Maggie

I haven't had any problems either. Used my card in Jan. for samples at CW. I've ordered a few things from Amazon and some other online places...not candle or soap supplies. But.... I am noticing in one of our local newspapers a LOT of police reports from people who have had their credit card #s stolen. Just today there were 2 incidents...and this is a really small town. I've been noticing this for the past few months. One of the reports said the F-ing thief charged over $8,000. I can't remember off hand what companies were listed.

The absolute best IMO is from Daystar. Throws great in candles and I did make CP soap with it about 2 years ago. This one was sold at Serendipity and when I went to order she said she was going OOB. She was somehow tied in with Candles & Soap Supplies (I think that was the name). I think she went OOB too. Anyway...I was told Daystar would be carrying it so I ordered it. I recently ordered samples when Candlewic was having a sample sale and bought BRV to compare. That was in January and I still haven't poured a candle. lol It smells great oob but I don't judge a scent till it is in wax and burning or in my tart burner.

Too bad that you lost your purse making mojo because I remember looking at so many gorgous pics of them here. I have to buy one more thing to get started...a bias tape maker. Of course the purse I want to start with requires a lot of bias tape/fabric and I don't want to make it the "old fashion" way. lol Thursday I am going to visit a good friend who used to be a pro seamstress. She lives close to the PA Fabric Outlet and that place is a sewer's heaven. I was there a few months ago and got 4" wide lace trim...4 yards were $1.00. They don't sell gadgets so a HUGE JoAnn's is close so will go there for the bias tape maker. I plan to have everything cut out this week...and hopefully start the purse on Friday. Gotta finish this 2nd apron. It's NOT cooperating with me. LOL

Very cute. I am sewing a ruffled apron with heart shaped bib using the black with white dots that you used for the top of your bag. After almost 11 years I am back to sewing and loving it again. My next project is going to be a challenge for me...lol...I found a really cute bag/purse in a book I ordered...The Bag Bible. I have just about everything I need except she suggests buying a bias tape maker. I missed that on the instructions the day I bought the fabric etc. I pulled a huge box out of the closet that is filled with fabrics and patterns and a quilt that I started in 1999. I've been sewing since I was little...mostly by hand and on my mother's old treadle machine.

I don't use your wax...I use my own blend of paraffin and soy. But... I don't spray my molds WHEN I use them. Most of the time they pop right out...once in a while I have to put them in the fridge for about 15 minutes. As far as the wick pins. I turn them upside down and tap the wick pin a few times on a wooden cutting board. It always releases from the votive. If it's tight instead of trying to pull it out I twist it a few times. I pour in my shop but I don't have a fridge in there so I have to unmold them in my kitchen. That's why I tap the pin on a wooden cutting board...don't want to scratch my almost new counter tops. And...the really easy way to pour votives is to use paper dixie cups. You DO have to work a little at centering the wick pins since the cups I use are wider than my metal molds. Once the votives are cool you can tear the paper off of them.

No I don't. I've never ordered from Bert.

For a dead on dupe of Angel try Interlude from Aroma Haven/Rustic Essentials. I was one of the "idiots" that bought from Sweetcakes...first the expensive one and then their reduced cost version. The reduced cost version got too expensive for me and while checking out what I wanted from AH/RE I saw their dupe for Angel. You can read what they say about it on their website. A good friend of mine fell in love with the Sweetcakes version so I poured a candle for her to test for me using Interlude. I told her to please be honest with me after burning the candle and tell me if there was a difference. She said...no difference. And when she wants more candles she will call me and ask for "that other scent that smells like Angel".

I was using KY's Lavender Vanilla for quite a while but...someone sent me a tart so I could test Lavender Milk from TN Candle Supplies. I was sold.

I have THIS fragrance oil from NG and I think it smells just about the same as the one from Millcreek. In fact...I changed the name of the NG oil to Berry Creme Brulee' because I couldn't sell it with their name...lol. I ordered the BCB from Millcreek and just knew I had smelled it before. Natures Garden Wildberry Scone Fragrance: A Best Seller!An NG Original Fragrance! The aroma of freshly baked English scones with hints of strawberry, coconut, raspberry, and blackberries.

I've never had this happen either. I've done both...I prefer using wick pins over waiting till the wax starts setting up and then dropping in the wick.

No soy wax being discontinued. They do have LP GB402 100% soy container wax on sale...50 lb. case is $49.99. There is a limited supply. Cargill V-1 Soy Votive/Pillar Wax is on sale at $75.00 for a 50 lb. case. What they are discontinuing is several paraffin waxes. I used to order from them but it's probably been 5 years ago. I'm sure they have all of this on their website. I was just suprised that they are discontinuing CB because it seems like a lot of paraffin users do like it for the great throw. I bought a cube and added it to another paraffin wax that I was using. I never used it "straight".

