DanaE

Sounds like you need some more FO in your mix. Try using 1/2 to 1 ounce of FO per lb of wax and see what you get. One teaspoon may not be enough to get a mottle. It has to have some oil for it to mottle. DanaE

Oh no! Nothing is worse than making a beautiful candle and then killing it getting it out of the mold. I used to break votives all the time because I'd put them in the freezer and forget about them . But hey, if you did it once you can do it again! I never could get a proper marble and gave up. Now I just make two different colored batches of wax and pour them both into the mold at the same time to get my 'marble'. That's the best I can do - I'm marble impaired. DanaE

I don't know what the duties are in the UK, but when I ship packages to Canada, the duties and fees they have to pay on the packages can sometimes exceed the price of what's in the package. You may get a shock the first time you go to pick up a box and have a huge duty fee (it's based on the price of the items in the box and the shipper HAS to put the full price on the customs slip). So just be careful there. When I send packages to other countries I now mark all of them as gifts with an amount less than $20 or they STILL have to pay a duty on them (for a GIFT! - what a crock). This is stuff for friends, not selling candles or anything like that so I'm not breaking any laws. It's just at first I didn't know that and I'd put the full value of the stuff on the customs slip. DanaE

Hey lola - that's what a lot of the women do. They do part pillar/part container wax. With straight pillar wax you get a great scent throw, but only for a short period of time. Adding in some container wax seems to lengthen the time it'll throw a scent. And hey, J50 is hard enough that you can actually pour it into clamshells and then pop them out after they've set up! So using a straight container wax isn't always out of the question. (I got bored, just wanted to see if they'd come out). In my very own opinion, I think that Comfort Blend has a throw that'll knock you off your feet in tarts. Mixing a little pillar wax with it makes an outstanding tart. I hate getting all gunky getting the wax out though. DanaE

You can pour it over the chunks without any additives. As a rule of thumb, I've found that any wax that will mottle will make a great overpour translucent wax. You can add FO to it, but it does take away some of the translucency. DanaE

Any of the mottling waxes will look pretty translucent if you don't add FO, so 1343, 1274 or 4045H would all work. As for containers? I haven't seen a translucent container wax, but I see no reason why you couldn't use something like 1343 in the container. You may have to test a few wicks to figure out how to wick it, but I've put pillar wax in containers many times. (because yeah, back when I first started making candles no one said I couldn't do it so I did it! Same reason I made J223 votives! lol) DanaE

The numbers on the waxes are what the manufacturers call them. I use mostly 4045H(at candlewic.com), IGI1274 (a million suppliers has this -I think Bittercreek has it, and someone said Lonestar did, plus Wholesalessuppliesplus.com has it), or 1343 for the translucent type candles (Peaks carries the 1343). As for the color of the cinnamon bun? Honestly, you have to mix browns until you get there. I made 3 batches using 3 different types of browns trying to find a brown that I liked. The warm browns are much better than a straight brown (either a chocolate brown or honey brown). I put my pecans on the cinnamon bun after the cinnamon bun is made and before I put icing on it. (the icing holds the pecans and raisins on it). I put cinnamon on it after I've iced it. DanaE

1274 is a great mottling/rustic wax. It's definitely close to the top of my favorite waxes, but it's not one I can get close by so I had to give it up. It does have a great scent throw, just not quite as good as the OK6228. I'm currently getting my mottling/rustic wax from a supplier that is very close to me so the shipping is incredibly cheap. The wax is much cheaper too so it's a great deal for me all around. DanaE

Thank you! I would have never thought of actually sticking it to the mold before I began my pours. I thought I'd pour a layer or two, then stick it where I wanted it, then pour over that, etc. Actually sticking it to the mold before I even begin makes a lot of sense. I can't wait to try it out! I'm going to make a tropical candle with the palm tree, and probably BnL's Autumn Harvest for the cowboy boot! I can't wait to unmold them.... DanaE

