Maggie

Thank you. It is only the second one I have even made. I am so not a sewer but these seem to be fun to make.

And the nice part is...if it's just not quite right it doesn't matter. When making clothing it has to be right or it doesn't fit or look right. I remember sewing all of the clothes back in 1979 when we took our kids to Disney World. It was winter here and really hot there so I wanted some new summer stuff. I used to NOT try the clothes on till I was done and actually going to wear them. BIG mistake! I made a 3 piece outfit...pants, top and jacket. OMG...the sleeves in the jacket were too long but at least I could roll them up. But the darts in the front were not even...couldn't do anything about that though.

I like sewing stuffed "dolls" and crafty type things more than clothes. But..I did get better at it and forced myself to try on as I'm making them. I also now spend the time ripping something out and sewing it again rather than thinking...oh this won't matter. lol

OMG...they are beautiful.

And your FIRST! My first and only rustic pillar looked like crap. I ordered another wax...I blamed the crappy one on the wax that I used...lol. Anyway...ordered the slab of wax to try it again and of course haven't tried it yet.

Love the color of your Blackberry pillar.

Absolutely gorgeous quilt.

We also inherited a quilt from my hubby's grandmother. It was made entirely from hubby's and both of his brother's clothes when they were little. 1940s and 1950s...lol.

I started a quilt in 1999...well lets say I have a lot of the sections/blocks done but not all. My mother...who lived with us...was dying of cancer and spent the best part of the day in bed upstairs. My sewing machine is in the spare bedroom upstairs so I decided I would do sewing to be near in case she needed me. I WAS making some clothes for myself but then decided to make a quilt. Well...when she got really bad I quit and thought I would get back to it after she passed away. It's been 11 years and I still can't bring myself to work on it...brings back the bad memories.

I was so excited too because hubby had just bought me a really good sewing machine for Christmas in 1998 and this was going to be my first real project other than making clothing.

I MUST get back to sewing.

Have fun.

Oh...and I have way too many hobbies/crafts that I love to do. Change is a good thing. I can get bored very easily doing the same thing over and over.

I always say this...KY Candle Wax Supply for the exact Claire Burke type.

And I've said this before too...lol. B'nL had this fragrance and I always ordered it from them. Then she went OOB and sold her oils to BCN...I don't have a clue if they carry her version or not. But Vickey at KY has the exact same one and I've been using theirs for years. The hot throw was great in paraffin, Joy wax, KY Perfect Blend and now in my CBL130 from Candlewic. If I decide to start testing again with GB464 it will be one of my first testers because I have several died hard AJ&P customers.

I have the one from NG and IMO it isn't an exact dupe. I had bought the potpourri for my mother long before I ever poured candles and she loved it. When I began this addiction I went to a store that sells Claire Burke products and sniffed 2 of their scents that I wanted to carry...Original and AJ&P. Unfortunately for me, both were carried by B'nL so I had to search for them from another supplier. I think BCN has Original but again...not sure if they carry Lori's AJ&P.

Wow, don't think I've ever seen a 2oz hex jar. Where did you get it from?

Several suppliers carry them. I bought some from C&S about 5 years ago but...just for sniffy samples at craft shows to keep people from opening all the jars and messing them up. Well...guess what? After opening the sniffy jar...they STILL opened the wicked jars. I guess they thought I was trying to pull something over on them....lol.

I sell flowerpot votives and 4 oz. square Victorian jars...I have never tried to wick anything smaller than these.

I tested a little bit with C-3 and did not care for it. I prefer 464 out of any of the soy that I have tried. I've used 4627 but never 4630.

Great job!

I LOVE the swirl and colors that you used for Eternity.

Also...love the sparkles on your Gardenia soap. I tried several Gardenias in candles and finally found one that I like...Gardenia of Eden from Heartfelt.

When it comes to florals only a few sell well for me...Gardenia isn't one of them...lol. Wisteria sells best...and then Lilac. Sell only a few Honeysuckle too. In my area florals don't sell as well as I thought they would. And even a few people who liked them at first...their tastes have changed.

I dabble in CP soap and haven't soaped any florals yet.

LOL...well did you google it to see if it came up #1. I did and...of course it DID if you type in Sassy Shops. When I typed in just the word sassy it did not come up first...in fact I didn't even see it on the first page.

I was looking at both the candle and bath and body sites they are promoting. Not too many right now.

I checked to see how long they have been in business...didn't find that on their About Us page.

I have no clue if it's a good thing or not...I don't do any kind of advertising...don't have a website.

Something else that I think you have to consider is air flow in your home.

Some times when I am testing a new fragrance...I always test my 8 oz. Madison jars in my kitchen. Our downstairs is pretty much an open floor plan...so maybe the throw is not that strong in my kitchen...but I find that walking into my hall and coming up the stairs the hot throw is much stronger. I have a friend that lives in a 1 story home here...but has a vacation home in another state. It's a 2 story log home...2nd floor is a loft area looking down over the 2nd floor. She said that many times she will be burning a candle downstairs and the throw isn't real strong...but if she goes upstairs it's a lot stronger.

