Snow in April on the Oregon Coast!?

Can you believe it? We woke up to snow last Sunday, April 20Th. This is what our town and beach looked like when we woke up. We have had snow other days this past winter, but in mid April this was a surprise. The snow did not last long, but was fun to have around. This just adds to our interesting weather for 2007-2008.

We officially have our house on the market. This is not the best time to be selling, but once summer comes so do the people and lookers to purchase rental properties or summer homes on the Oregon Coast. We shall see what happens.

My husband has been having talks with his school about doing some very innovative teaching strategies. If given the right offer, he may remain teaching for another couple years and as a result we will not move at this time. This is an interesting place to be. We love living in Pacific City, Oregon and if the teaching environment is going to change then hmmmmm this may make us think twice.

Time will tell and I will definitely keep updating as we know more.

Shows are about to begin for me. May is a busy month. I have three art/craft shows to be in and two Farmer's Markets start. My in-laws run one of them in Gresham, Oregon and I run the one in McMinnville, Oregon. Wow, this should be a start to a good summer. I have been accepted to some new shows this summer and I am excited to try them out. My website will have all the updates as to what shows we will be at, their times and locations. You can go to www.pauperscandles.com/Retailstores.html and take a look. I also had some new signs made for my booth and for my in-laws booth. These are the best signs I have had yet. I am anxious to put them up and see how they look.

I need to go and record some burn times on the candle testing. I will write about this next.

Don't forget to light your favorite candle with a nice Spring Scent. It helps me to remember that Spring is here, even if the weather does not make it seem like it.

Happy Burning
Krista Webber

Candle Testing

Here I am finally testing the new CD wicks I received. I am excited to see if these work better. I am looking for a more even burn, less soot, less wick timmings falling off and less mushrooming. We shall see if any of these elements are better with these wicks than with the wicks I currently use. Time will tell and I will keep you posted.

I was able to go with my husband to Ashland, OR this last weekend and we saw the Shakespeare play A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was an entertaining performance. The director had his idea of what he wanted to bring out in the play. My husband and his co-workers all had their opinions. For those who do not know Ashland, Oregon and the Shakespeare Theatres there, they are known world-wide and some of the best actors and actresses come to perform there. It is an amazing place and they run many plays during their season. This last weekend the weather was in the 80's and I was soaking in all the sun I could get. Here on the coast it has been very rainy. I am ready for Summer already.

Well, it is time for me to check and document my first burn times for the candles. I am off for now. Have a great day

Dream to Reality

Today our realtor is coming to finalize the paperwork to put our house up for sale. We have been getting it ready with final touches for the last few months and decided to put it on the market now at the beginning of spring.

Our dream, since we have been married 13 years ago, was to have our own business and be debt free. We have worked hard these past years to pay all our student loans off, remain credit card debt free and have started Pauper's Candles. Selling our home will be a huge step in this process. Mark will be able to join me in running our business, Pauper's Candle Company. I am excited about this possibility and can hardly believe we are at this point!

We think that it is time to move Pauper's into a bigger shop where we both can work on the business full time. We are now located on the Oregon Coast. Where will we relocate the business? We are not sure. We have looked at many different locations all over Oregon and Washington. We shall see what happens when we sell our home.

Our Motto this year, "2008 is Gonna Be Great!" is shaping up to be just that.

Bye for now and may April be full of scents and Spring aromas.

The Painted Hills in Oregon

This Spring Break my husband Mark and I and another couple took a short trip to see parts of Oregon that none of us have ever seen before. We had a great time. It was nice to take a break from Pauper's and my husband is a teacher, so he was able to take a break from teaching.

I did not know that the Painted Hills in Oregon were so beautiful. They are located outside of Prineville near Mitchell heading east on Highway 26. We spent quite a bit of time hiking around enjoying the beauty of nature. It was nothing but cool!!

We also went to the three John Day Fossil Bed stops. The fossil beds were fascinating. They are still digging up new fossils today.

We also drove around Joseph, Oregon, which is Northeast of Baker City. This area has become a little artist destination. We traveled to many little and some ghost towns up in this area of Oregon. There was still snow on the ground in many spots.

We also went through some little towns below Interstate 84 named Condon, Fossil, Antelope and a few others. The diverse landscapes between these towns was awesome. We saw from prairie, to rolling hills, to rock landscape throughout this area. We loved it.

