Can I move in with one of you??

[OFCILynn]

I just got done placing another order, this time for wax. I am just starting out so the expenses are very high!!!! I will be specializing in cut-n-carve and hurricane candles along with votives, pillars, tea lights and tapers. Hmmm pretty much covers MOST of the candle types huh? LOL My DH has NO idea the amount of money that I have already spent so pray that I do a great job and can at least recoup my money back soon and earn a profit or I may be looking for another place to live! LOL He really is supportive but Im sure wouldnt approve of me spending almost 1k on candle supplies!! I was melting down old candles in the house over the weekend and using some of my new molds that I just got in. He was impressed with what I came up with, especially the hand made roses that I made petal by petal. Ill try to get some pictures posted soon.

My DH is still on the old fashioned mind set that take some parrafin wax bought at grocery stores, melt a crayon and your good to go!LOL Little did he know! He SAW yesturday when I was experimenting with making my cut-n-carve candles why it is important to use proper waxes!! I made my 6pt. taper our of parrafin wax and then did my dips using the leftover household candles!! Its amazing when you do that and start carving how all of the layers will peel away from each other! It was a GREAT example to show him WHY I need special wax!! I KNEW that it wouldnt work but wanted to test out some molds, colors and practice my "dipping" !LOL I had fun and my kitchen smells like gardinia now so its all good! LOL

I am so very addicted and if I could have driven at least 8 hours away to pick up wax, which my husband suggested that I do to save shipping costs till he found out how far the nearest supplier was to me, believe me, I would have, just so I didnt have to wait!! I live in the North Mississippi/Tn/Al border of the state of Ms. Trying to find the wax for what I need is very hard to do in my area. Maybe I missed a company out there so if you happen to know of where I could get my wax supplies from, let me know. Allabaster did NOT have all of what I needed. I did end up ordering my wax from BitterCreek North. They seemed very nice when I talked to them............just waiting on the order!!! Will let you know.

Take care all and God Bless,

OFCILynn:highfive:

[htaylorrn]

Hi! I'm also in Mississippi, and I haven't found anyone within driving distance. I order my supplies from lonestarcandlesupply.com. If you find someone closer, give me a shout!

[Dustpuuppy]

I'd strongly suggest you narrow your scope, at least to start with. It's gonna take around a year to get ONE type down pat enough to start selling them. If you divide your attention six different ways, it's gonna wind up taking 4 or 5 years.

As for the wax, check Peak's and lonestar. check the price plus shipping at both places. I think someone said that the total was cheaper from Peak's. I'm not 100% sure, though.

[Breanna]

HI and welcome to the Board!! I get wax from peaks and from Colorado to Illinois is 25.00 for shipping,,,,But they have some great wax,,,,I have been lucky to by looking in the classifieds first to see if anyone is selling the wax you want as then you can Parcel Post,,,a bit cheaper.

Now www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com has some good shipping prices,,,

Good Luck and TEST TEST TEST,,Take LOTS of Notes of what you are doing when making a candle!! Trust me you will need them,,,I have we also have the Archives with loads of info,,

[Scented]

Nope! But you can send your supplies. J/K! I'm with Dust here. Take one application at a time.

[Ms_Magnolia]

I am in south Mississippi. Just pack your things and come on down. We could have sooooo much fun learning & making candles. :highfive: Welcome aboard.

[OFCILynn]

Hi all! I am a disabled homemaker so I have ALOT of free time to work on my candles and I have been researching for 3 months before I ever even started drawing up my order supplies. Now that all of my kids are grown and moved out, I have even more free time!

My husband and I are renewing our vows for our 20th anniversary at the end of May so I had decided to start making candles for the renewal. I KNOW that I will have to do ALOT of testing and tweaking before I would ever begin to sell a candle. It will be MY name out there and I WONT sell anything that isnt of great quality!! Plus, Im terrified of lawsuits!!!! I know that it will take some time before I start selling my candles. I will be working mainly on my cut-n-carve candles and canes. My grown children are lined up to be testers for me of course! LOL

I placed my wax order through Bittercreek North as if you order over 200lbs of anything, you only pay for 100.00 of shipping charges! I thought that this was a great deal, especially since I have to stock up on wax. Those dipping vats sure do take alot of wax to fill so you can dip and carve!

