Common Scents

I use zincs & I LOVE them! It burns just hot enough to get a full melt pool each time & throw the scent really well. I use 51-32-18z in my 9 oz hex jars with 464. I have come across a few that struggled - CS Hansel & Gretel was one but I tried Peaks Gingerbread Cookies (which I liked better) and it does great! Wicking is SUCH a challenge! My main reason for loving the zincs is how they will stand on their own after pouring! NO WICK HOLDERS!

1. Soy only 2. 9 oz hex jar - my only size 3. No tarts yet - early next year 4. Charlotte, NC but most of my clients are in & around my hometown in SW VA 5. I will be adding 5 new scents to my spring & summer line & another 5 in the fall & winter of 2011. I only carry 15 right now. I will also be adding tarts next year as well. Other than that - I am a happy camper!

I had my first "show" of the season this weekend as well! It wasn't a craft show but more of an open house event with other vendors such as Longaberger, Pampered Chef, etc. It was a fundraiser for a local girl who is a friend of mine who has leukemia. We did a bake sale as well. The traffic was fairly light but actually not bad for a Sunday afternoon! We raised close to $400 for Amy! I sold close to $150 & I make candles only. We all chipped in and got a radio ad on the local station so my share was $15 & I donated 20% of my sales to Amy's fund too. The biggest win was a local kayaking & outdoors store wants my candles on consignment ASAP! YAY! And I have another show in two weeks in the same town & I know people will be looking for me! ALL of my bakery scents sold out - I mean every single one! Warm Apple Cobbler, Gingerbread Cookies, Chestnuts & Brown Sugar, etc! All that was left was fruits & florals! LOL! Now time to restock for the next one in two weeks!

HAHA I'm a planner...I can't help it! Thanks for all the input everyone!

Any good spring/summer "bakery" type scents that are big for you guys? I'd like to add one for next year. I'm considering Wildberry Mousse from CS & Strawberry Shortcake from CS. I use 464 btw

I did a search and didn't come up with much. Looking for a good Strawberry Kiwi for 464. Thanks!

Awesome! I'm from outside of Roanoke (Clifton Forge to be exact) Congrats again!

Congrats on a great day! My fall season starts the first weekend in Oct so this has me hopeful! PS - what resort was it? I'm from VA so I'm just curious

Thanks again for testing that for me! Gonna place my order ASAP!

WOW! You are AWESOME! Thank you so much for doing that! Btw what wax do you use? I can't WAIT to place my order now! And my customers who loved it years ago will be so excited that I might be bringing it back (pending my tests of course )

Thanks! My fingers are crossed for good news! LOL!

Candle Science just added a Cake to their line up. Their review says its strong in soy and they are pretty accurate with their reviews! Good luck!

Has anyone tried Bitter Creek's Buttermilk Pancakes (formerly Bubbles N Lights) in soy? I used to use in paraffin and it was a HUGE seller. Just thought I'd check here before I order samples to try in soy!

I use festivalnet.com (I think that's what it is) for the most part. Its free and a GREAT resource! Between that and our two local newspaper community calendars that's all I reallly need. Craigslist can also be a resource too. They have an event section. I've found a few that way as well! Good luck!

I like zincs because of how stiff they are - no wick pins! LOL! I am so lazy! I've tried CDs & LXs but went back to zincs because of having to hold them in place after pouring in order to keep them straight. I haven't tried the low smoke ones yet so maybe I will give them a go! I am pretty new to soy. I was a paraffin girl using the same jar & zincs and up until now, the zincs have worked fine for me in the 464. Thanks for the input!

Does anyone use zinc wicks with 464? I've been testing for a while now and I just want to ask this question to make sure I'm not crazy - do most of you have to wick up when using zinc wicks & 464? I am using 9 oz hex jars & a variety of CS FOs (at 1 oz pp) & the largest wick I've used so far is the 51-32-18 and I seem to need to go up in size. I think I need to go up to a 60 but I just wanted to make sure this was "normal" and I haven't messed something else up along the way. I did some searching before asking & didn't seem to find an answer to my question. I've tried other wicks and I personally prefer zincs

Could I get one as well? northmountaincandle@yahoo.com Sorry to jump on the bandwaggon! Thank you for sharing!!!

