I'm not sure exactly when I made my first candle, but let's call it circa 1995. I went to a major craft store, bought a bag of colored wax granules and melted it down, ruining sauce pots galore, and poured with absolute disregard to temperature, what was going into my candles, cure times, and all of the other headaches from switching from hobbyist to chandler. (I apologize if you received a less than optimal candle at any point from us from 1995-2019).
I no longer work with paraffin, but I moved from pillar beeswax candles a couple of years ago into container wax. During the opening weeks of COVID 19, I missed our usual trip back to New York to celebrate Ramadan with our family. I decided to make candles to send to everyone, and that was where I really got going.
I tried a number of waxes and wasn't super thrilled with the performance of any of them by themselves, and also, to be honest, I was curious what would happen if I threw this or that in there? I ended up with an awesome blend of vegan waxes in a coconut base. It "throws" scent well, meaning how well it fills a room with fragrance, has lovely smooth tops every time you burn it, and there is no soot or white or black smoke when you burn it.
An interesting thing to me, is that as a person with ADHD there's a lot of areas in my life I have to work really hard to focus - but not with crafting. I find it really easy to build on the process, do the correct math, with the correct ratios of my unique blends. I find the process of candle making grounds me, and allows me to move intentionally.
As I'm melting and pouring candles, I will set my intention to make a safely burning, beautiful candle that fills your home with scent and brings comfort and good energy. I never get bored with setting good vibes for the candles I craft.
I have hundreds of different fragrances from trusted sources, and I'm constantly testing these out. Our local favorites are:
-PDX Coffee Shop
-Sea Salt and Orchid
-White Sage and Lavender
-Currant and Sandalwood
-Wild Honey + Apple + Peony
More recently, we have worked with candle marbling and crafting with specific intentions and crystals, and you'll see more of that coming. Unfortunately, the marbling can be lost in shipping so we will be waiting until fall to list more of these on our site. You can find them at indoor markets (see our Calendar blog) and locally at The Crystal Guide at Cartlandia. (Here's their website... https://www.thecrystalguide.com )
I can't wait to show you the star jars that are our big mamas coming out September 1st. Also on the list is a big honk of beeswax and some adorable pillar molds waiting for me to test the burn!
What candle scents are your favorites?