Where All the Magic Happens: Art & Candle Studio Tour

Hey, finally checking in! Man I can’t believe I took so long to update my blog since earlier this month–I’d been busy jumpstarting my prelaunch campaign and ensuring I’m locked in not just for rotating and curing my batches, but also tapping into social media side and pushing them out and promoting this exciting new line. We’re now less than a full month away from launch and I’m stoked to see just how far Brighter Blaze has come in just the first two months. I hope to begin documenting more about the marketing and selling side of my candle, it’s a totally separate beast but a great learning experience to understand how I make businesses work and turn that into something incredible for myself, family, friends, and my art supporters. 🎉

These weeks have been flying by and it’s been incredible witnessing how much traction my candle shop is getting. Just wanted to say thank you and welcome to all of my supporters, clients, and customers, old and new. We’re just getting started! Welcome, welcome 😁🫶 Not to mention this past month was my birthday and I gotta say this is the best birthday yet. I’m grateful and honored to be where I am still living, learning and finding purpose while getting the chance to become older and wiser, make mistakes and do it all over again. This is truly a celebration and full-circle moment for me coming back around the sun, returning to who I am not just as an artist, but simply as a tiny person on a floating rock taking a chance and expressing themselves. 🙌🏾

Now that I’ve got the prelaunch promo going and my collection of candles curing and growing, orders are coming in and support is beginning to follow on my platforms. I’ve built enough momentum to finally rest and maybe catch up on the administrative side while I wait for final materials and supplies to ship in.

I’ve noticed the biggest part of running a small business is the long waiting periods for items to be delivered. I’ve started to give myself a two week grace period when placing orders so there’s plenty of time for orders to be placed and materials to be shipped in.

After receiving my first few candle orders, I immediately aside their chosen candles and set them to my “packaging” area to be prepared and boxed once everything is here. I now have everything in place ready to go. The candles are all set, my packaging and delivery boxes are here, my branded inventory and favors are here, and the last thing to get are all of the labels. I’m going to make a separate blog going through my process with the labels from nailing the design to exploring different printing options–by far one of my most favorite parts of making the candle brand pop.

Ok here’s some photos of my studio, it really is my personal oasis and sanctuary away from the noise of the world and part of why I enjoy creating candles. I hope it gives a little more insight into my creative workflow and how I operate. I love providing transparency and letting others see behind the curtain of how my creative process usually works and lives–especially in this space and when you’re choosing to support a small artist like myself. I encourage everyone to support the arts and patronize the local artists in your area. Art really does make the world go round. Enjoy :)

When I said small, I wasn’t kidding 😅 I love it though. Everything is within reach and I know exactly what i’m looking for lol

Idk what it is about me and hanging bags off of stuff, maybe it creates extra space somehow in my head 😅

I like to display wall art to help add color to a space and also give me inspiration. I don’t bother framing, I change my wall art constantly depending on my mood or time of year. Some pieces are by my past colleagues; I still dig their work a lot.

Two steps to the left…

POV: Turn around like this and you’re in the candle station 💀

My candle pouring platform is in constant state of different phases of the candle-making process. Sometimes its prep day, or pour day, or both… 😅

I don’t want to talk about it but we gotta do something about this 😭

Coffee table books–you can never have too many. I like to keep books on hand to resist the urge to Google/ChatGPT everything lol

And of course, my son and assistant, Hershey is always there to help from the Quality Control couch area. 😭💛🤎

I will share more soon, like my packaging/delivery area and how I organize, pack, and prepare to ship out. This is probably the tidiest my studio will look before I began to assemble and pack the pre-launch orders, so I am enjoying the calm before the rush. I hope you enjoyed the inside look of my workspace and have a better idea of how it all comes together. My next blog will cover all things design and marketing, from labels to promotional ads and branding overview. Can’t wait to see you there! Don’t forget the official launch date November 28, Black Friday!

Thank you again for all the support thus far and helping us bring brighter days.