To be honest, I'm not really a candle person. That was until I was at a market and the stall holder next to me sold these amazing smelling candles. For the whole 2 day market, I was surrounded by these tantalising scents. I had to go over to her stall and check them out. That was the first time I'd bought a candle and was the start to a new product.
At my exhibition back in 2014, my Mum created these great candles as decorations. I fell in love with them then and wanted to create them so other people could enjoy them too. I had spoken to another candle maker but it was when I met Sue from Semaphore Candle and Co that I knew that this dream could become reality.
I had the idea in mind but I knew I needed the help of a candle maker to make it possible. What I love about Semaphore Candle and Co is that they love supporting South Australia and Australia like I do. Sue uses Australian soy which not only supports Australia but also doesn't have anything nasty in the wax and makes a cleaner burning candle.
I approached Sue with my idea and she loved it. We met together and worked out the logistics. We needed to work out things like what photographs were going to suit being backlit by a candle, what size to make the wraps to fit properly around the jar, and how the wraps were going to stay on the candle. The last one was important as we had to be sure that the heat of the candle burning wouldn't cause the wrap to fall off. We created 4 designs and then have added on to the collection as people fell in love with them.
As with all the new products there are always issues to iron out. We needed to create the wrap so that there was some overlap to join the wrap around the candle but not that the photograph wasn't cut off. I added at first some black to the end of the photograph to create a tab to join together but later on made it white or let the photograph overlap itself.
We got the proofs back from the printer and were really happy with them. There is always the balance of making the photograph dark enough so that the light doesn't wash out the picture when a candle is lit but not too dark so that you can't tell what the photograph is when not lit. Once we got the final wraps back, off they went to Sue who creates the magic.
Since making these candles, I've fallen in love with candles. They smell lovely so get rid of any gross smells around the house. They make wonderful table decorations and general home décor. I can't leave out adding ambiance to your luxurious baths. You can check out part of the range here or contact me for the rest of the range.