Tanya

Damn Bruce it's about time you posted your beautys!!! I love the rustic angel and the black & white carved candle. It's so good to see your art, it's been way tooooooooooooo long.

Yep it's possible, just have to adjust the pouring temps.

Does anybody know the best way to clean the polycarbonate molds? Somehow a heat gun doesn't seem like a good idea. Should they be used with silicone mold release? I never use these but recently picked up a few.

With polycarbs I just use warm water and soap to clean them.

That looks so classy. Very nice

Have you tried tapping the molds like you would metal ones? I do that and it helps.

WOW those look cool,,I never thought of making gourds for candles!!! ,,,Good Job,,,what mold did you use??? I have never seen anything like these before

I had Janet at creativegemsmolds make the molds for me to create these

Very nice gourds! Does that make you a gourd-head?

He he he yep I must be a gourd-head

You all have given me awesome ideas, thank you so much! The hurricane idea is one I have been thinking about the most. Gonna have to chew on it some more to figure out what I can actually do.

I have a friend that has asked me to come up with some candles or a candle or something that will cost $20. He has 60 employees and wants to spend $20 each on them for Christmas. I make pillars and am trying to figure out what sizes or what type I can do that will be equal to $20.

Make sense? If so can yah help

The orangey ones are made from 1343 and the off white ones are made from PQ.

Thanks for all the compliments, I love making the gourds because they are so unusual and of course I love fall

Amazing! Great colors. You did a great job on these. If they are scented, what scent did you make them?

I used buttery pumpkin pie on these gourds. Just in case you are wondering the sizes range from 1lb, 12oz and 10oz.

Those are adorable Tanya! Do they burn well?

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I have them burn in a sort of tunnel because their dimensions are wider then thick if that makes sense. A tealight can always be put in the middle on consecutive burns.

OH those are..... gord-geous

Bruce :wave:

LOL thanks dude

Since October is coming up figured I would post some gourds

j1workman, I would really like to know how your candles turn out with the wax that you got from Genwax. My fingers are crossed for ya.

Ditto that

Because square is an unusual shape I think it's a case of where it's up to the maker how they would like it to burn. For me I like to have the corners left.

Wow, they finally got it! Interesting.

I really like them, nice job with the colors.

Yep the only things I buy from Genwax are molds and wicks occassionally.

Glad I have one case left!!! Had it for sale in the classified but no takers. Dumb me hadn't had to order much this past few months and found that case in the closet. I have used another soy/pillar blend that I like so may go back to that after this is gone. Maybe even try out Peaks new waxes!

Oh oh oh!!!!

I have heard this a thousand times, and very few of those people, maybe 4 or 5, have the skills and direction to survive the first year or two and to turn it into a full time job that will support a family on its own. It takes years of hard work, testing and never ending commitment to making better products... oh and lots of money too. I spent 2k in 30 minutes last week ordering fragrance oils and other supplies, no wax or jars even. I order jars this week, its gona cost me over 3k for that. Good news is that if you can survive long enough, you can make very good money at it. Do the leg work yourself, everyone has an opinion (and you know what opinions or like) test and use your own not someone elses or you will just have products like everyone else. Try to stand out from the pack and make quality safe products you can be proud of. More than half the questions I see here have no real answers, what wax do i use, where to buy the best scents, ect, everyone thinks theirs is the best and everyone has an opinion on where to buy from, what to use and what not to use. You have to test and find out on your own what "you" think is the best. I have no clue how much money I have wasted on buying oils that other people thought were fantastic, and after testing them found out they were not strong enough for me. Keep a "real" job for a year or two or you will have no chance to develop the kinds of candles you need to make a living at it.

Bruce

Bruce, you da man, I take your advice to heart given the experience you have under your belt.

Sent you a PM but I'm now in the same boat as you

I do love the way 1343 has been very consistent batch to batch for me. When I first started using a straight paraffin it was from BP I think and Genwax sold it, then BP was sold. I started using 1343 until Genwax formulated their own pillar blend. I thought sweet I can save on shipping and get the same type of wax pretty much. I had so much frustration with theirs being consistent that I went back to 1343 and have never looked back. Now of course I am really sadden that I will have to start researching where to get the best price for 1343 etc.... I've been very pleased with it and just do not want to go thru what happened before.

Mot 38 is great for mottling but for rustics I never had any luck.

Love the look of those candles, great job