Mei-Mei

I'm going to be playing with palm wax all weekend long, and maybe making some chunks if I have the time and inclination. Have a happy weekend everybody!

Is this the one you wanted? Click on wicks (under wick clip assemblies).

The only thing is, gold leaf is really hard to work with. It flakes so easily that it's best for smaller applications.

Those are beautiful! I guess aluminum foil wouldn't work, huh?

I wanted to add that there are dozens of different types of wax (paraffin, soy, palm, beeswax) in different types (pillar, container, votive). There are dozens of different wicks in different sizes. And there are literally thousands of FOs out there which have varying degrees of throw. You really have to resign yourself to hard work, study and TESTING.

Hi Ben and Michelle,

What you've done is kind of like stepping into a museum and asking, "What is art?" There are so many varying answers to your questions that a book could be written about it. Several books have.

To be succint: every chandler has their own combination of wax, wicks and FO (fragrance oil) to make a satisfactory candle. A candle is a system--you can't just throw the elements together and expect them to work. It takes testing, and a lot of it.

I have been doing this since October and I'm not ready to sell yet. Every combo of wax, wick and FO has to be tested and tweaked. It's a long process. There are people who have been testing a year and do not feel they are ready to sell.

I would suggest you (a) buy a candlemaking book; ( go to a site like www.cierracandles.com, browse and buy a kit and; © stick around this site. Read the archives so that you can see the tremendous amount of work it takes to make a good candle.

Good luck!

How cute!

I know...but I'm sure Becky understands as well. She's a pretty savvy businesswoman .

OT - I see you live in NOLA. Hope you're doing ok down there! It's our (DH and mine) favorite place to visit in the US...

Jen

We're coming along nicely. I think by next year things will be close to normal in a lot of areas. We've gotten a lot of support from everyone in the nation (and the world) and believe me, we in New Orleans are so grateful!

Sorry for the off-topic chat.

Mei-Mei -

It is *so* not your fault that some people are greedy. Stop feeling bad' date=' ok?

Jen[/quote']

Thank you (and you too Daniedb) . Becky is so sweet that I hated to think of her being swamped with calls when she's already busy.

Those are absolutely lovely. LOVELY!

All good things ARE WORTH WAITING FOR (and less bitchin' while ya wait for a FREEBIE that didn't even require a purchase, or guarantee the giver any business).

Hear, hear!!!!

I've heard that rolled beeswax candles are easy and fun for kids to make.

Also try www.candlescience.com. They ship incredibly fast.

Simple and elegant describes your site to a t. I really like it. The only suggestion I would have is to put in a scent description list so that people will be encouraged to buy scents that they may not know about.

I agree completely, I forgot to say that...LOL...Starter kits are the perfect way to check out candle making without spending hundreds all at once.

Just do a search for candlemaking starter kits and you'll find one you like.

Just have fun with it!

I forgot to say that too! I meant to suggest buying an inexpensive kit. I started with one from Cierra Candles.

Testing is an ongoing process. I just started in October and I've already spent thousands. I wouldn't consider putting my name on something that I hadn't thoroughly tested to my satisfaction.

Any item you choose to sell, whether it be candles or cookies or furniture is going to require an investment of time and money. There aren't any easy roads to a quality product. Even if someone gives you an exact formulation of wick, wax and scent things such as altitude can effect the outcome. That's why it's always better to do what you love, because the investment will be worth it!

Scent Works really rocks. A couple of their scents smell funky OOB but in candles....wow! I would definitely try one of their scents for experimentation sakes and I believe you'll be convinced.

Yeah, I'm quite flabbergasted that people are emailing asking for candy, or why they never got any, or whatever. I just had to say that, since I've been shaking my head about it since Becky posted. Wow. It's like complaining about Greenleaf sending their FREE samples too late for some peoples' taste. I don't get it.

I called Becky this morning to apologize. She was SO nice about it; I'll never forget what a sweetheart she was about the whole thing. She said she had been getting tons of requests for free candy from people. She's so professional that she takes it in her stride, but I feel very guilty about it. I just didn't imagine anyone would ever ask for candy. She already is very generous with samples! I don't get it either.

I've got to add--I never thought people would ask for Tootsie Rolls if I mentioned getting some in the box. That floors me. I'm sorry you got tons of emails. That's truly the oddest thing I've ever heard. If they insist on Tootsie Rolls just have them email me and I'll send them some.

Ive gotten candy from Rustic Essentials before.

Must be Rustic Escentuals then. I'm glad I'm not eating some strangers candy.

Hey everyone! This is my first post, so be easy on me!

Not to be a stick in the mud or anything - but I am wondering Mei Mei if you have my company - JUST SCENT confused with someone else? We have never sent candy of any kind with orders.

I have had a gazillion emails and calls from people wanting to know why they didn't get candy in their orders!

I asked all of my packers if they were putting candy in orders and they all looked at me like I was insane. LOL!

We are guilty of adding extra samples - but no candy!

Sorry everyone!! I don't want to offend anyone; I thought this might cut down on the emails if I posted!

thanks everyone!!

Gosh, I guess I do have Just Scents confused with someone else. I order from a lot of places. I thought it was you who was sending me the Tootsie Rolls!!!! I wonder who does it????:undecided

Jennie--They are actually dark grey, but the Palm gives them a silvery look.

Michael--I haven't wicked 'em yet, but I have good luck with the LX wicks. I'm not exactly sure how these will burn, because this batch of palm seems a lot more brittle than the last batch I did.

Thanks for the support everyone!

These are some little palm pillars scented Tuxedo. I like this palm stuff a lot. These pillars are done in the crystallizing, and it's just so fun that I ordered some of the feathering palm as well. I'm going to give these to my fiance, who is into dark colors.

Cool colors. Are they scented?

They aren't scented. I was just experimenting and wanted to see how they would come out.

Whew what a day! I poured some palm pillars (luckily on a plate) and came in to find all the molds leaking. Yikes. I tried for the first time to do some layered palms, and they aren't bad, though not perfect. The wax doesn't even look like palm wax; they look more like rustics. It's really hard not to get an overpour. You can see I did that a lot on the cube. Anyway, here they are.

p.s. This is the first pic I've posted to Candletech, so be gentle!