If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Candles That Will Light Up Faces As Well As Rooms: Ablaze Candles

Update: Sadly, this company is no longer in business.

Original post:
Want to make someone smile? Give them one of these unusual candles.

We've seen candle 'lanterns' and candle holders made of wax. We've seen modern candles, candle jars and votives out the wazoo.

But Ablaze candles are different. Unlit, they are nothing short of wax scupltures and lit, the give more than light, they give ambiance.

These candles look good enough to eat, which is no surprise given that a Culinary Chef began the company. You can read more about that at the bottom of this post.

Their site, although not beautifully designed, is incredibly functional and allows you to see all of their creations, lit and unlit as well as enlarged.

Given the price of scented candles these days, these pieces of art are very reasonable and with many shapes, sizes and categories, you can be sure to find a gift for anyone.

They have every theme imaginable from wildlife animals to seashells. And every style from centerpieces to small cubes to outdoor columns. Too many to show you them all, so here are just a few of my favorites:

Below is taken directly from their site:

Unlike the mass production methods used by other candle makers, our beautiful candles are made in a completely distinctive, artisan-style tradition. We do not purchase the standard molds everyone else uses to make the same old shapes you’ve seen over and over. Instead, we create our own molds that impart a beautiful sculpted design to every candle we make. Into these molds we pour a special wax to create a beautiful, hard shell with the look and shine of polished marble. We provide a crystal votive holder and votive candle that rest on a clear protective disc embedded inside the bottom of the candle. When you light our decorative candles, the entire wax sculpture glows brilliantly.

Our Decorative Candles Last a Lifetime

The flame from the votive candle remains centered inside the sculpted outer wax shell and will not melt it. Once the votive candle is consumed, another votive candle, scented or unscented, can be used as a replacement. This ingenious candle design, one candle burning inside another, creates a glowing luminary that will last a lifetime. Dust build-up can be easily removed by washing this unique candle right in the kitchen sink with warm soapy water. Rinse all the soap off and buff dry with a soft towel. Not only will you remove accumulated dust from these unique specialty candles, you will also restore the natural luster that makes our decorative candles so attractive.

Note: Scented votive candles usually last 15 hours and are popular because you can change the fragrance more often, unlike the 150 hours of one fragrance you get from large scented jar candles.
Advantages of Luminary Candles

* People "light" these candles!
* You can burn the fragrance of your choice in Luminary Candles.
* The candle is truly permanent, it will last a lifetime.
* You can wash a luminary candle like you would fine china. They are impervious to water.
* Some Luminary Candles can be used with floating candles. (Straight sided candles only)
* They look great all the time (no irregular wax pool and wick debris) and compliment furniture and interior decor better.
* They glow better.

Ablaze™ Candles Make Unique Gifts
Perhaps you are looking for a unique gift idea to celebrate a birthday, anniversary, wedding, holiday, or those special occasions such as Valentine's Day and Mother's Day. Maybe you are looking for that special something which will add a perfect decorative accent to your home or office. Quite possibly you just love candles in all shapes and sizes. Whatever the reason, we are confident that our specialty candles will delight and amaze your loved ones, serve as a beautiful focal point in your home decor, and become a valued and distinctively unique addition to your candle collection. We invite you to enter our web site and light any of our 230 uniquely handcrafted candles, sit back, and enjoy their spellbinding glow!

And here's a little trivia about them:

Did you know the founder of Ablaze™ Candles is a chef? In 1984, Dominic Palazzolo, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, New York, established Culinart, Inc., a company specializing in the production of culinary artwork for professional chefs and restaurants all over the world. Chef Palazzolo created a wide variety of elaborate sculptures made from wax combined with food ingredients like chocolate. These beautiful creations appeared on buffet tables and in food presentations at the finest hotels, restaurants and resorts in America.

Encouraged by the food industry's growing demand for his culinary artwork, Chef Palazzolo applied his skills and imagination to the creation of glowing wax sculptures that could be displayed on buffet tables. With the idea of incorporating the natural light of a flame into his sculptures, Chef Palazzolo labored two years to perfect the burning qualities of his wax luminaries. The result was the creation of a candle that far surpassed ordinary candles in beauty, quality and burning performance. Those who saw his creations were not only amazed by their extraordinary detail and luminosity, they wanted his glowing sculptures for their homes. Deciding to make his candles available to the public, Chef Palazzolo named his luminary art, "Ablaze™ Candles," obtainable only on the Internet.

Chef Dominic Palazzolo is a member of the American Culinary Federation and has lectured nationally at seminars specializing in the fine art of tallow sculpting. His innovative sculptures have graced the buffet tables of hotels, restaurants, resorts, and cruise lines around the world. If you are interested in seeing the culinary artistry available from Culinart, Inc., just click here.

Visit Ablaze Candles and buy them here. (the site no longer exists)

Product Pick Of The Week: The HomeHero, A Good Looking Fire Extinguisher

Finally, a nice looking fire extinguisher!
This was the consumer product winner in the 2007 IDEA awards.
Fire Extinguisher Product Details
* Clean design allows for prominent, unobstructed placement in kitchen - decreasing emergency response time
* Highly visible safety pin for easy identification and immediate response
* Ergonomic grip area for more intuitive and secure operation
* Use of HomeHero™ Fire Extinguisher and HomeHero™ Smoke/CO Alarms (sold separately) create an invisible protection system providing immediate alerts with clear, verbal instructions
* Rubber foot protects countertops
* Bracket included for wall-mounting
* Expected life of 12 years
* For use on fires involving flammable liquids and/or electrical equipment
* Streamlined form and glossy white surface allows for easy cleaning
* Bilingual instructions included
* 6-year warranty

Sold only at Home Depot.

