Happy Holidays.

I wanted to pop in real quick and shout out a very happy holiday.

preparing for wine cork season

Last year when I first brought these out I didn't anticipate how well received they'd be.  I didn't make enough and couldn't keep with the demand.

This year I'm doing my best to be better prepared and have spent the past two months pouring, dipping and packing up wine cork candles galore.

snowflakes and birthday wishes

Next Friday is my birthday. 

When my husband asked me a few weeks back what I wanted for my special day I said something to the effect of  "I want to gut my studio and start over"   To which he replied "you'd have to close down"

I took that as a good sign, means he's on board, means I'll have to close down at some point in 2012 but when?

It also means I have a whole lot of planning to do.  Stay tuned. 

gingerbread candles

Sometimes you find things in the most unlikeliness of places.

I came across the molds for these on a clearance rack at a kitchen store in the mall.  I walked by them a few times, I was looking for a garlic press..

What caught my eye was the 19 cents sign they had in bold black lettering hung on the metal rack. I had to stop and look at what junk they were offering for a meager 19 pennies.

At the bottom of a box containing bent up metal cookie cutters I found a stack of these gingerbread muffin molds.  I bought everyone they had and the case in the back!

saguaro cactus candles

It hasn't been easy capturing the scent of the desert and blending it in to molten wax, but I think I finally have it or pretty darn close to it.

It's like a zoo up in here.

There are few times I feel like I've stretched myself a bit thin.
That I make too many different types of candles and if I didn't sell in bulk I might not be so busy all the time, but the flip side to that is I wouldn't be making these super adorable elephant candles.  I love making these!

two months away

two months from now on this very day, I'll be sleeping in and not thinking about candles at all!

I know, I know, but a girl can dream right?

The puppy will have me up at 6am which means the kids will soon follow.

Hippo Candles

He's just too cute!
This sweet little hippo is going to be great for the christmas holiday this year.
Who wouldn't want a hippopotamus for Christmas?

Skull Candles

It's been nice to take a break from all that holiday candle pouring and stock building to work on something else.

I spent a delightful afternoon shopping for back drops and back ground props for the new Halloween candles.

My photo taking skills are getting slightly better, it only took me two days get these done and I think they turned out pretty good.

Every blog I've read says natural light is the best and they sure are right, I'm still having trouble with capturing lit candles.  

I am a huge fan of candy corn and so are my girls.  They were tickled to be able to eat up my props when I was finished.

Now I need to find a way store all the rest of the non edible stuff I used.   Organizing is not my strong suit but I don't want to get rid of it either.

pouring pumpkins.

I'm beat.

I spend the whole day pouring nothing but orange wax.  Pumpkins, leaves and candy corn tops, which is actually the bottom in the world of upside down candle making.

I spent some of last week getting pictures taken for Halloween and I have a few spooky yet fun candles to bring to the blog.

pouring my blues away.

I'm running out of room...again.

It's been an issue for while at glowlite candles studios.  And building stock for the holidays means I need a place to put all those finished candles. My current method of stacking tubs is getting tiresome, the product I need to get to is always in the bottom tub.

ALWAYS!

There must be a better.

Luckily, these Star of David candles were on the plans for this week and the depth of that blue always makes me happy!

I hope you have a wonderful weekend and if you any suggestions on how to organize a candle making studio please share!

cauldron candles

You never know what a witch has brewing in her cauldron but I'd like to think it's a potion as sweet smelling as these candles.  No frog warts or eye of newt in this brew, I promise!

I scented these bubbling, purple, green and orange wax topped candles with a Berry Bewitching Brew of peachy, apricot and blackberry sweetness with a mix of mandarin, cinnamon and rose.

The cauldron is solid black wax with your choice of coloring for the bubbling goo and a sprinkling of glitter.

Gearing up for the holidays.

It seems like it comes earlier and earlier every year.

I walked in to the super market this morning in need of a few school supplies and they were already setting up christmas wreaths. "But it's only August" I grumbled as I walked by.

Later when I was home and writing out my schedule for next week in my planner I had to laugh at myself.  I've been building holiday stock for weeks!

Pine cone candles

These are being made in a new blend of soy and paraffin, not sure how well they'll stand up to the heat of our summers but I love how well they burn.  I'd really like to switch to a more natural wax for all of the candles that I make.

These guys are my test run.

All stocked up and ready for the fall season.  Currently I can make 55 of these a day with plans to increase that if they sell well this year.  Here's hoping!

An Apple Festival

The change from summer to fall is fast approaching and I'm counting down the days to cooler weather. I love summer; the bbqs and lazy pool days, the frozen treats and camping trips but even I'll admit that after surviving another Arizona summer I'm looking forward to the crisp autumn air, even though we don't get that here until November.

