RichardLOZ

Yeah Stella I know they do as we currently have 4 of them in the house. Do you think however that I can find just one of them when I am about to light a candle? Not a chance! So up I go once again to the $2 store where I will buy another pack of two of the bbq lighters for $3.50 (in a $2 store), go figure....LOL

LOL. I love people who do the "stealthy" walk by to us. I am just in your face and will rock right up to any other chandlers at the same show and say hi. Cant tell you how many get a little freaked out and not quite sure what to say or make of it. Love the competition though. Keeps us working harder on our own product. We dont thankfully have scentsy to worry about down here, just partylite, and they are pretty rare to see at a show or market

Sounds like an awesome way to light your candles for test burning also. Hey perhaps we could stock those on our stall for those "hard to get to" wicks in tall jars

We fill all of our jars pretty much right up as well. I get so frustrated when I see jars not completely full. I have seen many only filled 2/3 or 3/4. Have never understood why people do that.

A couple of questions. Do you already have the graphics designed? Do you have the text ready? Product listing reasy to go? See my site at www.gooseberryhillcandles.com.au for example. Site without cart www.desertrosemusic.com or www.desertroseproductions.com.au Let me know if you are interested and we can discuss further.

Definitely worth having. We like most started of in the beginning with a hari dryer, but soon went to a heat gun. Our has a variable temperature control ranging from 50c through 600c, so great for both candles and shrink wrapping.

Don't know where you are in Oz, but NCS has CB-135, as well as all of the other ecosoya waxes.

For 500g wax we us 1.5g Golden Honey & 0.5g Cappuccino from colour blocks.

I have no idea how to describe it, and of course all of her scent descriptions have now been taken down, however I did just remember that I do have the description, so here it is... Snow Fairy Fragrance - Fresh citrus and holiday berries unfold to a spicy heart in this warm, welcoming blend. Seasonal greens and velvety woods characterize the middle of the scent while sweet vanilla bean and soft musk surrounds the rich fruity tones. A burst of mint lifts the fragrance, creating a shimmering winter effect.

I am looking for some recommendation for some woody scents and also a rainforest and a desert type FO. It would have to be from a supplier that ships international. I am looking at BCN at the moment as I do like some of their oils (based on samples I got from the classifieds here). I am trying to avoid ordering from 500 different suppliers. I currently get stuff from NG and used to get from Bert also, so now besides NG I would like to find one or possibly 2 alternative suppliers as not everything from NG throws well. Comments on BCN scents most appreciated, and any other suggestions also most appreciated.

I am along the same lines as most I guess. We do use currently 6 different types of waz across all of our products. Each has its place. I am with Stella on the FO. If it does not work in my system I wont use it. I will not use more than 1 oz / lb, I will not use 600 different wicks in one jar type to match every FO I use. if the FO does not work at 1 oz with the 2 standard wicks that I use, then it either goes into tarts or into the discontinued pile. The testing of new FO's and containers is a long enough process as it is, not to mention carrying so many different scents. I really do not know how some of you manage to carry 200 or 300 scents. To me that is just insane, thinking of how much money is tied up in oils sitting on the shelf. If something is not selling well for me, out it goes as I cannot afford to be having oils sit for slow sales.

We have never even considered Etsy. We went with out own website first off. It really is not all the difficult to do, even with a shopping cart added. Yes it can take some time, days through weeks depending on how intricate you want it and what customization you require, but if you are juist looking for something pretty simple out of the box so to speak, there is plenty of webhosting around for well under $10 / month, offering loads of space, MySQL database access (generally required for a cart) and a selection of various packages including things like Zen cart and Oscommerce. have a look into it, you might be surprised as to how cheap it can really be, and that is using your own domain name as well. We dont all have the time I know, but have a look in any case. I am also happy to answer any questions people may have as well. Out site was designed and customized by me, and yes it took some time, but I also have full control over it and can change it at any time at no cost. I currently pay about $14 AUD for my hosting package and am hosting about 6 different websites of that one package. Just my thoughts

I know that feeling. I have always used CDN's in my soy / palm blend, and a local suppliers wicks in out palm pillars. Not entirely happy with the CDN's in some scents as in some they do tend to shroom a little. Went and ordered some HTP's in various sizes which I will test in my more "problematic" oils as see how they go. Why is it that you can really never leave anything alone, but always have to fiddle....LOL

Nothing in the pot for us this weekend as it was son's birthday yesterday and we are driving to Sydney to visit MIL today. Next week however it is going to be a very different story. We have a completed fundraiser to pour, jars, melts & clams, as well as stock for a 2 day show next weekend, so we are going to be busy. Also have to pour samples for another fundraiser about to begin and get all of our Christmas lines completed for the shows / markets prior to mid December. Busy, busy, just hope the damn suppliers have my jar stock or I will be in trouble. Also just about to add smelly jellies to our line as well, so we will see how that goes.

