Hillary

I don't know the answer to this, but I don't think it's an odd question at all. I've wondered about that myself. I'm glad you asked. Hopefully you'll get good responses on this.

I call mine a blend too, soy blend. It's soy and paraffin. My personal opinion though- for what it's worth- is that if the candle is not 100% soy wax (no paraffin or other type of wax) then it is not ethical to call it a soy candle. I know there are members here that have a strong opinion about this but they probably spend more time in the veggie section. I think that any candle containing paraffin should be called parasoy or blend. It would be misleading to call my candle a soy candle when I mix waxes. And I always tell people that it's a mix. Other people make soy candles, I don't. JMO Marketing a candle as soy might be more profitable, but for the sake of CTers and termonology around here, well, I'd be really suprised if the majority agreed with soy, parasoy and blend being the same thing. Soy is soy. (Sounds silly if you say it too much, Lol....)

I am. Are we saying then that we can call a candle with 95% paraffin + 5% soy wax a SOY candle? I can see calling it parasoy, or even a soy blend, but is it a SOY candle at that ratio? Are we talking about definitions used for marketing purposes, or terms we would use here at CT? (no snippy tone intended here, really:wink2: )

Mediterranean Fig?

Thanks for all the input. I think what I need more than anything is a kick in the pants. If I don't sell this stuff, well, nobody else is gonna do it for me. It's hard to put yourself out there I guess, but I've gotta do it! Thanks!

Definitly doing this one!

Thanks, I did read that thread, lot of good ideas. So would most of you agree that only 20% will actually show? That would be a bummer. So to get 10 people I would need to invite like 50! I guess if I say "bring a friend" that counts.

Good to know. I didn't really want to have to sort things out with someone else anyway. I'll do my own thing. As far as who to invite, I was thinking pretty much anyone I feel comfortable having in my home. I will probably send a few evites to close people, family and friends, then have invites/flyers for the people I see reguarly-other parents, neighbors, etc. I guess though, I just feel wierd asking people to come to my house to see my stuff and then pay for it. At least if your working with someone you kind of share the spotlight. I don't want people to feel like I'm always trying to sell to them, you know? Anybody else feel like that?

Only 20%??? Yikes.....I thought it'd be more than that. Well, I better keep working on that. I want enough people to show to at least make it worth while. Di-I did read that other thread, that's what got me motivated! I just feel like I might be missing some things. I mean, I do two styles of jars candles in about 22 scents, and wickless, and I'll have warmers. Is that enough or should I find someone to partner with, soaps or jewelry or something? I wish I could go to one before I have one!

Okay, I've been reading and reading. I think I'm ready to have an open house. I've been selling to friends for awhile, but I need to make some money. I was thinking about a 3 hr open house. I'd like to sqeeze this in before Mothers Day. I have a good guest list going. I'm thinking only 1/2 or less would show, sound about right? Invite 20, 10 show up.... I don't have much space for display, but I want to do cash and carry. I have a cash box, reciepts, what else do I need? Some drinks and munchies? Order forms maybe? I'm suprisingly nervous about this! TIA!

I like it just how you have it in these last two.

Gosh, now I really like those! I'm not sure which one I like better, maybe the leaf. Christina, what is your favorite out of all these?

I'm with cowgirl. IMO your original font is what made it look sophisticated. And I think the rose takes away from that. Also the the browns you used -to me- sort of fit the idea of nature/natural, where as the black gives it a more conteporary edge. Some one else metioned trying a fern or leaf type of design, what about puting a fern leaf in green with your original font and brown colors? Just a thought....

That's really nice. Clean and elegant. It looks very professional.

I'm totally in the same boat. I can only charge about 2x my cost, and I don't even have my time figured in to that price. But I know, as you said, I'm not buying in really large quantities yet. I keep telling myself that it'll pay off eventually. My goal right now is to get them out there, eventually I hope to have a real customer base and I can gradually lower my cost and maybe even raise the price a bit. I do buy wax by the case. I think I pay about $15 shipping for 50 lbs.(the place is really close) As for the FO's, I try to buy a lb at a time, but sometimes the shipping on that is more than the wax depending on what I'm getting and from where. I think getting wax from as close as possible would save tons in shipping. As for the jars, I do only get the jars I really like. I pay I think almost $2.00 per jar with ridiculous shipping. But I figure the jar is a big part of the package. I don't want to compromise on that.

I just got my order today and I went ahead and got a lb instead of a sample. I know, I should know better. But I'm kind of in a crunch and I needed a mango scent. Anyway, OOB I'm not lovin' it. I'm not going to get it in wax for a few days, anyone tried it?

Thanks for all the info. I really need to get going on this. I thought I was on my way a couple months ago and...well, it just wasn't meant to be at that time. But now I want to do this but I think I'll need the most user friendly package. That, or, somebody to do the whole thing for me,Lol. You guys are really inspiring. Every time I see a website or read about your sucesses I just feel that much more motivated to stick with it and keep moving forward. Thanks!

I'll have to look at Handcraftmarket. Thanks! edited to add: Great website, very clean!

Okay, yeah. Thanks, that's all the stuff I don't get. I didn't realize there was a difference in all those things. So if I wanted to do a website from scratch, all original, not from a template then I probably would be looking at a couple hundred....? I'm such a dork about these things. I just want somebody to do it all for me so I don't have to learn it, lol.

Wow! I've heard Prarieannie does really nice work. I didn't realize you could get a website designed for that little. I thought it'd be more like a couple hundred just on the low end! I like your website BTW.

(I'm sure this has been discussed before but I didn't hit the right words when I did a search. Sorry.) I was wondering what the ballpark costs are when building a website. If I had someone design a really nice, professional looking website what would you guess the pricing might be? I know there would be quite a range depending on all the bells and whistles. I really have no idea. And then is there an annual fee or monthly fee for hosting and all that? -I'm only good at email and online shopping. I'm clueless when it comes to these things. Thanks for any enlightenment!

I also wait for mine to cool completely. Lid goes on right after.

I appriciate your questions but I'm not trying to correct a problem exactly. I guess I gave more info then necessary and confused the issue. My whole combination works perfectly as is. I mix soy and paraffin. LX and eco smoked too much in this blend. Edited to say I had my wicks mixed, up haven't yet tested eco in this blend. Question-Just wondered about the melt points in soy waxes and if you could compare one wax with another by melt point, or any other factor for that matter. Maybe I'm not explaining myself well, or it could just be a dumb question.

I currently use zinc wicks. They burn great, I just would like to get rid of the zinc thread. I'd like to use LX or eco, but the 2 waxes I mix right now do not do well with LX or eco, I've tried. I know this is a backwards way of doing things, but that's what I do:D . I want a new soy wax anyway- because the one I'm using is not available nearby. So, new wicks, new wax. Long story short-I was just curious about the melt point in soys. I know sometimes suppliers sell waxes under different names that are the same as another suppliers wax. I've read about that here. I guess that's what got me thinking about the similarities in the waxes. (I'm not going to assume anything-already learned that lesson. ) What other factors would determine the wick choice?

www.makesscentscandles.com has it also -Ohio. I was just looking at their website. But it depends on where you are really. Shipping on wax is a killer! Might be worth paying a couple dollars more per case if you can save even more than that on the shipping charges. :smiley2: