Hartmont Candles Blog

It’s all about the color!

2011-06-28T14:58:00.000-07:00

“The whole world, as we experience it visually, comes to us through the mystic realm of color. Our entire being is nourished by it. This mystic quality of color should likewise find expression in a work of art.” ~Hans Hofmann
German-born American Abstract Expressionist Painter, 1880-1966

Spiced Cranberry ~ Aurora Collection Hartmont Candles Fall 2011

What can I say but Hans knew what he was talking about! There is nothing more exciting than finding the perfect color blend and combination that makes a candle look amazing. When I first poured our new Aurora Line, I was excited by the depth of color that I could get with 100% Soy that I never could before doing this technique. Of course, a few weeks of experimentation were required to get the wax and color to do exactly what I wanted but I just whispered to the wax, and it all worked out. I believe my whisper was something like this....”hey wax, let’s behave ourself and turn out looking awesome, okay?” Imagine the happy dance that I was doing when it actually did what I envisioned.

Working with 100% all natural wax certainly has it’s challenges. Soy is notorious for having a mind of it’s own and doing different things within even the same batch depending on the cooling temperature of the room, the humidity, the space between candles, whether or not the Dodgers win and whether or not the wax is a fan of the Dodgers. You get my drift. What I’m saying is that 100% Soy wax is hard to work with. To get it to consistently do anything is a feat unto itself. But once you do tame this wild beast that we call soy wax, it is the most fun wax to work with and I have grown quite fond of it.

I think with the mutual respect that soy and I have for each other from years of learning it’s ways, we have become an awesome team. I cannot wait to see what other little quirks it will reveal to me that I can then make into our next amazing color!

We are a team!

2011-06-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

A little more about Hartmont scented candles! I am on a constant hunt for the next scent that makes me swoon. My very first candle that I ever made (many, many years ago) was on my farm. If you know anything about old farm houses, you know that they tend to acquire certain smells that aren’t necessarily good. Our old farm house suffered the same fate. Many years of Spring seepage and general “farmy”ness had given it this certain something.

A pic of me and one of my ponies!

Did I forget to mention that I have a certain love of all things horse-like?! Now this, to me, is an awesome smell but not everyone would agree. In an attempt to freshen things up on my farm, I decided that if I could make my own pickles (infinitely better than anything store bought ever) and conquer a myriad of other things, then surely I could make a candle. How hard could it be? Ha. Little did I know what I was delving into and yes, it does take some time and years to perfect making a candle. My first candle was purple, scented Mulberry and smelt divine! I’m still a fan of anything Mulberry. However, that scent was pretty much one note. I’ve expanded my palate since then and tend to try to go for more complex scents. I love to blend really great, one note scents together and see what happens. Some of our best selling scents happen this way...

For example, our Cucumber Wasabi takes the clean, fresh fragrance of cucumbers and kicks it up a notch with the extra sparkle that Wasabi adds.

So, if you ever meet me at a test market, please sniff the samples and give us your honest feedback. Your responses, requests and suggestions do impact the development of the Hartmont scent line. You have almost as much part in it as I do. Together, we make amazingly scented candles!

New Website Launch, Great Sales Offer & FREE draw!

2011-06-03T11:17:00.000-07:00

We’ve waited and finally it is here! There will be no more confusion over whether it is hartmont.com or hartmontcandles.com because both will take you to our new and improved website. You can look, you can find out more about us and you can shop....all at the same place.

June also happens to be the month that we officially made our first sale as Hartmont Candles. That would make this our 5^th Anniversary! To celebrate our new webpage

and anniversary we are offering the following amazing offer for everyone! With the purchase of $75 or over, you get FREE shipping, your choice of a FREE 6 pack of tealights (Chocolate Decadence, Irish Cream, Masala Chai or Creme Cafe) AND a FREE Small Jar Aurora Candle of your choice, while supplies last. That makes it roughly around $30 to $40 dollars (because shipping varies) in FREE Hartmont product or another way of saying it would be to say about 50% of your order in additional FREE product!! It’s our way of saying thank you for being a supporter of Hartmont Candles. We appreciate you!

We are also offering a FREE draw to everyone who signs up at our Hartmont Group. Please share and encourage your friends to join our group and when it reaches 200 members we will have a draw of those members for the following package for one lucky member.

A Ginger Lime package that includes:

1 – 6 oz Ginger Lime Fiesta Candle (with gift box)

1 – 4 oz Ginger Lime Fiesta Candle

1 Ginger Lime tealight package (6 tealights)

1 Ginger Lime melt

2 Ginger Lime 100% Soy Votives

1 Hartmont Raspberry Lemonade Goatsmilk Soap

That is $51.50 worth of FREE Hartmont Product by simply joining our Hartmont Group and asking your friends to join. Be sure to follow my blog for information on more FREE draws and specials. There is alot of fun planned for this summer!

Perfect time to blog ... Part 2!

2011-05-02T14:13:00.000-07:00

*** First Test Market of the year! May 14th 295 Sutton Avenue, North Kildonan.

I blogged a short while ago that the perfect time to blog is waiting for wax to melt. And now as I have finished pouring candles, I realize that the perfect time to blog is also when wax is hardening. So here I am, in the warehouse all by myself , feeling shut away from the world and not being able to go anywhere as I wait for my wax to harden. It is exciting as each candle hardens differently and ends up looking different so it’s kind of like a surprise but I still must wait. And while I wait I think about the upcoming Farmer’s Markets 2011.