In the mean time I'll dream about fresh picked apples and caramel apples as I spend my morning pouring apple scented apple candles.  Because, the scent of tanning oils and sunblock is nauseating now.

New Floating Lotus Candles

Been banging out a lot of new candles this summer but this one is by far my absolute favorite!

Serene and simply lovely.
I think they'll only be poured in white, but as time goes on that could change.  Each floating lotus burns for a whopping 6+ hours and are about 3 and 1/2 in diameter and as with most of the wedding candles they are unscented.

Glowlite Candles online
Glowlite Candles on Etsy

Can I float candles in my pool?

YES.....but.....

Any candle that is designed to float, can and will float in a pool, pond or water fountain regardless of it's size.   But, here are a few things to consider before you light that wick.  

Pool pump off
Make sure your pool pump is off and any water features such as a water fall or mister system are off as well.  You want to prevent as much water movement as possible.  Hopefully mother nature is going to be on the lighter side too as wind and even a light breeze can affect how well the candles work in larger bodies of water.

Candles will gravitate toward edges or corners.
You'll need to come to terms with the fact that where you place your candle won't be where it stays for any length of time.  Floating candles may start the evening in the middle of the pool but you'll notice the little buggers bobbing along toward the sides or a corner only to rest there for the remainder of the night.

Coping
If your floating candle isn't specifically made for pools, you could end up with a blackened underside to your coping.
Candles 5-6 inches in diameter are a good size for most pools.

Clean up
If any water seeps in to the candle it may weigh the down the wax shell and sink a little in the water, making for irritating clean up as they could be hard to see.   They will not sink to the bottom as wax naturally floats but the weight of the water inside the shell will hold it suspended just below the surface.
Finding ways to anchor the candles is possible and luckily we have Pinterest to help with us that.

I now have floating rose candles available that are the perfect size for pools and spas.  They measure 5 1/2 inches in diameter with an 8 hour burn time.

Apple Candles

Summers is flying by and before we know it all those kiddos will be returning to their classrooms.

Both of my kids return to school the first week of August which may seem early but their teachers started weeks before and it is them that I think of every time I pour these apple candles.

Those noble selfless men and women who spend long days and nights teaching our children.

pig candle

It was a late night for me last night.  Still playing catch-up from our vacation. For every one week of vacation it takes me three to get back on schedule.
We have one last summer camping trip planned for the end of the month.  A cool three days up north in the ponderosa.  I can't wait, the stars the campfire the roasted marshmallows!

If you're thinking about placing an order I suggest getting in before the 24th.

In the between time I'd like to introduce this adorable little pink piggy.

Vines on the wall

We had just returned home from vacation, I was hollering to the kids to make sure everything from the beach was put on the back patio because I didn't want sand in the house when I walked back here and saw this.

Mother nature growing through the tiniest corner of my window.

I was delighted.

My husband was not, and as I was on the patio shaking out the beach towels he was cutting and pulling my pretty green friend from the ceiling.   By the time the children had laid out their seashells along the garden bed he had put away the caulk gun.

New Grape Vine Candles

As I've been slowly trying to move my business away from the mass novelty candles I find myself coming right back to it, this time in the shape of grapes!

I couldn't resit, they are super cute and really fun to make and I thought they would go great with the wine cork candles.

These little grape clusters of wax are quite beautiful when lit.  They really glow!

Measures 2.5 inches long by 1 inch tall. Burns about 3 hours.I hHand paint the green vines and leaves.
Green and Merlot colored. Unscented for now, but I can find a good vino fragrance I'll go for it.

Any candle makers out there willing point me in the right direction?  I'm looking for an actual wine fragrance oil  The ones I've ordered have been very grape smelly and not like wine at all.

Floating rose candles new Rust color

Fall has been on my mind a lot lately and after re-tooling the color chart a few weeks ago I realized that I'm severely lacking a good range of fall color options.   It's on the project list this summer for a slow release but our first one is finished!

I had a few requests for a rust color last year after I released that disastrous pumpkin orange everyone said they liked "but could you make it a tad tamer?"  They were right it was just sooo Orange.

So here they are, in all their lovely rusty glorious-ness

Glowlite Candles online 
Glowlite Candles on etsy

NEW Star of David Candles

These are stunning aren't they?

Each Star of David candle will burn for 7 hours.  You can use them as floating candles or place them on a candle safe plate and use like a pillar candle.

I tried to get these released back in November, but I was so busy with those wine cork candles that I couldn't get them on the site.  I made a note to work on them at the end of September but I woke up this morning and said no way I don't want wait anymore, they just too beautiful. 

