asheebeans

See' date=' I didn't take Bruce's comment as insulting. Truthful, really. I've had to do the same thing....cut a piece of paper and measure...then cut....then measure...until I figured out the size label I want. Is it a PITB? Totally. Is it worth it in the end? Totally! You will get a label that you will enjoy and that will enhance your product. Only you know what size you need, so it probably is in your best interest to just bite the bullet and do it Bruce's way. It is in the best interest of your business to do it this way, because when I was new I bought a looooot of labels that I didn't need, thinking they would work. What a waste of money! It makes my head spin to think how much money I wasted this way! His advice is actually [i']saving you money, which you should be glad for. If it's sprinkled with a little bit of snark, then swallow it down and just chase it with a drink of gratitude.

I'm getting excited!! We're coming in Friday afternoon and won't be leaving until Sunday morning. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, this is going to be so much fun! Yippee!!

Essential Oil University and Lebermuth for me! I have bought my Redistilled Peppermint from WSP in a pinch and the price (then, anyway) was comparable to other places and it was good quality oil that was wonderful in CP!

OMG, her Apple Danish is tha bomb!!! I would order waaay in advance if I knew I needed it, because I haven't found another oil that smells like that one. Her Lilac was crazy-strong too! VERY nice in candles/soaps. I haven't ordered from her in a while, but I may bite the bullet and order soon. I don't need Apple Danish until midsummer, so I should be ok.

Nancy T, I'm going to both of those events too! LOL I guess I'll see you there! I was going to go to Ohio Soaper's this year but it's 3 hours away and we'd just replaced a vanity/sink, toilet and bathroom floor due to a leak. I didn't have the money at the time for hotel, etc. so I couldn't go. I anticipate things being better in May & July, so I am looking forward to chatting and shopping!

Some old staples of theirs are Fresh Linen (people love this one....it's either love/hate), Iced Cinnamon Rolls (or buns....can't remember off the top of my head), Margarita, Pink Sugar, Raspberry Zinger, Pumpkin Crunch Cake and Ocean Mist. I haven't tried too many of their newer ones lately because I have been so busy with school/work--but these are my bestsellers year round.

Your soap makes me think naughty things! hahahaha

Polyclay's not very flexible, but if you just want a small mold, the moldmaker for polyclay is nice! It's a two-part putty system that you mix, mold and set. Then you have nice flexible and reusable molds! I got mine at Pat Catan's, but I'm sure they have it at Hobby Lobby too.

When in doubt--toss it out. It's not worth getting a nasty bacterial infection over. Might I suggest a way to keep records of your purchases? If you buy online, they usually send you an email receipt. If you have yahoo mail, just create a folder for each year, and then save the invoices you are emailed to the corresponding folder. Then, you will have records that you can go through to find out when you bought the item, how much you paid for it and how much of it. That's how I do it. HTH you some!

OMG, my daughter would go nuts over that bunny!! I think they are all sooo cute! Nice work! I'm still trying to figure out how to crochet--just bought a DVD and I'm hoping that will help me some. At this point I would be happy with a dishcloth--your stuff is freaking awesome!

OMG, cherries!!! I love it! My fave pricey bag (that I'll never be able to afford) is the Louis Vuitton Cherry bag! This one is so cute, I would carry it over the LV one. Nice job!

Gorgeous! Haha!! Glad to see I'm not the only hoarder! I'm still hoarding some Be Delicious and Guavaberry from Sola's....:tiptoe:

I remember those! I think I saw that demo around 2006 or so. I'm getting excited about this gathering! I just booked my room and paid my registration. I can't wait!!

Coconut Milk Powder? Ooooh, sounds neat! About how much is it for a pound? ETA: I'm making a vacation out of this convention. We're leaving out Friday afternoon and staying until Sunday morning! I'm excited, because this semester has been sheer HE## and I need a break! (and a social life again! LOL)

I'm sitting on the fence about this one but want to go. This one will work better for me financially, as I don't have the money for Ohio Soaper's right now. I'm thinking about coming out Friday and leaving Saturday night. I looked it up and the hotel is only about 3 hours from me--same as Ohio Soaper's would have been this year!