Eventually, I want to really get into healing aromatherapy candles of all sorts but that is way down the line. I just want to mainly focus on my cut-n-carve and my canes.

I will be sure to let you Mississippi Candlers know if I happen to find a company nearby that we can order wax from if you will please do the same! It seems we are in a "dead" zone for supplies unless we want to have to pay HUGE shipping charges!

Htaylorrn & Ms Magnolia>>>>>Where in Mississippi are you both located?

I keep trying to get a hold of the Nashville Wax company but their site is still down. In my 94 custom van which is a gas guzzler and gas prices these days, it would cost me over $100.00 on gas prices alone and a 4 1/2 hour drive one way to go pick up my wax but.................If I decided on a HUGE order, then I may just do that if I ever get a chance to order some samples and like them! Ill let you know if ever hear anything!

Take care all and God Bless!!!

OFCILynn:highfive:

[Dustpuuppy]

Well, if cut-n-carve is gonna be your main focus, it should lower your testing time a bit. Essentially you're only teste one or two sizes, and no FOs.

You might think about getting some clay to carve up, in the begining. I could see using clay to try out new designs. The same tools and techniques are often used.

Sorry, if I jumped to an incorrect conclusion earlier... generally when someone new pops up, talking about ordering large amounts of wax and such, right off the bat... It just usually means they're about to go out and do something really stupid.

I know, though, what you're saying about those vats using so much wax.

It's almost blasphemy around here, but you might start with hobby store wax for the dipping. You'll have to play with it to get the melt point up but you can often get it for $.50 a pound, and adding a die's worth of additives to get the melt point up... if you've got the time to play with it.

[OFCILynn]

I fully understand and thank you for looking out for the newbies on here to try to help them from spending tons of money wastefully!! When I get the correct cut-n-carve wax in, I will be practicing with uncolored wax and practice dipping my layers smoothly and getting my timing down on my carving. I can always remelt the wax and use it again and again! LOL Even the wicks can be resused, since I need to use wicking for hanging my candle to carve. I will be using oil inserts and tea lites in my cut-n-carve, hense the reason why I will be making tea lites.

Working with the WRONG wax that doesnt stick to each layer properly like the cut-n-carve wax does, helps me to "see" how the colors would be if I were to dip into different color vats. I have also gotten some neat cuts doing this since the layers seperate! LOL

I am also allergic to alot of scents so my FO's are minimal............also, I dont care for the fruity smells so that also helps to cut down on the FO's!

I also have different size star molds so I can make various size cut-n-carve candles. For my first practice ones using the wrong, household candle wax, I was only making 4 1/2" carved candles. Since the layers dont stick well, I am able to melt it all back down, colored layers and all, white and pink thus far, and make a lighter creamy pink color which I then used to make a cane, rose and a few votive and pillar candles to practice with. These are for my personal use and thus far, testing has been great on them. I did add FO's, all the same kind, and again, testing is going good! I have a great hot and cold throw and everything is burning properly. I think I just had beginners luck! LOL

With the costs of wax and shipping costs, I promise that I will be doing ALOT of practicing!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks again for your advise and I did NOT take your advise wrong!! I do appreciate you looking out for newbies like myself!!

God Bless,

OFCILynn:highfive:

[Dustpuuppy]

Heh,

I was just sitting here thinking that the cut-n-carve kind of epitomizes chandlary... easy to do... damned hard to do RIGHT.

Bruce my chime in on this, when he comes around. He's the expert on this one. A lot of his techniques are family secrets that he's promised not to tell, as I recall, so he'll only be able to give you some general info... but he's got a hell of a lot of that.

[Scented]

Well honestly you take one thing at a time. Make a list and lose it of what you want to do till you are satisfied with learning that "one" thing. Honestly your list will eventually become too long and you start overlooking things ... if that makes sense.

[BruceCarvesWax]

You dont need "that" much wax to do the dip and carve. You would need one full tube of white and one full tube of clear, but the rest of them you can just fill with water and float a layer of colored wax on the top, maybe a inch or two of wax and your good to go. Thats what we do when we are low on wax or want to use up a color, just add water to raise the level so you can dip. Bruce

[Dustpuuppy]

You dont need "that" much wax to do the dip and carve. You would need one full tube of white and one full tube of clear, but the rest of them you can just fill with water and float a layer of colored wax on the top, maybe a inch or two of wax and your good to go. Thats what we do when we are low on wax or want to use up a color, just add water to raise the level so you can dip. Bruce

I'd have never thought of that.

[candlemelva]

Aztex International is in Knoxville, www.buywax.com.

Cajun Candles is in southern Louisiana.

HTH,

Melva in KY

[OFCILynn]

Bruce, I had no idea that I could just do a couple inches of colored wax in water and do the color dips!!! I have never read anywhere doing such a thing!!! Since most of my cut-n-carve candles will be 12" or taller, dont ask, I already have requests for these, I have the 6" x 14 1/2" dipping vats. Here I thought that I would have to have it almost full, just not to the point of overflowing when I dipped!!! This will save me tons of wax. I will have to go try that, just wish my good wax was here!! Thanks SOOOOOOOO much!!

I am curious though as to "HOW":shocked2: to keep the wax at the right temp, I know from the water and such but how to keep it at the right temp so it will stick to the dipped candle and remain fluidish for a smooth dip? I dont know how to ask that right, Im sorry. I know from practicing and dipping that if the wax isnt totaly smooth during dips, your candle will not have a smooth dip layer! Make sense? By having the water in the pot/vat like that, will the wax stay somewhat liquidfied enough to do the dips? Boy, I feel really stupid here "trying" to ask this! I just NEVER imagined using water and a little bit of wax to do dips and having never tried it, I just cant imagine HOW to make it work right.............but, I will find a way to make it work, that I assure you!

:highfive: I have 150lbs of my cut-n-curl wax coming!!!! Wish I would have known about this before hand but that just means Ill have more wax to "Play" with!!! Thanks again!

God Bless,

OFCILynn

[Dustpuuppy]

You can keep the water heated up to 200 degrees, if you need to. Water doesn't boil until 212. That will be plenty hot enough to keep the wax well into the range of being liquid.

So that part won't be a problem.

[Tess]

Boy if your husband wont approve of 1000 in suppplies, you seriously need to consider your options. Heck I spend close to 1000/month lately. For one stay with one thing like everyone else said. I know it seems fun for you right now, and you are all excited, but dont get too crazy, you might not be so into doing this after you really see what it involves. Try something simple like tarts or votives.

[OFCILynn]

Luckily, My husband is very supportive and I have paid for most of my supplies myself so that helps! LOL

If I were to just start out making votives and tarts, Id get bored really quick!! I LOVE challenges!!!! Since my husband wants to help make candles also and used to love making them when he was a teen, HE is excited about all that I have purchased and is so curious and learning as my packages arrive!! It helped TONS that he was very impressed with my first candles that I made the other day with scrap candles that I had melted down and "Played" with!

Hubbys only complaint thus far is the cost of shipping for wax and the actual cost of wax!!! He knows that I have spent MONTHs researching suppliers, just never found any close to us, and knows that I have financially done great considering all that I have ordered! He isnt worried about me "making money" as long as I am enjoying myself and having fun. He knows that I love learning and that I have done and will continue to do with candlemaking!! He also knows that I will help make our wedding renewal extra special with ALL of the items that I am making. I am making everything minus the dress!!!!!

Personally, with the money that I do have invested now..........I do hope to make quality crafted candles to sell along with my other crafts that I make.

Im really starting to like the empty nest syndrom and having TIME and less distractions to do things that I enjoy! I have to say, being disabled and stuck at home is starting to have some advantages!! Postitive thinking always!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for all the suggestions! I sure do appreciate ya'll!

