Sherl

I actually looked over my notes and had added 2 tsp to the origional .25 oz of the ewax. I'm thinking the stearic is a bit low. Will try warming it up and adding more ewax and stearic. Shouldn't I be able to add up the total weight of everything I put in and refigure my percentages? What are the recommended percerntages of ewax and the stearic?

Yes, I do have preservitive. Will it help to add it again if I reheat? What does the stearic do? Will the ewax be enough to thicken this?

I made my first lotion 2 days ago and it is still the consistancy of milk. Recipe I followed was: oils .125% [13 %] glycerine .0125% [.02%] stearic .025% [.03%] ewax .0125% [.02%] water .8125% [.82%] fo .0125% [.02%] --------------- 1.0 [1.04] [percentages are exactly out 4 decimal places, other is approx] Becasue the oils seemed to be not mixing, I ended up adding another tsp of the ewax. Can I warm this up and add something to thicken this up? Where did I go wrong with the measurments?

This is what I have started to so and it seems to be working.. new to B&B so will see how it works in the long run.

Wow.. think I will just stay away form the OScommerece. At least for a while. Are there any other shopping carts that should be considered?

How difficult is it to set your site up with a simpler cart and in time go with one that has more features? I like the some of the added features of OScommerece but when I went to sample sites... they all looked the same. I really don't want to have to fight to get my site to look the way I want it. So, if I try zen cart, can I change to the OScommerece as I get more experience with this stuff??

Can someone give me an idea of how user friendly OScommerce is? I went to their site and did the downloads.. got a bunch of files. Somehow I thought would get a template to use. The documentation [i just skimmed it] says uploading all these files to use... is there a way to set up your site without having a place to upload it? I'd like to have it all layed out before I actually invest in the server. I do have computer experience so not a complete novice, but this is my first web. Any sites on the web recommended for help, I'm using FrontPage. Thanks..

I've found that the heat gun seems to just rearrange or slightly reduce the wet spots. Not worth the time for me. I've also tried to warm them after they set in a warm oven and that again does not really reduce them to the point of doing them regularly this way. I'm trying to think if I have to pour a lot of candles, I don't want to have to baby these things. I can live with some wet spots, but they can get ugly so I tried to find a happy medium I could live with. So, I'm finding that warming the jars, not pouring to the top, not cooling in the box but set so air can circulate around them, and topping them off before they completely set up is working best. I spent last summer retesting 90 fragrances in a new jar, so have no desire to try another wax, especially since they all seem to have the same issue.

That jar would take some testing to get it wicked correctly. And yes, a smaller opening can give you some problems too.. a place for soot to hang up and the throw would be effedted some. I went from a terrance/keepsake jar to an antique jar that is wider at the top than the bottom. Love the look but it has more issues, including making my wax a 2 pour instead of single pour.

Country Pleasures; Country Girl Escapes; Country Girl Delites; Country Bumpkin Boutique... getting late, time to quit :rolleyes2

Where would be a good place to learn about making lotions?

I warm my jars in another roaster and wick after. I use small straws over the wicks to keep them straight and found if I warmed after wicking, the wax coating on the wicks would melt and stick to the straws.. making it a pita to get the straws off.

I used to use a keepsake or terrance jar and had no problems with this wax. Then I switched to a taller antique/victorian jar, wider at the top than the bottem. I ended up with huge crators and cracks in the wax around the wick. Tried pouring hotter, cooler, into room temp jars and warmed jars.. all the same. Finally poured a bit lower, not going as full, keeping some of the wax to warm up and to off. Now no longer a one pour, but no longer messing with the heat gun. Would rather top off anyday. Shape of jar has something to do with how this wax performs.

No, my name is not part of my business name. But variations of my business name can not be obtained with .com. How does one feel about the .biz, .web.str endings?

What do you think about having my domain be sherol.com? When I do my business name.com, I get a tool company. Put a dash between the two words and I get a marine boat company. I can get a .biz and a few other off the wall extensions, but am concerned that customers will try to go to the dot com.. and not make it. Sooo, I'm thinking about using my first name, customers will not accidently end up some where else and they would get to remember me personally. Any thoughts pro or con would be appreciated.

I got something from EBay that said they were going to cancel my account unless I updated some info.. when I logged in thru ebay, saw nothing. Using the link on the email to 'take care' of the issue it asked for my paypal password to logg in. Yeah right... I canceled out and as far as I'm concerned, if the ebay message is legit, they can cancel me. The email sure looked 'official' from ebay with all kinds of links to security.. but I'm not going to give any passwords to anybody.

>>When you are at a show, do you call in each credit card transaction to Propay before you complete the sale to make sure the information on the card is correct? Or do you just accept the card payment, then when you get home, log all the CC information in on the internet and hope it was a valid credit card? What happens if it isn't a good card? I got a knuckle buster to get an imprint and signature. Good if the charge is disputed. I ask they put on their phone number, in case a number is difficult to read. I have gotten so I do check to make sure the munber imprints good. I call them in on my cell when I get a minute at the shows.. if that doesn't happen, then later that day. With the phone number, if there are any problems, you can contact the card holder. >>Also, if you don't need any special equipment to process the credit cards, do you at least write the transaction down on credit card slips to give to the customer as a receipt? If so, where can you purchase credit card slips? I got a merchant account thru my bank with a company called paymentech. I paid $30 for the imprinter and they sent me 1000 cc sales slips and 1000 refund slips. I was setup and ready to go in a few days.. really nice people to deal with. It is a seasonal account, I can stop and start it as I need to. But, for $7.50 a month, I let it go so local people can place an order by CC if they want to. The chunk they take is a bit higher than one you pay more for, but for where I'm at, it is a good deal. Funding is within 48 hours. If anyone is interested in talking with them, pm me and I'll get you some contact information. I do think being able to accept CC does give one more sales. Yes, they do come to shows with cash, but there are so many things to catch ones eyes.. it's nice to be able to make a sale when they run out of what they've brought. For the most part, I think craft shoppers are an honest bunch. I have never had problems, but then I have not been doing this very long. Most other crafters I've run into seem to feel the same way.

I love it. Very clean, nice colors.. if you don't want it, send it my way Going to get Frontpage this week and start on one of my own. My goal for the year is to get one up and running.. your off to a great start, will be awsome when it's done.

I bought some plastic molds and decided to rebatch some soap. How in the world do I get it out? I can't push it from the back [like I thought I could].. will some time in the freezer loosen it up? Should I put something in before the soap to make this easier?

Got a recipe for lotion that has emu oil in it. Who has the best price on the stuff and/or what can I sub for it?

I've pretty much used 409 and a clean kitchen dishtowel. But hauling to shows and the finger prints there from the handeling keeps me busy with windex wipes. Would be nice to find a way to shine them up and have them repel fingerprints...

I am figuring the price by looking at the cost of ingredients, packaging and labeling and multiplying by 4. I want to be able to wholesale at half.

I use the Dragons Blood, Nag Champa and Love Spell, Oakmoss and Badades in candles 1oz/lb and they are wonderful. I stumbled on Tonys getting the Dragons Blood for a co-worker and enjoyed the scent so much I tried a few others. They are a bit pricier than most, but I always enjoy them so much I keep them, if only for personal enjoyment. I wasn't impressed with Masculine Musk in candles, too soft. Bummer because I LOVE it out of the bottle and I swear would tackle any man that smelled that wonderful!! [scent addiction out of control] I kept the empty sample bottle to just sniff... I also found the Black Pepper and Cedarberries [i think] just didn't have much cold or hot throw in wax. May just be me or what I use though. When I started to soap I used what I had on hand and was amazed... they change slightly in the soap. I was not impressed with the Love Spell as a scent in wax, but absolutely adore it in soap. It seems they take on a new dimension in the different media. Got my masculine musk in soap and now don't have to worry about tackeling anybody:rolleyes2 . I found the Chamomile to be strong in soap, so I cut it to about .7 oz per pound of oils and it still can run me out of the bathroom in the morning. I've also got a few others for the soap that I have been real happy with and now want to test in wax.

I made some lotion bars [in a tube] and some body butter that I package in 4 oz containers. Just figured up what I'd need to sell them for and I'm thinking they seem a little high:shocked2: . the lotion bars are .75 oz and contain beeswax, shea, cocoa and some light oil. I figured $4 for these. The body butter has cocoa, shea and avacado butters, apricot kernal oil, vitamine E and some beeswax. Does $12 for 4 oz sound out of line? Now that I know what I want to make and how I want to package them, I can buy at better prices... but not enough to drop them considerably. I bought a 4 oz body butter last summer for $6.. thinking it was a whipped shea. So, compared to that, my prices seem a bit high..... What do ya'll think??

What type of labels do you like best for B&B? I got some body butter from someone and the labels smeared with use untill the ink was completely gone. I got a sample of waterproof labels from plantelabel.com and am thinking about trying those. But, I have made candles for years and use the kraft labels and kinda wanted to use them on my bath products. Can this type of label be waterproofed?? Any help or advice appreciated.