The actual carving of this candle within a candle was done by a superbly multi-talented artisan to depict the logo of a Carols By Candlelight committee. Vreni also sculpted the masters for our Figurine candles. Those were so spectacularly unpopular we haven't even included a photo here ( nothing to do with the design or workmanship ).It was a shame because, if they had proved successful, I promised we'd do one of a dominatrix - you know, lots of chains, "leather" and standing over a subjugated man !

For those who have visited our site before, it's easy to disbelieve that this page has finally been completed - responsibility for heart attacks will be denied.

The Glow-in-the-dark pyramid candles were a bit of an enigma. Definitely spooky if a batch was left out when the lights were turned off for the night. These were probably the most difficult candles we developed, the pigments being extraordinarily awkward to work with.

Candles from beeswax foundation sheets were all the rage for quite some time and I'm sure all bees everywhere were disgusted to know that their hard won wax was going up in flames. Of course we still use it in the production of many church candles but that could be described as being in a good cause.

Yes, those are little terracotta plant pots - what we used to describe as disposable moulds. Attractive and very craft-like the candles were effective and almost a pleasure to make, especially once we'd persuaded the pot manufacturers to stop putting holes in the bottom !

What reminiscence would be complete without reference to what could loosely be called the glassware. Before the Bundaberg rum people became part of a multi-national corporation they were easy to deal with. We made rum bottle candles for over 19 years until they terminated our licensing arrangement - our most enduring product line.

And, yes, those are the old style Vegemite "jars". These were a follow-up to the rum bottles but weren't as successful. Does that say something about Australian values ? Liquids in preference to solids ? !

The full Vegemite photograph appeared in the local newspaper and was seen by a visiting Channel 7 TV presenter who, because of adverse weather conditions, cancelled the intended segment and filmed us instead. It created quite a deal of interest and the business was eventually featured nationally in three separate programmes ( why is it that on each occasion I was desperately in need of a haircut ? ). I also recall doing a 20 minute long interview for ABC radio at about that time as well.

All of these types of business promotion work well and benefit all concerned. When you start paying for them, they seem to lose something. Exhibiting at Trade Fairs is such an example. It was interesting and made a change to my routine but the all-up costs were never covered by the value of sales made with little or no follow-up business. If anyone wishes to purchase a transportable 4 by 2 metre exhibition stand shell ( it packs up into two compact modules - see under ) then please get in touch with us.

On the other hand demonstrating candlemaking for 10 days at World Expo 88 in Brisbane was exhilarating. The atmosphere could almost be descibed as heady and the visitors, almost without exception, were friendly and appreciative whilst also being inquisitive. The only time to date where we've made candles in airconditioned premesis - what bliss !

In previously dealing mainly with the gift and homewares industry we always felt that our customers weren't fully exploiting existing products before demanding new lines ( which are expensive to develop ). The flood of cheap imports didn't help our cause either - many of them look fine but you wouldn't want to burn them !

These are the main factors that led to us changing the focus of the business which is what you now see on the other pages of this website.