Crafty1_AJ

This morning at farmer's market was chilly, so I left some of the jar candles in the warm car to prevent wet spots. Set out the soy candles, lip balms, soaps, and a few pillars. As I milled about my booth, I noticed the CT from the pillars was making the place smell very fall-ish. (Apple, pumpkin, vanilla, woodsy scents.) Then as the morning warmed, I set out the rest of the jar candles. We had sunshine all day and decent crowds of customers. There was a surprisingly good chunk of vendors on my side of the square for this time of year. Sold a LOT of fall scents and a few fresh/clean scents. Very first customer (a regular) bought a case of 12 candles and 3 bars of soap, not to mention some lip balm. We had record sales! Whoot! Today, we sold DOUBLE what we normally do on a typical farmer's market day. Gotta. Love. FALL!! We beat our previous record high by about $50. Happy dancing. Not sure if my increased sales were because of the good smell coming from the pillars? Or the fact that the display was less cluttered because I brought it out more gradually, as things sold? Or were people just in a really good mood because of the weather? Who knows. I'm just thankful for excellent sales today!

"I am the eye in the sky Looking at you. I can read your mind..." Alan Parsons Project. We might be old if we know that song. OK, I see the eye, @Sponiebr Yes, feathered palm wax! Never had it set up quite like that before.

Cool effect!

Does anyone else see a pair of lips here? It's scented in French Vanilla, so I guess I could call it "French Kiss" ...

I started making novelty candles when I was about 13 years old in my parents' basement. Worked with whipped wax, too. Back then (pre-internet! gasp!) paraffin was the only type of wax available, and hobby / craft retailers were the only place to get supplies. Fast forward to young adulthood, and I began experimenting with paraffin pillars, tarts, votives, and containers. Focused on containers. Then began experimenting with container soy. Been selling for several years now.

Over the course of a year, a minute is a minute measure of time. I'm not content with this content. I object to that object. I need to read what I read again. Excuse me, but there's no excuse for this. When I burned that double wicked candle, the results were wicked. Someone should wind this post up and toss it into the wind.

Mental health break. I'm PLAYING in my workshop today. WHOOT!! My regular chores and pouring re-stock candles? Bah humbug. Tomorrow. Just finished pouring 4 pillars (I only make those about once a year these days - lol) and am now crocheting a scarf and hat set for my daughter. Pooh on the laundry and cleaning the bathroom. They can wait, too. They get priority status all too often. Next up, I may just cut some fabric for a new quilt. Or pour some chunk votives in fun colors!

I love their speed. They are occasionally out of stock on an item I need, but I can give them grace for that since shipping is so fast. And since Chicago isn't terribly far from me, shipping is reasonable, and I get my pails in just a couple of days typically. They are great. And they have some of the weirder oils that are more difficult to find!

As in, "Why do they have a musical called "Wicked" ?? Is it about making candles?

...you read the word "wicked" (2 syllables, as in EVIL) as "wicked" (1 syllable, as in SELECTED A WICK FOR A PARTICULAR CANDLE). *sigh*

Some soy waxes are straight up soy, such as GB 415, BC's EZ Soy, and KY Pure Soy. Others have "additives" or "enhancements" added, such as KY-125, GB 444, GB 464, and CB-135. These ingredients are added to increase fragrance load or help with frosting, scent throw, etc. Since 415 is straight soy wax, and KY-125 contained additional botanicals such as cottonseed oil, they are not the exact same wax. C-3 is about the only soy wax I have not worked with, but I believe it falls into the former category, alongside 415 and such. My understanding is that It's a straight soy wax.

No, they discontinued it.

KY 125 is no longer made.

So... you're saying having lots of candles around is a problem? *Laughs nervously*

Define "like" ... I would rather eat haggis than wick a tureen.

I like status jars and apothecary jars. But I mostly use square masons because they are thick and withstand shipping well.

Oh, sorry to hear that. It bites to work so hard and not earn a fair profit. Hang in there! You can't go anywhere but UP after that experience!

If you do your own quilting, I'd definitely recommend a good, used Pfaff from the old days, when they were made in Germany. I'm talking the 1470's series. Excellent machines and they have no trouble feeding through a nice, thick quilt. I used that until I got my Bernina. Found a good deal on a slightly used one and love it. It also can handle the thickness of a quilt without breaking a sweat.

Yes, I've seen sellers on Etsy claiming that they have 100% "natural" candles that feature such fragrances as strawberry and lilac. Ummmm...no. LOL

Yes, fo's can turn soap batter WACKY colors when you first mix the batter. I've had olive drab, baby poo green, grungy gray, bright orange-pink, bright yellow / chartreuse ... it's hard to think of a color I *haven't* gotten. LOL But often the funky colors will settle down eventually. To me, the first weird colors are just a signal that I may get some eventual discoloration in the finished, cured bars. Sometimes the D doesn't show up for some time into the cure! And I hate working with purple colorants. In raw soap batter, it can look ugly gray, but it usually does cure out to a nice purple. I just have to keep scrupulous notes on each batch so I can repeat results.

When it comes to bakery scents in soy, I find that most throw fairly well at 6-8% except straight, plain vanilla. True vanillas are kind of soft, so it's a bit harder to get good throw in straight soy. As Trapp said, you just have to test, test, test. And if you get a few fo's that just don't work, as she said, move on. There are enough good fo's out there that DO throw in soy, so no sense stressing out over the ones that are too faint.

AWESOME!! Cute and functional! Very, very happy for you!

I'd avoid these people. They aren't looking out for you or your business interests at all.

Agree with all of these comments. They match my experiences as well.

Pillar candles are meant to be unmolded, so the wax needs to shrink to pull away from the sides of the mold. That's why you don't see single pour pillar waxes. Since they shrink as they cool, they're going to need a repour. Now with container waxes. it is a different story. As JCandle said, J-50 wax is a good example of a single pour. I tested that years ago, and assuming it's still the same formula since IGI bought out the Honeywell waxes, then it's true to form. I remember being amazed at how smooth the tops were when I followed the mfr's directions for use.