Just throwing that out there for you to consider.

As far as cold throw. I can take the lids off some of my candles and smell them when I walk in my powder room or bathroom. I think it depends on the scent. Usually I have some type of floral flowerpot votive sitting in there...and to me florals seem to be really strong...sometimes TOO strong. lol

I have another friend that just recently got into burning pillar candles. Not mine...btw...since I don't pour many pillars. She will have 2 of my container candles burning in her kitchen and then 5 or 6 different scented pillars going at the same time. Then she will say to me...oh doesn't that Asian Spice (Pier 1) smell wonderful. Uhhhhhh.......what we are smelling is a combination of 7 or 8 different scents. She can be an idiot at times...lol.

Yes...BC bought Sissie's. Thus the names BCN and BCS.

I don't order from BC anymore. They had a couple that threw well for me...but not enough to continue using them.

If I remember correctly...Sissie's had the best sugar cookie. At least it seemed like everyone raved about it. I ordered it and it WAS great. Then of course Sissie sold to BC and I looked elsewhere. Found the one that I love and customers love from NG.

Thanks Barbara...I will keep watching for a class OR a video.

Tradewinds - Didn't they carry Melekalikimaka ? I have been making my own blend these last few years ( it is coconut - pineapple - pine all things native to Hawaii) because I couldn't find it anymore.

Yes they did...and I remember it being so popular. I bought a sample and never poured it...lol. Now I have another excuse...pour the sample and test and if throws well for me...more to order.

IMO they had the best cucumber melon...and I always loved the Whispering Angel that Dan had mixed especially for his mom...a breast cancer survivor. There are more but since they have been closed for so long I've kind of put them out of mind...and what I had left of any oils I put to the back of my FO storage shelves.

Heck...that didn't "quote" right for some reason.

I have had no problem at all getting soot and smoke from the Yaley wicks. I just finished re-wicking some candles to get rid of the Yaley's (in paraffin).

Also, for some reason, the LX's smoked a lot in paraffin pillars. You could see the trail of black going up from the top of the flame.[/quote]

Shoot.....I use LX wicks for most every type of candles I pour except votives. They work great in my palm pillars and my parasoy container candles so they have become my preferred wick. And I have been thinking about trying the rustic pillars using the paraffin pillar wax that several people here use and recommend from Candlewic. I bought a 10 lb. slab....and of course was going to use LX.

I have just about every type of wick sold so I guess I will start with another type. I use only pretabbed wicks since I use pillar wick pins. I'm not interested in using spooled wicking...I want to do it the easy way. lol

Just read the home page. Glad you posted this candybee.

WOOHOO...Dan is back. I just loved him. We posted on another board...a private one...that was eventually closed down several years ago. I knew he left but lost touch with him after that.

I heard SO much good things about the Select Shades and never tried them. I just ordered m&p goatsmilk base and I have quite a few pounds of shea butter base and I don't know what all else because I quit making m&p soaps a couple of years ago. I have been using the micas from Kangaroo Blue and some liquids that I bought from various suppliers. But...now I really want to get soaping again and have a great excuse to spend more money...I mean order the Select Shades.

Hot damn Barbara...that soap is just gorgeous.

I know you have told us how you do your swirls etc. And I still haven't attempted it...I haven't made CP soap since 2009. lol But then I haven't done too much pouring candles either. Just what all I needed for orders and then my big Christmas Open House. I just got 11 samples from CW during their sale to test in wax...and I have 10 samples from CS SOMEWHERE...I got them last spring and never poured them and now I can't find them. lol

I can't remember...did you do a cp class here or did you post pictures of how you add your colored soap using the squeeze bottles somewhere on here. I remember you gave instructions and I'm too lazy right now to do a search. If you haven't done a class Scented needs to beg you to do one. I know Scented does such gorgeous soaps and gorgeous pillars too. Of course I couldn't actually participate in the class because I soap downstairs in my kitchen...and my computer is upstairs in our spare bedroom/office/sewing room. And I do not have a laptop so I can't take it downstairs. But I would love to see the pictures and technique you use step by step...and then drool. I DO know it takes a lot of practice and patience which I don't have much of.

Okay...I'm done rambling.

Good question?

We had a vaction home close to Rehobeth Beach, DE and there was a candle shop just outside our community. One day I stopped in and introduced myself and we had a nice LONG conversation. Anyway...she had a friend that did this for some of her containers plus the girl was an artist and she did gorgous design work on other containers. But...I never thought about the etching doing anything to the class.

I bought a glass etching kit a few years ago and tried it on something...it's been to long to remember. But it didn't turn out real well so put it in my craft room with the rest of the thousands of other craft projects that are 1/2 finished or never started.

Hey debscent...if you read this do you remember her? Leann's candles on Long Neck Road...turn right and she was out in front of that brick home that her parents or inlaws owned. She was from Wilmington.

Sorry to hijack your post asking debscent this question.

