Hi Kickstarter.

I’m Brad. I grew up in the Pacific Northwest and have always been inspired by its natural beauty. Cascadia Candle Company is going to make unique candles that remind us of that natural beauty every day.

Five years ago I founded Portland Bee Balm, a small lip balm company with deep ties to the Pacific Northwest. Since I began making lip balm, I have been surrounded by gorgeous blocks of pure beeswax. The idea to make candles comes naturally around all this beeswax. I waited because I wanted to make something special and unique. Something that didn’t already exist in the world. Something I could have in my home, that reminds me of the amazing spaces right outside my door.

Mount Hood

Mount Rainier

Mount St. Helens

To make these candles a reality, it took the help of great friends. Luke, from Seattle, works for a geo-spatial technology company. He was able to get extremely detailed light radar(LiDAR) topography data for the mountains. This data then went to my friend Ted, from Port Townsend on the Olympic Peninsula. Ted works in video game character design. He was able to take the high definition topographical data from Luke and create stunning three dimensional digital objects.

Using a 3D printer we are able to bring these digital creations into our studio. We’ve made silicone molds of the initial models and now have working prototypes of the candles. From getting the best data, to designing the digital models, to 3D printing, casting, wick selection and beeswax quality, every detail of each step was carefully considered to bring you the highest quality candle for your home. Cutting edge manufacturing and information technology meet one of the world's oldest inventions, the candle. The result brings people closer to the natural world.

3D printing the mountain model

Incremental improvments

Who knew there so many many types of candle wicks?

Working on packaging design

Testing different materials. Please note that soy wax candle rewards will be undyed(white). Concrete is fun.

Now we are getting somewhere

I have had so much fun with this project over the past year, I hope these candles bring you the same amount of joy. Thank you for all the support.

Rewards:

Please note that beeswax candles are shown. If choosing a soy wax candle it will be white.

$1 Pledge: Thank you. We can't fail with George Washington on our side.

$12 Pledge: Set of all three tealight mountain candles. Hood, St. Helens, and Rainier. Your choice of beeswax or soy wax. Free shipping in US.

*add $12 to any pledge level to include a tea light set.

$30 Pledge: Concrete large mountain model(not a candle). Highly detailed concrete mountain(Hood, St. Helens, or Rainier) model. The same size as our large candles. Paper weight, garden ornament, door stop, you decide. Free shipping in US.

$30 Pledge(Limited to 100)$35 after: Early Bird. Your Choice of Hood, St. Helens, or Rainier in soy or beeswax. Free shipping in US.

$100 Pledge: All three large candles(Hood, St. Helens, and Rainier) and the set of three tea lights. Your choice of soy or beeswax. Free shipping in US.

$250 Pledge: Come to our production space for the launch party. You get a set of all large candles and tealights. Also make your own large candle in the material of your choice(soy or beeswax or concrete). Free drinks, Double Mountain Hop Lava, maybe. We'd love to meet you.

Also

Launch Party to be hosted at MadeHere PDX

Also, if you would like to see a candle in person during the campaign, they will be on display at MadeHere PDX.

40 NW 10th Ave Portland, OR

What's the money for?

Packaging design and initial production order. Tooling for cutting the boxes and printing plates for the artwork. We need to order a large quantity to get the unit price low enough.

Bulk purchase of soy and beeswax. Once again we need to buy in bulk in order to get a competitive price.

Temperature controlled, water jacketed melting tank. You can't make candles without melted wax.

Multiple silicone production molds of each candle type.

Packaging graphic design work.

With a little help from my friends:

Luke, Geo-spatial topo GIS master, cool looker into the distance

Ted, 3D artist wizard, happy climber and dual ice axe owner

Big thanks to these two ^ for their hard work on the project. I would also like to thank these people for their generous advise and help with various aspects of the project.