Templates

TEMPLATES:

The templates shown here are actual size. All can easily be reduced or enlarged on a photocopier, but remember to adapt the size of the card to the size of the item you plan to use on it. Dotted lines indicate fold lines.

EMBOSSED HEART
STENCILLED CUPID
WEDDING CAKE
BOUQUET OF TULIPS
NEW HOME POP UP
STORK MOBILE
FINGER PUPPET CLOWN
RECTANGULAR ENVELOPE
SQUARE ENVELOPE

        INTRODUCTION

I have been making candles since 1968 when a friend came to dinner and brought me a hand-made candle rather than a bottle of wine as a gift. In those days candles that were not of the straight-forward, single colour, tall and slim variety were not to be seen. Even thicker candles
were only used in churches. I was so intrigued with the possibilities of wax that I started to research the subject and to begin making my own candles.
    I soon discovered that wax is a marvellous substance to work with. You can dye it wonderful colours, pour it into unusually shaped moulds, perfume it and model with it. The art of making a candle that will burn the way you want it to and also have the colours and effects that you design is very absorbing.
    Dining or spending an evening in the warm glow of candlelight is now very much a part of our everyday lives, and the use of aromatherapy oils and other perfumes in wax adds to the charm of candles.
    Candles also make wonderful presents. Making your own is far more satisfying than buying something ready-made from a shop, and it is easy to personalize them - either simply by using colours and shapes you know your friends will love, or by decorating them with names, numbers or special messages. In the same way, you change a basic candle to make something special for occassions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween or Valentine's Day.
   Candle making is an extremely satisfying hobby. The basic technique are very simple, and you will probably be able to produce professional-looking candles at your first attempt. It is also relatively inexpensive, and you can recycle both your more unsuccessful efforts and any candle ends. Many people progress from candle making as a hobby to selling candles professionally. Never be afraid to experiment - some of the more thriving candle companies in the world today have based their success on a very simple but innovative candle making idea.

  A BRIEF HISTORY

Before the eighteenth century and the Industrial Revolution, most candles for domestic use were made in the home. They were usually made from tallow, a substance obtained from beef fat.
Everyday candles were nothing like the clean burning, smell-free, controlled fires we so enjoy today - they smoked, dripped and smelt revolting. The only quality candles were made from beeswax for the sole use of the churches and the royal family. But even these quality candles would smoke and drip.

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution, longer working hours meant that more sources of light were required and the production of commercial candles began.  Fairly sophisticated dipping machines were devised where many wicks were dipped at once and lifted out of the vats of hot wax by a counterweight.
   In the early part of the nineteenth century, Michael Chevreul, a French chemist, discovered that tallow contained an important chemical ingredient - stearic acid. Through experiments, he learnt how to separate the stearic acid from the other fatty acids and glycerine also present in the tallow. The result was stearin. The next advance was the extraction of paraffin wax from coal or peat. These two basic ingredients -- stearin and paraffin wax -- transformed the burning quality of candles. They remain the materials that are still used today, with paraffin wax now obtained as a by-product of refining petrol, and stearin extracted from palm nuts.
    The other major improvement in candle making that occurred at the same time was the introduction of plaited cotton wicks. Many different yet inferior materials had been used in the past, including reeds, cloth, thread and string. The idea of plaiting wicks was visionary and a candle made
with braided wick burned far more brightly. In fact, Queen Victoria used the new plaited wicks in the candles made for her wedding.
   However, the ash produced by the braided cotton was still a problem, causing the candle to smoke excessively. This was resolved in the late eighteenth century when it was discovered that if wicks were first soaked in boric acid, they became self-consuming. If you look closely at a burning
candle today you will notice that the wick is continuously consumed by the flame. This means that no carbon is left on the end of the wick, and the candle burns cleanly.
   The mass production of candles began with dipping small batches of candles on frames. This technique is still used, particularly in Scandinavia, and is a development of the technique described on PURE BEESWAX DIPPED CANDLE. Other technical advances include compressing powdered wax into shape under great pressure and also extruding wax into long cylindrical poles which are then cut to size. Needless to say, these methods are not suitable for use in the home!
  It is rather ironic that it was not until the advent of the use of electricity for lighting that the basic art of candle making was finally perfected. since then manufacturing techniques have continued to developed - to the joy of those of us who love sitting in the warm glow of a candle flame.