|
by
Amy Pascoe of Rustic Escentuals
Folks don't
think about gel cubes in their gel
candles. Folks don't realize the power they hold.
Gel cubes
are wonderful, squishy goodies that make life easier!
Gel cubes are simple
to make. I always leave mine unscented (we'll get to
that in a minute).
First, pre-warm your
oven on Low, then turn off. For the gel, all you need
to do is ladle directly from your Presto Pot into a
cookie sheet (with sides, of course!). I use MP Penreco
gel in an clean, nonstick cookie sheet. Just keep adding
liquid gel until the cookie sheet is full. Then carefully
place in your oven for de-bubbling. Remove when gel
has cooled. You can make your chunks with colored or
uncolored gel.
I use a sharp knife to
cut the cubes - you get a cleaner cut by not using scissors.
Simply peel the sheet of gel out of the cookie sheet
and cut with a knife into long strips. Then start cutting
into cubes. The smaller the cubes, the easier they are
to work with when creating your candle. I
cut mine about 1/4" diameter square. But be sure to
cut some larger ones too. A few varying sizes will come
in handy.
I spend several afternoons
merely building up my cube "inventory". You can peel
out the sheets of gel and lay upon a sheet of freezer
paper (yep, they stack!). While you watch TV at night,
just bring out your gel sheets and start cutting cubes...
you'll be surprised at how much you can get done! Store
the gel cubes in zipper seal bags. Be sure to keep all
colors separate. This way, once you're ready to start
gellin', all you have to do is pull out a bag of precut
cubes. Easy, peasy!
I've found that when
burning a gel candle using unscented cubes, the scent
throw is not compromised. By having your inventory of
unscented cubes, you can immediately begin crafting
and not have to worry about scent. The scent is in the
over-pour
What can you make with
gel cubes? Just
about every gel you create can be made easier by using
gel cubes. There's only one important thing to remember:
when over-pouring, pour HOT.
When making a seascape,
position the embeds *exactly* where you want them by
keeping in place with gel cubes. Simply wick the container,
add a bed of sand, and a few gel cubes. Then start placing
your sea creatures. Surround all the embeds with clear
gel cubes. You can continue building the seascape all
the way to the top simply by "suspending" your embeds
in between the gel cubes. Then, over-pour with hot,
scented gel.
You can also add some
larger gel cubes before pouring the sand into your container
- they provide bumps in the sand to give an uneven,
more realistic ocean floor. This technique can be used
with any gel creation containing embeds - not just seascapes.
If the above technique
doesn't suit your fancy, there's another way to "suspend"
embeds with gel cubes. Sacrifice a Pyrex lasagna dish
to your gellin' addiction <grin>. Fill the pan
halfway with clear, unscented gel and let cool for 8-11
minutes. Then take your embeds and squish into the gel
about halfway. Let cool. Once cool, over-pour with hot
gel to the top of the pan. Again, let cool.
Now, what do you have?
If you take a knife and cut a wide area around your
embed, it's suspended inside of a gel cube! This is
a very, very easy way to "suspend" an embed. If you
like to use a wire to hold your embed in place but the
embed doesn't have a little hook, then just run the
wire through the gel cube that holds the embed inside.
You can also make Mosaic
gels, or chunk gel candles by using multiple colors.
Simply put some complimentary colors together in a bowl
and toss like a salad. Always be sure to use CLEAR gel
cubes with the colored mixture - it helps to separate
the colors once inside the candle. Pour the mixed cubes
into your wicked container and overpour with hot, scented
gel. Voila...a Mosaic gel! Again, easy to make.
When tossing & mixing
your gel cubes, don't forget GLITTER! Glitter is another
powerful tool when working with gel. Sprinkle a few
pinches into your mixture and look at the extra shimmer
& twinkle your candle will have! Be sure to always
have on hand the good, basic glitter colors of silver,
gold, and diamond dust. These can be used with just
about any color of gel.
Gel cubes can be layered
for a rainbow candle. To prevent colors from bleeding
onto one another during the over-pour just work with
one layer at a time. Put in the gel cubes and overpour
to the top, then add more cubes, then overpour. Ever
wonder how to make those "Jello" creations? Gel cubes!
Just toss some cubes into a wicked dish and gently over-pour.
Gel cubes work well with
wax embeds. Not only will they hold your embed in place,
they also help to cushion the wax against the hot gel,
which prevents bleeding or melting. Use gel cubes when
making fruit preserve candles. Add wax fruits around
the perimeter of the container while filling the center
with gel cubes. This will make your wax embed supply
last longer! Use clear or colored cubes to position
fruit slices in your pie candles, then over-pour with
scented gel. There
are many, many uses for gel cubes. I've only touched
the surface, but I hope it sparks your imagination and
creativity to come up with ideas of how to make gellin'
easier!
http://www.RusticEscentuals.com
|
