sockmonkey

Very nice! What kind of machine do you use for the free motion quilting? It really enhances the look of the quilt.

Wouldn't glass vials, or 1/2 oz bottles of the scent do the trick?

Is this a joke? Prior to today, the last post regarding the subject was in January. If you look at WSP'S site--today, right on the first page is says: FREE UPS Ground Shipping for the following: Fragrance & Flavor Oils Soap Molds Cosmetic Colors Free shipping offer has no minimum purchase necessary. This special offer does not require a coupon code and is automatically reflected in your shopping cart at checkout!

You know how it goes...there was probably someone else there trying to sell candles but not having any luck, so they were looking for a scapegoat and told the organizers that your stuff wasn't handmade. Turn the situation into a positive for you. Wouldn't that make a nice story for a blog, or other marketing purposes.."Candles so perfect, no one believes they are handmade."

The truth is, what you pay per pound can vary widely. I've bought oils from manufacturers that cost me $11 per pound, and I've bought some that were $22 per pound to get the strength I needed, but there are oils that still cost a lot more--it depends on the ingredients, the strength you need, and the volume you buy. So your impression that oils from manufacturers all cost $10 per pound is wrong. Does it make sense to have $250 tied up in 25 pounds of one scent--three times the amount you need just to save about $63 off the cost of 9 pounds? The cost of $250 is simply a guess anyway, based on your idea of purchasing oil at $10 per pound--in reality, it could be even higher. Since Peaks provides you with this forum, I think the least you could do is contact them directly and see if they could offer you a deal on 8 or 9 pounds, or even 25 pounds of the oil, since you were willing to buy it from a manufacturer. Support the people who support us!

I would just suck it up and buy the 8-9 lbs. Chances are, you could end up paying the same amount at wholesale prices anyway in order to get the same quality. Manufacturers offer lower prices on higher volume, and 25 lbs is the minimum, so you're still paying premium prices at that point.

I think the real question is--are you happy with the results? It only averages out to around 11 candles per store for the two months they were there. If you like the results then do nothing, but if you want more money you've got to get your candles into more stores. Either that, or perhaps add more inventory to those stores. If your candles don't have a strong presence it will be hard to make an impact and drive up sales.

Room spray Herbal neck wrap Body/foot powder

Wow, you have a lot of faith in the PO. I bet the postal employees probably see things much differently than you do! They could have been real a-holes and returned the package back to you, stamped "address not found" because you used the wrong zipcode.

Since you know this is an issue with the PO in Miami, can't you do anything to better protect her candles as far as packing them goes--not just marking the exterior of the box, but securing them and cushioning them inside the box? You're smart to buy the fragile labels and write it on the boxes yourself because it's not the PO's responsibility to mark your packages. Another thought...have you received proof that the candles were damaged--either photos or the merchandise returned to you? This probably isn't the case with your customer, but there are scammers out there who would stop at nothing to get free products. Of course, you can buy insurance, but that really lets all parties associated with the handling of the package off the hook--no one has to own up to creating the damage. Why not file a complate with the Postmaster in that area? You might also try delivery confirmation as a cheaper alternative to insurance just to see if a tracking record might lesson the damage and slowness of delivery.

If she wants a rush order tell her you can do it, but a premium charge is added to the cost of the order. Make it a ridiculous amount dependant upon the size of her order. A $50 surcharge sounds about right for a small order. If she decides she would rather wait than pay the fee, make it several weeks (3-4, maybe even 6) before her order will be ready--it is the busiest time of the year for making candles, right? You've got a manufacturing process in place and she needs to deal with it or find someone else to work with. That's a good way to ditch a customer.

Thanks for the update. I'm happy for you!

I had never heard of them, but I found this link on how to make them. It looks like it would be easy to do.

Have you looked at Ben Franklin? If I'm looking at the right stuff, it looks like they offer quite a bit. http://crafts.benfranklin.com/search.htm?keyword=gallery+glass+paint&firstRow=0&count=12

I've fought with "purples" too. With the liquids, they have always ended up ugly greys. You might try adding red to see if you can get anywhere with that. If you're lucky, it might turn a dirty/dusty rose color. I've used a purple mica in a 3-layer goat's milk m&p bar and was very pleased with the results at first--then the purple started to migrate into the surrounding layers. So, I hope you'll post your results with liquid purple from TKB. Other than that, you could chop it or shave it and used it for embeds.

For the money, I think Aztec has a good one.

I've used some natural ingredients--annatto, sea kelp, and others, but I wasn't very pleased with the results. For one thing, some of the ingredients have an odor to them that can detract from the scent of your soap, and the other is like Candybee said--you can get a speckled look. I posted a list once of popular additives for colorant. I'll see if I might be able to pull it back up.

You should also avoid phototoxic essential oils like lemon, lime, or orange EO's. Hemp seed oil, aloe vera, and vitamin E are popular ingredients.

Congratulations on your order, and good luck with getting many more! Some things you might want to consider before asking the questions... Regarding how many she wants to order, it's best to know how many you need to sell to make it worth your while before asking questions. For example, if you normally sell your gift pack for $8 retail, then she's probably expecting to buy them for $4. So, in order to get that $8 you normally earn, you're going to have to require her to buy two sets. You just have to figure how many sets it takes for you to make the kind of profit you need to, AND to make it enticing enough for her to buy them. About your label on the cello package, I wouldn't even ask that question, it should automatically be on there--how else are people going to find out about you? However, you can give her the option of private label service for an additonal fee. For the bean melts, of course you should talk her into those. Explain that when customers run out they will return to her site for more, or they might even prefer to sample the melts without buying a whole gift set first. Why not crunch the numbers and see if you can come up with an introductory package plan for her which includes samplings of all the products at a slight discount.

It doesn't have to be cold for the crystals to form. I had some Pink Sugar from SW that got crystals in the middle of summer.

I used to get them at Dollar Tree stores. I don't know if they still carry them or not but you might check there if you haven't already bought them.

Can you wait until November to get it? It looks like that's when they're shipping it.

How about cinnamon? I think a bit of spice would go nicely with it. Maybe vanilla or something vanilla/clove. This sounds kind of nasty, but I'm also thinking of something just a little bit green--aloe, clover, or grass type scent--just a smidge though.

I bought it and it smelled like sulphur when I opened it so I didn't want to take a chance on it stinking up my soap so I just put it away. Several months later as I was going through some supplies I pulled it out and it had some skanky stuff growing in it, even though it should not have been contaminated in any way. Maybe they get bad batches of it now and then, because I've seen a few other people complain about the way it smelled, and still others say it's great.

I've seen suggestions for chamomile, lavender, neem, camillia, and emu oils for treating psoriasis. Oatmeal is also supposed to be good to relieve itching.