NattyCat

Does anyone know who sells lids separately from jars? I know bittercreek have a small selection, but I've not found the right one.

Thanks

Nat

Very nice!

For those who were asking, it's a scallop shell I think. You can get these on ebay quite cheaply, but the BEST ones are called Lion's Paw Scallop Shells - they have beautiful colours. I bought quite a few and use them as soap dishes.

I did a quick search and this company came up with these shells in the USA:

http://www.conchking.com/Z2-14.jpg

Nat

beautiful jars and lovely colours...but aren't those wicks too far apart and very close to the edge of the glass?

With regard to trademarked names, I think i'm right in thinking that nobody can trademark a name, if the name is something that exists as the description of an item.

I don't think I'm making myself clear - but for example, if Yankee want to make an apple scented candle, they can't trademark the name "apple" because it would mean nobody else would ever be able to create a candle that smells of apples. This is why they don't have these names trademarked on their site. However, when they INVENT a name, like "midsummer's night" that is their word, their name, and it is used to describe that particular blend of scent.

You can't go around trade-marking anything you like - I can't trademark the word "leather" or "sweet pea" for my candles, because both Leather and Sweet Pea are just items that have a distintive smell, and my candle would emulate that scent. You cannot trade-mark the aroma that you get when you sniff leather or sweet pea - hence not being able to trademark the word "sweet pea".

I may well be wrong, but this is as far as I understand when reading the trademarks council website.

Nat

Hi Kevin. I see on your site you have the custom color drop-down box for customers to choose a colour for their candles, is this not a PITA when say a person who is ordering Lemon Verbena wants it coloured TEAL or some other strange colour? Do you then have to make up a batch of wax, colour and scent it and pour just the one candle? I am fairly new to candlemaking, so please excuse the naivety of this question. :tiptoe:

This how I do things - everything is poured to order so if they want Lemon in blue wax - they get it. Saves me having to have hundreds of ready-poured candles. I use good FO, so by the time the customer gets the candle, it will have cured long enough (about a week).

Nat

Um, how do you plan on being supplied the oils?

I don't think Empress was saying that SHE was going to become a supplier, I think she was merely stating that it would be a good opportunity to become a supplier in the UK, if you had the right contacts. Not ALL FO is made in the USA.

Hi, sorry didn't make myself clearer - by surface i meant via boat, that's why it takes sooo long. In the UK for international we just call it Air mail or surface mail, which always means boat for us, so i thought it would be the same in the US.

So can FOs between 141 and 200 go via boat (surface)??

I asked bittercreek if they'd send by boat - they said no.

very nice site. I'm working on my own new site at the moment and I did the exact same thing with my colour drop-downs! Great minds think alike.

Well done!!

Hi Nat,

I just wanted to ask why you changed your mind on becoming a supplier?

Only curious about that...:smiley2:

It's in the back of my mind to become a supplier Inez, but I have just landed 6 wholesale accounts for my candles - so I am run off my feet from 7am to 10pm every night. I am currently looking for premises as I'm going to need it to store all the stuff I need for the wholesale accounts. I have also run out of space - so don't know where to put a few hundred kilos of oils.

However, saying that - i've just been on the phone to my fragrance manufacturer and they have said that they will reduce their minimum order requirements for me, so the idea of becoming a supplier is looking more promising as I don't need as much space. I think I will only offer fragrances for now and see where it leads me.

Sugarysweet - in the long term I will be setting up an online business selling fragrance oils and candle making supplies professionally - what I was saying is that in the short term, I can share MY personal stash of scents to those who need it. These scents are easily obtainable again from my supplier - but I'm not going to buy oils just for resale at the moment as I'm too busy - which is why I can only spare up to 1lb at a time on any particular oil because it will come from my own personal collection, which I need for my business.

Nat

love those lids - where do you get those? We don't have them in the UK so I've been wondering how to protect my flowerpots!

Regarding surface mail - i asked Bittercreek if they could send via surface and they said NO.

Ok guys, listen - I have between 4,000 and 5,000 ounces of fragrance oil here. I am NOT a supplier, just a complete FO addict and I always want the best oils for my business. I have a ton of my FO made for me right here in the UK and they are right up there with the best I've ever used.

In the short term, I am willing to share some of my oils if you need them - I can only spare up to 1lb of any one scent at any one time - so if you needed 2lbs of lemon cake, I could only do 1lb or less. I'm happy to charge you my actual cost of the oil plus shipping as it keeps my stock rotating.

My manufacturer can pretty much create any oil I ask for, although they don't seem to be able to do "Fresh Bread" so that's out.

If you have any immediate requirements or want samples of any scents, just PM me. I must re-iterate, I am NOT a supplier but I do have a rather enormous amount of fragrance oil which I'm willing to share, seeing as I can get all my fragrance oil made in the UK. It might take me a few days longer to ship it to you as I have candle orders to complete, but I will get them out to you as fast as I can.

