ProudMarineMom

And speaking of sleazy...

Reported as spam.

Well, all salt is basically Sodium Cloride. I think most of the differences are the sources of the salt, such as the Dead Sea, the size of the grain, how it's harvested or how the salt crystals are formed.

If you look up Dendritic Salt on the Snowdrift Farm website, they have a link to their 'Ask The Chemist' page that explains how dendritic differs from regular salt. They main benefit from the special crystalization being that dendritic is 2-1/2 times more absorbant. Now, I'm definitely not a Chemist, so can't verify it as fact. But, they have the same explanation I've seen elsewhere on the web.

Curious as to how the table salt worked....

So the short name of this new company is "BS Candles"?

Yes, the BS Candle Company a subsidiary of BOHICA Enterprises....

You guys are cracking me up. Love, love, LOVE the sense of humor. Maybe they can use a catch phrase from another post that shall remain nameless, Hella Hella-awsome Candles...

That is adorable. Where did you find the dish?

This morning I noticed my account was credited back $20 from Flickers. I'm pretty sure that is how Moonworks come across isn't it? I did the pre-buy for Merlin's Forest but not sure if that ever made it in. Anybody else notice this? If you did the pre-buy, did you get your oil?

Just curious. I haven't emailed Ronda yet to ask a question. Thanks.

J

Not sure where you are located, but The Herbarie in South Carolina has Optiphen for $3.95 an ounce. Real nice people. Here's a link.

http://www.theherbarie.com/Optiphen-pr-146.html

There was a great post a couple of months back with different blends that Candybee, CBE, CandleBuddy and others had created. Some wonderful sounding scents. Here's the link

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=92714&highlight=blends

Thanks Sharon! Just googled it some and it's also a heart healthy oil that helps to lower cholesterol. I'll have to get my husband to use it. His numbers were up, so he is trying to adjust his diet.

Found two different smoke point temps, one 425 another 485. Either is still pretty high. We bought one of those Butterball electric turkey fryers last year. Will have to try the Grapeseed for that as well. Versatile little oil...

Thanks so much for all of the information. I really appreciate it. Although it has a limited shelf life, I think I would still save on shipping buying it from Costco or the grocery store. Even if some does go to waste.

Might have to try it for cooking. Does it give any type of flavor to the food?

Lonestar Candle Supply in Texas has a very good selection as well. You can also buy them individually to try out before buying a case.

And, like Luminous says, you can't go wrong with Peaks. Get on their mailing list. Every so often they offer discounts on shipping.

Last year I saw similar type hats at Michael's. Might want to try there or maybe JoAnn's Fabric, if you have them.

Thank you for the suggestions on what to check and I'll take a look at that information. I was with DH and he wasn't in the mood for lingering yesterday. He pretty much power-walked Costco. He's almost a foot taller than I am, so hard to keep up sometimes.

Did read somewhere it had a short shelf-life and something like Vitamin E could help extend that. I was more concerned that if it was processed further, or differently, to make it food grade, some of the good properties would be gone. Like you said, I think I really need to read the label, see what information it provides.

Appreciate the info.

J

I was in Costco yesterday and noticed they had large containers of Grapeseed Oil. Is that safe to use in B&B recipes or is it processed differently? Would be nice to be able to save on shipping from a supplier.

Thanks for any thoughts or information.

J

They also have them at Aztec International

http://www.candlemaking.com/store/Wick-CenterHolder-P1529C12.aspx

Let's see, there is

Japanese Cherry Blossom, SOS, light pink (light scent in soy, don't know if someone else has a stronger version)

Japanese Pear and Ginseng, Elements, yellow

Oriental Garden, Wellington, light green

China Musk, Wellington, maybe light brown

Dragon's Blood, CS, SGS, NG, nice deep red/burgandy

Good Fortune Love, SOS, lavender

SOS has an entire line called Good Fortune. I just go the Love flavor, but haven't poured it yet. Wellington also has a Feng Shui line that sounds interesting. Haven't tried any of those.

That is what she is doing, adjusting the price of the invoice before charging your card. When the order was charged to my card it was the adjusted amount. But, the email and online order has the original total.

Yes, she will adjust the invoice before charging your card. Just don't forget the keyword in the message section, not the coupon section.

Hi Candleman, I'm kinda new to candles myself, but will say what works for me so far. Hopefully, someone with more experience will jump in.

I live in Georgia now and am using 464. The Candle Science website says the 444 might be better for the warmer climates because of the higher melt point. It's been as hot and humid here the last couple of months as when we lived in Central Florida and my candles are doing fine. However, mine are just in my house or who I give them to, I'm not shipping them. I think that's the biggest concern.

Like I said I use 464, so the wicks may not work the same. Candle Science has a wick selector guide that can be helpful. My wick of choice for the 464 is either the Eco or the CD's. I have tried LX, HTP, RRD and probably some others. I get the best HT from the Eco's and a better burning wick from the CD's. So, still testing.... One day I'll find the sweet spot!

Fragrance, colorant, additives and weather conditions can have an affect on soy. For the 464, the cooler I can pour, the less frosting I get. Especially with darker colors. I'm actually trying to come up with a Soy/Paraffin blend I like to help stablize that. And, I can pour hotter, because I'm impatient. If you search the forum for frosting, you can find a lot of hints, tips or tricks that might work for you.

