Daria Blue

For some reason orange and my camera do not go well together so I apologize for the poor picture quality. I did this one parrafin wax and it is scented with tangerine and grapefruit.

Donita Louise said it perfectly "just plain old fun!" Those are very bright cheerful candles - great color choices! The layers are great! What kind of wax did you use for that if you don't mind me asking?

One other thing, I love that pink and yellow candle in the background on the right hand side of the picture! You should take a picture of that sometime and post it up here - it's gorgeous!

Sally, I do like the technique that you have there with the individual lines. I have never had luck with that because the colors seem to disappear in the soy wax or blend together so you can't make out the individual colors as well. I pour my soy fairly hot rather than letting it cool to a slushy consistency. 1. I put in a little wax so that the top is clean and then I add a few drops of the melted dye block - usually 4 or 5 drops of a specific color. 2. Then after letting it sit for a minute or so, just enough for it to settle and stop swirling around I add more wax, usually so the wax level in the mold rises an inch or so. 3. I add another color, more wax, another color and so forth until I've got the mold 1/2 full. 4. At this point I just add wax, there is enough dye in it and as the wax gets added it helps to cause a blending affect. I've found that the best way to get the blending affect of the dye is when I add more wax, I have it run down the wick. This prevents any splashing and as the wax that is being poured meets the wax that is already in the mold, it creates a swirling effect which causes the appearance. Each time that I add dye to it, I add about 4 or 5 drops and by the time that the wax has reached the top of the mold it is dark in appearance. A way to help determine what it'll look like is after it's all poured I take a wooden dowel and dip it in (like a dip stick when checking oil), and when I pull it out I can see the swirling effect and colors on that. The key is to add the majority of the wax in the first 1/2 of the mold, so that way when you're adding your final wax it takes all of the dye that has settled at the bottom of the mold and pulls it upwards creating the effect. All in all they don't take too long to create, but it is tedious to get all of the dye set out ahead of time along with a candle and spoon. All of the dye I use is in the block form and I melt it in a spoon as I go. I hope that this helps and wasn't too confusing! Let me know if you have any more questions and I'm anxious to see another candle if you try the technique!

I don't know if there is a name for the technique, it was more or less playing around and experimenting. The end result does look very much like the rainbow pillar, however the methods to get it weren't the same. I basically poured a little wax at a time, added dye, poured more wax, more dye, and repeated the cycle until it was full. I haven't tried it with a water bath so I'd be curious to see how that would turn out, but I am curious to try!

Those are beautiful!

I'm assuming you want long flat rather than tall. I haven't found exactly that yet (even though it has to be out there somewhere and I'll keep looking), but at Waxhouse I found one that is 4x18 and with some modifications I'm sure you could get it to work. The url is; http://www.waxhouse.com/catalog/metal/metal.html and it should take you there. Otherwise Bittercreek has 12x4 3 wick mold which is probably closer to what you're looking for. Go to www.bittercreek.com, click on molds, click on metal and it should be the top on the list. HTH!

They all look very nice, I especially like the first pic with the dried flowers! ~Daria Blue~

They're all gorgeous! I especially like the deep purple.

I've found that I get more frosting when I use liquid dye with soy so I've switched over to blocks. I use a cheese grater and grate them up real fine, then melt them down in a spoon over a flame until they're liquid form. That way they're completely melted and I don't end up with bits and pieces of solid color in the candles and they seem to blend well. It's hard to estimate how much grated up wax to use, so the left over I've started to store in plastic film canisters which makes for easy clean up and storage.

Here's one I made a couple days ago with ecosoya pb that I thought I would share. It is 6 inches tall and isn't scented. Thanks for looking!

Thank you! I did use a light box. My boyfriend is making one for his wood working and furniture he builds so I was able to borrow it to take those pictures. We still need to paint the inside of it so until then I'm using a sheet :rolleyes2

Very pretty candle! I love the effect that the wax makes.

Here are some candles that I've done recently. This is my first time posting any pictures of candles I've done, so any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Recently I switched to soy wax, my beginning ones were a parrafin blend. 1. These two were made with soy, neither are scented. 2. Two chunk candles I did with parrafin wax. 3. Recently got a 3' ball mold which I've been having too much fun with. The first one is scented Juniper Breeze and the last one is Vanilla. 4. My boyfriend and I were just having fun one day with the soy wax. He ended up making the two spheres and I made the pillar. At first I really disliked the pillar because of how blotchy it was, but I've grown to like it more. 5. Without having any candle making experience or knowledge, these were the first three soy candles my boyfriend made. He's much more of a risk taker than I am which allowed him to produce some crazy candles. 6. These were done with soy wax, having fun with colors.

