Fern

Your booth looks great! Beautifully displayed and lots to choose from. Good job!

Yup, when your largest size wick isn't cutting it, go for two wicks. Sometimes even if the largest wick you have cuts it, but you get a lot of smoking from it, sometimes double wicking it will solve that problem, plus, a lot of the time, you can get better scent throw when double wicking. At least that has been my experience.

Candleman: Yeah...what's up with them is my question too. If I recall correctly, I think the last time I ordered a case of wax from them it was something like $13 and change...and that's 50 pounds. What they wanted you to pay, sixty-two percent of the cost of wax, is absolutely outrageous!!! Mystical: I did send Bill Binder an email regarding this. I dealt with him directly when I requested the need for one ounce samples for testing purposes. I tried to convince him that he would get some renewed interest in his fragrances if he offered them like most of the other suppliers did. Too bad he didn't take me up on the sample packs, that would have helped too. I'm waiting for a reply from Candlewic...I'm curious to see what they have to say. My thought is that they should offer USPS shipping for items that are under a certain weight in order to satisfy those that only need a few items. I'm not going to buy something I don't need, just in order to try a few new samples.

I use a 50/50 or a 60/40 blend of OK6228 (pillar) and J50 or J223 (container wax) which works great for me.

They finally got their one ounce samples back up on their Ultimate line of scents after I requested that they reintroduce them for testing purposes. Candlewic agreed, said they saw it as a good business move. I was very happy about this because they really improved their line of fragrances and I purchase a great deal from them. So, I'm getting ready to place my order for twelve 1 oz samples...go to check out...and guess what the handling and shipping (UPS) charges are? Keep in mind that I am located 4 hours from them and the weight is 12 ounces...add in the small plastic bottles themselves, packing material and the box...I'm guessing 1.5 to 2 lbs max. The cost was $10.00! What the hell! I've never paid that much for shipping from there before for a package that small. I sent them an email asking if there was some sort of a mistake, and if not, do they offer the option of sending it USPS. I just sent the email today so I don't know what their reply will be. Damn, just when I thought I had a place where I could get the majority of my supplies from and was a reasonable distance from me, then they go and jack up their shipping and handling charges...which no longer makes it worth it to me if all I need is a small amount of stuff. I really hope there was an error in their calculation of shipping charges.....

Bitter Creek North has some electric warmers for $6.25 or $6.50...at least that was the price then when I bought them about 3-4 months ago. They work great, but the only draw back is is that they don't have a removable bowl...it's all one unit. The tarts will come out pretty easily if you pry them out with a blunt instrument, such as a spoon or butter knife...as long as you start at the very edge of the tart, otherwise, you'll be digging it out in pieces. I actually prefer a separate removable bowl so that I can put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes and they'll pop out very easily. The other drawback is it won't hold a tart any larger than 1 ounce...with no room for error in weight. I haven't found any that I like at a reasonable price to buy in bulk yet though.

You seem to be doing everything right...maybe your thermometer isn't working correctly. Try letting it cool to the point of it just starting to get cloudy, stir well and then pour a little into your mold, then pick up your mold and very gently give it swirl or two so a bit of wax washes up on the side of the mold, pour a little more, swirl again...and so forth and so on. It's the only thing that I can come up with since you seem to know what your doing. Good luck!

E: Thanks for the reply. I'm going to wait until they are completely set up and cooled before I do my repour and see how that turns out. Portia: You're welcome. Hope this size works out for you. Sharyl: I've tried 6228, actually love this wax mixed with J50 to make my tarts, but got that unbelievable shrinkage when making votives. I think that wax shrinks more than any other I have tried. Since I knew less at the time about making votives, and had terrible results with this wax, I gave up on it. I may just give that wax another try. To the rest of you who responded...thanks!

Thanks guys! Portia, I'm going to try it your way. By the way, did you get the wicking I sent you? My next question is...if you wait too long...like the next day...won't the wax start to pull away from the sides of the mold? If I do my repour, it's going to seep down the inside of the molds and look like crap.

I think NG's scents are great as well. The Country Christmas is very strong and although it does seem to have a good deal of Bayberry in it, it's also got other spice scents as well. It's not exactly one of my favorites...but it sure is strong.

