More Jam Jar Tealight goodness

Our surprise hit of 2012 was the product we collaborated with Joost on – Jam Jar tealights.  A perfect illustration of 1 + 1 = far more than 2.  A glass jam jar + a pure beeswax tealight candle = hours of loveliness.  A jar full of romance?  And ampule of ambience?  A window of perfection?  Oh, don’t get me started… I’m just back from a great break and I’m feeling the love.

Anyway, the break gave me an opportunity to get to some of the 1,000 unread emails in my inbox (whoops) which made me realise that you wanted more options.  Of course, options mean me holding stock (so that we can ship out your goodies outrageously fast), but the brain cells have brainstormed and they all agree that this is a fabulous idea.

So, with no further ado, we have two new options available in the Jam Jar tealights… a box of 8 Jam Jars tealights (8 jars + 8 candles)

Pack of 8 Jam Jar beeswax tealight candles with 8 jars

And a box of 60 Jam Jar tealight refills (which is a great complement to our Jam Jar tealight Party Pack).

With that many pure beeswax Jam Jar tealights you can create beauty like this

For your valentine (or wedding candles)

 

or this…

 

For the directionless

Wishing you a very happy, beeswax candlelit 2013.

May your Valentine (be that you or someone else) shower you in natural, golden light, poured by hand from the loins of Australian bees.

___________________________________________________________________

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

Read Full Post »

9 Kris Kringle gift ideas for under $25

10cm narrow pillar – honeycomb ($24.95), King Nutcracker candle ($19.95), Eco-bulb candle ($24.95), Pack of 10 Bee Lights ($24.95), Burning Love ($24.95), Square votive in ceramic holder ($24.95), Pack of 2 Small Christmas Trees ($24.95), Porcelain candleholder ($14.95); Small or Large Beehive candles ($24.95)

 

See over 60 Kris Kringle gift ideas for under $30 here.

_______________________________

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Buy Consciously

I had two blog posts that I wanted to work on today and initially thought they were separate subjects.  One on “Buy Nothing New Month” and one on Conscious Giving – but then I realised that they’re really one and the same.

I must admit that my initial (knee-jerk) reaction to Buy Nothing New Month was one of horror.  Taken literally, that would be a complete disaster not just for Queen B, but for thousands of Australian manufacturers and small businesses.  Then I started thinking about how it really doesn’t apply to our candles!  Being beeswax, they are essentially recycled.  They’re not ‘new’.  We take a waste product from honey production and turn it into something functional.  Beeswax candles are as ‘vintage’ as it gets.  My lawyer brain was working overtime!

Then I read on…

“It’s about thinking where our stuff comes from (finite resources) and where it goes when we’re done (often landfill) and what are the fantastic alternatives out there to extend the life of our ‘stuff’.”

And you know what, I really get that.  I think about that stuff on a daily basis.  It’s one of the reasons that we only use 100% pure Australian beeswax – infinite (if we look after our bees), long lasting, naturally carbon neutral, non-toxic, no landfill content (soy, palm and paraffin all have a very high environmental cost).  It’s why we don’t make square candles (too much wasted beeswax).  It’s why we use sinamay bags (a waste product from banana harvesting that is completely biodegradable).  It’s why we use Australian sourced, FSC certified card for our packaging (smaller environmental footprint than recycled card as it turns out).

And that then gets me on to my second post which was all about conscious giving.  Choosing carefully.  While it may seem too early to be talking about the festive season, when you’re pouring candles individually from an enamel teapot, you get started on Christmas early!… and I happen to know that we have lots of ‘A type’ personalities in our customer base (takes one to know one) who are planning end of year teachers gifts!  Anyway, I acknowledge my own bias, but if you are considering gifts (be they birthday, corporate, festive, teachers, lovers or just because), then I know that giving a Queen B candle is a gift that gives many times over.

As for ‘buy nothing new month’, I suggest that we change it to ‘buy consciously every day of the year’.  That Queen B lady… She’s a crazy one!

 

 

---

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

 

 

Read Full Post »

Australian Year of the Farmer – how do you make a difference?

As you probably know by now, supporting Australian beekeepers and regional communities is a big driver at Queen B.  So, we’re all for anything that promotes Australian farmers and gets people thinking about the role that our farmers play and what we can do to support them.  It’s a happy coincidence then that in 2012 we are celebrating Australian Year of the Farmer.  Hopefully we’ll go on celebrating our farmers every year.

AYOF is about celebrating and enriching the connections between rural and urban Australia.  It recognises what farmers do for all Australians. It’s about what we eat; about fresh fruit and vegetables (generally pollinated by honey bees), dairy, grains (pollinated by bees), fish, meat (fed on grain pollinated by bees), eggs and about wool, cotton, timber – all the fine quality products that our farmers grow and harvest in large and small businesses. [And about the integral role in each of these activities, played by honey bees - Ed.]

Australian farms and the industries that support them generate more than $405 billion each year, that’s 27% of our GDP.Australia’s farmers should be recognised and celebrated: for feeding the nation, for leading the world in farming techniques and innovation, and for sustaining the vital agribusinesses that underpin our economy. Farmers are the providers of our nation.

So, to me, the big question is what we can do in our every day lives to support Australian farmers and beekeepers.  Here are a few thoughts:

• only buy Australian fruit and veg – and if the supermarkets don’t have what you want from an Australian grower, complain.  Be belligerent about it.  Just last week I bought crushed garlic in a jar because it was the only way of getting Australian garlic (at 10pm for team lunch at the hive the next day)
• Don’t buy that wretched $1 milk – it’s killing our dairy farmers.  Complain about that too.
• Support small producers where you can by buying at farmers markets, your local fruit & veggie store or organic stores

and buy roadside honey directly from a beekeeper… the supermarket stuff is generally a blend of local and imported honey (that is overheated to stop it candying on the shelves).

And here’s a biggie…

we’re nearing that time of year when businesses will spend literally hundreds of millions of dollars on staff gifts (we hope) and client gifts.  Send them our way and we guarantee a gift that will not only be loved by the recipient, but will directly support Australian regional communities.  We have gifts ranging from $20 to hampers choc full of honey, beeswax candles and other honey goodness (nougat, beeswax based mens shave soap etc) that range from $75 to $250.  We can brand things.  We can handle logistics.  The sky is the limit.

So, if you work in a business that gives gifts, or you have any friends in high places who organise gifts, please pass on our details.  We’d be only too happy to wow them with what the world can look like without another jar of olive tapenade, bottle of wine or overseas made picnic set!  And just before you worry that our gifts are really aimed at women, over 80% of corporate hamper recipients are men and in the words of the Head of Marketing Strategy from one of our clients “I just wanted to tell you how beautiful I thought the hampers came out.  I hope you are as proud of them as we were to present them to the company.  I had many people say how amazing they looked and we received feedback from clients like never before.”

Bring it on.  We’re ready and rearing to go!

Cheers

Cate

 

Queen B Christmas Corporate Gift Hamper

Read Full Post »

Queen B by Joost pure beeswax Jam Jar tealights

Creative, sustainability wunderkind Joost is at it again, most recently with a pop up Greenhouse by Joost for Melbourne Food and Wine Festival.

It was a collaboration with Joost several years ago which saw the development of our iconic Eco-Bulb candle.  Now, after several months in development, we are excited to lift the lid on Queen B by Joost jam jar tealights.

Excitingly for Queen B having worked on wick testing for several months the candles are now in use lighting the pop-up Greenhouse by Joost in Melbourne CBD and the so-grounded-it-practically-still-grows-on-the-plate food of Greenhouse chef, Matt Stone.

It’s one thing to make the candles, but another entirely to see them working their magic (which is why I LOVE getting photographs)!

Here’s one from my camera of the trays of tealight refills for Joost Jam Jar candles…

Queen B by Joost Jam Jar tealights

and here, one from Joost offsider and clever creative Georgina O’Connor

Queen B by Joost pure beeswax tealights for Greenhouse by Joost at Melbourne Food & Wine Festival

But here’s where it gets really good… you know how I’m always saying that Queen B candles only really come to life when lit? (if you don’t, well I do, usually to people who are telling me that they are too beautiful to light!).

So, check this out

"Queen B by Joost" beeswax tealights in Jam Jars - image courtesy of Earl Carter & By Joost

OK, so that’s pretty but a little like a still life, so here it gets even better (got to love the guy drinking wine from his jam jar!)…

"Queen B by Joost" tealights lighting up Rene Redzepi dinner at Greenhouse by Joost for Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. Image courtesy of Earl Carter & By Joost

“But it’s still daylight outside!” I hear you cry!  Well, get this for ambience…

Surely the most ambient restaurant in the world with 100% pure beeswax candlelight (there is no electric lighting in the dining area). Image courtesy of Earl Carter & by Joost

We’ve also done a bespoke pillar for the reception area.  Stark reminder of beeswax candles requiring lighting here…

Greenhouse by Joost personalised design pure beeswax candle by Queen B. Lacklustre image by Queen B!

versus this little beauty…

Fired up Greenhouse by Joost personalised candle from Queen B. Image courtesy of Georgina O'Connor.

