MrDan

@Sarah S Thank you! 

Oddly enough, I was only planning on making the human one, but then my wife's coworkers kept asking when I was going to do the traditional Valentine's candles, so I had to pop those out real quick for them! I'll admit that they're a little lackluster, and I'm not really happy with them artistically, but they're selling better than the human heart. 

This are my Valentine's Originals for this year. I sculpted the stuff out of clay, made molds, and threw some beeswax candles!

Nice and easy!

They range from 1/4 ounce to 1.5 ounces, and burn from an hour (the tiny rose) to 4 hours (the human heart).

I haven't even been on the forum in so long! Holy cow! 

Anyways, I've been getting more into sculpting and trying to make my own candle molds, and these three are my Valentines themed works. 

The little rose is only .25 ounce of beeswax! That's all, but it has a 1 hour burn time!

The little decorative heart is .5 ounce and has a 2 hour burn time.

The human heart is 1.5 ounces and has a 4 hour burn!

I sculpted all of these things by hand, then made the silicone molds. There's probably about $30 in materials that made the three molds.

I've possibly got something bigger coming next, maybe up to 3 or 4 ounces. We'll see.

15 hours ago, lovelyscents said:

 

Such adorable molds, great job!

 

I just have to add that I confirmed with CW today that their quality, custom blends (CBL) are NOT available in craft stores.  Their basic paraffin wax choices are what is offered in your local craft store and can also be found via their website here...

 

https://www.candlewic.com/store/category.aspx?q=c49&title=Paraffin-Wax

I stand corrected.

I was told by a Hobby Lobby employee that it was CW under a different name. Shortly after I posted the original I had to go pick some up because I ran out of my CBL. The waxes are very similar in almost every aspect, except the Country Lane (Craftstore brand) has a much better hot throw. 

On 11/8/2018 at 6:37 PM, birdcharm said:

It seems that every time I try to use even the smallest amount of white dye my wicks are more sluggish.  At least that is what I think the problem is, and, if I use a metal pick and run it up the wick, it'll behave nicely for awhile and then become clogged again, so I think it's the white dye block.  So, for a white candle, I'm going to just try a paraffin wax, stearic acid as an additive with a colorless f/o.

CBL-141 from Candlewic is a pre formulated paraffin mix that's mostly white by itself. Its opaque which is not the same, but in this instance it's pretty close.

You can also buy the "Premium Paraffin Wax" from Hobby Lobby. It's usually around $14 for 4 lbs, but then there's the 40% coupon you can use! It's basically the same stuff from Candlewic, just rebranded and marked up for retail (but cheaper than buying from Candlewic unless you're buying in bulk).

15 minutes ago, Sarah S said:

 

Listen, everyone knows artists are a temperamental bunch! Just sigh dramatically and complain that the muse has abandoned you whenever they begin to press. 😉😆

I've been using that one for years so I don't have to draw any portraits for my in laws! I don't know what my mother in law wants drawn, but I know she'd be the commission from hell, so I've been on a mostly-permenant artist's block for almost a decade now! lol

43 minutes ago, Sarah S said:

The little pumpkins are DARLING!!! 

Great work, you have really found your niche with the wicked shapes. I love that you are designing your own now. Very inspirational!

 

Thanks!

I'm currently working on a couple of Christmas themed smalls (anything 1oz or less), and then I have a few more designs I want to commit to clay at least. Its ending up being really frustrating because I feel like people are starting to expect new ones sooner and sooner, lol

12 minutes ago, franu61 said:

Those are all awesome, MrDan.  I love that they are your own.  I make melt and pour soap, so I am seeing some pretty cool bars of soap in these too, lol.

Thanks! I actually got the idea from those little soap molds that were sold on Amazon. I bought a few and wicked them up, and they were popular. But I always wanted to make my own and now I finally have!

I'm considering making some molds just to sell to candle and soap makers!

So you've seen two of these, but now there's a third! Just like before, these beeswax candles are made from my original sculpts. 100% original! I know they're a little plain, but it was a test to see how well it would work. More detail is coming eventually, after other projects are finished first.

Also, I got a new cell phone with a super awesome camera, so I did a little photo shoot of these guys!

34 minutes ago, TallTayl said:

That is amazing! 

 

Sculpt skull candle molds.  Seriously. Anything skull sells really well to my weird crowd.