I'd be very interested in more info too! I'm in southern MN and I'd love to go!

I'm using Ecosoya Pillar Blend and I've just recently noticed that some of my pillars, after they've sat for 2 or 3 weeks have been getting this very light sheen or white/silkiness in appearance on the outside of them. Is this normal? I've never noticed it before and I'm not sure what's causing it. I didn't add any additives to the wax other than dyes, however I have not found any consistences as far as if it's just with red dye or blue dye...some have it and some don't. I started using Ecosoya about a two months ago so I'm still very new to it and I'm wondering if it is just something that is normal or if someone can explain why it's happening and how to prevent it.

I've used glass measuring cups as my mixing containers - it's nice to be able to see through the glass at the exact color of the wax if dye is added rather than looking down at it - and there are already measured out marks on it which makes getting the right amount much easier. I do have a scale that I use if I want a very exact amount. I have the scale set to zero when the mixing container is on it so I don't have to try to subtract out the weight of the container from the wax.

I started with the double boiler method in my kitchen and it was almost impossible to keep the kitchen clean. Water would splatter, wax would drip and it was an overall fiasco. I purchases a Hamilton Beach turkey fryer. I was going to get a presto pot but had some difficulty finding one and instead came across this turkey fryer. I never realized what a pain using the double boiler was until I began using this, all I do is set the thermostat on it to the certain temperature and it melts the wax. No splattering of water and no having to add more water to the pot so it doesn't dry up. You can get them in all different shapes and sizes, from your smaller crockpot size to your large turkey size. Mine has an inside pan which can be lifted out which also makes for easy clean up when I get to the end of my wax, or if I want to pour out the last bit of the wax that is at the bottom. I didn't add a spigot, instead I just use a measuring cup to scoop it out and pour it into my mold or my mixing can. I leave the wax in the fryer completely free of dyes and fragrances, I take out whatever I need and in a separate container mix in the appropriate colors and scents. I was always so afraid with the double boiler that it would either dry up, or get knocked over so I would constantly hover over it. With this method I can at least prep my molds and get my things set up and ready while I wait for it to melt. I didn't mean to write a novel but I hope that helped!

I've seen websites in the past that lay out the different sizes of wicks for different size molds and wax types. Of course when I need one, I can't find any. Does anyone know of any good websites that really lay it out well? I'm primarily using Ecosoya PB. I did post this on the vegetable wax board without much success and I know that this one gets viewed more so I thought I'd try it here. Thanks.

I know that I've seen them in the past, however when I need one I can't find any! Does anyone know any good websites that have a chart to show the different sizes of wicks for soy candles, preferably pillar candles? Thanks.

I didn't even think of the melting it in a spoon idea - I'll definitely try that out! I'll just play around with it and try putting in the shavings on their own to see how it works. I wish I could do that now but I'm out of the right size wicking, so I have to go get some more this afternoon and hopefully this evening I'll be able to get on it!

I made my first marble candle last night with liquid dye and I was very happy with how it turned out. My question is; I have both liquid and block dye. Whenever I use my block dye - for pillars and such I've used a cheese graiter to shave it rather than putting a large piece in so it melts down and mixes in with the wax quicker. Would this method work with making a marble candle or should I just stick with liquid dye? I'm afraid that since the wax is cool and slushy that when I pour it for the marble candle, the shaved block dye might not melt in. However I do have a lot more colors in block form then liquid so I'm hoping someone will say that it should work or that they've had success with it.

I would be too nervous to try it - and my roaster works good enough that I don't want to risk burning down my house!

I've heard a couple people mention that they microwave their wax to melt it. Is it safe? How long would it take to melt a 1lb block of parrafin wax? The idea of melting it in the microwave sounds dangerous - so I'm curious about people's experiences with it.

It sinks down because as the wax cools it decreases in size. The liquid form will always take up more space than the solid. You'll need to do what is called a repour, where once the first pour has set up - pour more wax on top to level it out. Depending on the type of wax you use will affect how much it'll shrink or sink down.