You can use the embeds on the more translucent waxes like 1343 and could probably see them. Also, there are pictures where someone will take an embed and push up against the side of the pillar mold and pour the wax so that the embed shows (I've seen trees, bears, a cactus, hearts, etc.). I use my embeds either on top of cake candles, or in pies mostly (most of my pies are NOT gel, so it doesn't have to be gel. I've found a million ways to make apple pies, pecan pies, banana cream pies, etc. with paraffin wax). I do use them in votives though, because you can fill up the votive mold with something like apple slices, then overpour and you can still see the apple chunks throughout the votive, plus they are sticking out of the top also. If you really want something inside a candle, try doing chunk candles. They are great fun and a good way to use leftover wax. Just cut the wax in chunks, fill a pillar or votive mold full of the chunks (pushing down lightly so they fill it really well) and then overpour with a rather translucent wax (I use mostly 4045H or 1274). What you'll have is a candle where you can see all the chunks. Keep the overpour uncolored and the colored chunks inside will usually show up perfectly. Here's a chunk candle.... DanaE

Does Peaks carry OK6228? I haven't checked yet...I get mine at Nature's Garden (they call it the MP145 wax) but there are numerous sites that carry it. My old supplier stopped carrying it because it became too expensive (it IS an expensive wax). You could probably go to www.thescentreview.com and then click on the suppliers link. Then click on Wax or FO (either will work) and you'll get a long list of suppliers. You should be able to find several that have the wax and maybe you'll get lucky and find a supplier close to you! DanaE

Okay, I'm incredibly excited because I just received some of my cookie cutters. I ordered a palm tree, a cowboy boot and a dolphin. My question is....After I cut them (obviously while they are still warm), I then take them and put them inside the mold and kind of 'mold' them to the inside of the pillar right? So that it'll sit directly against the mold? When I'm actually doing the pour, do I heat the outside of the mold either before or after pouring the wax? I noticed some of the pillars with the bears and such looked perfect, and I'm trying to figure out how the boot/tree/dolphin is NOT going to look/feel different than the pillar. Obviously I can't heat it too hot or the embed will melt. If someone who has made these could give me a little direction I'd appreciate it. I bought these mostly for my sister. I think she'd LOVE to have a country looking candle with the cowboy boot in it. I'm going to try one tomorrow, just because I'm too impatient to wait for instructions, but I'm pretty sure it isn't going to be as pretty as the ones I see here! DanaE

Hmmm....well, once you pour the soy wax over the strawberries and the wax cools, you won't be able to see them anymore, because soy wax is very opaque. (you're going to have a jar full of strawberries that no one can see, unless one or two are pushed up against the jar somewhere...then it's just going to look like you had red spots in the jar) What you could do is pour the soy wax to almost completely fill the container, wait until it's just slightly warm, and then push some of the strawberries down on top of the wax, so they're half in/half out of the wax. If you were talking about filling the jar full of strawberries and then filling with soy (so that some berries stick out of the top), you can do that without melting the strawberries. Usually embeds are made with high melt point wax. Soy is a low melt point wax. So if you pour your soy at it's normal pouring temp or lower you shouldn't have any worries. Fairy-light - about making pies. There are many different ways to use the embeds in them. For strawberry pies I fill the inside of the pie crust with strawberries and then overpour with red gel wax. For banana cream pie I whip the wax until it's really runny, fill the pie crust with it, then push little banana slices all around the top so they are sticking out. Then I use vanilla wafers and make a little wall all the way around the outside. What you can do is look at other people's pictures. That'll give you a good idea of how they are using embeds. DanaE Did this answer any of your questions? Am I even on the right train?

Girl! Did you see it! It was the ugliest attempted-rustic ever in the history of CT. It's under Eugenia's thread on the General candle making section. The one where she said she had a failed rustic experiment. It looked like someone took OK6228 and tried to lightly coat it with white stuff, but the white stuff wasn't hanging on very well and any minute it was going to reveal itself for the imposter it was. I actually made another candle after that, using the same additives but different FO and coloring and got the exact same result. DanaE

Yep, that's a bulge. And then, if you aren't paying attention and don't hug the pillar, one side will begin to slowly bend down, until the wax inside is flowing over the bent down bulge like a waterfall. Rather neat effect but not something I really want to happen. I always like to cure my candles a little before burning. It's just an anal thing. I might as well check for scent throw while I'm checking for the correct burn. To answer a previous question, I can unwrap and retake the picture, but a rustic doesn't have a completely smooth surface like a mottle does - it has lines of white all over it. And Eugenia, if you're reading this - it could have actually been the vybar 103 that prevented the bulge in my ugly purple pillar, so the rustics may burn perfectly but the mottles may still bulge since I'm using 343 with them. DanaE

I love the green one. My marbles left me a long time ago - took their ball and went home. Since then I quit trying DanaE

Just to throw in a monkey wrench.... If I have a flat bottomed pillar mold, I seal the bottom outside of the mold with a wick stickum, cover that with duct tape, and then use a rod with a wick centering tool. That way the bottom doesn't wobble. All of my round molds have a concave bottom, so I can use a blob of mold sealer, push it down hard and it'll sit flat. DanaE

I agree. Some of my embeds are used on top of candle cakes and they are applied while the wax is still warm and pliable. If not they fall off. Some of my embeds are put in pillar or votive molds with wax poured over them. Some of them are used in pie candles so I may pour a layer of wax, arrange the embeds and then whip the wax and add it to the top. So it's impossible to give a generic answer as to when to apply embeds. DanaE

I found a color called Honey Brown that seems to be perfect, for me, for the pecans. Raisins I just more or less make black. (got the honey brown at KYCandles). DanaE

I have all of my Fall/Winter scents already in, or should be here within the next few days. Last year there were several FOs I couldn't get in enough time (they were out of stock for weeks and by then it was just too late). This is the only time of year that I order more FOs than normal and order quicker. I'll order several lbs at a time instead of just 1 lb, so I won't have to reorder in a month or so. I don't worry about my waxes, just the FO's. My heart sinks when I go to order a certain scent and see it "out of stock". DanaE

Beautiful! The colors are perfect. DanaE

I don't know if the bulge problem is fixed yet or not. Still burning them. I had no bulge at all on the purple candle made with 1 teaspoon of Fisher Trop instead of 1/2 teaspoon, and 1/2 teaspoon of vybar 103, but it was so darn ugly that I decided to back off on the FT. Once I've burned them for several days I can figure out if the bulge will go away. As for stearic, when I first started making mottles I didn't use any stearic for the first 2 cases. I think it's essential for rustics, but probably not so much so for mottles. DanaE

I love the Sandalwood pillars! I'm printing out a picture to study it better. (I always print out the ones I really like to give me inspiration). Your color combination is wonderful. DanaE

Okay, here is an attempt to make a mottled pillar using the Fisher Trop. I should say ahead of time that this pillar came out completely dry, no seepage at all, which tickled me. It's 4045H, 1/4 teaspoon of vybar 343, 1/2 teaspoon of Fisher Trop and 3T stearic. It also has 1.25 ounces of FO per lb. I actually made 7, but they seem to be stuck in their molds and this is the only one that came out so far! I've done 1 burn on it so far. After 3 or 4 burns I should know if the wax is going to bulge or not. At least I'm getting a lot of FO in it without seepage. DanaE

Eugenia and I have been messaging back and forth about some additives to fix the bulge problem in the mottling and straight waxes. The first picture is a rustic using 4045H, 1/2 teaspoon vybar 103, 1/2 teaspoon Fisher Trop (because 1 teaspoon made a really ugly candle), and 3 T stearic. These came out much better than the first ugly purple ones. DanaE (edited to add - I shrinkwrap all of my candles immediately. I always feel like it helps them cure better. So these are testers but shrinkwrapped to cure).