[mizbizzyb]

Well, if cut-n-carve is gonna be your main focus, it should lower your testing time a bit. Essentially you're only teste one or two sizes, and no FOs.

You might think about getting some clay to carve up, in the begining. I could see using clay to try out new designs. The same tools and techniques are often used.

Sorry, if I jumped to an incorrect conclusion earlier... generally when someone new pops up, talking about ordering large amounts of wax and such, right off the bat... It just usually means they're about to go out and do something really stupid.

I know, though, what you're saying about those vats using so much wax.

It's almost blasphemy around here, but you might start with hobby store wax for the dipping. You'll have to play with it to get the melt point up but you can often get it for $.50 a pound, and adding a die's worth of additives to get the melt point up... if you've got the time to play with it.

...That was me!!!! hahahahaha. I had ordered about $4000.00 worth of supplies. Some of which I have not got to for testing. Boy I am so glad that I found this board. Due to my bad shopping habits carrying over to candles supplies, we had to add an addition to our home. And granted it has taken since July...He is 98% finished and I am allowed to start moving in.

Good luck with your cut-n-carve. I think those candles are neat

[Dustpuuppy]

...That was me!!!! hahahahaha. I had ordered about $4000.00 worth of supplies. Some of which I have not got to for testing. Boy I am so glad that I found this board. Due to my bad shopping habits carrying over to candles supplies, we had to add an addition to our home. And granted it has taken since July...He is 98% finished and I am allowed to start moving in.

Good luck with your cut-n-carve. I think those candles are neat

Actually I was thinking of some of the people we used to get. They'd come in and say, "I just bought 500 LBs of wax and I've got a show coming up this weekend. Someone tell me how to make a candle, NOW!!! "

[OFCILynn]

Too Funny Dustpuppy!! Having my wedding renewal allows me to be slightly pressured into learning FAST and my love of candles and scents and the creative beat that runs through me allows me to take this very seriously! Heck, it took 3 months just to figure out what wax I wanted to order for my projects! LOL I ask, research and the next step will be to test, test and test some more. Having grown children that love candles helps also so I can have testers that will not be biased and also who can help me get exposure around the country..............I really wont send them any candles that I havent tested myself first and believe to be of good quality but want to test under different conditions. Plus, by telling my grown "kids" that I am sending them candles to test for me, they wont quite expect me to just send them candles all the time for their personal use! Id go broke fast! LOL

It was funny, this morning, my DH was looking over my shoulder as I was on a few sites looking to order some taper molds.....my husband didnt know that I wanted to order some and he said "OH, you HAVE to order some of them, I love when you have the tapers on the table when we eat and I hate the ones that we usually have to buy since we live in hicksville" Then he saw me scrolling down and looking at the different shapes and he kept making more comments on how he loved this shape or another and wanted me to order them all! I wont but it was cute. He is getting more and more involved. He was asking me to find some of the twisted molds! I told him that I will make hand made twisted tapers..........he wanted to know how and I described it to him. He then said "GREAT, I want to learn how to do that too, but still order all the other shapes too, I think those are all cool looking". Keep in mind that this man is over 40 years old! It was too funny!!!! I was making him a lists of supplies I needed for HIM to convert my Presto cooker into a melt pot for me with a spigit and he said "No, just order one, I dont have all the tools to do that for you.............and we dont have a hardware store in this town" So,..........off to Ebay, which HE just started using..........and found some on there and helped me to pick which merchant that I was going to buy one from. I have one bought and paid for now! Its a shame cause I know that it would have been soooooooooo much cheaper for him to just alter our own! So.........................................if he starts saying anything about MONEY and my candles..........................I will just tell him that its a good thing that I am the one that does the ordering and research or we wouldnt even be able to pay our electric bill and will NEED the candles to see by! LOL

I dont see how it is possible since I rent, and have a house full of furniture but we are trying to see if there is a way to convert our office, with its own door, into my candle room. The only problem now is to figure out where in the house I can make a office! I refuse to give up my OTHER craft room! LOL Wish me luck!!