Etsy meetups, mock-up stalls and earthquakes

Yesterday I went to my first official Etsy Meetup which was great fun! I met some really nice poeple and got to see some great artwork. Now I just need to make a lot of money so I can buy heaps of stuff from the talented people out there :-)We are looking to have another meet up in about four weeks which will be good, I'm looking forward to it!

I have been listing a few new tea cup candles in my Etsy store lately, I especially like this one:

I have called it Bamboo Garden. I have only two of them, if you would like to check it out click here

I am planning to apply for a new market in Williamstown. It will be exciting to give markets a try. But first I need to send my application in. Because the committee wants to see a photo of the potential stall I decided to do a mock-up stall in my garden. This is how I'm planning to set it up (obviuosly with a different tablecloth)

Let's hope they approve my application! I quite like the look of the three steps, I think it suits my candles really well. Do you want to know how it looked like UNDER the table cloth? Take a sneak peak

Hehe, it was a mock-up stall after all.. Again, if I end up going to the market I will obviuosly get myself a proper display instead of random chunks of wood. But it was fun to set it all up, very creative, that's for sure!

And then we had a little earthquake on Friday night!! Unbelievable! I was sitting on my dining/work table when the whole house suddenly started to shake. Our house is very old and a bit wobbly anyway, when you shut the front door the toothbrush falls out of the bathroom cabinet, basically...

So I was thinking that I had maybe knocked the table a bit hard.. but the walls were shaking for about ten seconds and there was a rumbling sound. I was just sitting on my chair, staring at the moving walls in disbelief, wondering whether I should do something, like hide under the table or so. But before I could make any definite choices the whole thing stopped again.

Later I heard about it on the news. Apparently Melbournes strongest earthquake in 36 years.

Hell, I didn't even know that this country gets earthquakes!! I'm from Europe, a continent with very little tectonic activity.

Bushfires, drought, earthquakes.. what comes next??? Maybe I'll wake up to some volcano activity tomorrow.. or how about a hurricane? They are having one up in Queensland right now.. Or what about some serious flooding? I think that would be appropriate after that long drought. And the Eastcoast gets already flooded fairly often...

I wanna go back home!

Ladies and gentlemen, my candles are being stocked at...

I'm very excited, since yesterday some of my most beautiful tea cup candles are being stocked in Melbourne city centre at "Lady", a pretty little Boutique that stocks some great local fashion labels, and now also some tea cup candles by TwilightSpells:-)

photo by ladyboutique

Lovely Petrova who runs "Lady" also has her own fashion label. Take a peek here . (And, pssshhht, she was also on Project Runaway last year...)

If you want to check out her shop go to 237 Flinders Lane, down Scott Alley. It is a fabulous little store!

These are some of the candles I made for her shop, 15 in total. This is the largest order I have had so far, it was a total fragrance-overload.
In the end most surfaces in the kitchen were covered with a thin layer of soy wax, including the floor and I was staggering through a huge mess, frantically hanging on to the saucepan with wax in my hand, numbed by the ovepowering scents of Vanilla, Rose, Frangipani, Chocolate, Lavender... It was an exciting experience! I loved every minute of it, I didn't want to give any of my pretty little tea cup candles away!

New cups!! New cups!!

I have been busily Op-and market shopping over the last two days and I found some little treasures that I would like to share. Firstly, I picked up these two gorgeous little japanese cups yesterday.


And today I went to the Camberwell market which proves to be better every time I go there, it's great! Check it out if you are in the area, it's a great market for all sorts of Vintage finds. If you are good at batering you can get some real bargains. If you are not good at it, like me, you still get good stuff.

First I found this pretty little cup which is made by Villeroy&Boch. I feel specially attached to it already, just because of where it's made. Villeroy& Boch is a German company that does beautiful, exclusive China and other household things that are being sold worldwide.
My grandparents lived very close to where they manufacture and also knew the owners personally. Needless to say that every single piece of china in their house was made by Villeroy&Boch. And even though the design has changed quite a bit over the years (I used to eat from plates featuring detailed farming scenery in bright red and blue) I still feel a little rush of joy and sentimentality when I spy the well-known print on the bottom of a tea cup. This is my little piece of V&B for today



Also found this classy looking English cup. Like it! So nice and stylish and Vintage :-)

Found two of these flowery English tea cups.. They will make great candles.

And look what I also picked up: Saucers that match the two japanese cups I found yesterday. How lucky! They look so nice together.

