bunkie68

And if so, how? I'm trying to shrink wrap my tarts, but using just the film instead of the bags, I haven't yet been successful doing it. Does anyone use the film and not have some kind of pricey sealing equipment? If you do, can you please tell me the secret? I don't want to waste my whole roll of shrink wrap experimenting. LOL I'm about to just chuck it and buy the bags if I can't figure something out, but thought I'd ask here first. Thanks for any help!

It says it's got blue and gray, didn't mention white. Totally off topic, but Carrie, I love your sig line - it makes me chuckle every time I read it.

I'm looking into this, as I'm hoping to start doing craft shows soon, and I think taking credit cards might help sales. Oversoyed, you use Merchant Services, right? Do you have a retail account or a mail order/telephone order account? For those of you who've ordered supplies from Mr. Imprinter, clearly I'm missing something - when I click on the store link, I can't find any way to actually click on an item to buy anything. Am I overlooking something obvious? Their kits might be good deals, if I could only see prices. ETA: With http://www.thompsonmerchant.com, has anyone used their SOVAI service? It's billed as an add-on for merchants who already have a payment gateway or shopping cart and just want mobile capability for trade shows and such. As far as I can tell, you send in transactions via your phone, and it's $0.50 per transaction - no other fees, unless I really am missing something. If it's as good as it sounds, that would seem to be the way to go since I already have a website and shopping cart for my online orders.

It sounds interesting, but I wish it had a white background. My jars are blue, and the blue background just wouldn't work well for that! Maybe the gray would, though.

So why would you want to break the sugar down? I'm working on my first batch of emulsified scrub, and I didn't put any water in it. I'd say: 60% oils 20% butters 10% Ewax 7% S. Acid 1% preservative 2% FO I think that's comparable to the recipe I used (not looking at it right now, so I don't know for sure). I did have 1% cetyl alcohol in mine, I remember that - so maybe 6% stearic and 1% cetyl alcohol.

I've started out with bases because it's easier and a good way for me to get into making different things. I'm starting to branch out (working on my first batch of emulsified, from-scratch scrub!), and as I get more confident, I hope to do that with more things. I think making from scratch will give me a lot more flexibiltiy in terms of what I can make and the ability to customize a product more than I might be able to do with a base.

They're local for me, and I go pick up my orders. They're good people, and I've been impressed with the oils I've used thus far. Chocolate Latte is just to die for, and Orchid Magnolia and Grapefruit Watermelon are great for spring. I've also started using their GL 1285 wax, and I like it a lot.

I do pretty much what Regina does - I heat up my pour pot and wipe it clean with a paper towel. I use Cajun Clean on the paper towel, and it works well. I also find that the more I heat the pot, the easier the wax is to clean up (within reason - I don't want to burn myself on the pot!). If I feel like they (and my molds) need a thorough cleaning, I'll set the oven to a low temp and turn them upside down on a foil lined pan. The wax melts, and a good wipedown gets them nice and clean.

The TouchPay page refers to this: https://www.sovai.com/merchtouch_signup.aspx if you've already got a payment gateway. I'm taking that to mean that since I already take payments through my site, I should sign up for SOVAI to add on the ability to accept payments via credit card using my cell phone?

I did, not too long after I posted. LOL Thanks!

OK, silly question - I just signed up. Now, where do I sign in to start working on my site?

Thanks to all who shared! The websites look great - better than mine, for sure. LOL I'm thinking I may have to give HCM a try. It's just the monthly fee, right?

Bumping an old thread - I'm considering an overhaul of my site, and wondering if anyone can share a site they've used HCM for. Also, my domain name is hosted through my DSL provider. I'm not changing that, am I? (Sorry if that's a silly question, I'm a bit challenged when it comes to website stuff!)

Karen, that's awesome!!! Congrats to you, and congrats on a successful first day!

Georgia, that's awesome! Congrats! Here's hoping this is just the start of many more.

How pretty those are!

Amish Harvest (Peaks) does well in the fall for me, as does Cuppa Chai, Please (Daystar). And I just got it, so don't know yet how it will sell, but I love Chocolate Latte from Greenleaf.

I'm thinking I can do this. I can do this!!! I'd figured on maybe five or six scents in tarts and votives and scrubs, with sniffies of a good part of the rest of my scent list (I'm making up a bunch of different scents anyway, with orders to fill, it won't be a big deal to pour a little portion cup of wax when I'm making a batch of something or other). It will get my name out there, and if there's repeat business from the Spring Fling to the Fall Festival, they'll have seen me before. If I sell out, well, I'd consider that a good day. So, the form will go in on Monday, and I'll no doubt be wigging out from now until then. LOL But I can do it! Now, I'll have to go research to see what suggestions people have had for someone doing their first show. Thanks, y'all!

I've got a good bit of stock made up now in the form of tarts (I've been making things to fill orders, and I make extras), and scrubs don't take me that long to whip up. The booth fee is $45, so if I sold four scrubs, I'd make that back up. It's a five-hour deal, and I'd imagine it's a precursor to the bigger, two-day Fall Festival in October. These are good questions, and things I might not necessarily have thought of - thank you! Any other thoughts or things I might need to consider?

I just got an invite to participate in my city's Spring Fling on May 3. I'm excited, but wondering if I have enough time to prepare. I work full-time and my candle/bath business is my second job (or third, when you factor in motherhood! LOL). Those of you who've done booths at festivals or craft shows, do you think I could put together a decent showing in the time I've got? If I can, it would be a great way to get my name out locally.

I guess I'm the only one using this. LOL I finished up and tested my votives this week, and I'm very pleased with them. It's a two-pour wax, but they turned out beautifully and burned well. They turn out with a lovely matte finish and release easily from the molds, and hot throw is good. Yeah, I think I've sold myself on it. I'll use up the wax I have on hand, and then I'm stocking up on GL 1285.

C-3 is $64.50 a case at Lone Star, and V-1 is $70.00 a case. Ecosoya PB is $69.50 a case at Candlescience and the MC all natural votive/pillar wax (palm/coconut blend) has jumped to $82.75 a case, so it doesn't look to be just a Cargill thing. I may start focusing more on bath goodies, because if my customers balk at either a price increase or a switch to a parasoy blend, candles may go right out the window.

Bumping my own thread - Brenda at GL was able to tell me the GL 1285 is at least 50% soy, with the remaining 50% being a mix of other natural waxes and paraffin. I don't know how much is paraffin, and I'm not sure I care, because so far, this wax is working like a dream! I've tested two batches of tarts, and the hot throw is amazing. I was burning one in the kitchen, and my son could smell it all the way down the hall (I have a good-size house, 2000 square feet). I poured votives last night. I'll need a second pour, but I'd been having cracking around the wick pin with both Ecosoya PB and the Mill Creek all natural votive/pillar blend, and the GL 1285 hasn't shown any signs of that so far. Paraffin, schmaraffin - I can get the wax locally (which will hopefully help keep my prices down), the throw is amazing, and thus far, it's pouring like a dream. I may be a convert.

Lorrie, that's awesome!!! I know that just made your day!