Natasha

if you need pictures of cakes and stuff just holler - I do the whole picture/scent matching thing and have TONS of photos.

I'm still worried that colour printing or background printing won't have the oomph on a clear label. I use clear labels and colour printing just sort of fades....

I really like sockmonkey's version, but if these are being printed on clear labels - that apple blossom isn't really going to work is it? Colour printing on the clear labels doesn't work as well as black and white.

Plus, if you have pictures of apple blossom on your candle - some people may think it's a candle that smells of apple blossom. On the same note, if you do want a picture, have a picture of a slice of lemon cake on the lemon cake candle, or coffee of the coffee candle etc - then you get to sell to MEN too who never look at the text and will just grab the candle for his wife based upon the picture on the label

Personally, i wouldn't have a picture and would make your company name larger on the revision you just posted!

This is very true Ruby. The suppliers in the UK who do good oils get them from the USA. Jo at Sensory Pefection has just given up her full time job to concentrate on doing Sensory Perfection - so what happens if she's no longer able to get her cheap oils from the USA? Or has to charge 3 times as much? I like Jo and am a bit worried for her, as this could be a massive blow to her business.

At the moment it's only bittercreek and peaks - and whilst their oils are good, they are not the only suppliers, so they have just gone and lost a whole lot of business because they can't be bothered to get their act together and realise that it's not THAT hard to decipher the regulations. We'll just have to wait and see.

The only thing I am concerned about is on the rare occasion I need to buy an oil from a UK supplier, that the only place they get their oils from would be Gemlite or other such cheapo places - their oils are low quality and cause a lot of smoking - this is a blow to the UK candle industry if that is the only quality of oil available to chandlers over here. I think I'll stick to my manufacturer. Who knows, maybe I should start up a fragrance oil business - I know my oils are top notch and comparable in price to those in the USA!

Hi Anjie

There's nobody in the UK that does the good glass that you can get in the USA. I've searched and searched and searched and there's nothing. I get mine from France and they're twice as expensive, sometimes up to 4 times as expensive as the ones you could get in the USA. it sucks, but I'm working on it - I just found an agent who stocks Anchor Hocking - I met them at Spring Fair in Birmingham so I'm trying to get prices and quotes from them. Anchor Hocking glass is expensive, but it's just SO nice!

what dye are you using? what wax? could it be solid dye chunks left in your pot? are you putting in any additives?

you might be doing it right - the terminology we're using could be confused though. When I say "base" of the mould, I mean the end of the mould that you pour into - which will end up as the bottom of the candle.

Where the wick comes out of the mould - that'll be the top of the candle, so I call that the top of the mould. When you've threaded the wick through the top - you need to tie it onto something at the base to keep it tight and centred - that's what the wick bar is for.

Nat

Might be better to send me a private message here then as I didn't get your mail?

email address is: natasha@scentifique.co.uk you have to make sure you spell scentifique correctly!

The bars are for tying the wick around to secure it which then rests on the base of the mould. The wick screws can be used or not - it's up to you but what you do is when you thread the wick through the hole in the bottom of the mould and then use the screw in the hole to secure the wick, then cover the whole wick, hole and screw in mould sealer. I rarely use them myself but I sent them anyway.

The bars are also useful when you move on to silicone moulds - you can stand them in the centre of a large mould to give you a wick hole. I may have some cone moulds going free once I've finished my inventory and I have at least 200 sample oils that I'm thinking of sharing out amongst newbies on here. But at the moment they're all in a box somewhere buried under 500 jars and 500lbs of wax - so I can't get them yet.

Nat

poured too hot and too fast? Lots of air in there.....

did you get the moulds I sent you? I forgot to email and tell you that I put two lots of mould sealer, wick bars and wick screws in the plastic envelope on the top of the parcel.

Am just wondering if you receive them as you've not said?

Nat

Thanks all for your nice comments!

Donita, I have to understand what "stuffed" means, but I love chicken so to me it's good in every way you make it!

Hugs

Ciao Cybersix,

Imbottito è quando lei mette qualcosa nel pollo. Lei taglia il pollo e mette delle cose dentro. Imbottito è la parola per "Stuffed".

Natasha

once again - thanks everyone. (I'll stop now before I go all Gwyneth!)

did you get the pot Ruby? Hope so!

Thanks everyone! I'm a bit scared by it all but excited too. Just hope I can cope with it!

(not including shipping, ect) comments can be added.

Please rate on scale of 1-10, with 1 being unusable, and 10 being excellent with everything they do.

1.Natures Garden

comments:

2. Scent works

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3. Sweetcakes

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4. Old Mill

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5. Daystar

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6.Solas

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7. Royal Aromatics

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*.Aroma Haven

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9.BCN/BCS

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10:ICS

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feel free to add suppliers...

4.

Wouldn't this be better as an actual poll post?