chauntelle

i find it really sad that anyone could sue someone and ruin someones life like that when they were obviously the one that was irresponsible enough to use a candle against the warnings that we issue ! A man in my town died last week from a house fire, started from a cigarette! I doubt that anyone sued the manufacturers of the cigarette that started the fire!! In my eyes its the same as using a candle... burn it wrong and you'll suffer the consequences!

if you look through the business section theres loads of info. rules are different in different countries and areas so maybe if you give a little more info about that someone might be kind enough to point you in the direction of a link or two. HTH:)

Try it ! thats wot making candles is all about, dont be afraid to just give it ago. If it doesnt work u can remelt and try all over again.You could do two tones of the same colour? Have fun and post the outcome Chauntelle

Good idea my other halfs just expanding his business and is wholesaling some georgeous chocs. he's got a whole xmas and valentines gift range so might drag him along! he'll probably sell more than me though LOL but if his charms that gd i'll leave him to man my stall and go drink t!! He He thanks so much for the great advise will give this a go:yay: ... any more bright ideas if this doesnt work!! Really cant give up on this!

cheers natty definatly do that one. we have an indoor/outdoor market nearby on a sunday and the same one on a sat but with outside carbooty pitches. the inside is more popular this time of yr coz its slighty weather protected. i did one before it cost me £18.00 and i only just broke even but the other stall holders told me it was a particually bad time to have a stall it was begining of feb and i thought valentines but it didnt work might work for xmas gifts though would you give it a go???

thanks for your suggestions. at the mo i cant find any craft fairs locally but on monday i will search through the local papers in the hope of finding a couple! Its hard to advertise in a mag coz i cant spend out really every penny is going to pay this off! Hey nat - its quite a bit actually £500 in total that i need by xmas!so im open to anything and i guess b4 xmas is wen everyones spending right??? i hope so any way!

I've been thinking of things that i might have missed and could do. Basically i have a bill for supplies that i got on a short credit but the last couple of months has been real slow. but i have spoke to the supplier and she has been really understanding and allowed me to pay in instalments which i have to keep to!!! I feel really bad now though and will never order on credit again.so lesson learnt but now i have to find ways of comming up with the money. i have enough for the first 2 instalments which are paid weekly but now im at a loss. so ive brain stormed these following ways to gain the money back in the hope that they work! 1. open house parties at mine and a friends house 2. School xmas fair 3. Offering my products @ wholesale 4. Puting a display in a hand craft product store 5. newsletters with a monthly offer 6. Candle demos 7. Candle parties okay so ive done numbers 5, 6 and 7 which i am continuing to market. Approached to stores for no 3 last week and will do follow up this week- or is that too soon? and am just putting stock together for no4. but im sure ive missed something and its such a horrible position to be in!! Do any of you have any suggestions?? thanks so much chauntelle xx

hey yvette, i feel for you i wanted to do this too but it takes up alot of tme as well as money so i have found the next best thing( for me anyhows) theres a courtyard near to me which is full of small units for growing businesses such as ladys fashion photo studio small garden centre cafe and others it gets real busy in winter and the owner of the pottery and candle shop has agreed to give me a space of however many shelves i could fill, probably start with three or four and increase nr to xmas, where i display my candles and she just takes a small portion of sales as her fee. The best bit is i can put in the candles im doing at the time and run the lines i want so i dont have to order in special items, and only do about 6 of each @ a time rather than 12 or 24's! So i can have more fun , less stress and still have a presence in a shop the only down side is i get the money when its sold. its another option though and if you can work well with the shop owner you can really build on it!! Good luck with what you decide chauntelle x

Absolutly beautiful,bet you'll get some requests once thats been shown...get the order pad ready! I have heard about the decal paper but where would i find it and how does it work, just like transfers im guessing???

