kalamazoo

That is way too cute. Would not be able to resist buying that if I saw it at a craft fair. Very happy snowmen. How long did it take to paint that and were acrylic paints used?

Thanks very much for directing me to these sites. They all look great and will take me some time to work through.

Hi there, I am hoping you can point me in the right direction. I want to put pictures on my labels of say an apple pie, lavender, orange slices, etc to go with the candle scents I am selling. I know that there are web sites offering photos that you can print out etc, but you have to pay for this service. (of course the photographer wants to get some money for his work). Is there anywhere I can download pics from the web that are free or a reasonable rate? Thanks for your input.

relief holes in CHUNK CANDLES that is! Sorry could not help myself - been a long day. I have just done a search on poking relief holes in chunk candles and not come up with much. I always poke relief holes in normal pillars, but was wondering what people who make chunk candles do? Any advice/tips greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks jen, very kind of you to say so. I also like them but think they are not strong enough at each layer and would probably fall off or something when burning if that makes sense.:rolleyes2

I think it is about 1/2hour between each pour. Sometimes the edge of the layer seems to be really thick and hard but when I tilt the mould in the other direction for pouring I can see some wax underneath start to move. Maybe this is too long?

Lin: I have also tried putting my moulds in the freezer but as Eugenia pointed out in her thread the outer layer seemed to stick to the inside of the mould. I guess it must be the FO, so will have to experiment some more. Eugenia: Thanks for posting the pic. I will try swirling the wax in the mould next time to get a different effect.

tracey: thank for the comment knlarson & sharyl55 : As I live in Iceland I use a straight paraffin blend wax from Sasol in Germany. I add 3TBS of stearin to 1pound of wax and 1/2oz FO (which is only 3%). I have not experimented with other additives just yet. The first time I made this pillar it was layered with browns and reddish colours. Did not work out so I melted it and got this colour:grin2: Below are some pics of rustics I had great success with but they are UNSCENTED! I noticed that everytime someone picked one up they sniffed it, so decided that I would have to try scenting them:tongue2: This candlemaking process is a lot harder than most people think it is and now the testing is only beginning with different size wicks etc. Well it is addictive and I sure won´t give up:)

Thanks for the nice comment. Now I am wondering how do I melt these layered candles to try again. I do not want to go through the whole process of melting a new batch of wax and colouring each layer again!!

I used 1 kg straight paraffin wax, 60g (6%) stearin and 1/2oz FO. Layers poured at 140F, 143F, 143F and 138F respectively. Poured top up wax at 197F which probably shocked the poor candle:grin2: Gonna try again today with different temps.

Today I poured these rustics. After poking the relief holes I noticed that a lot of reddish colour wax was bulging out of the holes, and every time I poked my stick back in more came out of the holes! I heated up some wax to 197F, hoping that it would all melt together again, but no such luck. Hopefully you can see that the candle on the right has a "dome" on the bottom rather than a concave and the wax seems to have been sucked from the join between the red and brown layer, leaving quite a gap (I can insert a thin blade knife up to 5cm in the wall). I am really mad because I have been hoping to achieve this look for some time now and they are going to have to be remelted. Did I poke the relief holes too soon or were the last two layers poured too cool? HELP SOMEONE PLEEEEEASE.

This is the first time I am posting a pic. I used 1oz Gingerbread FO per 2 pounds of wax - which is half strength I suppose. I poured at 154F into room temperature moulds. Did not come out anywhere near as rustic as I thought they would. For the one on the right, I took a plastic pipette and squirted some wax inside the mould before I poured, it just made a weired pattern as you can see. Any comments or tips would be appreciated. Thanks for looking. http://www.candletech.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=8237&stc=1&d=1158159018

Those are absolutely gorgeous. Love the colours and the rustic effect. I am trying my hand at rustics but they are no where near as beautiful as this. Would you mind telling me what temp your poured these at and what additives, if any, you used. Thanks. Sarah.

Thanks everyone for your input. I have a digital thermometer and today compared it to a regular one, there was a 3 degree difference between them. I use the digital because it is so quick! I will try pouring at about 142 and see if I can get the effect I am looking for. I am also gonna try the "swirling" method. Thanks. Sarah

Could I please get some input from you talented ladies/gentlemen out there. I have been making rustics for some time and always use about 3TBS stearin to 1 pound wax. NO FO. This always works well for me. I now want to make fragranced rustics but have been pulling my hair out over them. I melted 2 pounds of wax, added 3oz stearin and 1oz gingerbread FO. I heated to 180 and then cooled to about 154. Poured candles and when unmolded had no rustic effect whatsoever. Should I use less stearin? Pour even cooler? Any tips please would be appreciated. Thanks. P.S. As I live in Iceland, the wax type I am using is a regular paraffin from Sasol in Germany. It has a melt point of 132F and an oil content of under 0.5% (whatever that means).

Thanks top, will give that a try this weekend.

Thanks for the reply Scented, I think I will try the graduation of the same colour techqnique first. Just one more question, does the FO start to evaporate if left in hot wax for a long time. If I am waiting for a layer to set up before pouring the next one, should I keep it at a low temp? Thanks.

Hi everyone, been looking at this board for a while now and am in awe of the fantastic candles that everyone makes. As you all seem to be very helpful, I was wondering if you could help me get my 'head' around this question. I have been making rustic layered pillars for some time BUT they have been UNSCENTED!! I notice that when I show people my candles, they immediately sniff them to see if they are scented and I guess it is time for me to get started with scenting these pillars. Anyway my question is if I have a pillar that has three different colours in it, but i want the SAME SCENT throughout, do I make three different colour batches and use 1oz of scent in each or is there an easier way ie. heat wax, scent, then use small amount of colour, pour 1st layer, then add more colour etc etc. Hope this question makes sense as I am losing the plot here. Sorry to be so long winded, but it would be helpful to know how you go about this process.:smiley2: Thanks Sarah