Glowlite Candles online
Glowlite Candles on Etsy

Summertime candle making

I read recently that September is the busiest month for weddings, which I have no reason to doubt. With the summer heat coming to a close for most the US and the onset of fall in all her splendor makes it a beautiful season for events.

As candles makers in the wedding industry our busiest month is June, where the four of us work near non stop.  I wish, I really really wish it was in November, when the desert lows make the heat wafting off the wax melters a welcome feeling.

Instead we're sweltering back here, the two a/cs can't keep up with the rising heat of the valley sun and the four wax melters set to 112 degrees.

You'd laugh if you saw us today, standing there de-molding roses by the dozens in our bathing suits.  Once those batches are done we'll re-pour, leaning as far from the tables as we can so splashes of molten wax don't bite our bare skin.  Those 15 dozen candles will take a bit of time to harden so we'll spend that down time lounging on floaties in the pool, which is where I'm heading as soon as I finish this post.

If your wedding is in September and you open up a bag of our roses or butterfly candles and you notice a faint fragrance, the tiniest hint of tanning oil or sunblock you'll know your candles were poured by a family in Arizona doing their best to escape the heat.

New Floating Moon Candles

I've had blast making these slumbering moon floating candles.

I released them last summer for a short time in lighter shades of yellow and blue but I really love the depth of the darker colors.  So now I've been making them in both and you can now purchase them in bulk sets of a dozen.

These burn for a whopping 6 hours and would perfect matched with our floating star candles.
Great for those midsummer night weddings or events and baby showers.

Glowlite Candles online
Glowlite Candles on Etsy

Making molds

I've been making a whole bunch of new candles molds lately, and even though I don't enjoy mold making as much as I do candle making,  I'm always excited to get that first ever pour in.

Matching our colors to yours.

We currently offer over 27 colors in our floating rose candles.

With Davids Bridal being one of the most popular and recognizable wedding companies out there, one of our most frequently asked questions is.  Do your colors match to theirs?

The long and short of it is.. Yes.  We actually formulate our colors around David Bridal colors and what ever happens to be the most popular color of the season.

We haven't named our colors the exact same as theirs, mainly because we opted to use the actual name of the dyes we use.

 Take Hot Pink for instance, a great match to Davids Bridal Watermelon but we don't currently call it Watermelon. On our website you can find it under Hot Pink.

However, at the request of several of our very fine customers and in order to help them find what they need faster and easier we will be renaming several of our colors.




When in doubt though we do offer samples for a minimal cost plus free shipping.

Butterfly Floating Candles

It's time to give the butterflies some love.

  Especially since spring has sprung and the flutterbies have been bobbing along our gardens,

Spring bunny candles

February is the beginning of spring in the desert. In between getting all these new candles out and set up on the site I've been tending to my garden.

I have strawberries that I've been munching on daily and my raspberry canes are seeing new growth.  The grape vines are doing great but sadly with the sale of all those molds and our storage re-organizing they'll have to be dug up and moved to the other side of the yard to make way for a the smaller garden shed we are building.  I hope they survive!

I'm still struggling with cilantro, the seeds I planted way back in Sept are just now pushing out of the soil.

The only bunnies in sight are made of pastel shades of wax.  The neighborhood park up the road has a few little guys bouncing about in the mornings, but I rarely see them. 

Strike a Match !

There are so many talented candle makers on Etsy.com We are happy to be included in this rare all candle treasury. 

Song bird candles

New Item!!

Our new song bird candles are now available on the glowlitecandles.com website. Great for weddings and baby showers. We now make these in 3 colors Spring Green, Light Yellow and Ivory. Scented in Fresh Spring.

As luck would have it

I've been pouring shamrock candles and I'm very excited to offer them to you.



As you can see these aren't those super rare four leaf, go out and buy a lottery ticket clovers,  these are just the standard variety.

Scented in Sweetwater,  a fragrance with clover and grassy notes.

Glowlitecandles online
Glowlitecandles on etsy

Baby Duck Candles

I'd like to introduce these adorable little duckies.  Poured in a soft yellow wax.  Great for spring and baby showers.

I have several more spring and Easter favorites coming soon.

Glowlite Candles online
Glowlite Candles on Etsy

Buddhas and Wise men and Guardian Lions

See them at glowlitecandles.com

Rose bud candles

I have even more new Valentine Day candles. Same raspberry vanilla fragrance, same red and pink colors, whole different shape.  Rose bud candle measures 2 inches tall and is 2 inches at the base, These are a bit larger around the middle and may not fit all votive holders.

Get them fast, the big day is Feb 14th, shipping can take anywhere from 3-5 days for priority mail and 5-7 days for parcel post.  

glowlitecandles online
glowlitecandles on etsy