New in my Shops: Carved Candles and Plaques!

I've recently started exploring my ability to carve. So far I've only done carvings in wax - beeswax and paraffin. At some point I will likely try using other materials, but this is great fun for now! :) I work with completely cooled/solid wax and use wood carving tools for cutting. Then I use Lemon essential oil to soften any hard lines or edges. The Lemon essential oil naturally dissolves wax and works with both beeswax and paraffin.

My carvings take between 8 and 16 hours to complete. I don't refer to pictures as I carve. I simply have a general idea in mind when I start and then see what shows up as I work. After I finish the carving, I make a silicon mold from the original. The carvings I have for sale are the wax duplicates made from the molds. The molds create perfect reproductions!

Here are the first two carvings that I have listed in my shops.

Beeswax Goddess Candle
This is my first detailed carving and I'm very happy with how she came out! She's 2 inches tall. I carved her from beeswax, starting from a square votive. It took about 8 hours to carve this.

Fairy Plaque 
I love this fairy design! I carved the original in beeswax. The picture shows the reproduction made from paraffin wax. This also took me about 8 hours to carve. This plaque is 3 inches in diameter and is 3/4 inch thick. There is a flat edge, which allows it to stand on any flat surface. This has no wick and is meant to be displayed for decoration only, not for burning or melting.

Keep watching my shops for more to come!

Etsy shop
http://dragon06.etsy.com

ArtFire shop
http://DragonsDen.artfire.com

Giveaway on Indiespotting!

Right now Indiespotting.com is running a giveaway for my shop! Follow the link for details and find out how to enter the contest. I'm offering a $25 credit to anything in my ArtFire shop at http://DragonsDen.artfire.com.
 You can even use the credit towards the shipping if the items you want come to less than $25.

The giveaway is on until March 30th, so get your entries in soon!

Halloween Candles Blog Special!

Looking for spooky candles to add to your Halloween decor? I have a great variety of handmade Halloween candles both scented and unscented. The most popular scents are Pumpkin Spice and Witches Brew. Pumpkin Spice is a sweet and spicy scent that is just like pumpkin pie. Witches Brew is a spicy blend of Cedarwood, Cinnamon and Patchouli.

Halloween Blog Special: As a special for my blog readers only, take 20% off your entire order! Your order must contain at least one Halloween item. This special lasts as long as there are Halloween items listed in my shop. Just put "Halloween blog" in the Notes to Seller section on checkout. Then wait for me to send you a revised invoice before paying.

Click on any of the pictures below to go to the items or visit my shop at dragon06.etsy.com.

Mismatched tea lights discount batches!

I've been making a lot of custom candle orders lately. As a result of that, I've got many small batches of leftover wax in all different scents and colors. Often the colors don't really "go" with the scents. I've been letting these mixed up wax leftovers build up, but now's the time to make something of them. I'm making tea lights out of this leftover wax and offering them at a HUGE discount!

I just listed these in discount batches in my shop at Dragon's Den on Etsy. These are HALF PRICE of my regular tea lights. They're in batches of 20 and totally random colors and scents. But if you tell me your favorite scent, I'll do my best to include a few in your batch.

As with all my candles, these are made from a high quality beeswax and paraffin blend with cotton wicks. They are long-lasting, with good scent throw and are virtually smokeless when burned properly.

Here are my available fragrance oils to give you an idea of what you might get in a batch.

*Fragrance oils (sorted by category):

Clean/fresh scents: Clean Cotton, Sea Shore, Sea Moss, Green Garden, Rain, Eucalyptus Leaf

Earthy/herbal scents: Amber, Hemp, Sandalwood, Pine Needle, Tall Grass, Dragon's Blood, Witches Brew (blend of Patchouli, Cinnamon, and Cedarwood), Warm Sand (handmade blend of Cinnamon, Sandalwood and Patchouli)

Spicy scents: Cinnamon, Peppermint, Perfect Pumpkin, White Tea & Ginger (sweet and lightly citrus), Cinnamon/Sandalwood blend

Decadent scents: Vanilla Bean Noel, Vanilla Buttercream, Vanilla Hazelnut, Chocolate, Maple & Brown Sugar, Gingerbread, Coffee, Mocha, Raspberry Truffle

Floral scents: Gardenia, Honeysuckle, Fresh Zucchini Flower, Rose, Lavender, Lilac, White Lily & Amber (currently my favorite fragrance oil)

Fruity scents: Pear, Mulberry, Pineapple, Black Cherry, Apple, Apple Cinnamon, Strawberry, Mango Papaya, Mint Mango Tea, Peach, Lemon, Birds of Paradise (coconut, fruit and floral), Tropical Islands (fruit and floral), Jamaica me Crazy (reminds me of pina colada), Passion Fruit & Guava, Black Raspberry Vanilla, Spiced Cranberry, Lychee Red Tea.

BOGO Special This Week!

This week only (April 20th to 27th) buy ANY ITEM at full price and get a second item for 1/2 PRICE! The second item must be of equal or lesser value.

Put the code "BOGO" in the message to seller box. Wait for me to send you a revised invoice by PayPal before paying.

For any new readers not familiar with my shop, I have a great selection of handmade candles and bath and beauty items. And I have many vegan items!

I don't do full-store sales very often, so don't miss this!

Dragon's Den
dragon06.etsy.com

Etsy Buy Handmade dragon06

Get the Most From Your Beeswax Candles

Beeswax candles are a great natural alternative to those who prefer not to burn paraffin wax. Beeswax has an attractive color and rich natural scent. Beeswax also has a high melt point, making the candles last a long time. These things are all generally well known, and beeswax candles are quite popular.

Many people don't realize, however, that beeswax candles need a little more work and attention than other types of candles. Here's a list of things to keep in mind when you're burning beeswax candles of any size. These tips will help you get the most out of your beeswax.

• It's important to keep the wick trimmed to 1/4 inch. If the flame becomes small and looks like it might go out, it's time to trim the wick.
• Burn your candle for an extended period of time. This increases the size of the melt pool to ensure your candle burns right to the edge. For tea lights burn them at least 1 hour each time, for votives at least 2 hours, and burn your pillar at least 3 hours each time.
• Pillars will not melt all the way to the edge. Over time, fold the wax from the sides toward the center.
  
• Do not blow out your candle. Snuff the candle or extinguish the wick by dipping it in the melted wax. Then be sure to straighten it again. I use a skewer to do this.
  

Crafty Secret Santa ... In March

I recently got involved in a Crafty Secret Santa/PIF (pay it forward) that was organized by Paul over at Dude Craft.

Here's the scoop - there were 20 participants and we all gave Paul some info about ourselves. He then sent each participant the info for one person. We then all made something crafty for whatever person we were given, based on the info they gave Paul.

Sound complicated? Well it really wasn't. It was great fun!

What I made

Part of the info I was given was my person loved "curling up with a good book and a cup of tea on a rainy evening". That was my inspiration for the scent of this chunk candle. I was also trying to capture a little of the look of a random pattern of rain on a window. I love the Rain scent too it was definitely a pleasure to fill the house with it for a day. Also, I don't often make chunk candles so it was a little change of pace for me.


What I got

The person who made something for me was inspired by my love of crafts, earthy colors, and my love of all things recycled/upcycled. This is a very cute wall hanging that has its permanent home on my craft room wall. The embroidery says CRAFT LOVE and there is a shadow puppet bunny as well.

Now the fun isn't over yet! Paul has been featuring these projects over at Dude Craft so we can all check out what everyone made. Go take a look! Follow the blog while you're there. He's always got great crafty posts!

Free Tea Lights Giveaway!

I would love to get feedback from you about your favorite candle scents. In return, I'll send a free set of 6 tea lights to 2 people!

Just choose your favorite scents in the new poll over to the right. You can choose as many or as few as you like. You can also choose "other" if you are thinking of a favorite that's not on the list. If you choose "other" I'd love if you could let me know the details in a comment to this post.

Want to know about the rest of my scents? I only included 20 of my scents in the poll. You can see the rest in my Etsy profile if you're interested. You are welcome to choose a scent from my profile as your choice for the giveaway if your favorite isn't in the poll.

Note: These are all fragrance oils. If you're interested in candles with essential oils take a look here.

Giveaway Prize:

• You get a free set of 6 tea lights in your choice of scent. These are beeswax and paraffin blend candles with all cotton wicks.
  

How to Enter:

1. This is open to anyone in any country! I ship internationally so my contests are international too!
   
2. Choose your favorite candle scent(s) in the poll.
3. Write me a comment including your email address or Etsy User ID so I can reach you.
4. Also tell me which scent you'd like to receive if you win.
5. Blog about this giveaway to get an extra chance to win! Include the link to your blog in the comment.
6. Enter now! The poll closes Monday, March 23rd at 11:59 PM (EST).
   

How to Win:

1. On Tuesday, March 24th, 2009 I will randomly choose 2 people out of those who posted comments.
   
2. I will contact the winner the same day by email or Etsy convo.
   
3. If I don't get a response from a winner by the end of Thursday then I will choose new winner(s) on Friday.
   

What's the Catch?

There's no catch. This giveaway is entirely free with no purchase required, and I pay the shipping. Have fun and good luck!

Cool site: byhand.me

I just discovered this site. I'm sure it's been around for a long time but I'm a little slow. :)

Just one of the site's features is that it allows members to make these great "spotlights" (similar to Etsy treasuries). Here's the first one I've made. It features all my items. I'm already planning my next one to include fellow Etsy friends. Too much fun!!

Blog Special: Free Tea Lights!

Visit my shop (Dragon's Den on Etsy) and get a free set of 6 scented tea lights with any order!


You choose the scent - either Vanilla Bean Noel or White Lily & Amber. Vanilla Bean Noel is a blend of buttery, rich vanilla and musk. It is my favorite vanilla scent by far! White Lily & Amber is described as: "a soft background of white amber and musk provide a comfortable backdrop for crisp top notes of dewy cyclamen and smooth mimosa with middle notes of white lily." It is rich and feminine without being too floral. It's just a gorgeous scent!

These candles are handmade from a beeswax and paraffin blend and all cotton wicks. They are long burning with great scent throw. There is no color added to these candles. They are the natural creamy color of the wax blend.

There is no minimum order for this special. This is totally free with no extra shipping added to your order. Just enter either "Vanilla" or "White Lily & Amber" in the message to seller box on checkout. I will add the package of six tea lights to your order when I see the code.

This special lasts until next Saturday (Feb. 21, 2009).

Blog Special: Free Lip balm!

Visit my shop (Dragon's Den on Etsy) and get a free Honey Bee Mine lip balm with any order!

Click on the link or picture for more info about this lip balm. It is a new product for me and I'd like to get people to try it. I know you'll all love it! I have to admit I make the nicest lip balms our family has ever tried. :)

There is no minimum order for this special. This is totally free with no extra shipping added to your order. You will receive the Honey Bee Mine flavor unless you specifically tell me that you'd like the peppermint or unscented instead. Don't add the lip balm to your shopping cart. I will add it to your package when I see the code. Put "lip balm" in the message to seller box on checkout.

This special is good until Feb 14th, 2009.

Candle giveaway!

I'm being featured on the Bath, Body, Candle blog. There is also a giveaway where you could win these pure beeswax layered candles! Just go to the link and comment to win! :)

Cancer Research Donation

My partner Sarah and I both currently have mothers fighting cancer. I had been thinking for a while that I would like to make regular donations to a charity that was important to us. There are many that we've considered but for now we're going with cancer research.

From now until January 2009 we'll be donating 10% of ALL sales (internet and craft show) to the Cancer Research Foundation. In January we'll decide if we can afford to continue with 10% and we'll decide if we're going to stay with the Cancer Research Foundation or change to another charity.

I'll post updates here to let you know how much we've been able to donate. I'll also do some poking around and see if I can find other Etsy shops donating to charities. I'll be sure to let you all know what I find.

There's little we can do right now to help our mothers - other than offering our emotional and sometimes financial support while we wait to see what happens. But it feels good to be able to contribute even a little towards finding a cure. Hopefully we can help save people in future generations from having to go through what our families are going through.

Upcoming Show

Check out my table at this great craft show October 25th in Medford, NJ! This show has more than 70 great vendors and is 100% handmade! Handmade Faire - Halloween Edition

If you love shopping on Etsy then come on out - lots of the vendors are Etsy sellers.

If you love craft shows then this is one you can't afford to miss!

And last but not least - if you love Halloween then this is the show for you!!

I'm blushing!

I just wanted to direct you to an article about yours truly written by Tamara of Tamara's Herbes. Here's the article: http://www.tamarasherbes.com/DragonsDen.html

Keep watching here for an upcoming feature of Tamara's wonderful shop!

Etsy Green and Clean First Sunday Sale!

Here's a last minute notice about a sale that's starting now (6 p.m. Sunday, July 6th). Several team members from the Etsy Green and Clean Guild (EGCG) will be posting specials for tonight only.

So if you're looking for B&B products, soaps, lotions, scrubs, perfumes, candles, etc. then you need to check out these great deals!

See this thread on the Etsy forum to see the details of the specials.

This is a monthly EGCG Sale, so keep watching next "First Sunday" for more great deals.


And my sale tonight is 20% off everything in my shop! So if you're looking for natural soaps, shampoos, lotions, candles or pet treats then you need to check out my shop!

Sale runs tonight only from now (6 p.m. EST) to midnight tonight PST.

Dragon's Den
Handcrafted Natural Items for Body and Soul

Who Do You Love?

Here's a quick and easy contest for everyone. You've got a chance to win while also showing off a favorite Etsy seller! You could win a $10 credit to my Etsy shop Dragon's Den. This can be used at any time with no minimum purchase.

Leave a comment here today (before 9 a.m. EST Friday, July 4th) and tell me one of your favorite shops on Etsy. If you want it can be your most recently "hearted," or it can be one of your faves that you feel like promoting because they're awesome!

Then tomorrow morning after 9 a.m. I'll choose one commenter at random. So be sure to include some way for me to contact you. Even if you just leave your Etsy ID I can contact you that way. :)