I wanted to add that if you watch for the SFIC co-ops that are regularly run on here--you can try a little of everything and see what you like, then order accordingly! I bought a ridiculous amount of soap from the last co-op, and I'm embarassed to say that I haven't even had time to play with any! School is kickin' my butt this semester. But, I couldn't pass up those prices. Even shipped to me, it was still way cheaper than WSP. (who I used to use) MP soap is so much fun!!! You will love it!! Wait til you start buying molds--I swear that my stockroom looks like it was out of an episode of "Hoarders" when it comes to molds.....:tiptoe:

Be prepared to spend lots of money before you even see a dime. Seriously. If that doesn't scare you away though, have fun with it! I had to take some time off from candlemaking recently because it was becoming a chore. I never wanted it to get like that and it made me a bit sad. I ended up buying some palm wax to play with and make some candles for ME! That got me back in the spirit and I'll be pouring some more candles in the spring/summer! The one thing that is nice about having your business is that it is just that--YOUR business. If you need to take a breather, that's ok. If candles don't work out and you want to try something else, well that's ok too! The candle market is saturated right now. If you put an excellent product out there and take the time to get your name out by way of your reputation, you may go far in this business. You also may not. If you are ok with that, best of luck to you! I'm not being snarky, just honest. I've been making candles for 10 years now and spent thousands of dollars (literally--it makes my stomach a bit weak to think of all the money I have spent! I could have taken that dream vacation to Italy instead....*sigh*) on supplies, so I know what I am talking about. As far as startup advice, Nature's Garden used to have an excellent tutorial on candlemaking and setting up a business. Check them out if I haven't scared you off yet! LOL Whatever you decide, best of luck to you! Have fun making pretty-smelling things!

I have some! They are a bit spendy, though. I bought them mainly for myself! I got mine from Kangaroo Blue, 5lbs worth. I do love the color of them. I've used them in the bath, and love them but honestly don't feel any differently than when I used Dead Sea salts or European Salt. To me, salt is salt--Himalayan is just waaaay prettier! LOL

I got it too, but I'm still trying to make sense of the da## thing! So is the free shipping thing still on? If they aren't going to discount the pickup , I think they are doing themselves a great disservice. I don't know about you ladies & gents, but almost every time I would pick up an order, I would be placing another order! I would walk through and find things that I liked or sniff a fragrance & fall in love with it and end up placing another order on the spot. I think their pickup orders will dwindle drastically and so would any type of extra revenue from add-on orders. It just doesn't seem to make good business sense to me. Glad I have started looking into other suppliers for some of my needs! :tiptoe:

Thanks!!! I got two bags of beef fat waiting to be rendered! To anyone that has ground up the fat, do you think a salad shooter would work? I had my mom pick one up for me at a thrift store after seeing a demo of how to chop of cocoa butter with it--yet I still haven't used it! Hopefully I can make quick work of this tallow and get soapin'! It's been months since I've done CP and do I ever miss it!

I know rendering is an icky, smelly process but I may be able to get any tallow from this cow that is being butchered. Would I be able to freeze that tallow and then render it later? (when I can open my windows to relieve the smell) I hate the thought of throwing the tallow away when I could make perfectly good soap with it. Throwing it out is wasteful! Also, any tips/thoughts on rendering would be appreciated, as I have never done it before! Thanks in advance!

What about Cocoa Absolute? I bought some and have yet to make anything with it. Could this be used in lip balm? I need to take an evening and read up on it, because it smells DIVINE!!! I want to roll around in it! LOL *hijack over now*

OMG I wouldn't know what to do if I could talk with my hubby about soap and he actually enjoyed the conversation!!! She's a lucky lady and doesn't even realize it! LOL

My bath bombs have been really slow right now, but the market is pretty saturated with them....so I'm not going to stress too much over it. I use them too, so if sales are a little sluggish--more BB's for me!