candlebean

I've had Quick Books since 2005 and agree that it was time-consuming to set up at first (my mom is an accountant and bought it for me for Christmas one year and walked me through a few steps until I got the hang of it) But if you can get through the pain of setup, you will be so happy at tax time! Totally worth the effort. I love that you can set up multiple businesses with their own bank account, P&L and all that good stuff My sister and I are starting a business and it's so nice to be able to keep the 2 seperate Good Luck and hang in there!

I have been trying to figure out a way to make these candles with little wax balls, and now I see someone has figured it out. Does anyone here know how to do this? I know you can get palm wax in pellets, but once you melt, color, and scent them, how do you get them back onto the little ball form? Can anyone help point me in the right direction? Here's a sample.... http://ny-image1.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.196762001.jpg

Thanks for the tips everyone! This huge wholesale order fell through - they wanted to pay about half of what the supplies would actually cost me, lol. Oh well. But those are good tips to keep in the back of my mind for the future

I may be on the verge of an extremely large wholesale order for aromabeads. Does anyone know how to find out where I can get unscented aromabeds directly from the manufacturer instead of going through a candle supply company? I called my current supplier, and was told they would have to special order the amount I would need, and it would actually cost me 25% more than the bulk rate listed on their site! Crazy. I've been googling all morning trying to figure out where the supply companies get them from, thinking it would be cheaper for me to cut out the middle man and go right to the source, but I haven't been able to come up with anything. If anyone out there can steer me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it.

I hope they're able to get everything resolved quickly for you and the others too. I've been reading their behind the beta blog updates to see what they are working on and what has been resolved. Like you said, it is a newer site so there are bound to be bugs and kinks along the way, and how they deal with them will pretty much determine how successful the site will be at this point. To anyone considering trying them out, you can always sign up for a free account that will let you list 10 products at a time to at least get your shop a little more exposure. Then, once things are worked out you can decide whether or not you want to invest more time into it or upgrade your account to be able to list and sell more. Personally, I started out as a free account but since I didn't have any problems, I upgraded to the verified account. I feel bad that others are having problems I haven't experienced

I'm surprised to hear that you've had problems listing things and that it moves so slow for you. I haven't had any trouble so far with the exception of loading one pix, but that's just because it was too large. Once I resized it, it too was fine...

I just came across ArtFire, and it's so cool! I have a regular website and an Etsy shop, but I couldn't resist ArtFire. For those of you who don't know about it, ArtFire is an online marketplace to sell handmade or vintage items as well as supplies. It's similar to Etsy, but there are no transaction fees when you sell something and there are no listing fees when you want to list an item. ArtFire is new and growing everyday, but to get more shops to sign up they are offering a lifetime membership deal for only $7/month (you can cancel at any time, there is no obligation, but your rate will never go up). This is only for the first 5,000 shops. After 5,000 shops have signed up, the normal monthly fee is going to be $20. Another thing I like about ArtFire is that when you get a hit on an item in your shop, there is a section that you can go to that will tell you where that hit came from (the URL) so you know where your marketing is working - it's so cool. Come and check it out - there's really nothing to lose! If you're not ready to commit to $7/month you can open your shop for absolutely nothing by only listing 10 items at a time. (if you become a verified member for the $7, you can list as much as you like) I started off as a free shop, but quickly became a verified member because there are so many great benefits - come and check it out Let me know what you think! http://www.artfire.com

Duh.... .54oz divided by 5 (parts) times 4 = modifier, remainder is FO...thank you so much for waking me up!

I'm usually pretty good at this, but my brain is not being kind to me tonight. I got some base to make foaming soap. I also got FO modifier to make the liquid soap part clear. The instructions are: Mix FO with modifier: 4 parts modifier to 1 part FO Add 6-10% modified FO to base The bottles I have will hold about 9oz. I just can't figure out how much FO and FO modifier to use....can you help me?

Thanks for the ideas everyone!

I was calling my Love Spell, Love Potion, but I just got a C&D letter letting me know that Love Potion was already trademarked. I checked and they're right So what do you guys call your Love Spell / Love Potion? I was thinking of Enchanted Love, but I don't know...any ideas?

I am looking for the clear acetate tubes for my wax melts. The only tubes I can find are for tealights. Does anyone out there use tubes to package 6 or so floaters or wax melts? Where do you get them? I've been searching for the last hour and can't find anywhere that sells them. :undecided

PM'd ya!

I sent the link to everyone in my address book...I watched the video, but it didn't say when they were supposed to vote on this law. Does anyone know?

I also add jojoba beads to my sugar scrub to match the scent. I keep my scrub white and the jojoba beads add a little color to it, as well as a little extra scrubbiness.

I've been looking for boxes for these too - I would love to see the clear ones....where did you get them Jenn?

I am so excited! My website has been online for about 8 months and I just got my first order from a total stranger I've had orders from people I met at craft shows, friends, family, and a lot of my mom's co-workers, but never from a total stranger. I was beginning to think it would never happen, lol!

Ok, I'm going crazy tonight. My sister gave me a candle-making book (gel candles). I don't do gel, but I was looking through it and there was a project using these leaf-shaped holders. They are so cute, and I just want to find the glassware, but can't find it for the life of me. Under supplies it just says "assortment of leaf-shaped glasses". Not much help! They are clear glass, in the shape of a simple leaf, and are shallow - perhaps they hold an ounce or two of wax. Has anyone seen glassware like this anywhere? I've been googling for almost two hours and can't find anything!

I'm pretty sure Grumpy Girl does that....you might want to check with her.

What kind of paint do you use to paint a candle? I've never seen candle paint....although to be honest, I've never had to look for it either...

You took the words right off my keyboard! LOL

OK, I'm having a stupid question day. I found a site that sells a mold for an electric grubby with a heart. It says there is a recessed heart in the mold, all you have to do is pour, demold, and insert the bulb. Here is the link: http://www.soapandcandlemolds.com/moldlarge.asp?prim=27d7-28elegrheart My brain is not working today. If the heart is in the mold, when you pour and demold it, won't the heart shape just be a heart-shaped hole-like window? How do you do this like the picture shows without seeing the bulb? This may be a really dumb question, but I just gotta know before I order the mold......Please forgive me - I'm new to the electric world, lol.

I agree 100% - I was going to say that the satin and silk is sooo nice and my customers LOVE it - not greasy at all and there's no odor, holds scent well.

I just got my Kelsei mold and I can't wait to do my first batch. All I need is distilled water - I can't believe I forgot to get some and it is snowing like a banshee here tonight, so it will have to wait until later this weekend. That's OK - it will give me time to re-read everything I read a month and a half ago that got me so excited to make CP soap! Can I have the dancing babies too when I get mine done? lol

I got tired of renting uhauls to do my shows so we bought a Hummer and it works great! (Plus, I've wanted a Hummer for years so it was even better!)