erinmfritz

I have checked with them and they don't have the information. They are not a candle making supplier.

I was thinking about the variety of different products and wealth of information on this site while I was putting on my mineral makeup, of course wondering if it has bismuth oxide, and thought about everyone's methods to promote their hand made products against the "big boys". Are we educating the public on how bad the commercial products are or how much better ours are? So, What is your key selling point or angle? Whether it be your soap, your candles, melts, bath bombs, or makeup? (even with the huge variety of products we create, we all have hand made pride in common) Might be interesting to see what everyone's angle is......

I bought some parafin wax at Flower Factory on a whim and there is no information about the wax with it. I have mainly been using it to "firm" up my dipped critters by mixing it with my soy. I have been admiring all of the orbs and hurricane candles on here and thought of that wax. Is there a way to figure out the melt point of a wax? What can I add to the wax to make it higher mp? I have Stearic on hand and that's it for additives.

I want to thank you for this, I have been using it since I started making candles and this has been a huge help. I could have never came up with this myself, thanks again.

Mine turned out ok, it cracked quite a bit at the top. I'm playing with some palm wax that I got as a free sample. I'm going to try parafin next, hopefully I won't get any cracking. You're right, it is hard to center the glass in the mold. I used my hand and a wooden spoon, PITA. How's yours?

Thanks for the suggestions. I ended up stopping at CVS and they had some in a pack of 5 for $4.99, seemed expensive but this is just for playing right now and if it is something I want to continue to do, I will look for a cheaper price. My candle is cooling right now, I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

This home made light box is similar to the one I made. cardboard-box-lightbox You can take some nice pictures with this and if you're like me, you have boxes around. Mine is just a wax box, hot glue and an old white sheet. I haven't done much with retouching or anything so I can't help you with that. A tripod is a must though. Good luck.

Thanks for your replies, I did buy one at Dollar General. It was way too thick around the edges, almost rounded and my mold is too small for that type. My mold is 3x6. I'll have to check at Walgreens, never thought of there.

I am playing with the everlasting pillars (my first attempt at pillars) I tried one with a votive cup insert and it cracked pretty bad. So now I want to try a glass tealight holder but for now I only need a couple. Is there anywhere that I can find them locally? Wal Mart didn't have them. Thanks for any input.

Wow, you can even turn "scraps" to treasures! Nice job.

Is that the same with a transparent picture on top of the original image? That's interesting, where do people come up with this stuff?

I have been working on my site lately and one of the suggestions that came up is to put a transparent picture on top of your photo so when someone right clicks your picture, all they get is the transparent part. I thought that was interesting so I thought I would pass it along.

Did you all see this? http://shop.candlesandsupplies.com/candles/product.asp?catalog_name=Candles&category_name=2008+PA+Workshop&product_id=WORKSHOP27&path=***+CLASSES/WORKSHOPS+***#2008+PA+Workshop For $25.00 you can learn to make your own. I agree with all of you, kinda scary!!

I use something similar to this and they work out great. http://www.sks-bottle.com/340c/fin69c.html I started with the plastic portion cups but after a short time, they cracked horribly. Might be worth trying them to put a melt in like pictured, that might be better. I had a problem finding a container to put all of the samples in. Good luck.

Diane, I feel your pain, I had a similar problem. I have tried 3 suppliers and finally ended up back to the first one. I ordered a brown dye that was so thick I couldn't get it out of the bottle. I e-mailed them and they said to put the bottle in hot water and it should be fine, well it's not. I then re-ordered the rust brown and it is a totally different color. I have been lucky so far as to how much I need to use that color but it is very frustrating to have the inconsistant results with these.

Thanks for your input Oh-Myo. I haven't tried EO's, just FO's. I don't have any EO's here I like. Thanks for that link, I have been pondering whether or not to buy a kit or not, just want some input from others that make their own. I got my lamp for christmas, I was going to buy one myself but "let" my DH get it for me instead! LOL. Stella, get the 40% off coupon for Hobby Lobby and buy it there. They are normally 39.99 I think. These things are great! The downfall, I'm not burning my candles as much now. SatinDucky, don't think of it as something lying around, if you're like me, you will use it all the time. Everyone who has seen mine, love how it looks! One word of caution though, sometimes you can't be in the same room as the lamp, it can be strong. I keep mine on my stove in the kitchen most times but have had to move it to the dining room for the stronger scents. It will scent my upstairs after about 30-45 minutes.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=59740 This thread explains the lamp and how they work.

Great advice for using the fo bottles!

To those of you who make your own fuel for the effusion lamps, can you share some scents that are successful for you? I am currently testing different scents and some are horrible after they are burning! Here's my list so far.... Pink Sugar, wow!!! Small amount of white smoke though. This is also the first that I added a small amount of water to. Lemon Drop, again wow! smelled great, clean burn! Spiced Cranberry, very strong will re-try with less fo, smelled good, small amount of smoke Ocean Mist, very nice, clean burn. Black Raspberry Vanilla, YUCK!!!! Chestnuts & Brown Sugar, YUCK!!! All I could smell was burnt vanilla! I HATE vanilla. I have done alot of reading about this on various boards and there not alot of straight answers and I have only found a few who list scents that worked. Do you use 91 or 99% alcohol, and what is the difference in burn? I use 91 right now. What does the small amount of water do to the mix? Last but not least, do any of you make your own lamps? If so, could you share information about that with me? Thanks in advance for any help, Erin

Very pretty Cindy! I have been thinking about trying something different for a change of pace, where can I find directions on how to make these?

I also use 444 and clamshells. I think it is just a quirk of this wax, it is meant for containers and is softer. There may be an additive to put in it to firm it up, but I have never looked into it. I've learned to embrace the quirks of this wax because I like it so much. Although, I have been playing with melts using 474 and mini muffin pan. So far, so good. I'm trying to eliminate the clamshells, you know one less thing to buy.

I definatly agree on the ICS coconut lime, I renamed it lime coconut. Still popular though.

I use 444, tried the 415 and hated it! The 444 behaves alot better and works well for clamshells too! I highly recommend it!

Kim, I'm a hairstylist also, at least just for friends and family now, so I can imagine your embarrasment! The smell of burnt hair probably made it impossible to smell the candle! LOL. The good thing, at least you are a trained professional and can cut it to make it look like you meant to do it and not accidental!!!!!! On the brighter side, I'm glad to hear that your hair is growing back CandleKat! Hope you are doing well.

I was just at OBI in Indy last weekend and saw their votives poured in plastic cups. I can't imagine that is very safe, I would be leary. They also have the "Our Own Candle Company" candles that had the black round plastic wick centering tools still in the jars on their candles. Unfortunatly, these are the same candles that I have had to sell against at craft shows here locally.