How Did I Become the Candle Lady?...and What is Up for 2015?

Pottin' Shed soy candle hand poured at The Junk Ranch

It seems like I've become known now as the "candle lady" around these parts. I do love making them, burning them, and sharing them with friends and family.

Me in 1990 I believe sitting on an early floorcloth design

As I logged into my Facebook page this morning to post something about...yep, candles...I noticed that I had hit 2800 LIKES. Not bad for a neglected page, but it also hit me that all the new members knew was that I am a candle maker. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but...

For a while I've been feeling a little lost. I'm currently stretched so thin I am not really sure what it is that I DO anymore.

When I started this little junk business in 2009, I got into it in a big way if you will remember. I wanted to make a change from being a floorcloth designer and artist for over 20 years...I wanted to fly by the seat of my pants and do something different every day...and I have. The junk biz has evolved and changed over the years. Bigger some years than others or not at all at times...like now.

2nd Annual Spring Country Marketplace here at the ranch

I've had occasional sales on my own, hosted vendor sales here on the farm with friends and business acquaintances, added a vintage rental option to my shop, had many antique booths , and sold things on Ebay, Etsy and Craigslist. I even hosted a junk workshop and filled my little studio up with wall to wall people resulting in really cool and innovative functional art pieces. I think I may have even inspired a handful of my girlfriends to start their own junk businesses!

Junk Camp 101

My sweet studio and shop

My shop's candle corner

But for the last year, for the most part, I've just made soy candles. Lots of candles. I never intended to do this, but it happened. Sometimes it bothers me, knowing that I'm capable of much more, but yet I do this....well, it doesn't bother me too much...but, 

I have made candles because: 

#1 I enjoy it and I personally burn candles daily

#2 I give them as gifts and donations. 

#3 I have great customers that continue to buy them

#4 That's all I can manage to do right now that remotely looks like the Junk Ranch is still alive.

Once upon a tine, I had wayyy to much stuff. This is only the front half of the shop a couple years ago

I love to style merchandise and photos!

Not many people remember, or maybe never knew, but before I became an artist I was an interior designer. After getting my degree, I worked for several years in High Point working in showrooms and with residential clients. When I became a mom, we decided that I should be a work at home mom and my floorcloth business was started. I had a few design jobs during my art career, but nothing major. There wasn't time. I had a great 20+ year run designing and hand painting floorcloths for clients all over the US. In 2009, I decided to switch gears and try to do more interior design as the handmade/vintage industry was beginning to boom. It was a natural transition, considering we have lived this way in our own home for nearly 30 years. 

A peek at some of the old pick wick boards in our daughter's cottage

I love design and color and space planning. I'm finally getting my fill these days while working on our daughter's house; a small little 70 year old cottage near my parents' home. Working on her house has inspired me to work on our own as well. The cobbler's kids have no shoes...and parts of our home looks like it did at the turn of the century. 

Did I mention pet portraits?...did that too

Being a shop keeper, booth vendor, candle maker, wife, mama, caretaker for 4 dogs and 2 cats and 2 horses, vegetable gardener, herb gardener and house keeper has completely frazzled me!...and now we have Erin's house renovation to finish.

Being a one-woman show is no longer important to me. Having it all has left me missing my favorite things in life:

*spending time with my family and friends...

* sketching and painting...

*decorating our own house...and enjoying relaxing there

  *riding my horse...

*actually, using all of the vegetables and herbs I grow

....and lots more if I continue to peck...

What I'm getting to is...I'm about to move on to the next big thing. ME. 

I'm doing it without guilt. I'm doing it without permission or validation from anyone else. I'm just doing it. I will continue to make and sell a few candles. We will finish the renovation and we will have a nice holiday season.

The new blog will be more concise and clean...and more the ME I am today...or the one I'm at least striving to be. We are re-learning (is that a real word?) to live simply here in our little corner of the world and I am excited to share on a more personal level the things I love and what I do on a daily basis. Not that it's all that exciting, but it should be somewhat more interesting...tutuorials, DIY, gardening, home keeping, animal keeping...you know, just life here on the farm, but with the same cowgirl spirit that started this blog in the first place. 

So, for now, until the end of the year...I am the candle lady. In 2015 I am just Angie.  See you soon!

