jazzbo848

as long as you do not set a heat gun that has just been turned off onto your bare thighs, it is fairly safe............. cheryl

my concern would be that the dried flowers would wick up the mineral oil from the gel and get all goopy. i know that you can do it with artificial flowers that have plastic stems. cheryl

you could add either a little bit of soy or paraffinto the gel. what kind of drink is it? cheryl

i am back. was taking care og my next door neighbor's mom from april 22 until june 28 (24/7). she died on the 28th. it was a very emotional ride and i am hanging ouy at my youngest dd's for the weekend. monday is dorothy's memorial service and then i start helping becky sort out all the stuff that needs taking care of. i am dealing with sadness and anger right now. thanks for looking for me. cheryl

about plastic embeds... bad idea, imo, for 2 reasons: you need to double glass the candle to make sure that the heat the candle generates dies not melt the embeds or set them on fire. secondly, the fragrance oil could eat away at the embeds making the candle look absolutely yucky. cheryl

do you make your own m & p, or do you use a base? if you use a base, is the base based on actual soap or is it syndet? cheryl

i use liquid colorants for my mp soap. they blend quickly into the soap and i can control the color i am getting. is there something you do not like about the liquid colorants? cheryl

wax embeds have come a long way in the last few years. with the silicone molds, fruit embeds look good enough to eat. real fruit is not a good thing to embed in gel candles. it can be flammable and it can get all moldy. cheryl

never had a problem. have contacted them both by phone and email and have always gotten an immediate response. cheryl

i would mix the butterscotch and the raisin brown 1:1. if that is too dark, add a tinge of vanilla. i keep a white paper plate next to my color mixing place and drop the colored wax on it to test the color. another thought would be 2 butterscotch to 1 rb. cheryl

yes, pour in layers. another trick is to use fishing line or UNwaxed flossing string to hold the embeds. you need to be using either mp or hp gel for suspension to work, also. lp does not work. hth, cheryl

i use a 52 zinc wick. hth, cheryl

i was at a craft show where a woman was selling tall glass containers of gel candles with peppermint candies in them. the container was maybe 3" across and about 10" tall. she was telling people to just pick out the candles as the candle was burning......*faint* i use a mold from jello jigglers ( made a few years ago) that i can make wax jelly beans with. there are some real arseholes out there......... cheryl

citygirl, when i make my forever wedding candles, i print the wedding invitation on a transparency sheet and then laminate it. my outer glass is a cylinder and i put hot gel in the bottom of the cylinder and roll the glass back and forth so that gel comes up the side of the cylinder. i then push the wedding invitation into that gel, so that it is close to the side of the outer glass. i then do a much cooler pour up to about 1/2" above where the bottom of the inner glass container will come. i push the inner glass container (wicked) in and the gel comes up around the side of it. i then pour the inner candle, and decorate the outside of it. i figure that the various layers of gel/glass act as insulation. if you go to www.picturetrail.com/candleheart48 - the wedding album, perhaps that description will make more sense. sorry to subject you to the whole site, but i cannot figure out how to post individuals pictures from there. cheryl`

i double glass mine. put the picture in the gel in the outer container and then put in an inner glass with wicked gel to burn as a candle. clumsily worded, i know, but am dain bramaged at the moment..... cheryl

i also laminate and use one of those hand crank laminating machines you can buy at a craft store. i use a copy of the photo (but one made on photograpy paper). cheryl

soot is an issue when the candle is not wicked appropriately or when it is not trimmed as it should be. with soy, embrace the frost. it is part of the candle. all of my cstrs. have liked the depth and demension that the frost has added. to what length are you trimming the wick of a gel candle after burning? cheryl

i think of mp as "handcrafted" and cp/hp as "handmade".... cheryl

and do double glass... cheryl

gse is NOT a preservative. it may be used as an antioxidant, but does not prevent mold and other nasties. cheryl

why are you adding steric acid and vybar? i use kysoy with out adding any additives. some fo's need to cure for up to 10 days before they have a good throw and some fo's do not work in soy at all. soy can be a fussy little minx. cheryl

i mix 3/4 sfic shaving base + 1/4 shea base + bentonite clay +castor oil. 1 tbs. clay pp, 1 tsp co. my son loves using this with a shaving brush. cheryl

i never use a bottom crust because i use a lot of fruit, or a crumb topping or wax cutouts. even with a pecan pie, my pie top is covered with wax pecan embeds arranged in a circular pattern completely covering the top of the pie. cheryl

you are much better off blending paraffin with the gel to get the white. when i started doing gel candles, i had a great snowman candle container and i used td to get it white. big mistake. so then i went to gel with white gliter and that worked much better. when i do a "milk and cookie" candle, i use the paraffin. cheryl

you're welcome, jessie. i cannot tell you how much respect i have for you because you asked. too many people decide that they want to do ..candles..soap...b and b.. and be ready for a show tomorrow and never spend the time to research and learn. i have done way too many craft shows looking at fellow gel chandlers who have candy, silk and plastic embeds in their candles and have even bent the wicks around those embeds. i teach adult ed. gel candle making classes and in the basic classes, we spend the first 45 minutes (out of 2 hours) learning safety. cheryl