Jcandleattic

17 hours ago, Hopie said:

How about a nice Snow Ice type of soap? Peppermint would be a very refreshing soap.

That is one of the main soaps I do, and I have about 50 bars, so there's that... Good suggestion if I didn't already have plenty of stock for it though. 

YES - a Halloween soap has been on my list.

Great idea Barb! I'm also in a "dancing swirl" challenge, so I can make a black and purple dancing swirl soap. 

I also have pumpkin embed mold I can think of something for that, so I just need to figure out the 3rd soap I want to make.

Hmmmm.... 

LOL

I'm starting to get a bit tired of the mermaid tails. I LOVE them, and they sell so well, but I don't want that to be my only stock! LOL 

(my granddaughter wants me to make another batch, so I probably will make at least one small batch for her.) 

I need inspiration for something new. Anything new. Anyone have any ideas of what they would like to see me make? 

I need to make up at least 3 batches of - something - this weekend, so need to start thinking about it now.

So, give me ideas!! 

I use a combination of Excel, SM3, and notebooks for my formulas/recipes. 

13 hours ago, franu61 said:

I am about 6 hours away from the fires in Redding.  I have not heard that Yaley, or any other businesses were damaged. Homes, yes.

My BIL and SIL were evacuated from the Carr Fire, for at least 7 days, and the strip mall my SIL worked was damaged, but as far as I know, only damaged, not burned down like the 874+ structures that are either just gone, or beyond repair. 

She said they wouldn't be able to open the facility or start working again until at least the middle of September, possibly longer. 

I haven't ordered from Yaley in over 15+ years. Honestly I'm surprised they are still in business. They were always too expensive for me to purchase from them on a regular basis.

I do hope they survive the fire though. Poor Cali is burning up!  

2 minutes ago, Crafty1_AJ said:

Yes, true.  Which is one of the reasons I make soap.    

The Guild is where I have my insurance through. I finally went with them when they added candles as part of their package. I believe before what? 2009 they only insured soapmaking - adding in covering candles sometime around 2008-2009 ish. If I'm remembering correctly. 

44 minutes ago, Crafty1_AJ said:

Have you tried Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild for insurance?  They cover candles.

They do cover candles, however beware that in order to have their insurance you MUST also make and sell soap, or they will not insure you. 

On 8/11/2018 at 11:24 AM, candlesinflorida said:

But the shipping costs aren’t always that big a deal, it depends on the supplier. Some US sellers have ridiculous shipping costs too.

Which is why I won't buy from those who I feel "gouge" their shipping costs. There are perfectly great FO's from too many suppliers whose costs are reasonable, and shipping isn't outrageous. I stand by my statement that more expensive doesn't equate better. 

I really like it too, so thank you. 

The scent is growing on me.

10 hours ago, Shari said:

But, it may also help of there is a review by product perhaps?

We have a separate sub-forum for that. Unfortunately it hardly gets used.... 

http://www.craftserver.com/forum/47-scent-review/ 

As TT said, try pouring cooler. Sounds to me as if the candle is continuing to cool after it was taken out of the mold, so no way to do an additional repour. 

Here is the cut. Love the color, and you can see how the tails melted down - even though they are bad pics - but I think I like them better that way. 

Also the scent blend was Sea Minerals, Twilight, & Misbehavin’. Smells like laundry detergent. Not bad, just not water/spa-like like I wanted it. 

39 minutes ago, Quentin said:

Nothing like that. I was just venting frustration over the myriad of wicks out there.

After reading others' replies, I realized my reply was not even close to what you were actually asking, and you got great advice from everyone else.  

Right now I'm loving my blend of Moonlight Path/Pink Sugar/Vanilla Silk/Strawberry. Smells soo good.. I love it. 

@Moonstar

8 hours ago, Forrest said:

I don't know, I just cut and pasted, I was shocked they weren't all black.

You can do it when it's not a cut/paste as well. 

Select the word you want changed and then on the Edit bar    

use the drop-down on the letter A and select the color you want your text to be.

The Size button right next to it will change the font size. 

14 hours ago, TallTayl said:

I will not ever, ever use a water bath for candle wax

The absolute only time I ever use a water bath is for my Memorial (aka picture) Hurricane 'candles'. Other than that, no way. 

3 hours ago, Shari said:

Very cool looking.  I have some mermaid tail molds just haven't taken the time to play with them.  There they sit on a shelf.  Can't wait to see the cut.

Problem with them is in almost every soap, the tails will snap off either before the first use or during the first use. 

The ones that sunk in due to overheating, actually look good, and look like they won't break off, so I may just start only doing the actual fin/tail portion (you'll know what I mean when I post the cut pics - which I will try to get tonight after work. I've been slammed busy for so long I barely know if I'm coming or going... LOL 

I should have mentioned the green and brown "twigs" are supposed to represent seaweed. Almost looks out of place, but I actually like it. 

The base color is blue with a slight white swirl. 

These were so popular last year I made some more.  Scented with 3 different scents that I honestly can't remember off the top of my head other than Sea Mineral. 

The blend smells more laundry detergent than water/spa type though. 

I like them. I'll post cut pics when I take them. The very middle 3 tails sunk in up to just the fin part though because it overheated so bad and melted. I think I almost like them better that way tbh. I'll also show that with the cut pics (and will get the right 3 FO blend - LOL) 

Me personally, my client base is not so particular or sophisticated that I need to worry about anything any more high-end than what the typical suppliers here in the US provide, and I wouldn't want to pay the customs/shipping charges to have something imported.

My bottom line would just not allow that exorbitant of a fee to pass along to my client base anyway so I have not ventured out. 

I've tried high-end EO's in both my candle and soap making, and honestly the cost is not worth it since there is rarely any scent at all in the end product. Also in my frame of mind, just because you pay more for something, doesn't necessarily make it better, and I have found in most cases that to be true. 

On 8/3/2018 at 7:43 PM, ScentedPleasurez said:

Have you ever had a fragrance that you couldnt give away? 

I had a floral fragrance that EVERYONE was turning their nose up to,

i changed the name and color and it flew out the door,same fragrance though.  Lol 

All the time. It's amazing what a name change can do. One of the main reasons I rarely ever name the candle after the scent it is, and try to give them "clever" or different names. That and most of my scents are a blend of several scents so I wouldn't be able to name it after the scent anyway... 

It's too bad she doesn't know but as Sebleo pointed out, she must not store them that way. If she has been in business for 15 years, she must be doing at least something right, or she would no longer have a customer base. 

I stopped worrying (for the most part) about what other sellers do a long time ago. Not worth my time or my stress to worry about others' products, when I have to worry about my own product so much. 

When I make citrus scents, I usually will add a tiny bit of vanilla to calm that fuel/hot scent down. Not a lot, only about .15oz to a .85oz of the citrus scent and it's amazing how well that works. You can't smell the vanilla at all but it does help with that weird scent. 

Hi Chloe. The "cauliflower" effect is a natural part of some paraffin waxes. If you can find vybar or strearic available to you, you can add those to help eliminate that effect. 

Polycarbonite molds, like the one shown in the picture do tend to have a hard time unmolding. If you can find and use an aluminium mold, they will release much easier, and also if you ever decide to use fragrance, the fragrance will eventually ruin the poly mold. 

HTH