Candle Kitty

Anybody that does marbles in gray, the smoke gray chips you'll need more of than what you think. I used one chip and it really didn't color that well. But, I like the subtle hints of gray in it.

I need some fresh strawberries now... Good work!

Dear God, Ducky, those are GORGEOUS!

First off, this was a trip to do with the marble section because Erika was standing next to me with a heatgun asking when to hit it. I finally had to tell her to get the heck out of the way and just watch this time, LOL. I did what I call a 'soft marble', didn't use a lot of color, just enough to add some color to it and then let it harden and did a rustic pour with the black. I think if I work on this a little bit more, I'll be able to get some seriously wicked stuff out of it. Marble section was done with a half a chip of smoke gray and the black is liquid dye. Rustic turned out wonderful, Erika can't seem to keep her fingers off of it, LOL.

I would think a pillar blend soy would work, I just use paraffin.

Roommate is actually looking at making tapers and she wants me to teach her how to twist them, so I'll twist a set together and snap a picture.

What you do actually is make two tapers and then before they harden completely, you twist them into each other. Then dip them one more time together. You'll have two wicks for two different candles that are together. I've done it once before and they seemed to burn okay, but I wouldn't trust anyone to burn them correctly, which would mean basically sitting on top of them.

I made a set of those once three years ago when I was getting ready to go camping with a friend. What I used as well was paper towels that had wax on them, they're pretty much already primed, then sawdust and wax. When we got to the campgrounds, my friend was having a really bad time lighting the fire, so I pulled a couple out, tore the paper, lit them, tossed them in and within a few minutes we had a fire that was the envy across our side of the lake. If I had been thinking, I would have made more than what I took and sold them on the spot.

This is where note-taking is so vital. Any change in how you pour your candle, from the additive to when you put the FO in to what temperature the wax is...even the temperature of the mold can change the way it burns...SOMETIMES. The first thing I do when I think of a candle is that I write down everything before I even pour. What additive, what wax, color, scent, wick and what kind (rustic, mottle, marble). I also write down what temperature I'm going to pour everything and then I'll set out making the candle. The very first candle is exactly how I write it down, no exceptions and then I burn it after it's cured. If the burn is good but not great, I've got my notes right there to tell me that okay, this time I used a pigment instead of dye and pigments can sometimes clog a wick. So then I make the candle again, using dye and then I retest. If the burn is a really good one, I mark the page that has the changed formula and then make another candle to test the formula again. I always keep both sheets, I never get rid of any notes because there may be something I might need from them later down the road. Explicit note-taking is key for me, especially with anything new I've never tried before. Wax, wick, scent, all of it. If it's new to me, I'm a furious note-taker. It saves a lot of heartache.

I shutter to think what she's going to do when that case of 1343 comes in. She's really itching to play with tapers, so I'm pulling ten pounds off to the side for her. Maybe getting her doing those will get her off the rest of the wax so I can get serious. It's been fun, but she hasn't seen me yet when I get into "serious" mode. That's when The Doors go in full blast, make sure that my Pepsi stock can handle a full bore session and I don't emerge from the workshop until I'm completely satisfied with everything I work on. Plus I've got a seriously wicked idea floating in my head so that's going to take up some time for me. Tomorrow can't come soon enough, that's when the shipment arrives and I'll have both her and the other friend in the workshop helping me get things organized and settled.

Of all the people I'm envious about more than anything else, it's you being able to pull off the rustic tilted layers. They're gorgeous, Ducky.

Pretty, pretty!!! Yes, prop the mold on a slant and then I usually wait until the wax is soft and warm before I add the next layer. But it's personal preference really, I like my layers to blend into one another.

HA! SHE may be, but I may not be if she keeps handing over candles that are perfectly leveled!

Thanks for clearing that up, Ducky, I had a moment when I was typing that out.

See?! What did I tell you! It's not mold, goofball, it's MOTTLED! And I've no idea how she did it. Beautiful glossy finish, nice uniform bubbles....at least it looks like a mottle to me, I've no idea what it is, but it's pretty nonetheless! I know what you mean about the candle supplies, when we made the move down here, I threatened everyone with a long and very painful death if anything happened to them. And up until now, I threatened the blonde one with a fate worse than death if she went near them. Now she's got her paws all over them and I'm sitting here wondering if this really is the brainstorm of the century.

