mrsadler05

I still think your website is one of the nicest I have seen. I can tell you have put a lot of pride and effort into the detail and, for me, that speaks volumes about the detail you put into your products. I agree there have been some harsh comments. Maybe they didn't intend to come across so rudely, but that is the way I interpreted them as well. I completely understand about your pricing dilema. No one knows whether or not you are working out of your home, hence low overhead, or if you have to rent a retail space or workshop which would drive anyone's costs up. We haven't even discussed the ridiculous shipping fees yet. I have over $1000 invested so far and I just started making and testing candles in October. I haven't even ventured into B/B yet and I am an esthetician (skin care goddess) by trade. Just thinking of how much I will invest if I get into that side of things send shudders down my spine. Keep up the good work. Your site and products are absolutely beautiful. I may even place an order once I read up on goats milk.

Love, love, love it!! Great job!!

No feathers ruffled at all! The biggest problem with written messages is the readers' interpretation. I find myself rereading some messages several times and interpretting them differently each time. That's why I prefer calling people as opposed to texting! I just didn't know if you had caught her explanation in her previous messages, hence my reply. I tend to get tired of thinking and typing sometimes so I try to keep it simple. Sometimes too simple, I guess. :smiley2:

LOL. Stella, you know how ignorant our country has become. If you don't write a CAUTION on things like hot coffee, autopilots in rv's, plastic bags and cleaning products in huge letters, people just go all dumb and don't think for themselves. I guess now we have to put some type of caution remarks under our signatures.

She said, twice, that the name had special meaning to her. Possibly a nickname from a beloved family member or something like that. Regardless of whethter or not she uses beeswax (and she very well may) the name is special to her.

I think Little Bee Garden is really cute, but when I hear it, I am think a gardening or flower shop. It's really up to you and I think if you love your original name, don't worry about what a handful of people MAY or MAY NOT think. You are in no way misrepresenting your products and there will always be small minded people in this world that take offense to everything in this world. They are called Liberals, lol. So don't stress about it and over think this. This is supposed to be the fun and exciting part of starting a business. There will be enough of the other business stuff to put your energy into. Stop spinning your wheels and go for it. Yay for you!:yay:

:yay:The Christmas Hearth has been burning for a little over an hour and my house smells like Christmas. Love it!!

Just reading this made me go dig up the Christmas Hearth tester I poured on November 9 and light it up. I like the CT better than I remember so I can't wait to let you know what I think in a couple of hours. I was pouring to test different wicks so I hope the LX works good with the 444. We shall see.

What about making it simple. Little Bee Organics & More Products for the home, body and soul. If you love your name, use it. By law, to use the term organic, a product only has to contain a certain percentage of organic ingredients so using the term is not misleading as long as your final product falls in the guidelines. The "& more" allows for flexibility.

I made some candles that reminded me of those little flower soaps my grandmother use to have in her bathroom for decoration. Maybe "Grandmaw's Soap?" I don't know how well it would go over, but the nostalgia may help.

I am so new to candle making that none of them really smelled familiar to me. I did have to look at the name on a lot of them to see what it was I was supposed to be smelling, though.

I stopped in B&BW while shopping Tuesday and smelled it for the first time. I love it!! If anyone finds it, please let us know.

My neighbor showed up at my door last night with a huge basket of Scentsy samples and a catalog. She said she was having a book party for a friend and asked if I was interested. I walked her into my kitchen and laundry room as I had been pouring testers for two days now and showed her what I had been working on. She left the basket for me and my husband to go through and in all honesty, there was not one single fragrance that blew either of our socks off that we just had to have. My husband does not have any interest in candle making, but he likes burning them and would buy several candles for the house every week until I started making them. The most reaction either of us had was "That's not bad." There were a few "No ways" and many "It's okays." Overall, I was extremely disappointed as this was my first experience with Scentsy and I have heard so much hype about the products. I'm sure they have great hot throw as people mention, but the fragrances offered did not impress me at all. On second thought, I guess it is a good thing for me that the scents disappoint.

The white spots could be frosting from uneven cooling or cooling to quickly. Make sure your containers are preheated (in oven set to 170 degrees) before pouring your wax into them. Try cooling your candles in a small room with a room heater or in a cooling oven. I don't use any dye but I think I remember reading somewhere on here that using crayons to color your candles can actually clog the wick. Search crayons and read up on it. Good luck!

Some of my candles take 2 to 3 weeks to cure. At one week I get no ht but at 2 or 3 weeks cure time, one can scent up half of my house. Give your candles a minimum of 48 hours to cure, preferably longer. If during your test burn you sense no ht, blow it out, cover it and forget about it for another week. Additionally, I heat my wax to around 180 then remove from heat and add fo around 174. I am very new to this myself, but I have been reading, learning and practicing. HTH. Good luck!

If you don't mind sharing, what type of wax and wicks do you use and how long do you let them cure for? I poured both on the 10th and can't wait to test them. Maybe I should ask for some patience for Christmas. :rolleyes2

So far, the Eco 12 and 14 burned well in my jars. I can't get any throw from the Pumpkin Picin fo after a week curing time, but i had a Berry Creme Brule that cured for 3 weeks and it is amazing. I have more of the Pumpkin curing and will test them at 2 weeks and 3 weeks before giving up on that fo. I poured some more Berry Creme Brule with Ecos, zincs and another type of wick. I forget which it was and I am too hungover to get up and go look. I ordered some rrd and cd wicks and will pour some with those tomorrow. I had planned on working on them today but my overindulgence last night ruined that plan.

I visit some of my customers on th North Shore from time to time. If you have a shop, I would love to come visit you one day. Thanks for the information about test burns. That cleared up a question I had been meaning to ask for a couple of weeks. "You have more patience than I do, 'cause if something doesn't work for me, I don't linger over it. I either get a sample from a different supplier or I move on to one of the others on my never-ending list of fragrances I want to try." It's not that I have as much patience, more like I jump into things too quickly. I was over zealous once I poured my first candles and had such great cold throw so I ordered two large bottles of the fragrance oil thinking the hot throw would be just as good. I wasn't really looking to start selling candles. I began making them as gifts for my customers before I realized exactly how much time and money goes into this. Now I may have to take a few orders just to recoup my investment.:rolleyes2 I swear every time I turn around I hear about new wicks to try or other waxes to blend for better HT or another FO that interests me. At least my Berry Creme Brule came in tonight and I know it works for me. Now I can start testing with this FO for my best combination then go from there.

Agreed, Stella. Sadly, patience is not my strongest suit so waiting it out is a challenge. I first started test burning after 4 days of curing and realized that was not long enough so I forced myself to start waiting a week. I knew I was suffering from "candle nose" so I sent some to work with my husband. He didn't get any throw from the Pumpkin Picin either. I have tried a ton of combinations and still have more curing in hopes i can get the fragrance to work. You mention setting a candle aside if you aren't happy with the throw initially. Do you do a 4 hour test burn and, if you get no ht, cover and set that particular candle aside for a few more days then test it again, or do you start your second test with a new candle? That is the problem I find with the 1 oz samples. I can only get one test candle out of it. i just ordered some smaller hourglass jars so I can get more than one tester from one fragrance sample, but until they come in, I only have the larger jars. Thanks for your input, Stella. I was hoping you would chime in soon. I see you are in SE Louisiana. Correct me if I am wrong, but I think I read somewhere you mentioned you were on the North Shore. I live right outside New Orleans on the Westbank so we are almost neighbors.

Congrats and welcome to the addiction. In the future, if you have a hot glue gun, just dab a bit of hot glue on the ottom of your wick tab and center it in your jar first. Heating your jars to 170-180 degrees should not affect the hot glue at all. Good luck!!

Thanks. I have a ton of 1 and 2 oz samples to try and not enough jars. I was trying to hold off until I get my wicking narrowed down, but the Pumpkin Pickin just is throwing at all. I think my Berry Creme Brule should be in tomorrow so I will start my trials over with that fo then try the others when I figure the wicks out. The Spruceberry sounds really good so I might have to order that one to add to the 8 other holiday sample scents I have. So much for getting some candles made for Thanksgiving.:undecided Now I am shooting for Christmas.

Kdorfman- Don't give up just yet. If you don't have any, buy some of the Berry Creme Brule from Mill Creek and try letting it cure for a bit before burning. My tester cured for 3 weeks while I test burned some of the other scents I poured. What wax/wick/jar combos have you tried? Soy327- Thanks for the tip. I will look up that fo. Are there any others that you really like the ht in soy? Leigh

Thanks, Deb. That information helps.

:angry2:I have no idea, but it seems everything I try to do, I get a reply telling me I don't have access to it.

Thanks, everyone. I am still on cloud nine this morning as I write this. I actually dreamed of getting my first order last night- and it wasn't even my intention to start this as a business. My original intention was to make some candles for my customers for Christmas and as a thank you gift for potential customers. Now that I have nearly $1000 invested in this "hobby," I may have to reconsider selling a few to recoup some of my money. My husband nudges me every time we pass the candle aisle at Wal Mart and jokes that it sure would have been cheaper to buy them all candles instead. He was actually the first one to smell the candle last night. I lit it in our master bath then left then came back up to the living room and was on my laptop- actually reading this forum. He went in to brush his teeth and called out "Baby, which one do you have burning in here, 'cause it smells good." I told him the fragrance and muttered to myself "yeh, because you are right up on that b****." A half-hour later I walked half way down the hall and thought OMG, I just got b*****-slapped (lol)! I can smell it. I was like a woman on her first diet pill and couldn't shut up about how excited I was to finally get hot throw. I immediately pulled up MC's site and ordered a big bottle of the fo. Just to think, even though this is one of my favorite fragrances, I almost didn't even try to burn the candle because none of the others were throwing.