ALL PICTURES AND REFERENCES ARE TO "NON-EDIBLE" NOT-FOOD ITEMS

Each year we await the springtime rebirthing of the Earth-watching for the budding of the trees and new blossoms of flowers. We welcome the new life and fresh new beginnings with enthusiasm and eager hearts. It is no surprise that sales of flowers and plants peak, as we rush to add color back into our lives.

This month we have several new ideas…first off... floral toppers. A wonderful way to create two presentations in one product: a scented Floral Bouquet AND a beautiful candle, all in one.

Secondly, ways to create inexpensive candle containers using tins and odds & ends of silk floral you have on hand for decoration.

Our third idea this month creates Gemstone Crystal Candles…using a new wax embeds in a variety of crystal-rock colors.

Let's start with the Floral Topper Idea. This is a very simple idea which
Gives you a 'lid' for your candles (to help keep those fingers out)... while actually giving customers 2- products in-1… in essence. When the candle is not burning, it appears as a beautiful floral arrangement. When the customer is ready to light the candle, simply lift off the 1-pc floral topper and lay beside the candle. When finished burning the candle, the topper can easily be set back on top of the glassware. In our examples here, we have used the ever popular scalloped Ivy Bowl.

You can see the variety of flowers and how much they change the look.

These will be very popular for wedding tables and parties. We found the cutest porcelain Bride and Groom to also incorporate with this idea and create a wonderful keepsake topper.

You can create any type of base case -- our floral toppers fit 3-4" openings very nicely. So just let your creative minds open all kinds of possibilities here. Just a dab of extra-strength fragrance oil on the petals and leaves will add a wonderful scent.

Our next idea this month gets our minds away from simply the "GLASS" container candle.

We have long been using the round tins making our mini pies which have sold thousands. So here is another idea. Inexpensive spray paint adheres WONDER-FULLY to the tin surface.

We took two rectangular tins and sprayed with two coats of a satin-finish rose-colored paint. Next we glued the bottoms together. We liked this particular shape because it is strong and sturdy. Next we filled the top section with rose Colored and scented gel, using two 50s wicks. A sprinkling of celestial gold glitter finishes off the top. Our final step is to use a hot glue gun to attach pretty silk flowers and a ribbon to the front. Caution here: be sure floral are small enough and placed correctly so that they cannot come close to the flame of the candle.

As you can see below, you can also do this with a single tin instead of the double-decker.

Our final idea this month is our new Gemstone Crystal Candles… embedding a wax gem cluster.

Again we used the scalloped Ivy bowl. The gem cluster can either be threaded onto the wick or placed upright in front of the wick. Tint the gel a light color of the gemstone you are using for a pretty look. And don't forget your magic celestial glitter! :o)

Using themes/scents for Jade, Amethyst, Blue Topaz, Rose, Citrine ---these can be very popular with your customers. You could decorate the outside of the glassware with gemstones and beads using silver and gold tone wire-wrapping… you will be amazed how easy it is and FUN!!!

We hope you enjoy these ideas… we wish you wonderful sales for your Spring and Summer shows…. And we hope to see many of you in our upcoming travels to the gatherings!!

May 2001

As we creep closer to June, everyone knows what to expect. The kick-off to summer brings many graduation celebrations and June Brides. Two large-scale decoration occasions so this month we feature our white wedding bell candle and the 'cartoon character' Graduate.

The Wedding candle contains a wax embed along with metal wedding rings, and the Graduation candle hosts a glass embed, foils and stars.

The Wedding candle is elegant and simple-- finished off with a silk ribbon decoration on the stem of the glassware.

We chose a wine goblet...notice that the bowl of the glass has a wide opening allowing the wick to get enough oxygen so that we will have minimal soot around the top of the glassware as the candle burns downward. Flutes do not afford this, and you will have blackening-- something to consider as you select glassware.

We decided to leave our candle gel clear to further enhance the 'white on clear' look which is so popular for weddings. We lightly dusted our wax wedding bells with Celestial Silver glitter to show the features and details of the bell shape as well as adding a sparkling effect around the wedding rings.

This candle was made very simply.

*Melt the gel, correctly scent and blend. and pour.

*WAIT the necessary 10-15 minutes for the gel to cool so that we don't melt our wax embed.

*Then lower the bells down into the gel, allowing the gel to self-heal and return to a smooth top.

*Next use our embedding tool to adjust the bells to a nice angle.

*Then embed our double wedding rings, again using the tip of our embedding tool to maneuver the rings directly in front of the bells.

*The candle is finished off by either wire-tie or hot gluing a cloth bow onto the stem.

*An added trick is to pierce a hole in the corner of the couple's engraved matchbook and tie around the stem of the glass. Thus the candle has its own matches attached. What a neat idea!!

And there you have it. Simple Elegance scented with Gardenia fragrance. The perfect addition for the reception tables... giving the wedding guests a keepsake.



The GRADUATE Candle Our 'cartoon character' graduate is a glass embed, wearing a black robe and cap.

We poured black and green sands in the bottom of the glassware to reflect and coordinate the colors of the glass embed.

Then we scented and poured clear gel--when using the colored sands, oftentimes it is not necessary to add color to the gel.

*We dropped chunks of un-melted gel, which had been sprinkled and dipped in gold stars and other red, white and silver stars, into the glass and then over poured with the melted, scented gel.

*Then using the embed tool, we positioned our glass graduate in the front of the candle, keeping him close to the glass surface for good visibility.

*Next we went to our Foils Collection to find "GOOD LUCK" and "2001" shapes to finish off the inside of our candle.

*Remember to TUG-TUG-TUG on that wick to make sure the slack is removed, and it is straight in the middle of the candle.

*Next wrap GRADUATION GARLAND, also from our Foils Collection, around the neck of the glass

*Trim the wick to ¼".

*Add the labels to the bottom.

*The PERFECT decoration for party tables!

May 2000

Floral Bouquet Gel Candles

Greetings Gel Candleers!! We can hardly believe that May is here.. and, of course, the tribute to dear Mothers everywhere. No longer are we left only with the option for beautiful flowers that will sadly wilt and die away after only a few days... This month we feature our Floral Bouquet candle filled with various pastel-colored mini rose blossoms.

We began this candle with a layer of garden green sand to set the stage for the blossoms rising above. We poured our candle, with clear gel scented with our Cherry Blossom scent.. which gives an abundance of lovely springtime floral essence.

After pouring the candle, we let it sit about 10-15 minutes until the gel was starting to set and feeling "not too warm" to the feel of the glass. Then we started pushing our wax blossoms down in the candle in a jigsaw puzzle fashion to fill in the open areas and create a nice 'bouquet'. We use an ice pick to do our 'floral arranging'. Of course you could use all one color, or even two colors, but we felt colorful at the moment. We tried to fill-in the open areas and to get at least a couple rows, however this totally depends on the size of your glassware.

A nifty little finishing touch is to use a clear-type caulk glue (not glue gun since the glass will warm) to add a winged bumble bee who is looking inside wondering how he will ever reach his prize.

Presentation also adds to sales, so we added a piece of Lilly of the Valley at the base for a nice finishing touch.

Any Mother would greatly treasure such a lasting gift. and leaving the center to be pure gel insures that long-term burn time that we have come to appreciate in our gel candles. Mom will enjoy this candle for weeks to come.

Of course another popular scent would be rose and even drop some silk rose petals around the base in place of the lillies again scented with rose scent makes a very lovely traditional, yet still new and interesting. gift.

Enjoy!

Patti
and the Crew at
www.biomax1.com

Wick Reminders

We recommend that you use only ZINC core wicks--you need the added heat from the metal core for sufficient temperature to burn the gel well... a 50s series for up to 3" opening and 60s series for 3.5 and higher, when you don't go to three 50s.

The biggest mistake we encounter: you should trim the wick to 1/4" for the initial burn, say first half hour. This is the time that the wick actually 'seats' itself into the candle. After that, to avoid smoking, trim the wick back to just a bare 'nub' meaning 1/16th of an inch. When a seated gel candle wick smokes.. 95% of the time, it is because it has too much length. People are used to the height of a wick in paraffin candles which is too much for gel candles. When you extinguish.. teach customers to do a little wick maintenance.. use toothpick to remove any wick droppings. Keep the wick at
the nub height to avoid excessive mushrooming.

This should help you immensely.

Beginning & Advanced Videos by Patti HERE

More Info about the Book & Video Set HERE