Mtngrl

That's really pretty, Donita. puts me in mind of cotton candy.

I suggest buying some polycarbonate molds ... www.candlewic.com has a fair selection ... since they are clear plastic. They're really great for learning the marble technique since you can see what's happening. The only thing w/ those molds, however, is that some solvents in a lot of FOs will etch the plastic, which will make them opaque. So, if you decide to use the poly molds, no FO. The two on the left are really interesting. I would love to have a closer view on the candle 2nd from the left. Thanks for letting us know that the one that I like in particular is an ice candle. You just inspired me to try that technique sometime.

How on earth did you get such a great purple using straight paraffin? I really expected you to say soy. What is your secret?

"Crystalizing" is a bit different from "mottling", which is what you get when you add oil (FOs, mineral, parol, etc) to straight paraffin wax. I wonder if the crystalizing wax is a palm wax. I might be wrong (I could easily be wrong), but I think only (?) palm waxes crystalize.

Those look very nice, & I particularly love your blue & purple colors. What wax are you using?

Ditto! What did you do to get such a shiny (sp?) surface?

Interesting how the candles have such light mottling. Ordinarily that would bother me, but in these candles it makes me think the snow is just beginning to fall. Hard to imagine that you'd be afraid of pillars considering how awesome your food candles are, which I would think would be harder & therefore more intimidating to do! lol. Keep workin' it girl! The 1st ones are always the hardest ones. :smiley2:

I am diggin' the blue of the rustic ... what great shades!

Wowzer! What an awesome purple!!!! What wax are you using?

Really like the last one ... looks like the wick is too small, though.

I haven't used Peak's new wax, yet, so I was wondering what kind of problems you were having with it. I've never heard of the 1014. Is that a straight paraffin? What's it's melt point? 'Cane looks great, all nice & shiny, as does your family picture.

Great setup & great looking candles! The only thing I would suggest is to use double-sided tape to create a more finished look instead of the scotch tape, which makes your setup look a little too homemade, KWIM? Kudos to you for putting your products on the stair-step risers ... makes getting to your candles easier & promotes great visibility on all your products, too.

SC, That's interesting. I've never heard of these wicks. Are they new to the market? Do you know how are they to use w/ palm waxes?

Thank you for your interest, Kaybee. I'll post pix as soon as I can, promise! :smiley2: I keep effing them up when I fill in the holes, which, apparently, are two small. I remelted the cinanmon heart and am using a chop stick to get bigger holes this time. This wax is so ... is it brittle? If I just hit it wrong, I break off a corner or something. Sigh, the price of perfecting proper technique for banging out air bubbles. lol.

Marbling takes a little practice, that's for sure. You'll find you'll get better with each one you do. After the 1st couple I did, someone told me about the polycarbs candlewic sells. There's a real advantage in being able to see what you're doing when you're mixing/stiring your color into your wax. The only thing w/ the polycarb molds is that you can't use FOs ... well, you can, but they'll eat your mold & make it cloudy (opaque) instead of c-thru. But, if you're willing to experiment for just the sake of getting down your technique, you'll find those molds to be a blessing. HTH.

LOVE palm waxes! & your gift basket looks great. Somebody sure is effed up for placing a custom order & then backing out on the deal. Have you considered getting 1/2 down next time? Have you thought about putting them (the candles) or the entire gift basket up for sale on ebay? You did a great job on them!

How did you cut out the snowfigure? Looks great! How does it look lit up?

Where did you get your lavender? Yes, I agree w/ Sweetcam, you got mottle!

Wow, what an astonishing blue! What did you do to get that color? Nice presentation, too.

Kaybee, based on the research that I did on the board, the veggie stearic is used to aid in mold release. I had read that the manufacturer changed the formulation on the palm waxes, making them near impossible to remove. Are you using the Palm 3 from C'wic? It occurs to me NOW that maybe I should have doubled checked w/ Candlewic, but whatchya gonna do when it's the weekend? I just called C'wic but they're not answering the phone even though it isn't quite closing time (well, now it is ). Anyway, the candles came out beautifully. I showed them to a few co-workers & two of them wanted to put in an order! I'm not ready to sell, so I said we should talk about them being testers, or wait 'til I've tested them ... heck, they're not even wicked & the ball doesn't even have a wick hole on top! They sure are purty!

I look forward to seeing your creation when it's closer to what you're aiming for. I can tell by this one that they'll just get better & better ... I really like candles that are mixed styles like this one here w/ the mottling & rustic & layered. You go girl!

I've been getting a lot of soot w/ 6006 & HTP wicks. Soot is unacceptable 'cuz it also goes on the walls & ceiling, as well as the container. It's very unslightly & no one would appreciate a dirty candle (well, a candle that makes dirt) that they paid good money for, or even one that was given to them. I hadn't thought of the sooting problem in relation to FOs ... good to know. I always thought it was 'just' a wicking issue.

I bought a glass cup in a thrift store to use as a mold only to discover the floor of the cup was uneven. I really like how glass imparts a shiny surface to wax, so it occured to me to look for glass molds. I googgled, but only found glass containers, which would be usable if certain criteria were meet - height (at least 3" tall), width (2 or 3"), equal diamter from top to bottom, & different shapes - hexagon, octagon, & others. Does anyone know of any supplier who has glass molds?

Ditto on the wick pins. After you insert your tabbed wick, just melt the bottom a little to secure the tab. You said those are your 1st? Great looking votives!

ooooooooh la la, I REALLY like the last one best. Those colors go great together.