Candle making...

Thought I'd take a little detour and show some pics of the process involved in making soy candles. I like making them but haven't done so in quite a while. I must have melted close to 7kg of wax on Thursday. It take a lot of wax to make candles, close to 200gm for a medium size. These are scented in a variety of scents but I haven't coloured them. Firstly soy wax can react strangely to colour and most people seem to like the simple, more elegant, look of the natural wax colour.

First, wick all the washed jars. The wicks are stuck to the jars with little circles much like 'Dimensionals".

Melt the wax. I used to do in jugs over water but this method is easier for lots of wax, its just a deep fryer with the basket removed.

You then scent the wax and pour it into the jars. It should be at about 58 degrees. I have wick centring tools which I use to keep my wick from falling over - the simplest & most effective way to do so. These are like the 'Stamp-a-majig' of the candle world.

Not a great pic, sorry. Next step, remove the wick-centring do-dad, trim the wick & pop on the lid. Will provide a pick of a finished candle when I've done these last steps. The room smells good though sometimes if I'm playing with lots of fragrances I need an anti-histamine. There is one fragrance I can never use again, it made my nose clog, my eyes itch, sneezing, the lot.

My stamping stuff used to be kept in this room too (it is 2/3 of my garage converted to a craft room, complete with bench, cupboards, sink & dishwasher) until I made over half my study (see this post for details). The wax & body product stuff was crowding out the stamping, & vice versa. Became impossible to do anything. Now it works much better all round.

Thanks for visiting, hopefully there'll be card pics tomorrow,

Fi xox

Come back soon...

Just a quick note to say I hope to take some pics of the Chrissy cards I've been madly making the last few days. My cousin, Jordan, came over yesterday, she is the embossing queen. My heat gun had a great workout. As I hadn't put all the stuff away I decided to have more of a play today. Lets just say the dining room is a sea of paper, stamps & glitter. I also made a whole bunch of soy wax candles yesterday & some swarovski Christmas tree earrings. These were a real hit at work last year & orders are already coming in for this year. My fellow staff enjoy my 'shop' that I bring in every Christmas. Hope they're looking to buy up big again this year!

Better run & get to stamping. Hopefully some pics will be up by tomorrow.

ETA: Thought I'd show a pic of my formerly tidy Dining Room & a stack of my cards.

Cheers,

Fi xox

Elise's Wedding Pic

I got the bride's permission to post a wedding pic. Elise & Glenn looked so happy, it was a lovely day. Elise looked absolutely stunning. I love her dress, just her. The setting was beautiful, up in the vineyards of the Hunter Valley.

The chapel is on the grounds of the reception centre so very easy, no trying to find out where to go. There is a cafe and little shops there so no problem filling in time. The reception centre was just beautiful, so nicely decorated. Lots of candles. Really set the mood for a fun night.

Elise and Glenn, I wish you all the happiness in the world. Thank you for letting me share in such a beautiful day. Love ya,

Cheers,

Fi xox

Wedding!

Yay, it is Elise's wedding tomorrow. I am so looking forward to it, seeing her all gorgeous, catching up with good friends (& hopefully not stuffing up the reading that I'm doing, a huge honour!). Today I had to go to hairdressers, paint nails, epilady & put on a bit of fake tan, all in the name of vanity, so didn't even go to bed after work today. That's one way to fit more hours into a day, I'm now at about hour 28. Also had to get a new printer & install it. Fun fun. As such, haven't had time to play with Keesh's challenge this week, and it was a beauty. Check it out here. Finished the inside of Elise's wedding card using vellum card stock (for the first time, i like it).

No piccies tonight but will put one up of the happy couple if Elise lets me.

Have a great day,

Fi xox

New stamping space

In my June holidays I created a new area to to stamp in and to store my (extensive amount of) stamping supplies . I have a room that I created from part of my garage where I make body products & candles, & my stamping stuff was there too. However it was getting terribly disorganised and made it hard to actually do any of my hobbies. Also, as you would have figured out by now, I am still at the stage where I either CASE card ideas or use challenges to kick of the creative process. Thus I thought that moving my stamping stuff into my study, & near my computer, would work well.

It took about a week all up. I painted a bookcase that was in my shed and had to borrow a mate's drill as mine was too 'whoosey' to drill through the brick. i am pretty proud of the results as it is all done by 'girl power'. Here's some pics of the process:

The hardest part was drilling the holes & getting the brackets straight. Very hard for one person. They seem pretty straight if you don't look too closely (the pic makes them look even more crooked than they actually are, LOL).

I had this desk in the other room. It was a bit of a struggle to get it into the study as I have a built-in robe & a large bookcase that left a gap that was just too small. Some creative maneuvering got us there though (Mum helped me with this, thanks Mum xox!). I use the pull-out keyboard shelf to hold my paper trimmer & 'stampin-scrub'.

I already owned the rails that I've used to store the punches, I had them lying around waiting to be used in my 'factory' as Mum calls my body stuff room. I pinched them for my punches as it is such a great way to store them. I own 27 SU punches and 12 from other companies, and that doesn't include the 'crop-a-dile'. I think my punch habit is a result of too many years doing decoupage, I am now over cutting things out!

Here's the final result. It works so well. My computer desk is on the opposite wall. I think this is why I've had a go at more challenges of late. It is so much better to have the challenge on the screen while I look through my supplies, and the space makes it so easy to access supplies and create. All I need now is a brain that can come up with its own ideas, but I'm not holding my breath!

Congrats if you made it right to the end, it was a long one. Must go & have a cuppa and face the day. I am back at work tonight, thus the late start to the day.

Have a good one,

F xox

Another year older...

Happy birthday to me. Looking forward to a relaxing day with friends, food & maybe a wee bit of shopping, bliss.

Yay for days off!

Just need to say....YIPPEE, I'm on days off! Hope to get some cards done. Off to have a nap in my nice warm bed, it is a bit chilly this morning, xox