bunkie68

I thought it might be helpful for us to have a place to list things we've shopped around for and where we've found the best price (realizing, of course, that prices are subject to change!).

I've had that happen with the Millcreek pillar/votive wax (palm/coconut blend). I pour it at around 155, and it cracks right there in the middle just about every blessed time. Makes great tarts, but sucks rocks for votives. I use GL 1285 now (parasoy blend), and pour it at 195, and it works like a charm. It sinks a bit in the middle and I do a repour, but no cracks or bubbles or anything like that. I think it depends on whether the day ends in Y and what phase the moon is in and whether or not the candle fairies are in a good mood or a mischievous one that day. LOL

Has anyone tried the Chocolate Suede?

That's great! Congrats on the good review!

Yep, we had a canopy but gave it a miss because of the wind. We were under a shade tree anyway (which would be nice most days, but not with the temperature today! LOL). And it was a decent show in every way except the bottom line, and sometimes it's not all about the bottom line, you know? I got my name out there to people who might otherwise not have heard of me, and maybe the few who did buy will remember me next time and buy more and tell their friends. So, I'm not completely discouraged!

Georgia, I hear you - my first show was today, and because it was windy and stinkin' cold for early May, the turnout was a lot lower than usual. I guess that's a chance you take, doing an outside show, but no one expected this kind of chill at this time of year!

I had my first show today, at our local Spring Fling. I'd said from the start that if I just made up my booth fee, I'd consider it good for a first outing. Well, that's just about all I did. *sigh* I'd hoped to do better, but it turned off cold - brisk wind (15-20 miles an hour), temperatures in the 50s this morning, and it was just flat out cold for the beginning of May. The organizers said turnout was way down from what it usually is. It stayed windy for most of the show. By around 2:00 it was a nice day - sunny and the wind had dropped - but the crowds just didn't come. So, I had several small sales, and got a good number of people signed up for my e-mail list, and made a couple of contacts that might lead to wholesale orders. But in actual cash brought home, I came back with about $8 more than I'd paid for my booth fee. It was a good first outing, and a valuable learning experience (we have a long list of things to work out for the Fall Festival!), but dang, a little more cash would have sure been nice. LOL I did get lots of nice comments, saying things smelled good and looked good, but with it as brisk as it was outside, no one sold much. The lady next to me had nice gift baskets made up, and she sold four. So, let's hope for better weather in the fall!

That looks wonderful! Much better than my failed first attempt turned out. LOLOL

I never did get a response about my broken bottle of dye. It did come off my soap molds, though (thank you, Meredith!), and in the grand scheme of things, I'm not going to get worked up over a bottle of dye. I'm waiting on my order of more soap molds and more FO.

Got my first show on Saturday, but I'll still be working on orders - I'll be pouring Rosy Velvet (my own little creation), and working on some new creations, too.

Hooray for a good show, weather and economy notwithstanding!

Wow, it sounds like a great outing for you! Congrats! My first show is coming up this next weekend, and if I made six times my booth fee, I'd be thrilled. Heck, if I make my booth fee back, I'll be thrilled. LOL I'm glad your weekend went well!

Cindy, there is no cheap wax anymore, unfortunately. I've tried Ecosoya PB (soy), Millcreek's all natural pillar/votive wax (palm/coconut blend) and Greenleaf GL 1285 (soy blend). They've all worked well for me, although I find the Millcreek wax needs more time to set up before being removed from the molds. I love the Greenleaf GL 1285, and I'm moving toward that being my only wax, once I use up what I have of the others. It's got good hot and cold throw for the scents I've used thus far, and you pour it hotter, so I find it easier to clean up. I've used it for tarts and votives with good success. Hope this helps!

Thanks, Meredith! I'll give it a try. I'll check out Tennessee for the Peach Magnolia Raspberry, too - good to know there's more than one supplier out there where I can replenish.

No response yet re: the leaking dye, so I don't know if it will be replaced or the cost refunded or what, or if I'm just SOL. (Anyone know a good way to get dye off soap molds? I don't want my soaps to be an undiluted honey color! ) I did go ahead and place another order - I need a round soap mold for the shaving soap I'm going to try, they had it, and things are now 50% off. I also got some more White Sands FO (the Peach Magnolia Raspberry was all sold out, dang it - grama, I'll be checking out Alabaster, because I love the scent!). I just wish there was more of a description of the White Sands - I like the scent, but can't really pick out individual notes.

I don't think the Daystar does, either - the description only mentions bergamot and coriander notes. I think the "spice" in the name may be referring to coriander as a spice. I've not tried it, so I don't know if it compares to BBW or not, I'm just offering it as something I'd seen that might help.

http://www.daystarsupplies.com/serendipity.htm#BergamotCorianderSpice Daystar has one.

Good to know - thanks, grama!

My order got here, all fine except that one bottle of dye leaked. I e-mailed them about it last night. I love the Peach Magnolia Raspberry FO - I'd better order more before they close, or I'll be tracking it down somewhere else!

Good luck, Steph! I've got my first show coming up May 3, and I feel SO unprepared. The next couple of weeks are going to be nuts.

I got a shipping notice last night, so hopefully my goodies will be here soon.

I'm going to give the tubing a try. I'd checked out PackCo (thanks, Hells! ), but before I could order, I saw that someone here was selling a good bit of the 4" tubing. So I snagged it. I'll just cut it, use my FoodSaver to seal it, and then shrink that bad boy, and see how it goes. The 4" may actually work really well for my big star tarts. We'll see!

I'm really excited to find this! I'm waiting on some soap molds, and I'm ready to experiment with M&P. Can't wait to get some great ideas!

MissMary, where did you find the 4" wide tubing? I've looked, but haven't yet managed to find it. And I've got a FoodSaver!

I may try the bags and see if I can sell the roll of shrink wrap film I bought. I'm trying to find a way to pack mine to send them out in the mail when people order (or for sample boxes, something like that). I've been using bubble zip bags, which are handy, but not real cute, and I'm hoping that if I can shrink wrap them, then I can just pack them in the box in packing peanuts and forego the bubble wrap altogether. So with the bags, did you have to have a sealer to seal them closed to keep the edges from being all crinkly and messy? Or could you just use a little piece of tape to keep them together?