Desertrose

Once, for some unknown reason I decided to try mixing crystalising container palm wax and feathering (pillar) palm wax together........just to see what would happen. :rolleyes2 It was, from memory a 50/50 mix and the result was some rock hard (I mean they "clinked" together and you needed a chainsaw to break them) tart melts that were smooth - no crystalizing at all. Surprisingly though they came out of the molds fine but DH hated them...for some reason? lol! Anyway.......our current dilemma is that we are experimenting making our own tart molds from silicone and we don't want the crystalising effects of palm but nor do we want to use soy (summer and the heat here) Do you think there's any way that by mixing these two palm waxes that this could be done without them being like concrete? Anyone experimented with this at all in any other percentages.......you know, kind of in a mad moment like I did? Tracy

I'm sure we'll have something to say about the new fragrances I can't wait to get started on the Christmas stuff! Tracy

Thanks, we've not tried blending any scents but yes that could work. At the moment we're finding that because prices have gone up here that even with the shipping costs it's actually cheaper for us to get our scents from the US! We are waiting with great anticipation at this first orders arrival. If we like the scents I think we might just stick with buying from over there because it is so much cheaper!

All very good food for thought here. I hope Richard - my husband is reading this (he is away interstate at the moment) Platypus moon...We are trying to keep the scent lines in both shops as different as we can. His is a more "prim/country" shop so we're using a lot of "food" type scents with his and we've even decorated his jar candles differently to the other shop which is more "pretty". Selling at markets though we'll probably offer a selection of both because it gives more choice for people. Still we can't control what OTHER people here are selling and no doubt they are selling some of the same scents as us because they are buying from the same wholesalers as us! We've just put a big order in from the US so we can buy scents that are completely unique! (hopefully) We made it clear to him from the start that we would be looking at other shops AND be doing markets at some point. I think he was just upset thinking it was us selling right across the road from him. MParadise...I have been saying to my husband, after seeing a few other people selling candles here, that we should raise our prices as I think we're selling them too cheaply at markets. Well, we WERE. We've moved from Perth to Sydney and over there we ended up at one particular market where really to try and fit in with the crowd we were selling too cheap. I know exactly what you mean about how selling too cheap can make people question the quality. But like I said, I really think what this guy sells HIS candles for in his shop is quite unreasonable - to me it is anyway. Certainly not what you could realistically hope to sell for at a market in comparison to what the general price out there that others are selling their products for. But yes, definately something we should be looking at once we have decided upon which market we are going to be going to. I feel better anyway about the party plan thing now after reading all these responses even if they happen to be parties that are in the same area as him. They will be a form of advertising too for our product and there's no reason why we can't promote the fact that our candles are in the stores they are in whilst AT the parties. He should feel happy about any way in which people get to know about his shop! Tracy

Thank you both. I guess part of this is just that it's all so completely new to us. You're absolutely right though, we ARE trying to make a profit and it's not going to come from the two shops we are supplying ALONE. We have to branch out in whatever other areas we can so we can get out candles OUT there and in the process compete with other candle makers in the area as well. I would not ever be so indiscreet though to sell at a market that's virtually across the road from a shop our candles were in. That would just be silly because obviously at street markets your prices ARE lower so that would be taking business away from HIM. I still can't understand how he could think we would DO that! But to be a fair distance away I think is reasonable and darn it I'm going to tell him that! lol! We plan to have a face to face meeting with him this coming weekend and get things all laid out and straight! We're happy to compromise on things where it makes sense but he's got to see it from our point of view too! Tracy

Hi thanks. The thing is he is charging quite a bit for the candles he sells in his shop. He buys mostly from the US actually so I can understand that with extra shipping costs etc, and the fact that they are pretty much exclusive to his shop (never seen US candles anywhere else here) that he may have to charge more for THOSE. He's selling ours slightly cheaper but still at a price that we personally would never dream of selling them for, particularly not at markets! It makes it hard because we've had to re think our prices because of this. We're not really sure WHAT to sell them for doing the party plan thing but if we were to sell them as much as he sells them for in his shop I don't think we'd be doing any repeat parties! We really have to give this all some serious thought. I never thought it would get complicated like this. But what you say makes sense, and we should bring that up with him about "exposure to our product." That can only be a good thing. Tracy

Thanks. Yeah, I think we are just going to be upfront with him and let him know that hey, we're trying to run a business too so that DOES mean we are looking for other avenues as well as shops. Sheesh! Panic attack is right! lol! Tracy