I rest my case!

Waddya think?

---

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

Read Full Post »

Beeswax candles are better value than soy, palm or paraffin – the facts & figures

It’s a sign of the times that Australians are becoming more socially conscious and focused on value.  I had occasion to give it some thought this week as I pondered Earth Hour. [more on Earth Hour in my next post]

Obviously I am acutely aware that Queen B candles have a higher upfront cost than many of their toxic cousins, and I think that their price is a barrier to purchase.  However, what most people don’t realise is that beeswax candles give you far more bang for your buck when compared to scented soy or paraffin candles.

For the purposes of my research, I looked at Ecoya’s soy wax candles (they are the biggest brand in that category) and Glasshouse’s scented jar candles (the most popular brand in their category).  Looking at their pricing and burn times online, I found that their cost to burn ranges from 50c to 67c per hour.  Based on the information from their websites.  By way of contrast, our larger rolled pillars, solid pillars, tealights and tapers ALL fall within, and mostly BELOW, this cost per hour.  Our 20cm fat honeycomb rolled pillar, for example, is some 20 – 40% cheaper per hour than burning an Ecoya or Glasshouse candle.

And whilst some may like the strong fragrances of these other brands, they are scented in the most part with synthetic, petro-chemical fragrant oils.  While you may think that they are fragrancing your home in a pleasing way, they are doing so in a manner that is toxic to you and your loved ones.  What’s more, most of them come with elaborate, tree-felling packaging made in China or Hong Kong.  And when the candle is finished, their customers typically throw the jar (and residual wax) into the bin to join the mountains of landfill we’re already trying to cope with.

This post is not supposed to be depressing!  It’s actually great news… pure Australian beeswax candles are more affordable than you may have thought.  We may cost a little more up front, but we last longer, perform better and have our own natural, honey aroma-ed scent which is completely non-toxic.  What’s more, they burn beautifully – usually right down to the last drop of beeswax.  Versus say this candle which a customer brought in to show me…

 

The other GREAT news is that when you buy a Queen B pure beeswax candle you are supporting Australian beekeepers, our ISO certified – family owned – Sydney based – environmental printer, our landlord (!) and, of course, the incredibly talented team of artisans at Queen B.

At Queen B, we know that adding candlelight to your home each evening, enhances the quality of your life and we regard it as a privilege to be able to provide that light. By switching more of your purchases towards beeswax candles, you are not just supporting Australian businesses right back to the honey farm, you’re also protecting you and your loved ones.

With love and lots of light,

Cate

Read Full Post »

My “fourth” Tassie highlight

After much contemplation I have decided it is simply impossible to narrow down my other highlights from Tasmania to a ‘fourth’.

Do I write about the couple of nights I spent with customers who became friends and recently moved to Tassie having designed and built the home of their dreams?  This is the view from their balcony (that’s Maria Island in the background).  It is such a privilege and inspiration to share someone else’s dream.

Living the Dream - Balcony View in Orford

Or do I write about the extraordinary beauty of Freycinet National Park, and the angel (from the Blue Mountains) who I gave a lift to and who returned the favour tenfold when I started the walk to the Wineglass Bay Lookout only to have a panic attack and flashbacks to when I got lost on a mountain in Canada 17 years ago?! (long sentence… long story)  I can’t actually recall thinking much about it in the last 16 years, but then again, I haven’t done much bush walking in the ensuing 16 years either.  My recall was certainly very powerful on the day, and it just so happened that said angel who I gave a lift to just happened to be a bushwalking guide and just happened to have had panic attacks herself in the past, and just happened to know exactly what to do!  I made it to the lookout (which was spectacular) and put those demons behind me.  The photograph below is from the lighthouse walk in Freycinet National Park.

Freycinet National Park

Another highlight for me was staying at a B&B in Swansea called Schouten House.  The owners, Cameron and Jodie, moved to Swansea from South Australia about 5 years ago.  Anyway, as I was paying and saying goodbye, it somehow came up that I made beeswax candles.  Jodie asked me what the name of my business was.  When I told her it was Queen B, she got quite teary.  Evidently someone does read my blog and in some ways my journey was providing comfort or inspiration for their own fabulous journey into small business, following their dream and creating something that is unique and filled with integrity!  At a time when I was utterly exhausted and questioning everything, it was an absolute gift to have that feedback.

Schouten House

Another highlight for me was simply the sheer beauty of the Tassie countryside.  Here a vineyard with Freycinet National Park in the background.  I can never get enough of the Australian countryside and I’m a complete sucker for a roll of hay, a field of poppies (yes, they grow poppies for opium in Tassie!), cattle, rolling hills and vast blue skies.

Scenic beauty on the East Coast of Tassie

I kind of ruled out making Bridestowe Lavender Farm my fourth highlight because again it was all about bees, and I wouldn’t want you thinking that I need to get a life or anything like that.  Below is a photograph looking across the lavender fields to their apiary.  Not only do the bees pollinate the lavender, but they also sell Bridestowe Lavender Farm honey from their hives.

Apiary at Bridestowe Lavender Farm

Bees pollination lavender at Bridestowe

Another gratuitous bee close up

After my stint beekeeping, I went to Cradle Mountain for a couple of days and did the Dove Lake walk on one of those days.  The walk started cloudy and moody (which is actually kind of beautiful when you’re in Cradle Mountain), but cleared up to reveal her glittering beauty.  I also happened upon a very tame wallaby sitting on a rock and had my moment of kangaroo whispering which ended up with the wallaby having a little neck and back scratch all the while one eye closed and urging me “a little lower… a little to the left… no down, now right… yes, that’s it… now scratch”!

Dove Lake walk with Crade Mountain clouded in background

Dove Lake walk with Cradle Mountain in rear

Incredibly tame local

My least favourite part of Tassie was Strahan – I think partly because of the weather (15 degrees, raining and windy for the 3 days), partly because one company owns the entire town (yes, all the various levels of – overpriced – accommodation, plus the pub, the fish shop, the cafe, the restaurant, the tourism centre, even the boat that does the cruises on the river) and its pretty kitsch.  However, having said that, I did the cruise (because I wanted to see the leatherwood forests from the amazing Franklin River, and the photograph below is one of my favourites from the entire trip.  Talk about shades of gray…  I don’t usually acknowledge shades of gray in life!

Macquarie Harbour (Strahan)

Another big highlight was meeting Yves Ginat, the beekeeper behind Miellerie honey which we sell a LOT of at the hive.  Yves honey is sublime and he has the artisan approach and attention to detail that we love at Queen B.  Learning about beekeeping told by a beekeeper with a strong french accent makes it all sound about as divine and romantic and pure as I know it to be… apart from the fact that he must have been bathing in oil of olay because I also met his 16 year old daughter!  Amazing.  I think he may have been hoeing into the royal jelly – known throughout Asia as a youth elixir.

Yves from Miellerie Honey

And finally, I couldn’t not have told you about the boat trip that I did around Tasman Island which included an endless array of seals which were just fascinating to watch.

Seal off Tasman Island

More seals around Tasman Island

So there it is… a little late in finishing, but you get the gist.  If Tassie weren’t on your bucket list prior to now, put it on there.  I actually think the Tasweigans have it right (as opposed to being backward)!  Life is a little slower, but they do what they do REALLY well (amazing honey, amazing wines, amazing cheeses, amazing beauty, great opium – if you’re into that sort of thing, fabulous museum, great cooking school etc etc and they seem to be really into supporting Australian made).  Even the Pure Tasmania tourism campaign (which is a little ironic given they are still systematically destroying their old growth forests) is clever.  Tourism NSW, where the bloody hell are you?

Read Full Post »

Saving the best for Christmas until last…

I’ve been keeping these up my sleeve because they are special…

Really, really special…

Made in Australia (actually on Sydney’s Northern Beaches), they are solid brass or nickel coated brass.  Each holder is individually made and hand finished to remove the sharp edges.  They are designed to hold our Bee Lights.

Each tree comes in its own gorgeous, made in Australia, fabulous quality, kraft board packaging.  Fabulous recycled as a paperclip holder, button holder or anything else small.

We have VERY limited quantities because they were extremely time consuming to make.  They are RRP $39.95 and we have 20% off for the next 24 hours only.