Here's a link to a website that gives a good guideline for different brands of wicks. Their selection is based on straight paraffin, so you will probably need to wick up.

http://www.wicknclip.com/recommendations.html#scd

Hope that helps!!

J

Meg and Nancy, got you covered...

That's too funny! Someone was just telling me today that I needed to name a scent, "Green Grow the Lilacs" which is what the play was based on.

Anyway, I would love, love, love a copy of the newsletter. PmM you. Thanks so much!!!

:yay:

I think that would be a great idea. Wonder how many people would get it. Could always attach a tag with a brief history. I think stuff like that is interesting, but depends on your audience.

Have you heard Hugh Jackman sing that? He has a great voice. Kinda hard to imagine him as Curly, tho, when all I can see is Wolverine...

Where the wind comes sweeping down the plain... :whistle: Sorry, had to do that with your location. Love Rodgers and Hammerstein.

The sale is on until noon ET, and exactly noon, on Thursday. If you want to send me a PM with your email, I can forward the newsletter.

Yes, crafter's choice is the brand of soap I was referring to when I said WSP.

I found the natural crafter's choice soap to be a very soft bar of soap and it disappeared pretty quick. I guess there is probably something I could add to make it hard..... but I don't what.

I thought Crafters Choice was from WSP, I just didn't order it from there. I had ordered Stephensons and apprently they were out of their white base, so they sent me the Crafters Choice.

You can use beeswax or stearic acid to increase the hardness of the bar. I need to read up again on the properties of both to figure out which one I want to stay with. They both work well. From what I understand the stearic acid is derived from natural fats and oils and not toxic, even though it ends in acid. Olive Oil will also increase the hardness, but too much makes it oily. And, the harder butters help, like Cocoa and Kokum.

Don't know if you've seen the thread below. I bookmarked it so I can search and learn about the different additivies people have put in melt and pour.

http://www.craftserver.com/forums/showthread.php?t=80353&highlight=sugar

The colors in the first photo are sharper. The yellow is crisp and the brown background is more muted so the bird doesn't blend in. However, I think the yellow may be a bit to bright, it overwhelms the candles. The tiles are not as bright in the second pic and your candles pop a lot better. Could probably tone it down a bit more, see what it looks like.

Although I do like the poem on the last pic, it's Poe, what's not to like, I agree with Candybee, it's distracting. It draws the viewer's eyes away from the candles to read the text. It's like they are decorations for the poem instead of the other way around. But, I really like the idea... Maybe doing something like the falling leaves but have it look more watermark-like, barely there. Might give a bit more depth to the yellow.

Like Scented said, the bird looks a bit out of place. He needs to be sitting on a rock, a branch, a cross or something. And, not so much in the foreground. Might not be easy to position with the limited space you are working in. Again, I like the idea.

With my two cents above, please know that I am not a graphics/web designer. Do not posess that talent. And what I've said is not meant as criticism. What you have done is probably 1,000 times better than what I could come up with. But, I have worked closely with web designers and I'm giving you impressions like I did with them. Hopefully, it's helpful for you...

J

Thanks Soychick for your review of the bases. May have to try the Natural Shea version from NG. I ended up with the Stephenson's Shea base (not what I ordered) and obviously wasn't too thrilled with it. It was very moisturizing but I didn't care for the look and texture, was too soft and the bubbles and lather was so-so.

I did get some Crafters Choice white base (again not what I ordered) and that is promising enough to do some more tests. The hardness level was much better and I was able to get some good bubbles and lather. Is that the same as the base from WSP? Will have to look.

I ordered some of the Goats Milk Natural base from NG and ended up with the SLS version the first time around (which they promptly replaced). So, made some testers out of that. It does have a better cleansing feel to it, just not as moisturizing, like you mentioned.

So far my favorite is the NG Natural Goat's Milk base, no SLS. I got excellent bubbles and lather. The bubbles from Dr. Bronners and the creamy lather probably from the castor oil. It also had the cleansing feel and decent moisturizing properties. It might be good to use it as a mild moisturizing soap and tweak the recipe to get a rich moisturizing soap. Just not sure which is the best ingredient to increase and not affect the lather and bubbles. I didn't add any extra Goat's Milk and didn't want to go too crazy on the Olive Oil. Back to reading and learning.

I added finely ground oatmeal and poppy seeds to the honey NG soap and it suspended very nicely. Now I am not sure if it worked well because I waited until it was cool enough to suspend in the soap or if it was because I added the ground oatmeal.

My instict says it was the oatmeal because it seemed to make it a thicker consistency in general after I added the ground oatmeal.

Does anyone know for sure??????

Soychic

If I had to make a guess, I would think the ground oatmeal thickens the base. Oatmeal can be used to thicken soups instead of flour. I added some to one of the soap bases at just the right point and was suspending nicely. But once I got all of the oatmeal added, it was pretty thick and did not pour smoothly into the mold. Like you said, have to find the sweet spot.

I bought a sample from Nature's Garden. Don't remember exactly what it smelled like when I first got it, but wasn't overly thrilled with it. Just grabbed the bottle again and it has gotten better with age. Definitely sweeter and I wouldn't say hay.