I am actually looking forward to Farmer’s Markets this year and that should be very exciting for you. When I’m excited about doing something, I kind of go all out! Christmas is the example that jumps to mind. I do the whole nine yards....big turkey, big tree, homemade pickles, gingerbread..

Our Christmas 2010 version of jazz piano gingerbread, cello, bass guitar and Santa so you can see how overboard we really do go!

The only thing I don’t do is force everyone to dress up in Victorian garb and sing Christmas carols around the tree but if I could, I would. Trust me. Anyway...this year, I am looking forward to Farmer’s Markets. I’ve got promotions planned to build excitement around our booth and excitement for Hartmont Candles & Soaps. I am now only hoping that the weather cooperates and gives us lovely selling weather on Wednesdays and Saturdays this entire summer. That’s not much of a request, is it?

We will most definitely have never before sold scents that we’ll be trying out to see how you feel about them. And on the soaping front, I will be making my own Goat’s Milk soap from scratch that I have not done before. Be sure to follow us on facebook and/or twitter or even on this blog to find the places to look for us. Don’t be surprised if you get a big hug from me when I see you. It’s been a long Winter and I’ve missed you!

*Our first test market will be at the River East Collegiate 2011 Grad’s Craft Show & Small Business Shopping Experience. Okay, it’s not a short title but it’s going to be an amazing event on Saturday, May 14, 2011. The address is 295 Sutton Avenue, North Kildonan. See you there!

The perfect time to blog!

2011-04-26T13:41:00.000-07:00

The perfect time to write a blog is when you are waiting on wax to melt. I turned off the soy melter last night and then forgot to turn it back on when I came in first thing this morning. Oops! So now, when it’s time to get to work finalizing the development of the NEW Aurora Collection, I have no melted wax and have to wait and blog about it instead. See our Woodland Whisper design below!

I cannot tell you how excited I am about the new collection! It’s a technique that I’ve known how to do for about 3 years now but just never felt compelled or inspired to play with it. While thinking about Christmas this coming year, I knew that we needed something new to get people even more excited about our brand. We LOVE the fans who are excited about us now but we still need more! Let’s just say that we’re not making the BIG guys shake in their boots yet.

Taking the great suggestions from folks that I’ve met at Farmer’s Markets and test markets along with what we have been hearing from our current retailers, we have found a jar with a lid that contains the scent of the candle, made some new and interesting scents and made some really cool color creations with our Hartmont creativity!

You would think that we would be done but no.....we have fully tested and approved our new wood wicks! The Aurora Collection will all have wood burning wicks that sizzle and crackle like a fireplace. How awesome is that?! The first test samples that have gone out are coming back with rave reviews. Be sure to look for us this Summer at market where we’ll be testing out even more new and exciting candles and soaps.

No Mid-January blahs here!

2011-01-17T14:13:00.001-08:00

Cantaloupe Kiss

We just finished pouring some of my all time favourite, Cantaloupe Kiss! Cantaloupe Kiss disappears for the Wintery months but returns in the Spring and Summer to bring happy smiles to those who love this scent. There are no blahs when smelling this one. It is a delightful scent made by blending our special version of juicy, fresh cantaloupe and just the right touch of delicate, exotic lily. It is not perfumey or too floral at all. It is just beauty blended into perfection. Mmmmmm....a Hartmont candle.

We're also known for our soaps!

We're not just about candles. With the cold, drying wind out there, we are especially enjoying our moisture bars. They are 25% shea butter which means that they are soothing for your dry and cracked skin. These All Natural Moisture Bars have no added colorants or fragrance. We simply add a touch of honey and some ground oatmeal for a light, refreshing scrub. They are perfect for the most sensitive skin and we are proud to announce that we have a NEW "nut free" version made with Apricot oil rather than Sweet Almond oil. Sweet Almond is soothing for irritated skin but for those with allergy concerns (always better to be safe than sorry) we have our Honey Oatmeal Apricot version.

Be sure to watch our webpage for updating soon! In 2011 this soap will only be available on line, at test markets and at a very few, select retailers. We've been test marketing this soap for the past year and have people who swear by it's soothing, moisturizing qualities in the Sweet Almond version. Head over to our facebook group and enter our draw this week for a free bar of this moisturizing soap!

2011-01-03T13:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Hartmont fans!

To welcome in the New Year, it is with delight that I bring to you the Hartmont Candle Company blog. There are so many new and exciting things happening in the warehouse that I am having trouble picking our first topic and have the next 7 or 8 topics ready to go.

It would make sense to start with our new line of Spring/Summer 2011 which is being pre-sold to retailers now. We are so excited with the new scents added to the line that all performed strongly in our test market! We have some excellent fresh and spa scents new to the line along with some sweet treats and elegant aromas you are sure to love! And of course, spring brings the return of our seasonal favorites like Cantaloupe Kiss, Caribbean Cooler, Vanilla Grapefruit and more!

Best of all, we are tickled pink to announce the unveiling of our latest, limited edition Gift Set in our Music By Candlelight series! We have once again found the perfect pairing between our top selling, custom designed, hand poured Satsuma Guava and Michael Buble's latest CD containing his new release Hollywood. Stay tuned to see the design for this awesome set! Be sure to check out this video - Michael just makes us tap our toes and smile!

Where there is darkness, may you always bring light!