I like them both, but, agree that whatever you go with they should be consistent. As for the colors of candles I once had a competitor tell me that Love Spell is purple not pink. I thought am I over there telling you what you are doing wrong with your products imo. This is a craft and everyone has their own personal preference of doing things such as if I want an orange blueberry candle dang it I'm gonna make an orange colored blueberry candle. Now I wouldn't do that for customer purchases unless it was a special order or if they were for me, but, I thought it was rude of the competitor to tell me that, what business is it of theirs what color I make my Love Spell. I personally like it better in pink and I sell it like crazy so obviously no one else has a problem with it.

Ya know...there must be "a method to your madness". Because I used to color my LoveSpell purple and it didn't sell real well. I changed it to pink and now it sells a lot better.

Years ago my best friend loved a fragrance that I got from...I think it was BnL. I always made it yellow...I think the name of it was Silent Night so I thought of the star in the east and colored it yellow. She wanted to order one for a gift and asked to make it dark blue. No problem...that's what I did. I guess she was thinking of a dark blue sky at night.

I bought dye chips from BCN about 9 years ago...they are called Pine Green and every time I use them I have to add dark green because my pine scented candles were turning turquoise. In paraffin, soy and soyblend wax.

Wessex is using soy which is harder to get dark rich colors. I use a parasoy and still have to add a little bit of brown or black...depending on the scent...to get darker candles. I use 80% paraffin and 20% soy for tarts and votives and I don't have to add AS much black or brown...but if I don't I get lighter colors too. And I don't want too add to much and clog my wicks.

Do you add scent to the lotion and does it thin it down? I have found with so many body soaps and lotions they really get thin with FO.

The body souffle does sound wonderful.

Yes I add scent. IMO it is not too thin and everyone likes the consistancy. I always have a couple of small testers for people to try before they buy...and of course if I'm not busy talking to other customers I ask them their opinion. I tell them they aren't gonna hurt my feelings or make me mad because I HAVE to know the truth. lol My 17 year old grandaughter loves my Love Spell lotion.

My notes for adding FO came from Shadrat...I haven't seen her around any messageboards in YEARS. Maybe you remember her...she posted a lot on another very popular board.

Much better...now I can see it.

That is a really cute idea. I'll have to look for a mold like that. I bought several molds and wicks to make floating candles from CW a few years ago and haven't done a thing with them.

I have SO much stuff here that I was gonna make and never get around to it. lol

I LOVE the Goatsmilk lotion base from The Candlemakers Store. I have a couple of died hard lotion customers from me using this one. I had tried 3 or 4 others before.

My SIL's neighbor CAN'T run out of this. She said it's the only lotion that helps her very dry feet. Well...she ran out right before Christmas and told Joy to get her some for Christmas..they exchange every year. Well...my SIL doesn't live close to me (about 30 miles) and we were supposed to meet them for dinner Dec. 14th but at the last minute we had to go to a retirement dinner for a guy that works for my hubby. So...I wasn't able to give my SIL the lotions till Dec. 27th. She later told me that her neighbor opened the gift bag and promptly took off her shoes and socks and rubbed the lotion on her feet. She told Joy that she can't live without it.

That fruity body souffle from Essentials sounds devine. I will have to look into that.

I just checked to see what wax 4630 is since I never used it.

I always add my fragrance oil at 180* and when I was using one pour container wax like J50, J223 etc. I always poured immediately after the oil was mixed well with the wax. What temp is your wax when you are pouring? Oh and what percentage of fragrance are you using?

Another great place for good fragrance oils is KY Candle Wax Supply. Vickey tests all of her fragrances in soy and won't sell any that don't throw well.

What more can I say Barbara...absolutely gorgeous as always.

I so miss your soap pictures when you haven't posted any for a while.

Maybe it's just the camera/picture...but the white portion of your soap looks like satin.

Threw great for me too...and I like it.

I had only 1 sale when I took it to an open house several years ago that I used to do with my Mary Kay rep.

I was shocked. One of HER customers came that I had met before. Anyway...she brought a friend with her and I kept looking at her and finally asked her what was her maiden name. I said...OMG...I know you from when we were kids. I told her who I was and she couldn't believe it either. Anyway...the other lady was looking and sniffing candles while we were talking and she said...OMG Sandy she has Sweet Potato Pie...your favorite. So Sandy bought 2 candles...and that was all I ever sold. lol

I love Butt Naked from At Wix End in OH. This is a supplier that has great oils and wonderful customer service...but rarely gets mentioned on here.

I don't order from JS anymore.

Anyway...KY Candle Wax Supply has a great fragrance called Country Gift Shop. It's a biotch to wick though...lol. But it does great in tarts. One of my customers always orders a dozen of these a few times a year. She has a few other favorites/staples that she always orders too. Then she usually adds 1 bag of something new for her to try.

If you do a search on this site you should be able to find posts about Country Gift Shop.

I have also made potpourri with this scent...smells wonderful. I don't make potpourri anymore.