That were my most exciting finds for now, I might finish here and sit outside to enjoy the sun for a bit. I've been so busy doing bits and pieces on my little cup buiness since I have gotten back from holiday that have hardly done anything else. Well apart from the usual, working, household and so on. I might have some Vanilla icecream now, mhmmm, sounds like a good idea :-)

my new stuff

Hiya everyone,



I'm back, I'm pleased to announce that all colds, coughs and similar annoyances are finally gone and I'm back to health. (That little stomach bug i had during my short stay in Sydney two weeks ago is not even worth mentioning...)



I am crazily busy at the moment, trying to add lots of new cups to my Etsy store. I found some lovely cups while i was out and about shopping. I seem to get more and more picky with choosing my cups, i only wanted the nicest stuff!

There are also a few things to organise for my upcoming wedding (excitement, excitement!!). We are getting married in November on the Great Ocean Road. It will be a very small, very informal and personal little celebration and we are very much looking forward to it. But even though it's going to be small there is still a bit to organise.

Then we had the pleasure of having to get our car fixed this week. I thought it didn't sound promising when the car made an asthmatic coughing sound and than kind of died. In short, we needed a new battery and a new Alternator. And don't ask me what that is because i don't know and I'm not even sure if i spelled it right.. But we have a new one now anyway!

Anyway, wallet a lot lighter and car in recovery we decided to spend even more money and booked a "delayed" Honeymoon over New Years Eve in Port Douglas, yippieh!! That's right on the Great Barrie Reef and i can't wait to go snorkeling! And lay on the beach! And just hang out! And and and.. It should be good!



Anyway, i better start adding some photos.



I took a few photos of the soy wax melts I'm going to put into my Etsy store shortly. I'm still testing them.. with the weather being so nice in Melbourne lately i have the doors and windows open all the time and any scent would disappear quickly, makes testing a bit hard.

There are my little heart melts, they just need some colour i think.. but the scent of the essential Lavender oil is very nice!

Actually i wanted to add a few more pics of today's finds at the Camberwell market but I'm a bit tired now, i might just go to bed..:-) and admire my new dressing table in the bedroom, photo follows soon!

Nightie night everyone! See you soon!

a bit about me

Hello and welcome to Twilight Spells!

My name is Ruth (my passport tells me that I’m 26 years old, must be right;-) ) and I am the person behind the whole idea. I am originally from Germany but currently living in Melbourne, Australia with my fiancé. Sometimes love really takes you to the other side of the world.. :-)

Melbourne is a fantastic city that offers lots of creative inspiration, although it surely takes a lifetime to get used to the local weather and it’s sudden changes!

I have travelled lots and lived in different countries over the last few years. That has taken me through a lot of different jobs including Paediatric Nursing, Childcare, Kiwi grading, Fruit picking (You’ve got to try everything when you are on a Working Holiday in New Zealand- it was great fun! ;-)), Live-In Care Work, currently I’m a Nanny…

I’m quite passionate about Natural Materials and Recycling, not surprising I guess, having grown up in a German household with it’s four different bins plus all the extra specific Recycling :-)Add a general love for special Vintage/Second-hand pieces, the desire to try all sorts of Arts and Crafts, and the idea for Twilight Spells was born.

About a year ago I started making my first mosaics and was hooked immediately. I especially love working with stained glass, I’m fascinated over and over again by the beauty of light falling through the glass and making it sparkle…

Then, a few months ago I came across soy wax for the first time. I was curious about this different type of wax I had never heard of before and was looking for more information. I learned about all the benefits of soy wax ( I didn’t know that “normal” wax is a by-product of crude oil, not a very appealing thought there!) and couldn’t wait to get started on making my very own soy candles.

And suddenly there was the idea for my Vintage Twist tea cup candles... I have always liked these pretty, old English style tea cups, I just never really knew what to do with them since I’m not much of a collector. But as candles.. Yeah, that seemed like a great idea! I hope that you will enjoy my tea cup candles just as much as I do!

I spend a lot of time hitting the local Op/Charity shops, markets, Second-hand places… All my cups and mosaic candleholders are bought second-hand and therefore recycled. The glass I use for my mosaics are off-cuts from a glass cutting place. I try to reuse and recycle as much as possible in my products.

If you have any questions, thoughts, ideas or just want to chat please get in touch, I’d love to hear from you!

I will start selling some of my products shortly on: www.twilightspells.etsy.com
Have a look if you like...

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Regards,

Ruth