Why is it that I can make great pillars, containers and tarts...but I can't make a decent votive to save my life? My votives always end up with a dip in the middle after I do my second pour? I just can't settle for this dip in the middle...I'm too much of a perfectionist to resign myself to having it. I'm using 4045 and making mottled votives. I know it's got to be the temperature that I'm pouring at, but how much lower in temperature can I go, without losing the mottling, on the second pour, and without them breaking off on the top? I poured at about 180-185, let set up for about 30-45 minutes...had a nice deep sink hole but the sides did not come away from the mold yet. Did my repour at about the same temp. When I have poured cooler, you can either detect the line of the second pour and/or the repoured area will break off. What am I doing wrong? I hate making these damn things because I can never get a nice smooth top like Eugenia gets...I'm jealous of you girl! I get so frustrated with these that I give up on them for long periods of time. E...you use 4045H, don't you? Well, 4045 and 4045H are very, very similar...so could you run me through this process once again...I think you tried helping me once before and I can't find the notes for it....at least, I think it was you.

They should be, but I don't know that for a "fact".

I do mine in dark red.

Trying pouring very cool...like around 150-160 and pour slowly. If you still get air bubbles, then take a heat gun to the outside of your container in a sweeping motion, concentrating on one side at a time. Be sure not to hold it in one place for too long, otherwise, you may crack the glass. Soon you will see the air bubbles rising to the top of your candle, where they will just disappear. Do this on all sides of the container and you will never know you ever had them.

The person I did the trade with ended up, after all the trouble they gave her, sending it priority mail, however there was a label on the box saying that liquids were inside. I unfortunately, was unable to send them priority...period...it could only go ground from my post office, there was no way that they would do it any other way and I wasn't about to raise a big stink over it. I just wish all of the post offices would get on same page so that there wouldn't be so much confusion over this.

Thanks Candle Man.

I've used them in candles and they throw great. However; they are very expensive so I rarely buy from there.

Question: Can you actually burn these candles that are painted? Or are they simply for decorative purposes?

Interesting. Could be Candlewic...could be the scents that I chose. Maybe I'll have to give Green Leaf's wax a try. I knew some people got throw with Palm wax, but I could never get it to throw worth a damn, which really disappointed me since I loved the look of this wax. Thanks for the info Christina.

I got my palm wax from Candlewic. Tried many different quality scents in them...believed that I had them wicked properly. I used RRD wicks which were recommended to me for the palm and veggie waxes. I found that I got very little throw with them...unless I cured them for a least a month...and even then...very little throw. What's your secret????

Awwh...don't feel sad. If you don't mind a very light throw, then their good for you. I'm greedy...I want lots of strong throw, but their are many people who find that too overpowering and would prefer a light scent throw. It all depends on what you're looking for. They're still beautiful candles regardless. As far as the paraffin goes, it does take some practice to produce a nice looking candle. You should have seen how ugly mine were in the beginning.

Apple Jack and Peel: Very strong! Bayberry: Too strong! Need to cut back on this one by half or a quarter Sweet Potato Pie: Don't really care for bakery scents, but it's a good one if you like them.

You wouldn't happen to be using RRD wicks in those would you? I've found that they seem to burn quite high and require frequent trimming. Just wondered about that. They burn nice and hot, which I like, but I always have to watch those so they don't get too high. I make square pillars as well and my quess is that because a round pillar, once hugged, will burn down very evenly while maintaining a fairly consistent size flame. I think with the square or star pillars, because you cannot hug this shape candle, there is more air flow to center of the candle which causes the flame to rise higher. The round pillar has consistent air flow because of it's shape, the square and star has four points, or five with the star, that don't melt down with it or do...but very, very slowly, which leaves space inbetween the points to suck air into the center of the candle itself...thus the higher flame. This has been my observation...and I could be totally wrong...but it's my guess anyway. Edited to add: By the way...your candles look very nice and are burning beautifully.

Wholesale Supplies Plus

Oh, I didn't know that. But don't you think it would make sense not to allow any liquids in the cargo holds since explosives could still be detonated by cell phone or other device from inside the passenger cabin? See, this is the kind of stuff that just doesn't make any sense to me. In my opinion, they are still putting their planes and passengers at risk by doing that. This is another reason why I will not step foot on a plane ever again. I used to be scared to death to fly, got over my fear...somewhat, now the fear has intensified 10 fold since 9/11. I don't think I will ever be able to get on a plane ever again in my life. My father is old and lives in California and I have not been out to visit him once because of this fear of flying. Luckily, he comes to Connecticut to visit, otherwise, I'd never see him. But, one day, in the not so distant future, I'm going to have to go there for his funeral and I don't know if I will be able to get on a plane or not. The terrorists are determined to strike again and it's obvious that they are still focused on using planes in one form or another to do it.