sharyl55

Another beauty. Think this one is my favorite.

Awesome blues. My scrap wax never looks that good.

SD, wasn't it fun. Love the colors you used. If you blot with the paper towel I know you'll get color over the edges. Course you don't want to have to blot as much as I did. LOL Can't wait to make another one.

Yes, the glass you put the plastic tea light cup in. I do it with the rounded ones and the straight sided ones. Works OK for me. I do have a tea light insert from Creative Gems but you have to get the little rod in the wick hole which can be a pain. Then I got a couple from whoever it is that bought out Creative Gems and they didn't even some with the little rod. They cost me $4 each. Couldn't figure out a way to keep them centered any better than the Play Duh. Be glad to sell them to you.

All I can say is WOW!! Love the oil clothes for easy clean up. I wish I was so organized. And a side room for storage is a dream come true. Enjoy creating all sorts of lovely stuff.

I don't know squat about soaps but these are gorgeous.

Definitely E for elegant e. Some day, in 10 to 20 yrs, maybe I can make something as pretty.

Love them. You and your daughter make a great team. Do tell what the scents are.

Arlene, are you making everlasting pillars? If so what I do is put a ball of Play Doh in my tea light glass and stick it to the bottom of the mold. I seal the wick hole with plumbers putty and gorilla tape. Play Doh holds the glass in place while pouring the wax. HTH

The easiest thing to do would be change to a high melting pt was like Candlewic's 5055. But even that needs some Micro 180 added to it. Check the temps on everything. Pour temp of wax. Is pour pot preheated? Is mold preheated. What is the temp of your water bath? I ran into the same problem using IGI 1260 and changed to 5055. I've found temps are critical when doing picture canes. Donita is the one that clued me in on checking the water bath temp. Sharyl

Beautiful pattern and color. Don't you love experiments that are a success?

I've been following this post and have some limited experience with the printing industry. I have to agree with those saying the problem is probably environmental and not the base stock. Commercially printed labels are coated after the final ink lay-down. It would be interesting to do a test with the product Doreen mentioned.

Looks like you did a good job of embedding the picture. It just takes practice editing and framing pictures. I like to leave a white margin below the picture. Makes it a lot easier to position the picture in the mold. I'm sure she will be thrilled with it.

Sarah, I did Jojo's class on abstract painting pillars. Made my everlasting white pillar out of Candlewic 4045 with 1 T. Translucent Crystals (gloss ploy beads) pp. I've burned 3 tea lights in it with no melting around the tea light cup. Got good mottling on the pillar - I poured hot. Next will try the 4045 + translucent crystals and pour cooler to see if I can get a rustic pillar. I tried several with my 'cane wax. Got some nice tilted layers but no rustics. Only problem using the translucent crystals is you need to melt them first on high heat in your presto or using direct heat. They won't melt using a double boiler.

grama - I got the butane micro torch from Ace Hardware for around $10. Then I had to buy a can of the butane stuff. Size wise it is like an over-sized cigarette lighter. Figured, for me, smaller was better. It does have a very intense flame so you do need to be careful using it but nothing like those big torches. I did have to refill it once. Probably because I didn't know what I was doing, used too many color shavings and had to go over the pillar several times blotting off colors. Sherry, I'm getting excited about the 'cane class. Christina is coming over Sat. to help me take some pictures.

Set it on your counter and go to bed. Seriously! Give it until tomorrow morning. Should fall right out. If not put it in the fridge for 5 or 10 minutes. Picture canes really need 8 hrs to cool.

I should be able to do that. Will let you know how it turns out.

Thanks Donita. And Sherry you'll be waiting a long time before I do a class that has anything to do with pillars. I figure you have to be able to wick them before you can teach.

Those are adorable.

Another newbie question. I am finding I look at everything at the grocery store to see if it could be used in soap. I saw a container of dried goats milk and bought it thinking I might be able to use it in a goats milk recipe. Went searching for recipes and found this one. At this stage I need easy can't screw it up recipes. Now for the question, can I use the dried goats milk reconstituted in water for this recipes? Guessing I would follow the package directions for 24 oz and only use 12 oz to mix the powder. Thanks

Thanks for the kind words. You really have to check out the class. It was a lot of fun. Christina, do you have sq. molds? Really need sq. pillars to do this. I'll fill up the micro torch and we can have fun.

You folks missed out on a great class by Jojo on abstract painted pillars. Here is my 1st abstract pillar from her class. Got a micro torch from Ace Hardware and I didn't burn the house down. Mine isn't even close to Jojo's but I learned a lot and the next one will be better. Made it out of 4045 as an everlasting. Easier for me to make a pillar than wick it. LOL Pictures aren't the greatest but hey we are having a snow storm. That's my excuse anyway.

Love your heart pillar. The gift basket is a great idea. Your pictures are super. Rally getting me in the mood for Vday.

Mark, I started out using 1260 for my photo 'canes. I ended up having all sorts of problems and went to Candlewic 5055. I add 1/2 oz pp of micro 180. My candle making book recommended using the micro 180 so the shell wouldn't be so brittle. Since the picture is already printed go ahead and cut it out and put it in the mold. The paper will pick up some of the curve of the mold which will help. Donita usually puts tea lights in hers. I use votives but use a heavy glass votive holder. I also put a cork pad under the glass. You could use a small ceramic tile or sand. Be sure to post a picture when you are done.

I followed Jojo's class Friday night on abstract painting a pillar. Hope to make one today. She made it look so easy. It's probably take me all day.