Good god, I've created a monster! And pay heed to the beginner's luck line, missy. One of these days, a candle is going to be unlevel and that's when I'll kick back on the couch and cackle from laughing.

Wouldn't surprise me on the fairies, god only knows the aliens aren't helping. They usually don't.

Yup, it's official, this broad is gonna make me die of an brain bleed trying to figure out what she does and how she does it.

Ya know, I turn my best friend and roommate onto making candles because they want me to get set to start my business. I think okay, the girl (roommate and is Mystic Flame here) is a little clutzy at times, likes to play in the wax more than I'd like her to (we're talking dabbling into the wax after the flame has gone out), has this thing for her version of terminology (she described tapers earlier as the long skinny ones) that gets me chuckling some days. Overall, I'm thinking that maybe this'll be a good thing because some days, her energy level is just off the charts and maybe making candles will get the girl grounded. For the last two days, I can't get her out of the workshop (yet she wants me to make her a cow candle......that's a long story and a picture will soon follow), but she's doing really good for a first-timer, she's actually listened to me (pits on the side of the candle? 'The mold wasn't warm enough or I poured the wax at too low of a temperature'), but there's some things that I just can't get out of my head no matter what I try. The girl can make a perfectly level candle EVERY SINGLE TIME. The work bench isn't the most level thing and actually needs work, yet this broad can pull a candle out of a mold and all we have to do is smooth the bottom a little and it's done. No spending a bunch of time on it, just zing it on a warm surface to smooth it out and that's it. Everyone knows that sometimes, the biggest PITA that we have to work on is levelling, I had my own issues last year and Top, Donita and I blamed the planet tipping and little green men. I let this girl go after spending one evening showing her how to make a chunk and she's YET to have to re-level a candle. I'm asking...WHERE'S THE JUSTICE? Makes me want to strangle her sometimes.....ROFL!

Be sure to post pictures! Anything you get your hands on turns to candle gold, I'd love to see how it works out!

I've come back to these candles over and over and I keep forgetting to comment. These are just beautiful.

Oh my goodness, those are beautiful hon!

She speaks the truth, she's spent more time running from her room, clear across the house to the garage and back than she has since we moved down here. If she keeps this up, I'm going to have to make a separate workshop for her. Aunt D, I know what you mean about playing with additives, I'd like to get a hold of some crystal additive that's supposed to make the wax more transparent, but I haven't found any yet. I love the chunk candles that looks like the chunks are suspended, beautiful stuff.

Suzanne is right about getting a small kit from Michael's. At least then, you can successfully say that yes, I tried candles and then dive into it. There's a ton of things involved with candles, it's not the cheapest hobby no matter how cheap you attempt to go. I have always loved pillars, so they were actually the first candle I tried. But for a Christmas gift to my sister, I made her a hundred vanilla votives and put a Phantom of the Opera Highlights CD into the box of candles and I made her year that year and I found out I liked making them as well. So then I concentrated on those for a while and then I moved to containers. From containers, I moved to the more difficult techniques, I tackled the pillar marbles first, which get a lot of people chuckling around here because I picked the hardest one to do first. Then swirls, mottles, rustics in about that order and I can definitely say while I've snatched my own head bald, I've had a blast and can say for certainty, I think I've done it all....for now anyway. I would start small and work big, but it always helps to start off with the candle you enjoy most. I adore making pillars, but around me, everyone loves the votives because they're not stuck with a specific scent for very long and they can change the room's scent within a day or so. It's always a matter of personal preference.

Oof, I love my votive wick pins, I don't do any without them. I need to find the flat bottom ones, the concaves make it a pain to put any kind of label on them, but once you get started using them, you get addicted fast. After the candle is cool and it pops out of the mold, it's nothing to slide a wick in, push the stem into the wax so it doesn't move and you're done. I LOVES THEM! Now when it comes to using them in pillars, that's a different story. I don't like the size of the wick hole after I've used them, so I'm actually going back to wicking the candle as I make it. But gimmie a couple hundred votive molds and wick pins and I'm a happy girl.