Holly

We have not had anything at all in the way of Summer weather. We barely have had Spring. lol I hate the heat though so it is just as well for me, except it has been really a wet Spring and I am sick of the muck in the horse area and when it interrupts going riding. It is hard for me to think Fall scents when we are all still waiting for Summer. We have great summers up here.....not real hot, and if we do get a really hot spell, it does not last long. It beats San Diego weather for me!

It could be the curved neck issue then. I find that straight sided jars are always easier....better airflow. I hope you can get it to work. I wonder how another fragrance would do.

I have a feeling since it is not the wide mouth, drowning flames may be more likely to happen is this jar. If you had a wide mouth one, that would be a great comparison....to see if the drowning flames is indeed caused by the smaller opening. Is Peak's Birthday Cake pretty easy for you to wick in that wax normally?

Thanks.....LOVE the videos. I too can watch them all day. I would be the same way if I were watching them where customers could come in. Do you have a candle store? The gal that I got him from takes care of their horses but she obviously is not well studied on diet, especially for draft horses. She just does not know. I did not know as much as I do now until I got back into horses in 2000 as an adult....studied up on things over the years since then. You never know everything and there is always something to learn. Sometimes you learn the hard way. I was very fortunate to find a vet in the area that not only would tackle the situation (my original equine vet did not want to take it on and wanted to send me to Pullman - WSU Veterinarian Hospital), but was also a former Budweiser Clydesdale farrier while putting himself through vet school in CO. He also drove the sleds. I could not have gotten more fortunate to find him. If I had to go to the hospital that would have been a pain in the butt...had to keep going back after each debridement. The canker would appear again but each time it would reappear, it would come back slower and smaller....it is common for it to reappear after surgeries....hard to conquer. There is something that I believe the vet should have done from the get go which I did not talk him into until we were desperate...involved an antibiotic. Since he waited so long to put him on it, I do not know for sure if that is what ended it on the back hoof or if it would have ended anyway. Some vets say it should be used and others say it is not necessary....read up on it online. Pullman is a drive. Who knows, maybe if the hospital took it on, they could have gone deeper the first time around because they could have had him out longer with the right equipment for safety. But, it is hard to say. I have had to go to Pullman before to the hospital and it brings back very sad memories and they milk you. Clyde's vet recently moved right down the road from us to a brand new facility and they now have a hospital bed big enough for Clyde and most likely upgraded to hospital equipment that can sustain a larger horse under anesthesia for longer periods...more risk is involved with the draft horses when under anesthesia because of their size. They had to do his surgeries in the pasture. The thing is, we can't afford anymore surgeries, but I have faith all is well, and it won't return ever again! I have to think this way. I will never feel confident to let him be in the wet Spring muck which is not avoidable with horses...always an area that turns mucky in the Spring. He may be vulnerable to this type of thing. Good thing we have a big barn! One of WSU's top surgeon's quit WSU and is working for them now. It is a partnership Equine Clinic. I could ride Clyde and my other horses there to get their yearly checkups! lol Sorry this got a little long...really got to rambling. Thanks again to chatting with me about this. It is funny how this post turned into a horse post, which is fine with me!

P.S. I should check our Hobby Lobby and see if they have these on sale as well. Thanks for the heads up. A great time to buy some to test in. I have not bought any from a vendor yet....just picked up 3 of them at the stores to see if they were going to work. I picked up the taller one as well. When

I agree regarding the reasons for the lid. I may end up using them. The box will work fine for packaging but you are right, it is not easy to store without the lid. I was not focusing on that even though I know that is an issue. Thanks for reminding me. I also know what you mean about a viscous wax....have worked with 4627 before. The 70/30 that I used to use for some of my applications and may be the one that I use for this application, burns down more than out which is also very common with soy waxes. Usually, the blends do not do this that much but this wax sure does. I have another wax that I am testing so not sure yet which one I am going to use. If I chooose the 70/30 I may have to triple wick as well (tried it in one jar) as long as I can get it wicked safely - does not get too hot. Since these jars do not have a neck (curve, etc.) they do not burn as hot, which makes them perfect for double wicking and triple wicking for sure in the larger jars. Post some pictures when you get them done and I will too!

Thanks so much, Joyce, for posting this. I have seen this before but I never get tired of seeing it. It brings tears of joy to my eyes. I love all horses but the big boys hold a special place in my heart and since I have had Clyde, I am very partial to Clydesdales. He is very kind and I love him to death. We had a hoof issue that was diagnosed last April and it was a very long haul and took a lot of dedication on our part to get him better, not to mention vet bills. We are at the end of it. It took four surgeries (major hoof debridement) on the right front and 6 on the back. He still has the hospital plate on the back hoof. We have maybe another 2 weeks or so. He cannot get it wet. He developed Equine Canker (long story) and it was so deep in the back hoof that the whole frog and one half of his hoof on the underside had to be dug out. It is taking a long time for it to completely grow back. There is a small part that still has not completely cornified and that is what we are waiting for....still weeping cells out. He has been a trooper through all of this. If he was not easy to deal with there is no way we could have dealt with this. The front was over with last Summer but we have had to continue with the back hoof this whole time. It was a year ago April 6 that he had his first surgery. What a long haul. They even have a Yahoo Equine Canker board where horse owners can talk and support one another and give off ideas of treatments. Usually, surgery and after treatment is needed. It is very hard to conquer but it looks like we did it! Major dedication..cleanings, redressings, replacing the plates, daily walks. When it is wet he is in the barn with the whole breezeway and his stall. I am with him a lot and we walk and even jog together. Thanks again for sharing. P.S. They do not know for sure what causes Equine Canker but draft horses are more vulnerable to it. Wet conditions make it worse. We can get really wet muddy springs in the part of the horse area and the previous owner said they had a really wet spring the year I got him.....took a year for us to figure out what was going on....often misdiagnosed until it is obvious. I did not even know what Equine Canker was and many vets are not well studied on it. It is not common in this area. He is from OK (northeast side) and after I got him, one thing led to the other, but it is too complicated to explain here.....I just noticed things about him. They had him on a high carb diet (sweet feed and corn as his supplement) which is not a good thing for any horse and especially a draft horse and one that is not worked enough. It can lower their immune systems.

Thank you. I did sell wickless candles. I started off selling them in the tureen jars and then went to the metal tins. I liked that the tins got hotter and melted the wax faster for a faster throw and were lighter for shipping. The tureens are way prettier though. I had a nice label going around the tins but the glass is still prettier. I love the tureen jars. They sold really well, and you are right, you can pump them out and way less work to create. I get so sick of wicking and wicking issues. I also offered the clamshell melts and decided this time around to only offer these and single sample melts. During my time off, I ended up liking the melts better than the wickless. I guess it is personal preference. I get the same results with 1 to 2 cubes (depending on the size of the warmer) each melting session without melting more wax and fragrance than necessary. Although, before, I did not like messing around with getting the wax out of the dish, so at that time I thought customers would prefer wickless as I thought I did. Since Scentsy has become a big hit, there are so many people that are accustomed to changing out wax whether they freeze it or pour it out or if it is hard enough it will pop right out after it solidifies. If my past customers ask for the wickless back, I will definitely consider it. I thought what I would do is offer limited addition specialty melts per season.....to make it more fun than just offering the plain clamshell melts only. This will also satisfy my creative side but will not be too difficult or a pain to pump out. I tend to make things a little complicated, and I have to watch myself this time around. I am very detailed with anything visual and can drive myself nuts! I already started to think about cupcake candles and I stopped myself...wicking will be a pain in the butt. I think gourmet bakery candles would be easier, but I need to take this one day at a time. My creative side always want to do this and that but to be serious with a biz you gotta balance it and do things when the timing is right. Thanks again! P.S. Nice picture of your wickless tureen jar.

It is one that you can really smell the notes that I can smell in real carrot cake. I have never smelled one quite like that since. Does it smell like that to you?

That is the jar that I am testing for my new line. However, I will not be using lids....don't like the large plastic seal that shows more so than it would with necked jars. I wish I could find the pretty metal lids like Bath and Body Works. You can find those jars at Early American Candle Company. There are some other places as well but cannot recall right now. You can order them with the lid or without. I will be packaging them in a box. This will be my double wicked line. They have wider ones as well that can be triple wicked. I have not decided on which one for sure yet.

I sure will. I posted the question on her FB page. Hopefully, she will respond soon. Do you remember Snowtop's Carrot Cake?

Thank you for your encouragment. What you have said is what my common sense tells me. The reason why I have been thinking about this lately is because I am going to do things a little differently this time and have been considering working the net a little harder this time around. My main issue that I had when I was in the biz for 5 years before was I developed a very time-consuming main candle line (pure soy headaches). I am a perfectionist with this type of thing so that made it even worse for me. As much as I liked them and my customers liked them, I cannot have that same line anymore. It took too long to pump them out so I was only able to do what I could do and did not want to market too heavily in fear of not being able to keep up. I was busy enough as it was and it ended up being WAY too much work for the lack of profit. I needed my life back. I was spending too much as well wanting this and that, which many crafters have trouble controlling. The jars were too expensive, which ate into the profit. I learned a lot and know what I will not do this time around and what products I will not offer again. I must control my spending. I am developing a new wicked candle line but it will be an easier line to produce but still will be attractive and of good quality. Actually, the two years that I was not in the biz, I grew to love the wax melts more so than before and in some ways I like them better than wicked candles. I want to offer both though and still do like candles. Thanks again for your advise. I respect your opinion. Hope all is going well with you biz!

I definitely hear where you are coming from. It can be a catch 22. I guess I will stick to a good balance and try to use common sense and see what can happen this time around....going to do things a little differently this time.

I think I will email her or go on her FB page and ask.

Thanks, David. I definitely understand what you are saying and agree with you. I am pretty sure that these people are not at the point where they can buy in large enough quantities as you are talking about, especially with the amount of fragrances they offer. Even companies that are selling in high volumes and can order supplies in large quantities to cut cost, are selling their products for a lot more and even more than me. Maybe many of these small home based candle makers are not doing it seriously for a good profit or are keeping the prices low now and working for pennies in hope to grow a big customer base and then move up in price later with more to offer, etc. Not sure.

I understand how the Walmart stores and stores of that type can afford to sell scented products at a very low price, but I don't know how some of the small home candle businesses do it. To me it would be a lot of work in order to make much at all. You would have to pump out the volume in order to make much and that to me can mean hours and hours of work if you do not hire any help for hardly a profit. How do they manage this? I have been searching the web for online marketing ideas and I have noticed several small home based candle companies offering decent products for a very low cost. I have never charged as much as some say I should charge but I sure don't want to go too far the other way to where I am making pennies if anything at all in the long run for the amount of work that is entailed. If I want to market strongly online, how can I compete with this? i.e. Etsy.....some vendors have really low pricing and may also eat some of the shipping as well. Not sure how they work this.

Does anyone know if her 14-Karrot Cake is the same as the Carot Cake she offered at Snowtop. I thought her Carot Cake was the best and ICS does not carry it. I still have an old bottle and it seems to smell ok, but I would rather get a new bottle. It is pretty old. Thanks!

You are welcome! Millcreek has some great oils and do well in soy. I am pretty sure they test everything in 415.

P.S. I just poured Peaks Clean Cotton to compare throw. I am pretty sure MC's Clothesline Fresh is stronger from what I remember when I tested Peaks Clean Cotton before. I think these fragrances are a lot stronger in melts. I never did test MC's Clothesline Fresh in my wicked soy line, but I remember not getting a strong enough throw with CS's Clean Cotton or Peaks.

You may want to try Millcreeks Clothesline Fresh. They test in 415, I believe. I got a great throw in parasoy wax melts with this fragrance. To me it smells like Clean Cotton or close enough. Not a whole lot of difference in the type of scent. I would have to smell both again to see if it is almost the same.

I have found with certain fragrance oils this can happen....changes the color where the melt pool was to a color that usually is not very attractive. If the candle is uncolored, it will turn the creamy color to a darker ugly tone and sometimes just a darker tone that is not real ugly. There is not much that can be done to avoid it.....not that I found anyway. It is a reaction from the heat, I guess. I have seen this with other companies (the big boys) as well.

I took a look at Michaels and they carry the paper that transfers things and also have embossing items. We would have to get a stamp made with our logo if we want to emboss and then go from there. I am not 100% at this point on how it all works but they have some really pretty fine glittler for embossing. Not gaudy....really pretty. The thing I am not sure on yet is when the procedure would be done (before scenting or after). I would be worried that the fragrance oil would mess up ink or glitter. The girl told me there that it is waterproof, but that does not mean it is fragrance oil proof. I don't even have the freshener stock yet. I won't be doing it real soon, but when I do, I will definitely post it. I think I am going to order a 10 pack or so of the blanks and play around with it.

P.S. I am going to Michaels today. Would they have what is used for this type of thing...embossing card stock?

I have never embossed before. How is that done? I will google it and see what I can find. Thank you for the suggestion.

Thanks so much, Jenn! Once I am ready to start making them, I will give the paper a shot!