MarsBars

I just started using my laser printer with some crystal clear labels I purchased from onlineblabels.com . My sheet is fine when I print the first label or two, but if I feed the sheet back through the machine (HP 2600) the entire sheet has a light gray-ish haze to it, almost like ink or something. I have my printer set to transparency so I'm not sure if I'm doing something wrong or not. I have tried to print on the regular paper setting too and have no luck. Any help on this matter would GREATLY be appreciated! THANKS!

Did Mike own Pourette or his family? I'm wondering if his father passed away, if their business is in probate or perhaps it was left to someone other than Mike (his father/family) if he didn't own it outright and they decided to close it. I get my chips from them too esp since the shipping is so cheap since I live in WA.

I'm really starting to enjoy making these personalized soaps. I'm throwing my friend a baby shower tomorrow and here are some pictures of the soaps I did for the shower. I did this with a light pink base, the little color graphic of the baby girl didn't "pop" out as much as I thought it would, maybe it should have darker. Oh well next time! This is day three (3) with no smudging/blurring with the ink. This is so much fun! I scented 1/2 the soaps in Oatmeal, Milk & Honey and the other in Got Milk? from DS.

Try Taylored Concepts, they are a little pricey but nonetheless they have them with the smooth plastic silver lid. If you're looking for aluminum you can try Kanagroo Blue.

I'm sorry to hear you're considering throwing in the towel. Your business seems successful with your sales so you'll have to seriously consider hiring employees. You're at your maximum capacity now and I certainly don't htink cutting back product lines/fragrances will help. You definately need to hire someone, whether it's several part-timers or or one full-time individual. If you're concerned about training someone and then having them leave and start their business then you need to have a contract with a no-compete clause. Perhaps even hiring someone to just package and ship will help. I one part timer who assists me with packaging and shipping and another who assists with the misc stuff. That was good advice about stopping to take a break and catch up. I do that periodically and it certainly helps. I also close down right after the holidays to take a breather. If you get orders in during the time you are closed then just inform them you received your order but their orders won't be processed for "X" number of days/weeks. Also keep in mind that by hiring out it takes the stress off of your family, you'll have more time with each other and time to just relax- that is certainly something you can't put a price on. When a person is on their death bed, they never say "I should have worked more."

Humm, I'm not too sure about them smelling better/worse than another company's as I have only purchased from Packco. The smell is bad when you first open up the box it arrives in, it's very overwhelming or anytime you store the roll in a closet or something. The only time when I can smell it is when it's wrapped on a product and I have a bunch of them stored such as when I wrap my tarts. I usually store them in individual boxes per their scent and when I open the box up you definately can smell it! I'm thinking about switching the packaging of my tarts b/c of this. The 1500" roll lasts me about 9mo just for my tarts. HTH

I make it in a lotion - a very very light purple, lilac almost... comes out beautifully and it's my best seller in lotion.

I bought mine at Bramble Berry, they are local for me.

Got mine from BB it didn't come with instructions.

I think you need to check with the supplier of the base, usually it has a suggested percentage.

I bought the roll and the holder and it definately helps dispense the tubing easier. It's large enough for me to add some ribbon rolls to it also. I think it is a good investment. Have you noticed that the shrink tubing becomes slightly rubbery once rapped around a product with FO after a few months? I'm not sure what to do about this. The only downside with the tubing is it smells terrible!

Thanks so much! I'm going to play around with some colored graphics to see how they turn out. :grin2:

Finally got around to posting in B&B gallery!

Yippy! I finally did it! (excuse my exuberance, I'm a newbie when it comes to soap). I've been trying to make soap for my father's class reunion with some water soluble paper. I've failed miserably with the inkjet until I tried with a laser printer! I let these guys sit for a day in the molds and they haven't smudged/blurred one bit! Happy dance!!!!

UPDATE! I initially tried with an inkjet and they blurred terribly after about a week. Then this week I tried with a laser printer and so far they haven't even blurred one tiny bit! The first batch I did I was a little anxious and pulled them out of the molds after about 1 hr, the MP did blur slightly but not the paper. The next batch I did I waited overnight and they are crystal clear! I used M&P Crystal Clear from BB on top and Shea M&P on bottom. I'll post pics later today!

2nd NG's Dark Chocolate

Coconut Banana Blast Key Lime Country Berry Hotcakes Blueberry Muffin Buttermint Candies Frosted Carrot Cake German Chocolate Cake

No it's not very moisturizing. You can always add oils and butters to make it more moisturizing, that's what I do! You should play around with different formulas to figure out what works best for you.

Rhonda, I'm glad to see your post. I am very impressed, most suppliers would have turned a blind eye and/or said (posted) nothing. I'll keep an eye out for my oils. It certainly does show your commitment. Thanks.

I buy several dupes from them b/c they are dead on dupes and they throw well in my soy/para wax. Indeed, some of the oils did not throw one bit. I have had great experiences with their customer service. My first order (all samples) I actually received a phone call from them asking what type of product I was going to use the oils in and if I needed anything else, etc. I would recommended their highest grade anything less isn't worth it. Their prices are reasonable but so are many others. I also buy from Peaks and many of their oils throw great in my wax, although some don't. I think you need to test things out for yourself and see how it goes.

3rd that! PEAKS

CareBear, I aggree. I started out of college working as a manager with a higher end nat'l dept store and we wrote off about 5-10% to shrink depending on the department! YEAH imagine how much that is considering we did several million a month. So just think about how much that adds to the retail prices of the items you purchase, the stores just pass it straight on to the consumers.

Hi guys, after reading your posts I bit the bullet and bought an HP2600N yesterday! LOVE IT! It prints so clear and crisp I can't believe the difference it makes, esp on clear labels! I also used it in M&P with water soluble paper and wow it didn't even blur one bit! They are on sale right now at Office Depot and Best Buy for $299! I got mine at Office Max with the price match since it's closer though. What was I thinking waiting all of this time! THANKS!

Rosemary Mint

Tiny rant.........After noticing the message on the Flicker's website indicating the orders would be delayed due to a move, I emailed them to find out how long the delay would be prior to placing an order. Their response was "if you place an order on Friday it will ship on Monday". I placed the order on Friday morning the 5th. TODAY, yes 13 days later...the 18th, I just got a shipping notice that my order was sent! And I got an email saying "sorry it took so long it was due to our move here's a $5 voucher"....humm....not happy with their shipping times esp after I was quoted a MUCH shorter time....hope the fragrances are worth it.