UPDATE: This is my last post here...continue on to The JunkRanch  to the new website.

Limited Edition Autumn Harvest Soy Candles

Autumn Harvest Soy Candles Limited Edition

Fall officially arrives in five days. I've been burning my Pumpkin Souffle candle since Labor Day. I just couldn't wait. This is my favorite candle burning season. I absolutely love smelling the spices associated with Fall.

Autumn Harvest Collection Pour

This collection smells like a country kitchen. Making them was a heavenly experience. Each day when I would come in from the studio I could smell the day's work in my hair and on my clothes. Each day, I smelled like butter and spices. OMG! 

This year, we have our two best sellers, Pumpkin Souffle and Buttered Rum along with three new scrumptious fragrances...Maple Nut Fudge, Pumpkin Applebutter, and Sweet Potato Pie.

Maple Nut Fudge

You can almost taste these candles! Maple Nut Fudge is a tempting blend of nutty walnut, maple, vanilla, cinnamon and chocolate with just a sweet surprise...a touch of tangerine. 

Pumpkin Apple Butter

I can't say that I've ever eaten Pumpkin Apple Butter, but now I am more likely to start hunting down a recipe! Imagine notes of orange, apple, pear, pineapple and cherries; middle notes of pumpkin, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove with base notes of warm vanilla. Well, there you have it...only better in real life.

Sweet Potato Pie

My oh my...What do you get when you combine candied yams, marshmallow cream, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, orange zest, a splash of lemon and buttery southern crust? Sweet Potato Pie. 

This is a limited edition pour and I will stock them until Thanksgiving or until they are gone. All five fragrances come in 8 oz. and 16 oz mason jars. Pumpkin Souffle and Buttered Rum are also available in assorted Pyrex cups as in past seasons. Don't wait. Enjoy them now! 

You can purchase candles from me here at the studio by appointment or have them shipped to your door 

                                   or

 from Charmed, 3407 D Archdale Rd. Archdale NC

Coffee Collection Soy Candles

Coffee scented soy candles at the Junk Ranch

The coffee is ready....

My new coffee soy candle collection is ready and smelling up the studio with the most wonderful rich aromas of coffee beans, hazelnut and vanilla...and that's just the cold throw. This is another thing I love about soy wax; it smells as good just sitting there as it does lit. Cold, they offer a light scent within a few feet. Lighted, the scent throw definitely fills a large room and in some instances, several.

When just poured they look like the real deal

The coffee collection consists of three customer favorites...the first being Hazelnut Coffee. Not much I can say here to describe it other than mouth watering. If you are a coffee lover this is classic. 

The second one, I call Cup'A Joe. It smells just like it sounds...like a strong cup of fresh brewed coffee.

And, lastly, there is French Vanilla Latte, for the Starbucks crowd. It's a good balance of expresso and vanilla.

4 oz. soy candles in coffee fragrances

They are available in various coffee mugs, cups and 4 ounce jars..that are actually nice to take with you when you travel.

These are now available year round as well as our summer favorite Sippin' Sweet Tea. 

You can purchase candles from me here at the studio by appointment or have them shipped to your door 

                                   or

 from Charmed, 3407 D Archdale Rd. Archdale NC

Southern Summer Collection-Soy Candles

Summer 2014 is unofficially here but for me it's now official with the introduction of my summer candle line. Summer in the south is about as hot and humid as it gets but we sure do love our summers! I've taken inspiration from the things that make summertime wonderful.

Southern Summer Collection
Junk Ranch Soy Candles

Let me show you my Southern Summer Collection...I'd love it if you could smell them but I will have to compensate with good descriptions...

Everyone knows how we love our sweet tea here...not iced, but sweet! Every picnic and cookout includes a jug of sweet tea and if you visit anyone in the south, you will barely get through the door before you're offered a glass.

Sippin' Sweet Tea
Soy Candle

I chose the 100 year anniversary blue Ball jars for Sippin' Sweet Tea for you to keep and enjoy when the candle is gone. This is a fresh scent that will make you think cool thoughts of sitting on the porch sipping tea with a sprig of lemon balm and mint. We've been burning this one for a couple of weeks now and I can tell you it's going to be a classic summer fragrance here! Once you are finished with your candle, carefully remove the wick tab and leftover wax, run it through your dishwasher and drink sweet tea from your jar.

Vegetable gardening has made a huge comeback in the last several years, especially with the ease of square foot gardening...there is nothing, nothing like a homegrown 'mater.

Country Garden
Soy Candle

My Country Garden candle is a wonderful mix of tomato leaves and basil...smells just like you are walking through the garden. It is light and a good choice for those that do not like a strong scented candle..These have been hand poured into vintage Kerr Jars I bought at an estate sale.

I have two different places I call my potting sheds here. One is behind the barn close to the garden and one is under the shed between the herb gardens. At either one I keep a big bag of potting soil for starting plants or re-potting them. I absolutely love the smell of dirt!

Pottin' Shed
Soy Candle

My Pottin' Shed candle has been poured into recycled bean cans and embellished with used bailing twine...just like I start young plants in. You can go into any barn around here and find that most people save their twine after they cut open a bail of hay....so many uses for that stuff to mention. This one smells like...you guessed it...dirt. Earthy and musky. Men seem to gravitate to this one.

I haven't worn shoes with toes in them in a month and I've added one more pair of flip flops to my collection already. The rule growing up was that you couldn't go bare footed until May 1st. I don't do much bare footin' these days because I prefer my feet to be soft now, unlike the days when I would brag about being able to run across the gravel driveway without it hurting my feet.

Bare Footin'
Soy Candle

I love these little quilted jelly jars for my Bare Footin' candle. They are the perfect size for a small table or on your kitchen counter. When you walk into a room where this one is burning you may think the window is open and someone just cut the grass...fresh and inviting!

...And on the same path as dirt and grass are probably a few wildflowers. We have a more and more daisies each year in the field beside our house. They are the first of many that I pick each spring to add to bouquets from my flower and herb gardens.

Pickin' Wildflowers
Soy Candle

 Pickin' Wildflowers is a nice floral and herb scent that smells as good cold as it does burning. It will definitely give your home a pleasant summery aroma.  I've poured them into green collectible vintage style Ball jars so you can enjoy the candle now and the jar later as a flower vase.

And, what would summer be without a beach trip or six? Going to the beach is a given for most of us. It's as close as three hours to Myrtle or five to OBX, which is our favorite.

Sun Tannin'
Soy Candle

This has to be the official "smell of summer". Sun Tannin' captures all that is perfect about the beach. It is the smell you have on your beach towel after a day of swimming and you hang it out to dry...suntan oil, salt, a  little citrus, a  little floral...perfect. I poured twice to get the sand and water effect...maybe next time I will try to get sand, water and top off with a light Carolina Blue sky.

All of these are now available in limited quantities just for the summer. Get them here at the ranch (please call, text, email or send a Facebook message for a pick up time). Please see the sidebar for contact information.

Remember. we keep your favorite "regulars" in stock year round...like Hazelnut Coffee and Lavender mixes. Do not hesitate to ask for a custom order of something you would rather have that is not in stock.

Bring out the Swans...it's still raining!

Hand Poured Soy Candles in Vintage Swan Pottery Vessels

All of this spring rain has surely put a halt on any outdoor picture taking I've wanted to do this last week...or two! On a brighter note, the time inside has given me the opportunity to get a little more organized and I did happen to get a few more individual inventory shots of my rentals.

In the photo above I'm showing two of my vintage pottery swans that I've hand poured scented soy wax into. These are available for rent for entry tables...etc. They will burn for your entire event or longer and will  greet your guests with a pleasant aroma of your choosing. I stock all of the popular fragrance oils and can order by request....such a special touch for your special day or event!

A chipmunk sipping rain water from a leaf that had blown up on our front porch

The daily rains have also forced me to slow my roll and to try to enjoy a somewhat slower pace...giving me an opportunity also to notice that there is another world existing right under my nose that I'd ignored for quite a while...

A fledgling wren I found in the herb garden

I love my work, but I also love living out in the country and farm life. It takes balance to do it all. I'm still working on that...and focus! 

This summer, I'm making it my goal to live a balanced life. I'm blessed that I can and I'm very grateful! I love my life on the farm and my design and rental business that I run right here from home. It's the very best of both worlds. 

As I look out my window now...it's raining...again, but, that's okay.

Work Table Wednesday

Lots on the worktable this week...and it looks like it will stay that way for many weeks to come. Yay!

I have two worktables in the my studio these days. The large 8' x 8' upstairs in the actual studio space and a new to me old metal porch set that I got at an auction for $2. One of the best deals ever!

Have I mentioned I LOVE my studio? I really do. I know I am very fortunate to have such a great place to work. A few weeks ago, I decided to take back some work space downstairs in the shop, rearranged, moved in the table and set up an area for making candles and other projects I wouldn't want to work on upstairs for some reason or another. It makes a nice display piece too when I'm not using it for a work table.

The new work table area

It used to look like this back there

I made my first batch of Holiday soy candles yesterday...Pumpkin Souffle.  It was so nice to have everything in one place and not have to mess up my kitchen and dining room. The studio and shop smell like Thanksgiving Day. Yum!

My brother-in-law, the plumber, got us this old farm sink and Rick built the base.  I'm using an enamel table top as a back splash until I find another use for it.  The shelf above is an old green chippy locker door.

I'm using found objects as candle containers this season. Can't wait to show you how cute! 

 Upstairs, on the big table are three file boxes awaiting embellishments. They are the same file boxes from the Container Store that I used on the last keepsake box project.

Such a nice box to start with!

Two boxes are for little boys and the other one obviously is for a little girl. I've shopped for papers and other embellishments and now I have to get busy piecing it all together. I'm still looking for what I want to use for feet.

For a boy with navy and other blues and red as an accent

For a boy with classy Ralph Lauren type patterns

For a girl with a bold floral and polka dots

I should be pretty far along by next Wednesday and hopefully they will already begin to look like the keepsake boxes they are meant to be. Stop by for Work Table Wednesday next week and see.

So, back to the work table(s). What are you working on this week?

New Growing Pains...

Since last week we've taken another step into the junk antique and vintage business...

We've taken a booth at the Depot at Gibson Mill...We will begin moving in in September. Why a booth?

We are bursting at the seams!

...and this is just two corners! I keep finding the coolest treasures and have continued to make new things as well. Also, we can't continue to work at this crazy pace, wearing ALL of the hats...this is supposed to be fun! 

But, not to worry...we will still be open by appointment here at the Ranch! This is manageable. We would like to have at least one big occasional sale a year, maybe with vendors...but we will see what time actually allows. 


 I'm hoping to thin out and be less cluttered here...and to use the shop to introduce new things so that family and friends get first dibs...but you'd better look quick! 

If you would like to be on our mailing list you can sign up from the link in the sidebar.

Did you notice this little cutie in the photo above? We're getting a nice selection of vintage children's items like this very sweet Margaret Holbrook doll case.

...and these 1930's and 40's framed paper dolls...Snow White, Shirley Temple and Beth from Little Women.

In September some things will be on sale 20% off that are spring-y and summer-y. Give us a call for a private shopping appointment!

...and you will want to come stock up on summer candles to finish out the warm evenings...some are perfect year round in the bath, like Lilac, Cucumber, Sage or Jamaica Me Crazy.

Okay, so....

As soon as the booth is stocked I will post photos and let you know how to find us...our first hint...it's near the diner! 

Three days and Counting...until...

Father's Day

Happy Father's Day!

With Father's Day approaching I thought I'd throw out a few ideas for gift giving. If your Dad is like mine he already has everything and says he doesn't need anything.

Remember those little coupon booklets we made for Dad as children? A coupon for a car/truck wash, breakfast in bed, or for mowing the yard...and then there was one for something that included us...a day of fishing or trail riding or even better a weekend of camping. Those were the days!

In the shop, we have a few things Dad may like too.

For the collector Dad...

Collectible oil cans

Handmade fishing/tool box and old tools

Collectible cameras

For the writer Dad...

Hand lathed pen and pencil sets by Charles Hepler

Letter opener sets / pen and pencil sets

Soy Candles for burning while writing

Masculine scents like Caribbean Teakwood in various sizes and containers

For the art appreciating Dad...

1950's  framed Charlie Russel prints 

Dyrk Godby print, "Countin' 'em out"

Vintage Travel Trailer  art by Paige Bridges

These are only a few suggestions...we have more! Come see us for your Dad's unique gift! Open this weekend 10-5 Friday and 10-2 Saturday.