Candle-making business shines light on family’s creative spark
NicAngels Candles started life as a school project but became a lifeline for a family caring for their unwell daughter
Elaine Kelly started her candle-marbling business, NicAngels Candles, at her kitchen table in Ballon, Co Carlow. Currently doing the lion’s share of the work herself, the idea for the venture actually came from her daughter, Angela, who had been involved in the craft at school. Then, following an illness which restricted her from taking part in other activities, she continued marbling candles at home with the help of her older sister Nicole.
In 2014 her health deteriorated, so Elaine gave up her part-time accounting job to look after her; during this time, she also began helping her daughters with the candles. The candles having previously proved popular at farmer’s markets, the craft seemed like a viable business option which would bring in much needed income.
The venture took off from there and soon NicAngels Candles (so named after her two daughters) was born. Having started small with orders for friends and family, the business soon began to grow.
The 54-year-old says the design and colour of the candles, which are proving very popular, are inspired by the world around her and by other people’s suggestions.
“Living in a small village, nature is all around me and there is nothing more imaginative than nature, the shapes, colours and smells,” she said. “It really inspires me to attempt to blend colours, and I often end up with some interesting combinations.
“In addition to this, family members, particularly my nieces and nephews, often ask about the process and what it would look like if certain colours were put together. I love those conversations, because as we get older we start to adhere to the idea that certain colours do not go together while others do. But young kids are very experimental with colour, which is great.
“I have expanded into decorating pillar candles now, but these can’t be marbled so I have tubes of special candle colour which I use to write, draw or just doodle on the candles – and while I’m doing this, music is my best friend. I just let my hand go with the flow of the music and don’t think about the colour, just let myself be guided – and it must work as none of my doodle pieces remain in stock for very long.”
The Carlow woman says that she has learned a lot, about her craft, the world around us and her own feelings since creating her new business.
“The candles have brought us on a journey into the holistic world and we learned a lot about the power of colour and the guidance from the Angels on this journey,” she says. “So, we have developed a range of candle combinations which have proven popular with holistic practitioners and for meditation.
“They are also a very popular gift for people who like candles but can’t have fragrances as, because they are a dinner candle, ours do not have any fragrance.
“There is a feeling of calmness, achievement and satisfaction when I have completed a batch of candles. This feeling comes not only with every batch, but it grows every time I hear someone say, ‘I like those colours.’ It is a feeling I never got at the end of a day, week or month while I was working in accounts.
“Our daughter’s illness threw our lives into turmoil, but as they say, every cloud has a silver lining – or in our case, our cloud has a multicoloured lining.
“I believe our candles are a unique gift, because each one is hand marbled, one at a time, and while two candles can have the same colours, they do not have the same pattern on them. As we say, ‘Candles As Unique As You.’”
Kelly began selling her wares at markets and holistic fairs because she felt that people needed to feel the candles and look at their colours in real life to really appreciate them, and this would not be possible on a website. But going from place to place each week really took its toll, so they found a suitable unit and have set up shop in Ducketts Grove.
“When we got the unit, that was the problem solved and we finally had somewhere to direct people,” she said. “There is also an added bonus as we now hand paint glass candle holders to go with our candles, and this is done on site in Ducketts Grove.
“So we have a base of operations, somewhere that people can come to see us work, and of course they can enjoy everything else that Ducketts Grove has to offer too.”
