jrogers397

I've soaped amber resin from eden botanicals I used the resin

infused in my oil and added some of their dark amber oil and the 'soap is really nice. Mine gets a kinda fuzziness to it because that is what the amber does but it is really nice. I hoard it to myself but love it. It has been curing for a yr. now and is nice.

It is kinda hard to sell cause with what i have into it I have to sell it for $7 per bar so save it for those few people that want a specialty bar. Thank god soap doesn't spoil and I love it.

Janis

I've had good luck with patchouli (wick up) lemongrass (wick up)

eucalyptus, mints, lavender, clove & cinnamon so far but no no no to orange and grapefruit smells aweful. I'd like to hear more from others on eo's.

Janis

Do you do just candles or B&B I do shows as well so I have "stock" available at home for most things and on my days off one is devoted to replentishing stock and one for personal etc. then in the evenings I pack orders. Now sometime I make candles or soap as well but like previously stated I plan that ahead and have everything ready, lye water, oils measured etc. etc. It is hard, I cut back on some of my sizes of candles, alot of my lotion sizes / scents so maybe re-evaluate and see if there is some offerings you can reduce or discotinue so you can only make what seems to be selling to kinda keep ahead of yourself. It is a struggle believe me I know but it is a rewarding hobby / business.

Janis

I get mine at a local restaurant supply house, mine is called Gordons Food Service and allows walk in customers but most areas have a similar store available, it comes in big rolls and lasts forever but is definitely cheaper per foot to buy in bulk. Hope that helps some.

Janis

I almost bought from them but when I finally figured out that there was no sure fire way to determine what my shipping would be I called them on the phone and they then told me about the shipping, for me in Indiana it was just too outrageous and expensive, I agree their shopping cart leaves alot to be desired and has caused several people grief.

Janis

It seems Columbus is the cheapest right now unless someone has the ability to go some place and pick it up direct I know there are a few places out there that sell it and it can be picked up but not many. I am gonna need several jugs in a month or so and will cringe when I have to pay the higher price

Congrats, that is wonderful, and clean cotton sells great for me too, feels good to have some great sales

janis

I sent primera an e-mail on this, probably wont get much of an answer but I still sent it.

Here is a copy of the response he sent me which makes sense, I have started using the matte labels so we'll see how they do. I also started spraying them but I need to do some unsprayed to see if the matte keeps from yellowing:

response:

"The yellowing is caused by ozone or other contaminates that the highly absorptive paper will pick up over time. The very same properties that allow the inkjet process to work well on this paper also may cause it to pick up some of the contaminates. The semi-gloss or Matte is not as absorptive so that may work better. "

Here is the official disclaimer and explanation:

Primera’s TuffCoat High Gloss and Semi-Gloss label materials have been specifically designed to be highly absorbent to allow water-based inkjet inks to dry quickly. While providing for immediate smudge-resistance after printing, this characteristic also makes the sheet receptive to certain airborne contaminants and could result in a discoloration of unprinted areas. Proper testing in the final application environment is strongly recommended, especially when used on or near products with aromatic vapors or products containing volatile solvents. As with all pressure sensitive materials, this product should be tested thoroughly under end-use conditions to ensure it meets the requirements of the specific application.

Patrick J. Timmins

Technical Support Manager

I sent primera an e-mail on this, probably wont get much of an answer but I still sent it. I'll tell you what I originally thought it was, I thought that since I used wax and oils in the house to make soap and candles it was my "air" quality. I have a yellow

kinda layer that gets on my heat ducts and on my walls from all the wax and oils I use here at home so I thought man I need to get my heat ducts clean but from what I've learned the labels yellow in a "retail" environment that is seperate from a manufacturing type environment. I don't mind having to "spray" my labels if it cures the problem but I agree with y'all that if I was paying a professional to do my labels I would expect them to handle this problem, after all that is what they get paid to do. It is interesting that some people with the lasar labels say that the lasar glossy do not yellow, would like to hear more on that subject.

Janis - who is still irritated about the yellowing labels

bringing this up again to see if anyone has had any luck with the yellowing problem. I just bought some "matte" labels from blanco label for my primera and am trying them out but I am also lightly spraying them as well with Krylon, just started that. I need to print some without spray to test as well.

Janis

A couple of mine that sell well yr. around is Clean Cotton - flickers, Cinamon Vanilla - flickers, Honey Patchouli - flickers ,

Antique Lilac - Simple Soothings, Orange Chiffon Cake - KY ,

Eucalyptus Mint - eo's, Carrot Cake & banana nut bread - flickers, Sweet Orange & Chile Pepper - Milcreek and lavender.

Janis

Thanks!! will give them a try, I love Peaks oils.

Janis

Peak's grape and wild cherry are awesome in soy candles

You know I forgot that, I used their vinyard and it is nice but that isn't what my customer wants but yes their fruit slices was nice, thanks for the reminder

Janis

Not sure about grape, but Peak's Fruit Slices is fabulous in soy!

I am in need of a couple of recommendaions for a true grape that works good in soy, they are adament about it being "grape" and not a wine type of scent. They also want other single note fruits so if you have any good recommendations for mouth watering juicy fruity type scents you could pass along for soy I would sure appreciate a starting point. Thanks so much.