I've always been a fan of skulls, and that's next on my list for my beeswax candes I'm making!

I've actually got a bunch of designs in mind, but I need to put then to paper, then sculpt.

Aside from candle making and the occasional drawing, I also like to make paper mache sculpture, like this life-sized Darth Maul skull! Aside from the acrylic teeth and paint this thing is made from paper bags and my special glue mixture; nothing else!

Essentially, this is all I learned in high school. Could be worse, right?

I've looked into a few different online shops and I've heard nothing but bad about Artfire.

Aside from Etsy, I've heard some good about Big Cartel.

I sell some pieces on Facebook Marketplace, but just the free version where I'm posting in my area, so it's not anything different than craigslist really.

I'm actually considering adding some ornaments, maybe by just rolling up small balls of colored beeswax; I'm not sure quite yet.

I didn't mention it up top, but this is another original mold I've made! 

2 minutes ago, Candybee said:

Cute!! Is this one also an old Pourette's mold?

No, this is 100% my creation. I sculpted the Jack out of clay and then made a silicone mold from that. It's really cool to know theres candles out there that are totally original and mine!

1 minute ago, Candybee said:

Awww! So cute. Wish I could smell it, I love christmas scents. Bet that candle is fun to burn, watching it burn slowly down. That's a christmas candle that would make a wonderful gift.

That's actually the only reason I got it out of storage; I figured my mom and my mother in law would love them as presents! 

Hooray for the hobby that costs me so much money but saves me hundreds on gifts!

I actually haven't burned one yet. That'll happen on Monday or Tuesday. A little cure time (whether it's actually needed or not, I dont know but what the hey, right?), and also gives me time to finish up all the other candles I've started!

As the holiday season is rapidly approaching I thought it would be a good idea to dust off this original Pourette mold from the 1970s. Just shy a pound of CBL-141, 7% of a wonderful Christmas fragrance, and a splash of some leaf green liquid dye, and see for yourself. It's really too bad you can't smell for yourself, because this smells just like the department store at Christmas when you were a kid!

I can't believe I forgot to post this one! I finished sculpting him the day after the spooky one. It weighs in at just about 1.5 oz. Gotta love the beeswax!

I'm currently working on some new sculpts; hopefully they turn out! 

Continuing with the Fall/Halloween theme, I present my latest original candle in beeswax!

I haven't burn tested yet, but it literally came out of the mold 2 minutes ago!

11 hours ago, Scented said:

The burn of the rose globe is intriguing. The dragons ... now those you should be able to find a way to make colorful. 

I'm thinking of looking into natural dyes for beeswax, but I also think that's further down the road. 

11 hours ago, Scented said:

Pumpkin, right? Or a gourd with a leaf? 

Just a simple pumpkin with a leaf and little vine. The real detail is in the stem but it's hard to make out in this picture. 

So if you remember, I've been working with beeswax and silicone molds. 

I had recently ordered a mold that ended up being a total dud. So I did what any sane person would do:

I sculpted some clay, poured some silicone, and made my own mold!

It weighs in at 3/4 oz. I don't know the burn time yet, as this is the first one and I'm going to test it tomorrow.

18 minutes ago, birdcharm said:

It looks great, I had a feeling it was going to light up like a rose globe!

 

Is it a scented candle?

 

Just the natural scent of beeswax. These candles are so small (1.5 and 2.5 oz) it would be way too much of a pain to add fragrance. Plus, I don't like to add fragrance to beeswax if I can help it. It just seems wrong, lol.

7 hours ago, iansmommaya said:

Yeah, I would just have a collection of beautiful candles, too. They are gorgeous.

This is test burn before I got the wicking right so there's a little bit of crap floating in the burn pool. Looks great burning though, doesn't it?

6 hours ago, Hopie said:

Mr. Dan! Was the dragon a silicone mold?

Yep, silicone mold! That ones a little difficult to unmold, on account of the shape. I'd slit the side, but that seems like it would be overkill. Just slow and steady and it works it's way out.

6 hours ago, Ramr said:

I would never light a candle like that. Too pretty!

But if they light the pretty candles, they come back for more! The dragon is a little dark when he burns (his snout/muzzle get sheared off), but the rose turn into something gorgeous! Someday I'll take a picture of that!