I just got their newsletter and they are discontinuing a lot of different types of wax. This surprised me............ IGI 4627 Comfort Blend - Discontinued

You did a great job with one table. And your products are gorgeous. I bought 2 of those "suitcases" at Michaels to store mementos etc. I have some very old greeting cards that my parents sent to each other when they were dating...mid 1940s. I love the idea of displaying your soaps in one of those. I just might steal your idea...lol. I've looked at your website before and always thought your products were very professional looking.

That bracelet is really cute. I LOVE it!

I just have the one in December...usually the first weekend. You are thinking right about only you. I mean you COULD try it with the other consultants/reps but...when there were 4 people at Joyce's house one person was slighted...Weekender clothing. Nice clothes but it is very expensive IMO. She had 2 sales in 2 days...Joyce and myself. People were looking but not buying. And like I said...I do a LOT better now that I have it at my house. People are coming to buy candles ONLY. If they don't want or need candles they don't attend. Since it is an open house I don't ask them to RSVP. But for some reason most people have called me if they can't attend. Most will place an order though. I've done 3 home parties. Well...the one wasn't in her home. My next door neighbor is a teacher and we set up my display in the teacher's lounge for a week. It was not cash and carry...strictly orders. That paid off big time for me. The other 2 were cash and carry OR orders. I did well with both of those also. I think it is something you will probably have to experiment with and see what works best for you. Like I said...spring open houses did okay but not enough for me to continue doing it. Christmas...fantastic!

I was JUST thinking the same thing laura.

I am pretty sure I had this one from NG. I haven't looked at their ENORMOUS scent list in a while so don't know if they still carry it or not. I used it in their Joy wax and it threw well.

I got so involved with the alcohol that I didn't mention what I do. I used to hold 2 open houses a year. I stopped the one in the spring because after the first few years over 1/2 of the people I invited didn't come. And I will not post a flyer anywhere so the public can come. I've seen people putting them up on posts in their yards and I think to myself...you could just be inviting trouble because you have NO clue who these people are and what their real intentions COULD be. Anyway...I used to set up with my Mary Kay rep at her home at the beginning of December...Saturday and Sunday. She also had Tastefully Simple, Weekender Clothing and one year a lady who made jewelry. I did that for 4 years and then decided I was tired of lugging all of my display and products to her house...and she is really bossy so although it was MY business...she couldn't keep her nose out of everything I was doing. Constantly saying...you should do this and that. Sooooooooo..........I have had it at my house for 3 years and have done so much better sales wise. My regular customers told me they feel more comfortable coming to my house...Joyce is a high pressure sales person. And you have to WANT to use Mary Kay products...you just don't decide while you are there browsing...hey I want to spend over $100. on skin care/make up today. On Saturday I am open from 10-3 and Sunday 11-3. I have candles displayed in my dining room and then 3 tables in my living room. Dining room is only the candles that I am selling at regular price...and then I do have a "3 for" price on those. In the living room are discounted candles...on the invitation I say something like...Gotta Move These Out Sale. Everyone gets a free flowerpot votive for coming. I have the prices on the round orange stickers on the sale candles. What I also do is tell customers that if they spend over $50. they can pick one of the lowest priced sale candles for free. From doing that I have had a few people love the scent that they got for free...call and ask me to pour 2 or 3 regular priced candles in that fragrance. My daughter and 17 year old grandaughter LOVE to cook and bake. Daughter took Culinary Arts in school and my grandaughter is now. So we do splurge on food. Heck...I have people wanting recipes too. My husband said I should start charging for those...lol. My 2009 open house was the best one...before expenses I was a little shy of $1,000. IMO...not bad for being open for 9 hours. Of course I have to subtract cost of food and what it costs me to make the candles and then the cost to make the free gifts. But...overall I am really pleased with the outcome of them. Good luck and let us know how it went.

Just a little FYI. I did a search and depending on what state you live in..yes bars and restaurants CAN be held liable/sued if a patron leaves their establishment and is involved in an accident. I don't know if it's the same for individuals leaving someone's home where alcohol is served. http://www.dreamindemon.com/forums/archive/index.php/t-30983.html http://voices.washingtonpost.com/crime-scene/montgomery/moco-bar-sued-after-patron-cra.html Back in our younger days when we could party hardy...lol...our friends were having a big party. One of the guests got so drunk that he had to crawl up the basement stairs...across the rooms to the front door...and then crawled out to their car. His wife...thank God she wasn't much of a drinker...DID drive home. Now...this guy is still a good friend of ours and is retired now...but he WAS a chief of police at the time. If HE would have had to drive home in that condition and was involved in an accident...I don't know if the friends who had the party could have been held responsible or not. I live in PA and now I am curious about this. I know that if an underage kid serves alcohol to his underage friends at his parent's home and something happens...the parents can be held resposible for it even if they were not home at the time. Hopefully no one at your candle party would get themselves in that condition.