Christmas Tree Bee Light holders

Brass Christmas Tree Bee Light holder

Nickel plated Christmas Tree Bee Light holder

 

You know how sometimes if you stay in the moving watching all the credit’s, they put a good bit right at the end?… well, here’s the good bit!…

Here’s a little look at the product development cycle of our little Christmas Tree candle holder.  I must say I was a little worried when the first prototype came back!  I think we nailed it in the end though.

Christmas tree prototype 1... mmmm, no!

Christmas Prototype 2... cut a little deep

Christmas Tree Prototype 3... getting there, but too sharp

Christmas Tree Prototype 4... perfection!

Christmas Tree Candle holder... product development

If that’s not a fine candle holder, I don’t know what is!

Cate xx

Read Full Post »

GFC Friendly Christmas Gifts

As a general principle, one of the best things that we can do to help stimulate the Australian economy is to buy Australian made goods and to buy from small businesses (which account for over 50% of all private sector employment in Australia).  Better still if the goods are made in Australia with Australian inputs or ingredients.

It is a pity that our government don’t seem to understand this concept (versus the Chinese government that requires 80% local Chinese content in any government contract)… Oh dear I digress

As you would know, Queen B candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax (we support the regional communities of Bathurst, Queanbeyan and Gundagai by buying local beeswax even though it is the most expensive beeswax in the world).  We also choose to make our candles by hand rather than churning them out of a machine… and that means we pay lots of Australian wages (ouch for us, but good for the economy).

While I admit to being completely biased, I think that makes Queen B candles a beautiful GFC busting pressie.

Of course you can pay for us to make the candles for you, or why not save some money and make the candles yourself?  We lots of candle-making supplies on our website, or, if you don’t know what you’re doing, we have several candle-making kits that come with comprehensive instructions.

• Roll your own beeswax candles (12 per kit) and bundle them into pairs for a beautiful gift costing <$8 (per pair); or
• grab a 4-5 hour DIY tealight kit or a 8-9 hour DIY tealight kit and you can make your own tealight candles from $1 each… then bundle a few together in a brown paper bag with twine, et voila.  Another, beautiful, Australian made, non-toxic, GFC busting, sustainable Christmas gift.

Pouring beeswax tealights

Wicking beeswax tealights

 

You can see all the candles we currently have available in our Christmas range on our website.

---

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

Read Full Post »

Unveiling the Queen B Christmas Tree

OK, so I know that tradition means you only put up your Christmas tree at home in the first week of December, but that doesn’t really work in retail!  So we got our tree decorated last week.

Queen B in store Christmas Tree

We never really had a Christmas tree when I was growing up because mum and dad ran a small business and so we always went away over Christmas because that was the only break they could get.  [Before you think that is a sob story, we got to go to Lord Howe Island for a week every year which was ample compensation for no tree! ].  Anyway, it is really lovely to create my own tree and because I work a bajillion hours a day and about 8 days a week, I actually get to enjoy it much more than I would one at home!

Most of these goodies are only available at the Queen B factory, but I couldn’t resist sharing.

Snowflake beaded tealight holder

Chandelier beaded tealight holder

Ice crystal beaded tealight holder

Genie in a Bottle tealight hurricane

Cylinder Tealight Hurricane

It wasn’t feeling very Christmassy yet this year until we put our tree up.  And while things are quieter than usual I can feel in my bones that this year, yes this year, everyone is going to wake up and decide that they will only buy Australian made goods.  They will only do their gift shopping in small retailers.  They will go the extra mile to help pull this economy out of the doldrums.  Goodness knows we can’t wait around for the government to do anything about it.

Speaking of which if anyone out there knows anyone useful, could you please point out to them that in China every government contract requires a minimum of 80% of the inputs come from China.  It’s all well and good for Kev and Jules to lord it up on the world stage, but at the moment in Australia there is a 0% Australian content requirement and we are losing our expertise and losing businesses daily as a result.  Please also point out to them that it is not possible for an Australian or Australian business (or anyone else for that matter) to buy land in China whereas in Australia we are literally selling them the farm.  If Kev and Jules admire China so much, perhaps they should do more to emulate them (in these ways only please).

Oh, that post went a little pear shaped!… I was talking about Christmas and the grinch came out.

Let’s rally together and support one another people.

Cate xx

You can see all the candles we currently have available in our Christmas range on our website.

---

Queen B beeswax candles are made with 100% pure Australian beeswax a pure cotton wick and copious amounts of hand made love. We stock beautiful and stylish candle holders, personalised candles, votive candles, tealight candles and pillar candles that nourish the human spirit and our environment.

Read Full Post »