Sometimes it is necessary for the soul to see new places, meet new people, and take a step away to collect ones thoughts and gain new perspectives. We all need to take a moment every now and then.

Wicks, Wicking, Wicked

As far as candles go, finding the right wick can be a continual process. I like the wicks I am currently using, but I think I can do better. There is always room for improvement when it comes to creating the prefect candle!

In my Candlelighter newsletter from the IGCA, I found an advertisement sheet from a wicking company and this had me thinking even more about testing some new wicks. I called the wicking company, Wicks Unlimited, and they had some good suggestions and recommendations as far as which wicks to test.

I currently use a wick that burns upright and has a solid core. The melt pool that occurs tends to be even. I was told that these wicks work good with soy wax, but there is another wick that does not have a solid core. It is a braided wick. This wick tends to bend when burning and does not mushroom or have the carbon built up as much as wicks that burn straight. I was told that this wick also works well with soy wax.

The company offered to send me some samples. I thought that this was great. So after talking on the phone with the wick company, I thought that I would look in my box of extra wicks. Guess what? I found some of these wicks. I think that this is the wick that I first used when I started making candles. Funny how things come back around. I had to test the two sizes I had. I have burned the two different wicks with two different candles and one candle burns great and the other I am not sure is any better that what I currently am using. Hmmmmm

I did notice that when it came to the wick, bigger is not always better. The smaller of the two wicks melted the candle slower, but was able to pool the candle, the bigger wick melted the wax too fast and therefore had a tendency to tunnel.

I am going to have to get all the sizes I want in this new wick and pour one scent with all the sizes to see what wick works best and then decide if it is any better than what I am using. I am looking forward to testing all the wick sizes. We will have to wait and see what happens.

You know what I will be doing: Wicking new wicks and testing newly wicked candles.

Until next time, Share a Little Light with someone.

Daffodil Festival in Junction City, OR

I went to the Daffodil Festival this last weekend as a vendor. The festival is held in Junction City in Oreogn at the Long Tom Grange Hall. This was the 32nd year this festival has been held.

This weekend it was rainy, but it did not keep the people away. The daffodils were pretty and everyone enjoyed the cinnamon rolls and coffee that were served to them in the grange. The local talent was out in full force. The local community supports this event.

As a vendor, I had a very pleasant time. I was able to pull my vehicle up to where I was to set up my tent and everything was organized and ready fo the vendors. During both days of the show a woman came to the vendors to offer free coffee, tea, or hot cocoa. This was great and very much appreciated during the rainy times.

This event is great for families to come and enjoy themselves and support their local community.

McMinnville Wine and Food Classic was Full of Class!

I was a vendor at the McMinnville Wine and Food Classic this last weekend, March 7-9. All I can say is the McMinnville Wine and Food Classic was total class all the way. There were hundreds of vendors from Wineries to Food to Art. The set up and layout of the show was excellent and the setting of the show was superb.

The Picture of my Booth is without my Signage. Not as "snazzy" with out it, but I needed a pic. for a show without my Signage and then I forgot to take one with my sign up. Oh, well, can't win them all.

The Wine Classic is held at the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, OR. This is where the Spruce Goose is located, along with many other vintage and modern airplanes. All the Vendors were located on the outside walls and the guests were able to walk through the Classic pick up a glass of wine wonder around the airplanes, have a little food and see what the art vendors had to sell. The Art was all hand made by the vendors, which is always nice. My booth was located almost under the wing of the Spruce Goose. What a cool spot that was.

From the beginning of the show to the end, the vendors were treated with nothing but respect and thankfulness. Each vendor had a booth that was sectioned off with curtains and had a skirted 8ft table ready to be used. Each morning and afternoon, there were breakfast and afternoon snacks supplied in the vendor room. There was always a pot of coffee on, which my husband and I loved. The many volunteers had everything organized upon arrival and departure for the vendors. I have to say this was one of the nicer show I have done. I also have to say that my candle sales were great throughout the weekend.

I will definitely put this on my list of shows to do again.

One funny thing that happened this weekend was that it was day light savings.... and you are correct I forgot!! My husband and I did not realize it until we received a phone call while still driving to the show. Opppsss!!!! The people in charge of the show were so understanding and when we got to our booth my neighboring vendors were running my booth for me. How awesome is that?! Like I stated already, the show was class all the way.

Right now I am heading down to cook candles and get ready for the Daffodil Festival this weekend in Junction City, OR. I will blog about this next week. Until then, enjoy the longer evenings.