I think Sliver and Satin Ducky hit on an excellent point. Pretty much teaching the class like Sliver explained...don't share your "secrets" But...making it a point to differentiate the differences of a well made hand poured candles versus the crappy stuff that is sold in a lot of stores. Things like centered wicks in containers vs. the candles you see where the wick is right next to the glass. Keeping the wick trimmed and proper way to extinguish a candle. Plus explaining how when "we" add fragrance oil...we add it to ALL of the wax...not filling the jar 3/4 of the way with unscented wax and then topping off with fragranced wax. I don't know how many people have asked me in all the years I have been pouring candles...Are your candles scented the whole way through? You can explain proper labeling and warning labels. By the time they are done pouring a candle they will be so overwhelmed with all of the other info they won't even think about ordering supplies and opening a business the next week. lol

Looking good...and I particularly LOVE the Blackberry Sage. I love looking at everyone's pillar candles. I have to get back to trying these again. I was pouring the Palm-2 (Candlewic) pillars about 2 years ago and people would say how great they looked...but for some reason they didn't sell well. They went straight for my container candles...lol. In thinking back...I am now thinking that a lot of my colors were too light. Black Rasp. Van. looked good...dark purple. And a Christmas scent that I mixed from a "recipe" that Vickey at KY came up with...I colored Christmas red and looked good. But most of the others looked more spring than fall and winter. From the little amount of time I spend shopping...not my cup of tea anymore...I am seeing a lot more pillars in stores than what I used to see. And people who only used a few pillar candles to decorate for Christmas...and never burn them...seem to be buying pillars all year and actually burning them....lol.

I do believe I stated that I melt a roaster full of wax...pour the candles that I need or want to pour and turn the roaster off when I am done. The next day or whenever I pour again I reheat that wax and add more. So like I said...I guess in a way I AM tempering. But...for me to use the electricity to simply melt 1/2 case of wax...turn it off to cool and reheat it again. My husband would shoot me for running up the electric bill. I could save money by driving to Fillmore Container and buying C3. I have a case here and tested it...didn't care for it. I can melt CBL130/parasoy and pour right away with no frosting or blooming issues. And as I said...I have tested a lot of my scents in GB464 and poured right away with no frosting issues. So for me...when I am very busy around the holidays I want to be able to melt and pour. My customers love my candles or they wouldn't be coming back to buy more for...it will be 10 years in June since I started selling them. Of course...it's up to each person how they want to run their candle pouring/making business.

LOL Candybee about using Crisco. When I started pouring in 2001 I read that too. So I always added it to my J50. I had the same problem with the smoking...and I swear you could smell the shortening when the candle was burning. It smelled like hubby was deep frying...lol. And I would always burn a candle after he DID that because I can't stand the "aftersmell" of frying in the house. (He has since bought a commercial deep fryer and uses it in the garage). Anyway...I was out of Crisco and wanted to pour some testers so I went ahead pouring without it and could not see ANY difference either. As far as tempering wax. Personally I don't and don't plan to. When I was testing 464 I never had a problem with the look or throw of the scents I tested. I've been using a parasoy for 3 years and really don't think there is a need to temper this wax. I melt wax in a large turkey roaster and also a presto pot. I sometimes fill the roaster and melt a large amount of wax even though I know I am not going to be pouring all of it. Then the next day or whenever I pour again I reheat it...so I guess in a way I AM tempering it but...I would never temper just for the sake of tempering it.

JMO but I agree with Sliver. When they first opened I went gung-ho ordering samples. I probably have/had about 50. I tested in their 50/50 wax but mostly in Ky's Perfect Blend. Certain fragrances did well and I ordered lbs. of those. They were having a great sale on lbs. so stupidly I order 10 or 12 blindly...didn't sample first. Maybe 1 or 2 passed the hot throw test in Perfect Blend...so I put them all in cold storage to maybe someday test in tarts. Their site said excellent throw in soy so I assumed they should throw well in a soyblend...wrong. There is only 1 of theirs that I will need to replace. Out of 3 oils I have been able to replace 2...Pumpkin Pie and Country Kitchen. I get both from The Candlemaker's Store now. The other one is Caramel Cinnamon Latte which sells well during the holidays for me. I'm sure I can find a replacement. So...that was my experience. Edited to add...I used 10% in both their wax and PB.

I've been told by a customer that sniffed several of my linen type candles...that my Clean Cotton is an exact dupe for Y's. She bought 4 candles...2 for herself and 1 for her sister and 1 for her mother. She said all 3 of them absolutely love this scent and would burn it all of the time. I use Clean Cotton fragrance oil from Willow Woods.