Intuit also has mobile payments and if you have Quickbooks it would work seemlessly! http://payments.intuit.com/products/basic-payment-solutions/mobile-credit-card-processing.jsp This is what I will be going with. I had looked at the Way System as well. It is my #2 pick

Short of sending a certified letter where they HAVE to sign for it I think you did everything you could to contact them about your problem and I think you have every right to share your experience here. There have been several others who have had bad experiences with other suppliers, posted here about it and then heard from other members that it was really unusual for that supplier to not do a better job and then through their post on here, they were able to get a resolution to their problem. I don't think you were posting a cheap shot at all!

Thank you for sharing! I have ONE FO that I was going to order from them to try because it was HIGHLY recommended but I will go elsewhere now. I was willing to give them a shot since I mostly get all my FOs from three places but not now. I'm super bummed because they aren't far from me! Using them for one FO could have lead to them getting more of my business...I hope they realize what crappy customer service costs them.

I am in the process of reopening after moving to a new state. I only offering one product for now - 9 oz hex jar candles. I'll add tarts in the next few months but to keep costs down for now I stuck to just the jars. As far as scents to start with I'm only gonna have 20, 15 year round scents, and 5 seasonal scents. But I will work my way up to 30 with 20 year round and 10 seasonal. I only change the seasonals twice a year - a spring & summer round and a fall & winter round. I constantly monitor the year rounds to see what's moving & what's not and make changes if I need to. I don't do bath & body so I'm a wax only operation. After I add tarts I plan to add aroma bead sachets too but will only offer 10 or so scents in those. Hope that helps!

Hi Sarah, The first time I got into candle making a few years ago I lucked out because my father in law had the correct size drill bit needed in order to drill the whole in the presto. I could find everything I needed but that & the thread tapper so he saved the day. THIS time around - I'm 4 hours away and was able to find everything again, BUT the drill bit. So I went to my local ACE Hardware in search of said bit and though they didn't carry it to sell, they had it in their workshop & offered to drill the hole for me for $5. I went yesterday at lunch and they took care of it for me! I plan on making candles this weekend! Hope that helps!

Wow what a good thread! I'm not in business at the moment but in the process of retesting & getting ready to reopen. When I was open I learned a LOT! 1) ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS be professional. With every sale, every show, every business contact you make. Even if you are the smallest potatoes in town - having the professional appearance of a much larger operation will go a long way. I strive for the middle ground - I want my customers to know that I'm a small business but that I'm as dependable & professional as the big guys. 2) Unless you know what you are doing (I DO NOT) hire a credible person to do your taxes for you. 3) The only way to learn some things is to try. I went through several different jar types, label designs, logos, scents, & products before I learned what worked for me. Trial & error is a powerful thing. 4) ALWAYS have a business card or brochure with you. Samples are even better! 5) Keep the BUSINESS finances and YOUR finances SEPERATE! 6) This was the biggest for me - owning my business made me the happiest I have ever been professionally & personally. Even when I was drop dead tired from pouring candles until 3 am or just starting out and making NO money, to me, there is nothing like the pride that comes from being your own boss (corny as that sounds). At the moment I work in corporate America and I pray daily for the day when I never have to "clock in" again! And always remember to have fun! I've heard the saying that when its not fun any more its now work!

Our charity will be Toys for Tots & Any Soldier. I haven't figured out what the percentages or total donations will be yet but those are the two charities that I'm passionate about.

Our Secret Santa shop was not run by a company either. It was all donation based. They raised funds all year & purchased the merchandise along with donations from the local businesses. Our school is VERY small and in VERY rural VA. We're talking less than 100 kids. I've already talked to members of the PTO about donating and they can't wait! The Relay for Life is a good idea too! And you can always make up a bunch of gift baskets & donate them as door prizes or for silent auctions too.