Yeah its just that last time it was quite dead and i dont think i could chance it again. I have something else that has come up for that day now anyway but will try to pop in and see how busy it is and concider it for next year! Booked a couple of school xmas fairs one was only £5 and i'll donate a nice raffle prize also coz they always do well on that! Hoping that dads will be there and buy for the ladies in their lives:D Heres hoping!!

Thats not too bad yvette i did a show in the summer 2 days for £18. They're doing a xmas one @ the end of nov on one day 11-4 for the same price!!! Thinks it will be popular with it coming up to xmas but from my point of view if its a bad day with other things going on i wont make my money back i came just under on the first one.:undecided

Just finished pouring 6 bars of m&p soap scented Gardenia, melts in vanilla and some in kiwi and grapefruit and some large cake candles also scented kiwi and grapefruit - not your norm 4 a cupcake i know but this scent is so mouthdrolling that i just cant stop pouring gotta order some more this week!!! Off to my first presentation and demonstration tonight the nerves are just starting to kick in.:undecided So now just a kitchen to clean.... mmm wheres a little sister in need of pocket money when you need her LOL:D Mind she is 18 now silly me keep forgeting doh !! Good luck to all of you getting ready for shows.

Hey stranger!! Glad your move went well. Come on pull your self together and just think monkey farts..mmmm:laugh2: Okay if that aint working then i hope this does: I CHALLENGE YOU TO MAKE A BEAUTIFUL MASTER PIECE FOR YOUR NEW LOUNGE, IF YOU DONT I WILL KEEP HOUNDING YOU !! hA HA HA X cant wait to see it in the gallery on monday. you know you wanna:D

Okay so i dont wanna sound stupid but as ive never used these was wondering how you use them and what they look like.I've always wicked the mould but i have some pillar moulds that have a small hole but not big enough to fit a wick through so i thought that this might be the answer?? Searched the threads but still havent found the answer. If there is a thread that ive missed please could you point me in the right direction. TIA Chauntelle

Have you tried nail varnish remover? Soak some cotton wool or an old cloth in some then hold over the area for a few mins wipe over and hopefully it will have worked. Ive used it on permanent marker that me little one got over the wall and up the paint work it worked a treat hth

I tried these last summer and had the leaking prob.as quick as i was pouring it was leaking and i was repouring there was wax everywhere,floor worktop, cubboard doors. it was a total disaster! I moved not long after and thinking it was a faulty mould havent had the guts to try again. There must be some way of sealing them!!

surely if this had been proven parrafin wax and candles would have been banned!! I use parrafin and maybe in the future will try other waxes. i just find it sad that people are so quick to bash the product just because they have read these facts somewhere.

I think a few phrases sum up the threads that i read from this in dividual. What goes around comes around, the boy who cried wolf oh and maybe the word Karma might ring home!!! Just my thoughts coz this is sure bugging me. The whole thing makes me laugh who is going to to lease a property to a '16' year old, a bank account and put bills ect in his name also as im sure alot of us are aware setting up a shop takes a lot of money and time and just setting up would take you a good couple of weeks trust me i got the t.shirt! I struggle to find time to run a shop have family time a social life and make candles and i dont even have to go to school! How are you going to open a shop 5 days a week when your @ school??? Well this is my only comment and you wont see me responding to anymore of these threads i can spend my time much better making candles!!!

Oh thanks thats a great help! Yes sally i am getting £15 for the presentation most people charge a fair bit more but as this is my first ones i dont want to over charge and then feel bad if it goes wrong!! Im also selling candles on the night so hopefully that will work well. One other thing i was going to ask though was how would you go about explaining the benefits of hand poured candles, i will search for a link unless anyone knowsof one?? Think i will definatly do the melts thing maybe do some 'mini hearts' as they are just a free sample and everyone always thinks they are 'sooo cute'! and then sell larger one along side. would you do some special offers or just see how the first one goes and maybe consider that for the nxt 1 in oct? TIA:smiley2:

When i work my little boy goes into childcare 9-3 whilst his sisters @school. if i have meetings he stays longer or grandparents pick them up.Im lucky enough that i only work three days now (but sometimes have to do biz trips like in the summer for a week without the kids but it benefits them in the long run!) i was working four days and my other half looked after him one day which was great bonding for them. We always make sure we spend sunday together (apart from the odd week when we cant) and although i work fridays for a few hours its at home doing paper work so my son will sit with me and do art or watch a film or play for a while then we have quality time together afterwards. I guess what im saying is that Day care isnt all that bad and okay im lucky that my hours are flexible, but maybe you could work something out after all every business routiene is different and im sure you must have a friend or family member who could help a little.Its just important that the time you do get together is quality. i know alot of people who dont use there time with their chidren as quality time. I hope that you manage to juggle it if its the right thing for you and fingers crossed that they'll meet you in the middle. Good luck with it all im sure it will all come right in the end!!!

Hey nat i read that mag!!! Good excuse to buy this edition!!!! Nothing beats free advertising.Congrats to you!:whoohoo:

I have been lucky enough to be invited to a ladies group to be one of their guest speakers and demonstrators. My friend (who makes jewllery) and me were then approached by a second unit of the same group. I've never done anything like this before and i am as nervous as hell!! I was hoping that somebody might be able to give me a few hints and tips. So what ive got planned so far (please tell me if it doesnt sound quite right). I am being supplied a table and i will be taking a cloth of my choice,probably white that drops to the floor. I have a wooden shelf which is about 3ft high to sit on top and then two sets of plastic clear shelves which i will probably display my pillars on. Next to this i will have a small table which i will use to do a demonstration. For the demo i was going to prephare a unscented candle at home so that i could be at the point of a second pour. This way i can demonstrate from scratch and then instead of waiting i can then explain about a repour and do as i explain with the candle i prephared earlier. i can always re melt these so no supplies are lost. I plan to keep to the point not babble or talk too fast and keepsmiling even if things do go wrong!! After wards i will invite them to have a look at my candles and answer any questions. Do i explain how i started candle making ? how do i not show them too much that they all want to go out and make their own? If i pull this off i could be invited back and even recommended to other groups. I was also thinking that it might be nice to gift wrap a tart for each customer with a bussiness card attached? any thoughts. not sure how many ladies exactly anywhere up to 40 i think! - thats just scarry enough AARRGH Im freaking out now!! lol

Well said!!! HOORAY:D its a shame that not everyone is supportive and has to make someone whos feeling bad feel even worse with their comments!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was my little sis's 18th bday this week and so last night i decided to make her an '18' keepsake candle it was in a 3" wide cream heat proof pot. I was going to fill it with lilac(to match her room) wax scented ambrosia marshmallow,one of my favs and top it with some white chunks and number18 which were scented vanilla and lightly dusted in glitter. It really sums her up girly and sweet! With the left over i made two floating hearts to match. It looked great an hour after when i checked it on the way to bed! And woke this morning faced with a monster! the number 18 which were standing on top of the wax were now 3/4 in the wax along with the chunks and the rest -something ive never managed, until i dont want it ,is mottled AAARGGH!! Dont you just wanna cry when you've spent 21/2 hrs and your kids could have done better!! so my little sis might be 19 by the time i perfect this one. Silver linning though the hearts are beautiful and the cold throw on it all is fab!!! Never mind - you live and learn...:tiptoe:

Maybe then if you've got the space and can get help with the set up and labelling then you know if you can make that. I suppose if i was doing a big show and was looking for a game plan id probably start with pouring the most popular candles first and leave the ones your least bothered about till last at least that way if you do run out of time you've got the important ones!!! Only you know whats right. and dont forget food,drink and as much pos you can (price lists, leaflets, biz cards maybe a free prize draw where people have to leave contact details such as email address to be entered and then you have their details to inform them of your nxt show, open house or special offers and directing them to your web,just an idea that has worked for me before)Good luck you'll be fine:cool2: