PAgirl89

The trick is in the timing when pouring the layers. I use a wooden mold and it holds about 2 pounds of soap. I tried the smaller silicone molds and I get better results with the lined wooden mold. You can experiment with your layers, try different utensils to swirl, or try pouring the colored clear base and white base at the same time when you pour the layer. The possibilities with swirls are endless. Good luck! I can't wait to see pics of your creations!

The pics of the swirled MP soap I have done were made with lots of practice and trial & error. I followed SoapQueen's blog video post on MP swirling and tweaked it from there. http://www.soapqueen.com/bath-and-body-tutorials/melt-and-pour-soap/soap-queen-episode-3-swirling-2/ You're going to need both clear & white soap base to use the above vid tutorial.

I got a nice size candle order from a new wholesale account. She's requesting bakery scents but she wants unique and different bakery, not your ordinary sugar cookie or blueberry muffins. Suggestions on a supplier who has 'out of the norm' bakery scents that will throw well in soy? TIA oh and a good Patchouli that works well in soy?

I use 464 and my jars are 3" in diameter. I use the ECO 12 wicks in mine. I tried an ECO 10 and the melt pools didn't go to the edge far enough, so I went to the 12's and it worked so much better.

Very nice job! It's looks fantastic! Yes I feel like this wholesale order I'm doing now is never ending too! I had to wait for supplies b/c of the holiday, then I didn't have enough FO, then I had to order molds....it was like if anything could go wrong, it did. LOL Tomorrow is a week since the order was placed and I'm anxious to get the order finished and to the shop. It's been stressful.

Just canceled and replaced my Mastercard today. Same as you, a Google charge for $1.00 and a few more, but the cc company put a security hold on the card before it got out of hand. I got an email from Essentials by Catalina saying the card was declined and I had to call them with another card to pay for my order. I called the cc company to find out why it was declined and was told there was a security hold on the card and they were not allowing any more purchases to be processed on this card. I canceled it and will be getting a new one. This is the 3rd time one of my cards is replaced. Twice with a Discover card last year, only a few months apart. In the last month, I used the Mastercard at Rustic Escentuals and Amazon.com

Thanks! I'm excited!! I've been going through my supplies and ordering what I need, also working on a wholesale price list. This is new territory for me, I currently have a consignment but not wholesale. But it's exciting and a little scary too.

I had a meeting today with a local country store that sells primitive/country homemade products. Initially when I spoke with the owners (husband & wife team), they had said they were interested in the wax bakery tarts that I make and I should bring what I had to the store to show them in person. So, today I took mostly tarts (bakery & other), along with some other products that I felt would be appropriate for their store. I was told that they currently buy their candles (paraffin) from a lady in Lancaster, but I took one of my soy candles along anyway (good thing I did). I get to their store, which is in the lower level of their home, and this is just packed to the rafters with primitive items! Being the prim/country addict that I am, this place would be SO dangerous for me. LOL I show them the bakery tarts that I brought with me and the other scented items in my bags. They are loving the products so far and asking questions about them. I pull out the 16oz ball jar candle that I brought along and tell them it's made with soy wax. The wife loves the jar and lid combination and loves that it is soy wax, as the candles they have in the store are paraffin. The wife asks me if I make other bakery type items, of course I tell her that I've been experimenting with loaf candles and her response is "how soon can I buy some?" They will be expanding the shop into another room and wants to carry a bakery of wax products like pies, cakes, cookies ...etc. Which is funny she asked that because I was debating on expanding my own product line to include more wax bakery items. LOL As the meeting went on, the ideas started to flow, as did the list of products they wanted to buy from me. So initially wanting just cookie tarts, they are now looking at buying candles, tarts, votives, and bakery items AND before I left, she asked "you also make soaps?" I said "Yes I do!" The husband chimes in and asks if I make foaming hand soap, of course I said "I make that too!" So the 1 hour meeting resulted in an order for 30 packs of scented clothespins (300 clothespins), 2 dozen votives, 4 bags of cookie tarts, and 10 3" fruit pies. And they want pricing on the soy candles. 2012 is starting off with a bang!

I have had great feedback on the MP soap that I use. I buy my bases from Peak, they're in Denver, CO. http://www.peakcandle.com/products/Shea-Butter-Melt-and-Pour-Soap-Base__MP1012.aspx You can get it per pound or by 10lbs. You can try the base as is, if it's not enough Shea for moisturizing, you can always add more shea butter to the base.

Thanks Bravo! I agree with Kitn, these are much more reasonable in price and I really like the bottle too!

I use Nature's Garden for bottles. They sell them in different styles and a couple different colors. http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/candlemaking-soap-supplies/category/9001/-Bottles.html

I'm looking for the malibu/tottle bottles with the hook shape on one end so you can hang the bottle from a shower head fixture. Looking for 6oz or bigger for shower gels. TIA

I do consignment with my candles and the shop owner gets 25% on each sale. If products are stolen or missing, she keeps 50% and gives me 50% of the retail price on each item missing.

Bramble Berry has a foaming bath whip that is really good. I use it as a cream soap, shaving soap and bath whip. http://www.brambleberry.com/Foaming-Bath-Whip-P4955.aspx Ingredients: Glycerin, Water, Sodium Cocoyl Isethionate, Sorbitol, Propylene glycol, Disodium Lauryl sulfosuccinate, Stearic Acid, Sodium Chloride, Diazolidinyl Urea (and) Iodopropynyl Butylcarbamate, Tetrasodium EDTA. I too was looking for a good whipped butter but I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with a base or make my own with shea butter and oils. Still undecided.

Yeah here too. The farmer's market holds flea market every other Sunday and every Wednesday, but it's a mix of local produce and flea market type merchandise. The owner of the farmer's market also holds craft shows at the market grounds 5x a year, that is suppose to be strictly handmade craft items. But craft vendors have dwindled over the past couple years and non-homemade vendors have been allowed to set up. If you have the $100 and can get an inside booth, you could have some nice sales, but most crafters end up with an outside booth, then it's hit or miss and sales vary from show to show.

I use bears from C&S and have not had any of them leak. I'll inject oil into each leg, arms, belly area and head. I have scented bears that I made back in June and they are still very fragrant. The plushies have to be filled with stuffing (poly-fiber), not the beads. It's the fiber filler that absorbs the oil. Bitter Creek has bears that have velcro openings in the back for scented sachets, I tried that, but I like my method better.

The dipped items have been pretty good sellers for me. Dipped pine cones and clothespins sold well at craft shows and if they didn't sell, they were ooh'd and aahh'd over. I also don't dip my bears, I inject them with fragrance oils. I bought syringes and needles used for dogs and inject about an ounce of oil per 8" plush bear. I make the dipped items as novelty items as I have learned over the past year, the more unique and different you are, the more people stop at the booth and look. I just started making the dipped toilet paper and sold 3 at the first show. I use the regular rolls of TP, 4 rolls for $1 at the dollar store and sold them for $6.00 each. As for the pine cones, I double dip the cones in scented tart wax. Once they are double dipped, I pour the left over scented wax over them and let them dry. I package 6 pine cones per 4x4 box for $3.00 per box. The clothespins are double dipped as well and then rolled in spices or sugar. I sell more scented and dipped items than I do candles.

In the area where I live, I stay away from flea markets and stick with strictly craft shows. Here, there are two different types of people, flea market people and craft show people. Flea market people are looking for cheap, and something for free, they also like to haggle on price. Craft show people are shopping for homemade and will pay for homemade.

I've never left a show but I have had second thoughts about doing it once I'm there and all set up. I had a short notice show a couple weekends ago and really didn't know anything about the venue until I got there, come to find out the space held 10 vendors, all handmade crafters, and I was the only one who was selling candles/soap. The show was held in a small town, the local fire company and I'm thinking that this show isn't going to draw the people since it was a last minute show, but by the end of the day, it was the best show I had in sales all year. Tables were $10 for an 8ft table, and I had booked 2 tables, the organizer had put me at the entrance so I was the first vendor they saw when walking in. It was a really good show for me and I will definitely be attending the organizer's next show at this venue. On the flip side, I had a show last weekend at a local community & recreation center that barely paid the table rent. It was a pretty large show, but crafters were mixed in with other vendors selling yard sale/flea market items. I was told when I spoke with the organizer that the crafters would have their own section and would be away from the flea market/yard sale vendors, which I thought would be okay, cause crafts bring a different type of person than flea market or yard sale. I was so glad when that day was over, it just wasn't the type of show I need to do again. I really wanted to do the show because it was a local show, less than 5 miles from my house but it just didn't prove beneficial for me in the end.

I use NG's Odor Eliminator base. http://www.naturesgardencandles.com/candlemaking-soap-supplies/item/odor/--*Odor-Eliminator---1-gallon.html

Right now, I have 45 scents for candles, but that will soon change and we move into January. The Christmas scents will be moved out and new scents will move in to replace them. I have 40 scents that I carry for B&B and soap products, and probably won't change till Spring. I try to carry some different or unique scents, things others don't carry but still have some traditional scents for customers.

Last month I had gone into the shop and was told that 7 of the 16oz ball jars were missing, either the new girls forgot to write down the sale or the candles were taken, but the owner of the shop gave me 50% instead of 75% for each of the missing candles. I still made some kind of profit even at 50% of the price. I was just pleased she was understanding and gave me the amount she did for each candle.

I got some rustic plates from C&S to sell with some of my wax dipped items. They'll need to sit on something to protect to the surface they'll be sitting on. The rustic plates add as a decorative accent too.

I got the boxes at ClearBags.com They carry all kinds of clear bags and boxes in all different sizes.

The TP went over really well! I made 4 rolls and sold 3 of them. I sold them for $6.00 each. I have another show on Sunday, so I'm going to make another 4 rolls and see what happens.