the quality and quantity of fo you use, and the size of your melt pool. THe larger the melt pool the more scent throw (generally speaking). A preblend does limit your ability to be creative, like you wouldn't be able to make mottles with a preblend for example. But professionals have tweaked and tested this wax with addatives to make it quick, simple, and effective. So like others have said, first you need to decide what you really want to make. Then you have to decide what kind of wax you want to start with. The most difficult waxes to work with are bees wax and palm, I do not suggest you start with those. Palm is beautiful, but very difficult to wick and has many issues. Most start with paraffin or soy, or a blend of the two. You can be much more creative with paraffin, and it doesn't have as many scent throw or wicking issues as soy. But soy is healthier to burn, and the price isn't as effected by the oil industry. Each has it's pros and cons. So you need to read and decide what is most important to you. Fo's, you want quality fos from repuitable suppliers. But what smells good to me, and throws well in my formulation, may not smell good to you or throw in your formulation. It's highly advisable to start with samplers and find what you like. Recommendations have been made on all of these topics. Use the search feature and look into each and read, take notes, and decide what is the best for you. Read the newbie tips and tricks threads, lots of helpful info there. Do price comparisons at different sites, including shipping costs. Figure out what the best price is before you buy. If I can be of any more assistance, feel free to PM me. HTH (hope this helps) Did I forget anything LOL.