Hey Does anyone know os a dupe for Bert's Snow Fairy. Now that she has closed the scent is starting to move really well, not to mention that I also like it. Obviously they would have to ship international, although if they don't I can probably find a work around. Thanks

Just make sure you get the extra large ones. They last a while and then the spring seems to go out of them a bit. Once that happens, soak in hot water and use for their intended purpose of hanging clothes on the line, rinse and repeat

I generally twist in jars as well, which does tend to help a little. I twist the wick and then hold with a clothes peg, which for me works so much better than the centering tools for sale at various places, and is so much cheaper at 50 pegs for $2.50 at the reject shop.

Hi Burntheflame. We pretty much do mainly 4" apothecary jars and use CDN's. For most scents a CDN 22 / 24 do the job. Single wicked (I never double wick as I personally dont like it) We do also do some smaller diameter containers as well still using CDN's. We find that they work quite well for the most part. For pillars we use a locally sourced wick as we have found that to be better for the purpose.

I love the burnt orange colour. May I ask what you used to get that nice colour?

What I would give to do a show with 50,000+ attendance. Then again I suppose we also have less competition here as well. Sounds like you did really well, congrats

If only CS would ship to Australia. We believe the reason they wont is because they supply one of the 2 wholesalers down here which totally sux as they do not carry all of the CS scents.

We are pretty much like everyone else. Again we order in quantities too large to put in folders, not to mention that we also use about a sozen different sizes as well as different types. At the moment I have all of the ones that we use regularly in an old bedside table that we have in the pouring area. Dye blocks are in a drawer system from Bunnings. Not the idea situation but we never can seem to get our pouring area just the way that we want it. maybe one of these days we will rearrange to a design that will just work

Hey Bart The container palm I get from ACS is the non crystalising variety, so comes in 25 kg boxes as a slab, which you have to dig / cut with a knife (or pour out in summer). I generally use the Lava from NCS for my other container palm. 464 is from ACS or now from Sydney. Glassware I try to maily get from NCS and will only get from Perth if I have to due to breakages etc. My last order of metros I had at least 10 broken. I am really hoping the new player is able to match the glassware pricing, and the bonus for me is that its only about an hour away so if need be I can go and collect My last order from NCS I received 5 x 500 instead of the 2500 at the 2500 price. They are pretty good like that, and are ok to chat to if you get them when they are not too busy. I would love top play with the micro crystaline waxes for hurricanes. I did try with palm but the melt point is not high enough, although they looked pretty good before the t-light went inside...LOL I'll see how I am going for time on Wednesday Bart, and if I find a few spare minutes will give you a call as I will be working from home on that day so do not have to worry about chatting about candles with other people around when I am supposed to be working

+1. And where were you 3 years ago when I had this crazy idea in my head to begin making candles. I could have bought a new car with the money I have spent already. Sometimes we do some totally crazy things. We get very frustrated. We get days when we really don't want to pour anything, but orders have to be filled and stock needs to be made for markets and parties. Unfortunately you cant take the day off like you can with a regular job (which I did on Friday to get stock finished for orders and markets on the weekend - bad boy....LOL)

What a cool candle. I would love to try making one of those from palm. Now talk about wicking nightmares, add palm into the equation and double your nightmares. I guess I like a challenge Speaking of interesting candles. Sometime ago, someone posted pics of a candle that was only about 1/2 inch wide, but long and tall, and somewhat wavy shape. The wick was lit and then it branched off utill it met a joic and then there was two wicks burning, etc. Does that make any sense and can anyone recall the website that it was shown on. I have tried searching but for the life of me cannot find it on here or on the web, but they were also some really interesting candles.