|
By
Kathy Heindel, Design Artist of HotscentsCo
lAsk some men,
and they'll tell you they don't understand what a woman means
when she says the word "romance" ... hence, the
reason why so many grooms seem to "leave the wedding"
up to the bride!
To try to explain
it doesn't seem to work if you should ever attempt to try
... I guess it's just one of those things that is sometimes
best communicated with non-verbal entities ... and that's
how my wedding gel
candles I'm about to share with you about came to be,
as I think the "hidden message" in these candles
has to do with romance.
Two champagne
flutes with a rainbow between them ... one of the candles
with red, orange, yellow; the other with green, blue/indigo,
and violet.
The full spectrum
when stood together ... separate in their own right, yet complete
with the company of the other.
Maybe some guys
could even get this message!
These candles
are created at a diagonal to sort of fit into the theme of
a curved rainbow and were created by pouring each layer and
allowing it to set firmly before the next layer was poured.
The instruction
for these candles is a bit self-evident, especially for experienced
candlemakers; so, I'd like to take this opportunity to simply
touch on a minor design technique that makes a big difference
in
a subtle, but elegant way when working with stemware. This
may be nothing new to many of you, but for crafters just getting
into stemware gel candles, this may serve as a useful lesson.
Have you ever
noticed that when most people hold stemware, that they will
often times gaze UP into the candle? It must have something
to do with the stem, such as when toasting and raising a glass.
With this vantage point in mind, if your wick tab was placed
directly in the bottom of the glass, without any concealment,
the admirer of this candle will first see a metal wick tab.
This is why I strongly suggest to do something to conceal
it.
I like to use
craft glitter, or, glass beads can also work for this. Some
finer grade glitters may work, but sometimes they are too
light and the glitter doesn't seem to sink to the bottom properly
the
way heavier craft glitter does, which is what we want in this
particular application. This is one of the reasons why I select
a medium grade or craft glitter for this concealing method,
as it really does
conceal the wick tab very well.
Since the glitter
lies at the very bottom of the glass with this method, under
and away from the wick, you don't have to worry about any
"wick-clogging" effects from the glitter usage.
In other words, you can use as much as you feel is necessary
to adequately "hide" your wick tab.
Here's how to
do it ... pour a bit of glitter into the bottom of the glass.
Then, pour a bit of gel (either clear, or the color of the
gel you are going to be pouring for the bottom layer) ...
this should be a very small amount of hot gel. Then, place
your wick tab (already wicked) into the bottom of the glass
and press on all sides of it with a metal pick to press it
in and secure it. The glitter should remain trapped between
the bottom of the bottom of the wick tab and the glass. (See
close-up photo of bottom
of the glass.)
This little "finishing"
touch that is performed at the beginning of creating the candle,
gets your elegant stemware candle off to a grand start, with
attention to detail at the top of your list and fine details
at the bottom of the glass. If it's true that elegance should
be kept simple, then this simple technique should do the trick!
May you raise
your stemware gel candles with pride!
http://www.hotscentsusa.com
|
