A hygge home
Owner and creator of Fox & Ivy, Emma, welcomes us into her home in New Zealand’s Manuwatū region where she spends her days pouring candles, or relaxing in the warm afternoon light.
For Emma, the perfect winter’s night involves being “at home where it’s toasty warm, candles lit, comfy knitwear and wooly socks, something hot to drink like tea or hot chocolate, with loved ones or watching a movie.”
We asked her some questions about what happens in her beautiful home.
Where does all the candle making happen?
The Fox & Ivy space isn’t a big one, but I love it none the less. The majority of the space is needed for the pouring supplies like boxes of wax and vessels, and most of this is housed on industrial style open shelves. We also have an area where I can pack orders or easily label products with all the labels hanging conveniently above the workbench. Tucked in the corner and looking out two big windows that let in the most beautiful afternoon light, is my desk and computer – I think this would have to be one of my favourite spots.
What does the average day look like for you?
My average day now looks very different to a couple of months ago! Up until June this year, I was working full-time in a busy recruitment and administration role that deep down, I knew wasn’t quite right for me. My days would start early (5am!), and involved sitting in Auckland traffic, followed by sitting at a computer in an office. Now they’re almost the opposite and it’s been amazing. In May, we (myself and my other half, Bret) relocated from Auckland to the Manawatū and from July, I’ve officially been the full-time small business owner of Fox & Ivy.
As a small business owner who works mostly from home, my days are varied in terms of the tasks but follow a routine of sorts – which I really enjoy. The advantage of no longer having a long commute to the office is that mornings have gone from a bleary-eyed and painful process to leave the house, to something far more pleasant. Things start for us at around 6:30am with a coffee together – a ritual that I’ve quickly grown to love. It beats a coffee in the car while in traffic any day! I’m not an intense morning exercise person as much as I’ve tried to be (afternoon walks, however, are my happy place), but find the days that start with some gentle movement tend to be better ones, so I’ll often spend 20 minutes doing some stretches or Pilates and have recently been trying some yoga routines.
Generally I’ll plan my days in advance so that once I’m ready for the day, I can get straight into working. The first task is to get any orders waiting to go out booked with the courier for collection and to pack any orders that have come through overnight. Once these are done, I usually move on to general admin – bits and pieces like replying to emails, invoicing, things like that which aren’t always the most fun, but it’s always satisfying to get them ticked off early in the day! The rest of my mornings are usually at the computer ticking off things like ordering supplies, making website updates, and planning social media posts. I find these types of tasks easier in the morning. The creative things just happen so much more organically in the afternoons, so this is usually when the more fun stuff happens.
If I plan to pour that day, I’ll weigh out the total amount of wax I’ll need, and set that up to slowly start melting in the wax melter. Once all the candles are prepped with wicks and the wax has melted, it’s time to blend! Candle pouring isn’t something that can be rushed. Soy wax knows what it likes, kind of like Goldilocks and her porridge – not too hot, not too cold, has to be just right. It also doesn’t like going from one state to another too quickly, so to get a quality result, you have to heat the wax slowly, pour and then let it cool down slowly so the process is rather calming and meditative. It’s a rhythmic process that can happen while listening to some music or a podcast and certainly not something that can be hurried or with shortcuts applied. It’s a nice reprieve in a world where faster is better, so perhaps that’s why I enjoy it so much.
Other days when I don’t need to pour, I’ll spend afternoons doing things like taking photos or planning the next shoot, editing, gathering supplies, working on product development and research.
Location: Manawatū-Whanganui region, New Zealand