Janis

Ps. they want room sprays as well.

flickers has a nice olive blossom and it is nice in soy and soap, sells well for me here in Indiana.

Janis Rogers

I am not planning on doing this anymore no matter what anyone says as I can't afford any penalties, heck the dang shipping rates are enough to send anyone to the poor house, thanks for the heads up guys.

jais

My guess is that if you get caught, it's you who will pay the penalty. That may explain why UPS doesn't care whose boxes you use.

Don't count on their software to even remotely help you with making a decent label, it is primarily geared to the bar coding part of it, it is very very primitive for making graphics etc. I tried to use it and it was absolutely horrible, I use printshop and it works wonderful with the primera printer. Avery design pro does not work. You can buy the upgraded niceware program (I believe that is what they use) but that is like $500 plus if I remember right. I love my primera but it is not waterproof and it does have its issues, there is another post about the high gloss labels turning yellow and they do. So yes while I love it and wouldn't go back to my other printer it is not the end all / cure all.

Janis

the owner of my local ups store said that it is o.k. for them to use usps boxes for shipping I asked him twice and he said it is perfectly fine, I guess they have some sort of agreement I don't know how correct that is but he takes them. I found that to be weird as well. Also with ups and yes they are high but they have excellent tracking, if you loose something with usps you may as well kiss it goodbye cause you'll play hell trying to get them to find it or pay the insurance, my usps said we only pay insurance after 30 days. Yeah my customer liked that answer, not. So out it went again, only by ups. The post office does have better rates and if they had an up to date tracking system and decent customer service they would be wonderful. They need to work on their customer service skills cause they leave alot to be desired.

janis

yes I have the 810 and love love love it, but I don't like the fact that the labels will yellow, it doesn't look nice. I know it isn't labels by the sheet's fault but it is the nature of the actual label stock, I think primera should be aware of this even though I don't believe they actually make labels as well, they did send me specs one time to have custom labels made by any label manufacurer I wanted but I don't know if I still have them or not. I also have problems with the labels wrinkling if they get wet / damp from outside shows and they didn't have a solution to this but suggested trying a different type label material such as vinyl or poly but they don't make this themselves. I should try to find the info they sent me.

janis

I do a full bleed print (no white left) and haven't noticed much change in them....but the label rolls will turn yellow on the ones exposed to air if left sitting out. Thought it was my basement causing this (even though my basement is a walk out with no part of it in the ground) I keep my label rolls in zip lock bags and that takes care of the yellowing. Do you have the 810 Primera Printer?

I am so glad to see this as I thought I was loosing my mind, but mine are doing this also and I use their glossy labels for the primera printer so switching isn't an option. It must just be the "glossy" material that makes them yellow but it looks horrible.

Janis

If anyone uses the primera labels I would be interested in knowing if yours yellows as well.

1. Love Spell - dont like it but sells really good

2. Roses

3. coconut lime - just because I can't find a good one

4. Clary Sage - sells good, I just don't care for it

5. Apple Jack - fall thru Spring - don't care for it at all.

Janis

www.jansbathscents.com

I got one a couple yrs. ago from amazon.com called photo studio in a box and we like it , it folds up portable, has a carrying case 2 lights, and a stand for my camera, I ordered it from amazon and it came very quickly in like 2 days easy to use.

Janis

Does anyone here use an outside source or software to automatically back up your computer like Carbonite or some such program I'm looking for pro's cons or any other programs like this if anyone has used them.

TIA,

Janis Rogers

www.jansbathscents.com

I have only been successful selling holiday soaps one year, and I sold everyone I made, the next yr. I made a bit more and didn't sell hardly any

so I just stopped making them. I carry apple jack all year around and call it

spiced apple, I carry Frank & Myrrh all yr and call it Gifts of the Kings and

that is all, around Christmas I re-package with some Christmas colors and change the names to the traditional Christmas names and go that route, I also do a pumpkin fall soap every year that I carry thru until it runs out I wish that my customers would buy the traditional Christmas soaps it was so

much fun making them and decorating the packages but they said they were

for gifts and once they were open Christmas was over so they wanted either the springy scents or the traditional winter scents, go figure.

Janis

Glad it is working out for you , once you mess with it , it is pretty easy but

the first few times it is kinda confusing. I know I used to print out individual sheet until I figured out I could change each individual label a few months down the road.

Janis

Let me see if I can explain this so it makes sense. Design your main label

on the master lavel tab it should be red. Omit any "specific" info that you don't want on every label such as scent name, or if every label is totally different then don't put anything at all on the master label. Now design your first label on the first tab, When it is correct if you want 3 or 4 or whatever more just like that click the little button on the bottom that looks like 2 sheets of paper and this will copy that label so you have as many of "that" style you want. Then what I do is copy another one and then I change that one to the new style cause there usually isn't many changes maybe a color change and a fragrance name and then I make copies of that one to how many I need and so on until you get the number of labels made that will fit on one sheet. Just remember what ever you have on the master will be on every label no matter what so if you put your logo on every label in the same

place go ahead and put that on the master or if all your lables have the same ingredients etc. Hope it helps some.

janis