I got a phone call the other day from one of the store owners that has our candles in his shop. He asked me in a most accusatory manner if we had been at the markets in his suburb - in fact I think right across from his store, the previous weekend selling our candles! Apparently some other store owner in the area had told him she thought it was us! He was most upset at the idea and I think jumped to conclusions because of course it WASN'T us at all (we were off camping!) but whoever it was had exactly the same jars as we use and was selling one of the fragrances WE sell ....to him! After about ten minutes of trying to calm him down (he really was quite upset!) and point out that in Australia there are only two major candle suppliers who sell pretty much the same jars AND fragrances that it's not unlikely that other people are out there too selling similar products to US! Actually it's FACT....we know they are! I mean, after all, this "snitch" lady told him it wasn't our label on the jar.........so I really can't understand his paranoia. Anyway....it leads me to ask this, since we have never done the whole dealing with shops business before..... We are thinking about starting up the party plan thing selling our candles......This MAY involve doing parties in HIS territory. That's ok though isn't it? I mean it's not that we are , or have ever said we would be exclusive to him alone! Should we discuss this with him at all.....? I don't want to rock the boat in any way with him, and we are extremely happy that he is stocking our candles in his store because it's a GREAT shop and he's a GREAT salesman. He seems not very happy that we have mentioned, in the past that we would eventually sell at markets (and yet again I don't understand him jumping to conclusions because we've always said we wouldn't sell at markets near his store because we don't want to do HIM out of business!) and even said something about taking our phone number off the labels because I mentioned that a lady rang the other day asking if she could buy direct from us. I told her no, we would rather she buys from either of the stores our candles are in as we don't want to start selling from home unless it was a huge wholesale order or for a fundraiser or something. Now, I TOLD him this, because I wanted him to know that we ARE directing people to HIS store - but his response was to question taking the phone number off! Like he simply does not trust us! I'm left feeling a little, well, frustrated! Anyone had experiences like this and how do you deal with it? Tracy

Wow, I love those! Now they really appeal to the inner hippy in me!

Try not to stress It's really not all that bad! Years ago a friend and I used to make dried flower arrangements and other crafty things and we did the whole party thing. It WAS so much nicer having a "partner" there with me, I must admit, but we found most of the time the people at the parties were there to get together with friends and chatted a lot among themselves for the most part. I totally agree with the impulse buyer thing. I am like that myself. I see, I like, I buy. My husband and I are thinking about getting started with the whole party plan thing for Christmas. We'll give it a go anyway. What we will probably do is have leaflets with all the palm and soy info to hand out to anyone who is interested in reading all about it as well as a leaflet on how to burn candles correctly (yah! Like they will follow instructions!) and I'm sure people themselves will ask questions so it won't be like a formal "speech" thing we'll have to give! Give it a go!What have you got to lose? It's a wonderful way to meet people in your area and can be a lot of fun! Tracy

Thanks everyone for having a look and commenting Yes, palm IS so much fun! I'm thinking of experimenting with the encaustic effect next. I already have the tools to do that and I wondered whether or not you could actually get some of those lovely effects on the sides of square pillars? It may end up a mess, lol, but I'm going to give it a try! Tracy

I love these! What a great idea including the country sayings on the labels. Great job! Tracy

Ok, thanks! We'll do that! Tracy

Does adding the UV affect the burn in any way? Richard has the wicking sorted for our pillars but the next time I make them I'm adding the UV and wondered if we are safe with our previous wicking tests when I hadn't used the UV stuff. Just thought I'd better ask to be sure!

Very cute look as everyone has said! I personally wouldn't want to burn them though! Well done!

I like them! They're making me reconsider playing with chunks again.

We have the tin opener! Works fantastically well! Beautiful smooth edge with no worries about cutting anyone. I think we're in business now! Tracy

Thanks so much for that Sharon. We'll just have to visit the "fancy kitchen" shops I think and will probably find something there. Tracy

Yikes, now I really am getting worried. Scarred lungs? Well, ok, so I'm just going to wear a mask now no matter what! Hubby too, even though he reckons it doesn't affect him at all! I'm a songwriter - have my own home studio....I've noticed this is really affecting my singing voice. I can't seem to sing quiet breathy notes as I used to. I know I'm a bit out of practise but something is definately not right with my vocal chords. I might bite the bullet and go see the doctors anyway. Tracy

Thanks for the responses. We're in a better situation in this new house as we're using the garage which has a back roller door that is always left open when we work, so there is plenty of ventilation. Still, it's always concerned me knowing that fragrant oils are so potent. I was working with one the other night called "spa" and I really felt like the lining of my throat was being stripped bare! I think from now on I will have to take all the necessary precautions. Tracy

Thanks Jenny. We'll look into them all! Tracy

Thanks! Looks like we will have to do some serious tin opener research and shopping!

Thanks. Yeah, I'm thinking I may have to resort to a mask. Even if it's NOT the cause it's probably not good to be inhaling in fragrances in such concentrations is it? That one looks a bit better than the standard "cheapie" ones - they make me feel totally claustrophobic. Tracy

Hi Deb, I'm sure we have something we could used to grind it back. My dad said to me he has some sort of attachment for his drill for sanding things that might work so we'll give that a try and see how it goes. The edge on the little rim of the ring top tins is really not THAT sharp.....we're debating what to do as most of the cans we use are ring pull tops. Sharon......we have an electric can opener at the moment (I think we've tried just about every tin opener known to man as we have a lot of pets and it's supposed to be one of the chores the kids are supposed to help with!) but so far none of them have ever opened a tin to the point where I could say it's totally safe to use for "this" purpose. Maybe you guys have better tin openers than us here? lol! Maybe we just haven't found the right one yet too? Tracy

Sorry if this is not in the appropriate section, but considering we work with soy and palm waxes only.... I'm trying to figure out whether or not our candle making is affecting my throat. It seems that when we are pouring or testing a lot of candles all at once I get a kind of raw (not sore though) feeling in my throat - like I can feel the breath in my throat, and this is followed by a huskiness or hoarseness in my voice which sometimes lasts a couple of days. At this point I'm not entirely certain it corrolates with when we pour or test but I was just wondering if the fragrances affect anyone else in this way? Basically I'm a chicken and KNOW I should see the doctor but, well...... just wanted to see if I could rule this out or in as a possible cause. Tracy