photo courtesy of Ashley at TLE.

Exciting news part one: You can now buy Lumi candles in downtown Portland at Tender Loving Empire! TLE is located off of SW Stark + SW 10th, by Powell’s Bookstore and yummy food carts. It’s a super cute shop with lots of gorgeous displays of jewelry, clothing, and cool knick knacks.

News part two: You might have noticed a larger Lumi candle in the above photo, and you’d be correct. That is the first of the 7oz Lumi candles - same scents you love, but in a larger size with a glam new label! Get over to Tender Loving Empire and check ‘em out.

Storefront of Tender Loving Empire (412 SW 10th Ave. Portland, OR 97205).

Port of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands

Hi All,

Back from a 2wk vacation - I went on an 8 day cruise to the Caribbean with my Mom, Sister, Grandma, Aunts, & Uncle. It was nice to get some family and ocean time. I also stayed on in MI a few days before heading back to Portland. Here’s a photo of a baby llama + mama from the farm I use to volunteer on in Northville, MI. 

Stay tuned for shop updates & some exciting new announcements!

<3 Kaitlyn

I’ve got two new things to share with you all - first, a new scent “Vanilla-mint” that has been known jump start the brain and nourish the senses!

Second, you can find these new Vanilla-mint candles at Portland shop Little Edie’s on N. Williams. If you haven’t been, I suggest you go - the shop owner & her staff are super nice and you can find all sorts of eclectic treasures from vintage clothing to handmade jewelry.

Little Edie’s - check it out!

Soy Wax

I’d like to do a post about the ingredients I use to make each candle. I’ve mentioned about them before and figured I might as well be comprehensive. I work mainly with soy wax because it is a cost effective alternative to paraffin, which is a by-product of crude oil refinement. Soy wax burns cleaner and at cooler temperatures, increasing total burn time. Also, it is biodegradable, which makes a lot of sense for the life cycle of a product.  

Beeswax from Alberta Co-op

I add beeswax to my candles because I love the hint of honey scent, as well as the warmer color it gives to the overall appearance of the candle. Also, I like to think that beeswax contributes to the scent throw, since soy is such a finicky wax to hold scent in.

Essential Oil from Mr. Green Beans

I buy oils from Mr. Green Beans on Mississippi St. because they are in my neighborhood and I prefer to buy locally. Also, it is great having supplies so close - if I’m out of oils, I can just walk a few blocks and wah-la! I’ve also mentioned before that I only use essential oils because of the toxic mystery bag that “fragrance” is. Fragrance can contain hundreds of chemicals (like phthalates, which have been found to disrupt the endocrine system) without being labeled. 

Cotton wicks in a small batch of Vanilla-wood candles drying. I use chopsticks to keep the wicks in place :)

Cotton wicks offer a clean burning candle, too. Since soy burns at a cooler temperature, cotton wicks produce enough heat without added lead or metal core wicks (often found in paraffin candles).

my attention has been split between re-doing my portfolio website, making things for the shop, and being outside in this random 80F degree weather. it’s sorta a struggle as I only work in short bursts on each projects, oscillating back an forth. but, the weather this week is suppose to be gray, so at least I won’t feel guilty for doing computer work.

speaking of struggles, my goals for the week include going to stores in town and finding out their process for carrying handmade goods. self-promotion is not something that comes easy to me, or most people I imagine. maybe it’s the midwesterner in me, though I thought girl scouts would have prepared me for this. whatever it is, it’s a skill I need to develop and it’s not without some excitement at the thought of being carried in some of Portland’s ridiculous cute shops that I’ll try a little harder.

I’m sorta addicted to S.C.R.A.P.  now that I live only a few blocks away (previously I lived by a bead store and was in there every week!). while there I found a couple used candle containers that were absolutely plain and nothing special, which is why I liked them. I’m not sure understated is the right word, but maybe familiar is. I decided to make limited edition candles, each about 7 oz. of course, that means a new label design!

I’m also interested in trying out those wood wicks, but have been told they don’t burn well. if you have ideas about what you’d like to see, new scents or wick styles or more, let me know :)

The other day, I walked by the thrift store and saw mountains of baskets for sale. Which was perfect, because I needed some baskets! Living in a house with several other people, I can’t leave my candle making stuffs all around. But, walking up and down the stairs with a handful of essential oil bottles, pounds of wax, scales, and other materials wasn’t working out either. Wah-la, baskets! Getting organized makes it feel so much easier every time I make a new batch of candles. What an idea, having everything in one place :)

In the top photo, there’s a glimpse of some leather tassel accessories I’m working on, along with the various packaging stuffs.

Also, I realized I hadn’t posted any photos of candle making - mainly because I’m constantly watching the temperature of the wax and my hands are busy. So, here’s a double broiler photo as the wax is melting.

as I was telling folks about my Etsy shop, it occurred to me that it would be easier to have cards to hand out instead of scribbling the address onto a scrap of paper. I knew I wanted to print cards through Moo because they do an awesome job with printing photos and their website is so nice. 

to start, I referred to the guidelines provided by Moo to figure out dimensions, file format, etc. I used Illustrator, because that is my program of choice, and also because I tend to change the size/scale of things often, so vector suites that indecision. I knew I wanted to use the photos I had been taking of the candles so people could immediately see the product. also, photography tends to grab my attention and there isn’t, yet, much of an illustrative element to Lumi. with all that in mind, I decide to draw a vector outline of the Lumi diamond logo to create a “cookie-cutter” piece for the photo to display in. I also have a penchant for all caps, and probably because I’m not super knowledgeable about typography, I tend to go for Futura. the back of these cards are simple; grey with a white space created by the diamond outline that houses a bit of text about Lumi candles. I’m happy with the results and the paper stock & weight of the cards feel good in the hand :)

haha, sorry if this post was super boring and methodical! I tend to feel like I should record every detail of the process in case someone is looking for tips or answers to Illustrator questions. if you do have any, feel free to ask and I’ll try my best to answer!

So, how to ship candles. That was something I thought about for a bit, as I wanted the presentation and experience of receiving the candle to be exciting, but I also didn’t want to create waste. I decided on small muslin pouches, that would then be wrapped in “reclaimed” bubble mailers. I admit, the bubble mailers don’t look great, but I am happy to be reusing materials and am also pleased with the muslin pouches. Hopefully, you will be to! Feel free to leave a comment and share how you feel about packaging and the experience it contributes to. 

so, the Etsy shop is stocked and ready to go! There are 2 signature scents, Ginger-Lemon Drop and Vanilla-Wood. Take a peek and please share the link with your friends, if you feel inclined.