Winter Encraftment this weekend

The Encraftment Market is back again this weekend with a brand new venue. It's on from 10am till 3pm on Saturday the 26th May at the Jack Mann Auditorium, Solway Ave which has plenty of parking. I'll be outside in my gazebo – and will be bringing candles to light in case it is cold in the morning!

It's been a bit hectic around here lately. We've moved out of our house while earthquake repairs are completed. Fortunately we found a place to stay close by, and I've been able to pop back and make candles and get the bits and pieces I need.

As part of the repair process, my office will be getting repainted, and I have picked a duck egg blue colour which I have high hopes for! The only problem is I might have to get some new curtains to match the new colour.

I have some new soy floating candles I hope to have ready for the market. They may take a little longer to list up on the website due to my usual photographing area being unavailable.

Soy melt invasion!

A few weeks ago I finally launched a range of much awaited soy melts. If you haven't used them before, they are a small block of scented soy wax which you pop into your oil burner. The wax melts to release the scent and fragrance the room. When you're finished, just let the wax set in the top of the burner. If you want to change the fragrance, just pop the burner into the freezer for ten minutes or so, and the wax should come out easily.

I was testing them out in the week after the June 13 aftershocks, whilst I was also trying to dry out the carpet with the dehumidifier running 24/7, after the fishtank smashed and spilled water all over the floor. As anyone whose lived with wet carpet will know, it doesn't smell real good! The fragrance dispersed from the soy melts was enough to satisfactorily mask the wet carpet smell. Of course I can't guarantee they will disguise every smell, but they do a great job of improving the pleasantness of a room.

I have a variety of scents and shapes, which I are available in two different sizes, and two different package options. There are space invader shaped melts, and a variety of other shapes as well. You can purchase them from Felt in either a box of 8 (shapes) or 10 (space invaders), or a gift box with three unscented soy tealights, with a burntime of 8 hours each, and 10 (shapes) or 12 (space invader) melts. I haven't finished testing the length of time they last, but I would think about 20-30 hours. Once the scent has dispersed from them, you can return the wax to me to recycle, and receive my 10% recycling discount on your next purchase.

Essential oil soy candles now available

I have been working on creating a range of essential oil scented soy candles. I wanted to offer a candle that is as natural and sustainable as I can make it. Soy wax is made from pure soybean oil, and is a natural, chemical free, biodegradable renewable resource. I use tins that are fully recyclable, and glass jars made from recyled bottles which are also recyclable, and they are also both refillable. I embellish them with paper which can either be recycled or composted – or reused in your next craft project.

Essential oils are a natural fragrance option which can also have aromatherapy benefits. Although I don't proclaim to be an expert on this subject, I will continue to research the therapeutic properties of the essential oils I use.

The fragrances I currently have available in my Felt store include:

Citronella – great for keeping bugs at bay outdoors

Cinnamon – helps to dispel tension, and improves wellbeing

Patchouli – calming in low doses, yet refreshing in higher doses

Geranium – refreshing, and improves stamina

Just introduced this week are:

Rose – calming and comforting, aids with sleeping

Lavender – calming and soothing, aids with sleeping

Manuka – calming, with antiseptic properties

Ylang Ylang – generally soothing, with a sensuous aroma

Some precautions to note, if you would are having trouble sleeping, light the candle in the room you are in before you go to bed, and make sure you put it out before going to sleep. It is also recommended that pregnant women avoid use of essential oils.

These candles would make a great mother's day gift, or a practical addition to your emergency kit. I would recommend one with calming properties for your emergency kit.

Choosing a sustainable candle wax – Part 1

Once my stockpile of paraffin wax began to decline last year, I looked into more sustainable sources of waxes. Buying something made from oil just didn't make much sense anymore. I did some research, and found two different options: waxes derived from natural sources such as soy wax, palm wax and beeswax; or recycling old candles. In this blog post I'll talk about natural waxes, and tomorrow I'll talk about recycling wax.

One thing to consider when choosing which wax to use is which type of candles it is best suited to. Each of the readily available natural waxes have different properties, which make them suitable for different uses. Soy wax has a low melting point, which makes it ideal for container candles. Palm wax has a much higher melting point, so works well for pillar candles, in a similar way to paraffin. Beeswax has it's own distinctive colour and fragrance, so is best used au natural, or blended with other waxes, as it does tend to be more expensive.

There are also environmental issues to consider. The supplier I use sources all of their palm wax from members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. This organisation was founded to develop and define best practices for sustainable palm cultivation, and protection of the environment. However, there has been a lot of negative press in New Zealand about de-forestation and habitat destruction due to the cultivation on palm oil crops. So at this point I'm unsure if even sustainably sourced palm wax is something I should be using.

Soy wax has become very popular in recent years, largely due to it's low environmental impact. It is a sustainable resource that doesn't damage the eco-system, and it can be grown fast enough to keep up with the rate of consumption. It seemed like a good option, and meant I could expand my range to include container candles, something I hadn't done before. So I have purchased some soy wax, which I am currently in the process of testing. Once I am happy with the results, hopefully within the next few weeks, I will be launching some new soy wax candles. So watch this space!

Tomorrow I'll explain how my candle recycling works, so stay tuned. I welcome any comments you may have about this topic.