How Do You Improve Jacobsen's Egg Chair? Cover It In Helen Amy Murray's Leathers

Above: Arne Jacobsen's classic Egg chair given new life with the "Peony" leather fabric.

Above: detail of "Peony" design

Helen Amy Murray is internationally recognized for hand-crafted, luxury creations inspired by nature and form, to create 3D surfaces within textiles.

above: 'Bird and Blossom', one of her newest designs

Helen won the Oxo-Peugeot Prize in 2004 for her innovative designs. She develops bespoke commissions using luxury materials for applications ranging from interior products, upholstery, wall coverings and art.

Below are some of her previous projects, done for personal and commissioned clients.
She certainly knows how to bring life back into an old wing chair or tub chair! Take a look at these stunning pieces:

Above: Wing chairs enhanced with the Bloom Pattern

Above: detail of "bloom" on wing chairs

Above: an otherwise boring tub chair is reinvigorated with "Bloom"

Above: Detail of "bloom" on a tub chair

Above: A traditional Edwardian armchair upholstered in "Rose"

Here are some of her wonderful patterns, both her newest collection and some of her classics.
These, along with more, were unveiled at the 100% Futures section of the 100% Design show:

Above: Succulent

Above: Chrysanthemum

Above: Oriental Flower

Above: Tropical

Above: Lattice

Above: Feathers

Above: Fishscales

Above: The designer, Helen Amy Murray. As lovely as her work.

Helen Amy Murray

E-mail the artist here.

Vitamins For Your Home

Vitamin Living designs some terrific new products.

You're probably familiar with their 'urban gnomes'(immediately below),
but did you know that Vitamin makes many other cool products as well?

Above: Vitamin's hip china urban gnomes, also available through their site.

Shown Above:
Tab A (a vase and ashtray in one), Tab B (a planter and ashtray in one) and two their new salt and pepper shaker designs are shown above. "Hoody" where the salt and pepper come through etched butterflies in stainless steel tops and Pebbles, where the salt and pepper come through the etched designs.

Above: The E-light. Lights that subtly interact to movement sound and the arrival of emails.

Above: their Hex lampshades and dinnerware collections.
See more about Vitamin and shop their online store by going here.

Floating Houses: The Wave of The Future?

Pardon the pun, I honestly couldn't help myself.

Awhile back I did a post on hotels built on the water. Now I have found AquaDomi*, a modular system of floating houses. Although the images are computer generated, apparently these are available and for sale, not prototypes.

* like many of these proposed floating and underwater residences, the company has gone out of business since I wrote this post and there is no website.

AquaDomi has built cafes and restaurants using these design principles.
They describe themselves on their own site below (from the English version):
AquaDomi is the houseboat of the future, because it is module based and therefore gives the owner the possibility to create his own house, exactly the way he wants.
It is the goal of AquaDomi to deliver a unique and individual design, which fulfils the wishes and demands of both present and future.

The Noma is their newest line of floating houses ...
The Noma series is available in three models: 64 sq.m., 96 sq.m. et 160 sq.m.

The houseboats have a floor-to-ceiling height of 300/250 cm or 250/240 cm. Family Noma is the largest in the series. The Family Noma is ideal for a family with children or alternatively two families that wish to live together. The houseboat can also be used as a combined home and office. Family Noma is spacious and has many terraces. It is family-friendly for those who would like to live close to the water. The access to the houseboat goes through the terrace/court.

The two bedrooms each have an area of 16 sq.m. and are equipped with wardrobes. Each bedroom has its own terrace that is accessed through sliding doors. The kitchen is available in many colours and variations. It is centrally placed. AquaDomi offers a large variety of light, well-arranged quality kitchens with all modern equipment. The dining room and living room are connected to the kitchen and the arrangement offers many possibilities. The living rooms with large panoramic windows open to the smallest terrace, which is partly covered. There are two wonderful bathrooms with shower and two technical rooms for the technical installations. The total area of the house is 120 sq.m. The surface of the terraces is 4 x 8 sq.m. and 1 x 12 sq.m.

Model A160HB01 Family Noma.
The model is designed by Teodor Mikkelsen, Denmark.
The construction is based on AquaDomi's modular system.

AquaDomi concept as worded by them:
We have tried with AquaDomi to integrate a number of contrasts in one concept in order to unite the best of both worlds. It is a floating residence that combines the comfort and the spaciousness of the house with the boat’s location and mobility. AquaDomi is a product that combines unique architecture that is tailored for the owner’s individual needs, with the economic and quality advantages that a rational production offers.

The following holds true for most all their models:

Guarantee- 2 years with service inspection and 5 years right to submit complaints.

The floating restaurant is delivered and assembled on location, by the AquaDomi® service team. When everything is in place, a certificate for the logbook and the insurance/financing company is issued. Read more about delivery and maintenance here.

Delivery time is 3-4 months counting from the date of the order.

Choice of material: We will discuss the choice of materials with you, so that you at the end of the process have unique, waterborne restaurant – your and your customers' satisfaction.

See their brochure slide show on slideshare here

All exterior materials are maintenance-free and need only washing once a year. Materials and profiles can vary according to your choice.

Infrastructure: The houseboat is connected to the public infrastructure for water, waste water, electricity, telephone, community antenna and internet.

Into water related architecture? Then have I got some great posts for you!

•Floating Hotels and Offices

•Bouroullec Brothers Floating House

•The Underwater Poseidon Resort & H2Ome

•The Silverfish Floating Home