Sarah

i'd love to be able to find these local but haven't so far. i'll probably look a little more this weekend ~ with shipping it does come out to over .50 apiece for me.

i'm looking to order some votive holders and i went to this site through an ad. i've heard nothing about them, but they seem reasonable.

http://www.cudge.net/holders_detail1.html

just wondering if anyone knows anything about them or the quality of the glass?

definately a possiblity. my aunt can not even be in the room when most candles are burning (for some reason, most vanillas don't bother her). her voice sounds all scratchy, and she ends up losing it after a while.

...smells AWESOME. i get my best selling FO from them and decided to start doing some sampling (how it took me this long is beyond me lol). the customer service has been excellent (even with one small issue, they went above and beyond to fix it - fast too), and the pineapple upside down cake is one that i chose. i LOVE it and the throw is great too. the scent is exact too, it smells just like the real thing.

could be they are not a corporation. i know the one for michigan does not list sole proprietors. you could try checking with their local chamber of commerce to see if they have registered their name there if you need to know

because of the time and money that usually needs to be invested in candlemaking, i would think this might not be what you are looking for. don't get me wrong, it's awesome, but most of us spent WAY more than we made when we first started. that probably wouldn't help you much.

that and they are right about ebay. most of the candles are ridiculously low priced - not a good way to try to make money for most people.

i think a better way to go about this would be to ask around before you do business with a new supplier. and just remember that just because one person had a bad experience with a supplier, they are not necessarily a bad supplier. i have places that i will not order from anymore because of my own experiences with them, but i know for a fact that other people have nothing but good things to say about them.

pink sugar is a tough mixer. i add my fo (all of them, not just this one) at 180-185 and stir until the cloud is gone. it does take a lot more stirring than most fragrances but you should be able to see when it is mixed in.

when i am setting out for a specific color, i accept that there's a good chance that it isn't going to happen on the first try. but most of them don't come out too bad. if they do, i give them away to family or keep them for myself. and after a failure, i usually can see what i need to change to get the color i want.

this helps me when i'm going for a new color - have a white piece of paper next to you when you are ready to add your dye. add it gradually (go for light first, you can always add more but you can't take it out) and check the color by dropping a little bit on the paper. add more of whatever color you need and recheck. this saves me a lot of screw ups.

you should be able to get it with the liquid dyes... i'd guess the same as above, just a touch of blue in a darker pink color. maybe a tiny bit of black?

thanks guys.

sara, that's what i tried today, bringing the jars inside a couple hours before i started to warm up. i took them out of the cases to cool, and these ones are doing much better.

now if i can just remember to pick that heater up and bring it over here i will be good.

i'm looking for some suggestions. we moved into a new place this summer and i have been working out of the garage. i love it, i would prefer to NOT move inside now that it's cold, but i've never had to deal with the problems that the cold air brings.

(hit post too early oops)

my method yesterday was warm each case of jars with the heat gun, pour into the jars at about 165. pin the wicks up and take the case inside where it's warmer to cool. at this point they are still liquid. well, ive never heated the jars in the cases and left them like that and what's happening is that the tops of the candles are cooling faster than the rest and i am getting little pits in the tops - some of them have little holes, so i have to hit them all with the heat gun. if this is my only option, i can deal with it, but i'd prefer to not have to.

my ideas so far - don't warm the jars in the cases or don't leave them in the cases to cool. maybe it's keeping them too warm on the bottoms? my problem with this would be that i definatley don't want to leave them to cool in the cold garage, so getting them in after pouring would be a pain.

pour inside - i would prefer to not do this, either. though yes, i do know it would solve all my problems, lol.

i will be getting a small heater to use while i am working out there, but i can't see that making enough difference to leave the candles out there to cool.

just looking for ideas. thanks guys

you could always try one size bigger and see if you like that.

weight is the correct way to do it

and i would guess that adding anything to it at all lessens your chance for a refund.

i use twist ties, you can get them in different colors.

Peak ~ Cinnamon Balsam, Spiced Cranberry, and Eggnog. I also just got a sample of their hot cocoa and if testing goes well i might have another. It smells REALLY good oob.

cierra has one. i can't remember how it did with throw, but i do know it's clear.

cinnamon balsam is one of the few that i do have to wick up, yes.

i prefer cinnamon balsam. unless you are going for an actual christmas tree scent.

Laura i do agree with most of what you said regarding testing in your last post. No it shouldn't take years, but if it does, it does. If that's what it takes for them to be comfortable with their product, then good for them for waiting. Like i said before, we are sending our product home for people to light on fire, thorough testing is essential. Not everyone waits, and yes, it does give handmade candles a bad name when someone has a bad experience. Even though you are starting with a new wax, it does make a difference that you worked with candles for 5 years before. You should know what exactly to look for and that would cut your testing time down drastically. But in the beginning when you first started, would you have been ready within weeks of making your first candle to send it home with a stranger who could very well ignore all proper burning instructions, and who could also be one of the many sue happy people out there? That's a worst case scenario, but one that must be considered. Hell i have customers that i feel i need to tell every time they buy a new candle how long it should be burned because they have no problem admitting to me that they burn them ALL DAY LONG.

I certainly wasn't ready to sell right away. I was making container candles with soy pillar wax and let's just say my method of measuring FO was unique. Granted i didn't set out to sell them, i was doing it for fun, but i'm not a stupid person, either, lol. I just got excited and jumped right in and learned as i went along. (don't worry, i've made some progress, lol)

I personally don't believe that Absyrtus did his testing. For all the reasons mentioned already, plus he simply hasn't said that he has done it. All that he has said is that his candles are flawless except for occasional ugliness. That doesn't happen magically overnight, most people here know that all too well. Knowing the work that many here have put into our products, it is kind of insulting for someone to brush off the importance of testing.

~edited.~

Everything does look much better at first glance. I think it has improved from when i first looked at it, but i noticed that most stuff has just been moved.

I guess my viewpoint here is that you can only really understand everything that can go wrong with your candles by experiencing it yourself. And when you are dealing with something that people will take home and light on fire, i think it is fairly important to understand as much as you possibly can.

I think with anything, it takes time to get it right. I could start out doing something new tomorrow, and i don't care what it is, if it is something that i am unfamiliar with, i will not be ready to sell a finished project in a couple weeks. There is so much to learn and understand when it comes to candles that i find it unlikely (though of course not impossible) that someone could be ready with a product in such a short amount of time.

PS. This website is the brittanica of candle and bath or sure. So much knowledge in such a small place. One more tihng alot can be learned from this website itself. For instance it is owned buy peak candle supply, not only do they have an awesome site but they let you talk about their competitors, link to their products, even buy from them. They offer their competitors to join and advertise their own products and services here on their site. Hows that for marketing, see they are sure of their products so no need to compare. Now ask how many people out of the 1500+ members respect them for that type of marketing. You can come to this website anytime anyday and you wont be alone. That is successful marketing.

excellent example.

I have my view, and I have supported it. Have you supported yours?

I'm sorry, but it's not up to anyone but you to do your research. I've said more than once in this post to do a search, you will find LOADS of info on this site alone. Just because no one is posting that info in this one thread does not mean it is not out there. Go look through the natural wax section, and definately look through the archives. Stick to what you believe in, but be open to the fact that everyone else is not automatically wrong just because they disagree with you.

By customers, I am referring to those that have viewed the site. I have asked about 10 people if they found the material offensive, if they felt I was bashing people, and if they found the information helpful. No one found anything wrong with it.

This could also be because you have presented your opinions and beliefs in a way to make it look like fact. I'm sure they thanked you for informing them of all this because they didn't know what a health threat it was to burn candles. :rolleyes2 I know some of what you said is based in truth, but a lot is not.

If you do some searching on this site alone, you will learn a lot. I think it will surprise you how many intelligent posts you will find regarding soy and paraffin and you will learn a lot. Don't be stubborn, learning is a good thing.