NattyCat

Thanks for the help ladies :-)

It's not those boxes - the ones I wanted were completely flat and you just fold over the ends - plus they only hold 6 tea lights, not 12.

Hi sassy - do you have the link for them? I've never heard of them....

I can't help with aluminium moulds, but they ARE the best. To save money, it's cheaper to buy them yourself from the USA, rather than paying the prices on ebay to people who bought them in from the USA themselves. If you want the name of a few places in the USA where you can get them, just let me know.

What sort of wax are you using - soy or paraffin? PM me with the price you currently pay for it - because I buy both soy and paraffin by the ton, I get it cheaper so may be able to offer it to you at a cheaper price than you can find elsewhere.

One place i recommended you DON'T shop is Full Moons Cauldron - their prices are astronomical compared to the other suppliers in the UK - not that there ARE many suppliers in the UK!

Nat

Hi All

I know I can get pre-made tealight boxes from Sunshine Container, but I want some of the flat-pack acetate boxes that you have to fold along the creases yourself. Does anyone know where to get these?

Thanks

Natasha

I agree, Gemlite fragrances are extremely hit and miss. They are the cheapest around but some (and I think it's about 70% of the ones I've tried) are just bad. They smell good OOB but in wax they lose all their strength.

It depends really on what you want - if you want a truly outstanding candle, you won't get it with most of their fragrances, you're much better off buying a quality oil. I have pounds and pounds of oil sitting here from Gemlite that I will not use - including pear berry - it's a very nice fragrance OOB but just has a poor hot and cold throw in soy. Perhaps they're much better in paraffin?

Here's what we get. You can see that the original number which was CP940608385US got changed to the ECO.. number - but I only had to type in the CP number for this information to show up. I can then view who signed for it, and also the actual signature so I know if "N MAYSON" signed for it, but I didn't get the parcel, I can see if it's my signature or not. It's all pretty cool!

Here's the text from parcelforce:

Progress of the parcel you've enquired about is displayed below.

Parcel number:EC048320600GB

Status:Delivered

Signed for by:N MAYSON

DateTime Location Tracking Event

20-02-2007 13:05 Tonbridge Depot Parcel delivered

20-02-2007 02:39 Tonbridge Depot Out for delivery

20-02-2007 01:29 Tonbridge Depot Arrived at delivery depot

19-02-2007 18:21 National Hub Sorted in hub

19-02-2007 09:25 International Hub Arrived in destination country

09-02-2007 18:00 CAPE FOREIGN CENTER JERSEY CITY NJ 099 Left origin country

05-02-2007 17:19 Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA Collected from customer

I wasn't aware of that, so went to find the receipt for a package I had mailed last month. After typing in the customs form number into the tracking screen, I got this message:

"Your item was accepted at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2007 in BURNS, OR 97720. No further information is available for this item."

Doesn't say it arrived or anything. It shows proof of mailing but nothing else. How were you able to get more tracking info than this? Because if there's a way I don't know about, I would like to learn it.

I don't know how it works in the USA, but I go to the UK company's website who will be delivering the parcel (in my case, that's Parcel Force) and I type the number in. It tells me when it left the USA, when it hit customs and when it will be delivered. Once the parcel has left the USA, if I tried to enter the number into any USPS site it wouldn't have any information - the tracking gets switched over to the receiving delivery agent once it gets shoved on the plane.

It depends where you are mailing the item? If you're mailing it to the UK you need to check www.parcelforce.com if you're mailing it to Germany or Australia or wherever, you need to find out who will be delivering the package in that country and check their website with your customs number.

Can you tell me please how this kind of insurances are called?

because I can't find anything here, what type is?

Here are some UK based ones Inez

http://www.thmarch.co.uk/Craft+Workers/index.xalter

http://www.craftinsurance.co.uk/

I'm with the 2nd one.

It's true - even if you don't buy insurance for USPS parcels, there is a long number that usually starts with CP followed by a series of numbers on the customs form you had to fill in. This number can be used by the recipient to track their parcel.

I get stuff by USPS all the time and never had a loss. Had a few delays, the most significant one where a parcel took 3 months to arrive after having sat in the world's smallest airport in Nigeria for 2 months before someone realised it was in the wrong place.

Wow - you guys pay a lot for insurance. Mine was £100 (approx $180) for 5 million cover for one year. I'm in the UK and my insurance covers public liability, product loss, premises and pretty much any nasty thing that could happen if I were sued or my workshop burnt down!

Hi Inez

if you have a pre-made base certified in the USA, it must be tested and certified against European Legislation. I'd love to buy some of the wonderful soaps that people here make to sell on my website, but they would all have to be certified as safe to European Standards and that costs a lot. You're better buying base in Europe - but then if you add anything to the base, you then need it re-certified. Even if you use certified base, certified fragrance and certified botanicals or colour - as soon as you add those ingredients together, the END product needs to be certified. A real pain really.

Nat

wow - this has to be one of the most comprehensive test posts I've ever seen. The wick seems to be holding up brilliantly.

Would love to see the video but it says "this is a private video, make sure you receive the senders friend request" and doesn't show it.

Nat

Well, I loaded it up and pushed it back and it now stands up without falling over, but wow, it is REALLLLLLY unstable - I reckon a gust of wind on an outdoor show will have the whole lot crashing to the ground. It annoys me really that this stand has been advertised as suitable for clamshells, when in fact the clamshells are just too heavy - even if I don't load the hooks up to full capacity - it rocks back and forth with the slightest touch.

I'm going to have to see if hubby can build some stabilisers or something - which defeats the whole space-saving reasons as to why I bought them!

Nat

The wire clamshell display racks from Kangaroo Blue to stand up when loaded with clamshells?

I put 3 on each hook and it either falls forward, falls back or wobbles like super-scared jelly.

Any ideas?

Thanks everyone!!

Shaker pots - pour from one side, shake from the other. Good for bath milks etc.

THanks

Nat

I only finished my new website a few months ago but I'm bored with it, and seeing as I've just changed cart and credit/debit card processers, it's gotta be pretty much redone from scratch anyway, so I've decided to re-design it.

The new one is going to have a front page, with links to the various areas of my shop and a small amount of text to grab the customers attention and make them want to look further.

I thought it would be a good idea to use a "dictionary" style paragraph. My company name is a made up word, so I thought it would be cool for it to be something like:

Scentifique (adj. Scent if eek)

And underneath it, I'd like some text that looks like a dictionary/thesaurus entry which describes "what" Scentifique is, whilst still including the fact that we do hand made candles, soap, bath and body stuff.

It's the second part I'm stuck with ! :embarasse I can't even get started! Are there any creative minds out there that can help me get started? Even if there are several ideas I may be able to mash them together to create a short, concise and interesting piece of text that describes what my company does, as well as making it look like a description of the word "Scentifique"

Hope this makes sense....I really appreciate ANY help I can get!

Natasha

Ps Sally - I went to Spring Fair in Birmingham this week and managed to meet with Anchor Hocking Glass - their prices were very very good and I'm getting some samples, but I also concentrated on anyone who could supply glass in a multitude of shapes, jars and tumblers and it all was so fabulous! I'm hoping I get some samples in the post this week and find out more about their minimum orders etc.

The Yankee stand was enormous, as was Parks, Prices, Stone Glow, Greenleaf etc. There were literally HUNDREDS of stands that had candles or one sort or another.

I think I already have your addy - I'll get the fro-stop to you asap. Best to view the FO's on my webpage as I've updated it all there.

Me.

Thanks Sally BTW, have finished my FO inventory for the time being so gimmie a shout if you want anything. Also just got a new pallet of wax despite me saying I wasn't gonna - so if you need wax, the price is lowered again. Have some "Fro-Stop" here too. Not tried it yet - do you want some? I only have 5lbs of it, cos it's like gold dust but I can send a bit up if you want - you'll probably get to test it before me!

I got some from Candle Science. Don't know if they still have it.

Nat

HI Ian,

Sorry to be responding so late to this thread - I've been at Spring Fair in Birmingham for a while so I didn't see it till now.

I'm based in the UK and I run my own candle company and I refuse to sell a candle that has a weak or non-existant throw. I import a lot of oils from the USA but the difference between myself and some of the other UK suppliers is that I buy the "premium" oils - because this is my business, and I want the best - I don't import oils for sale to others at a profit. I import for my own use.

The problem that oil suppliers in the UK have is that if they want to sell their oils as cheaply as possible on Ebay, they buy the absolute cheapest they can find and rarely go over the $10 to $12 mark per lb, because they then have to factor in the postage of around $8 per bottle. If the oils they order comes to more than £40 in UK value, then they will also get stung with customs and import duties. So basically, what you're getting is the cheapest, weakest oil possible that has been cut a lot. Of course, some UK suppliers pay a little more, so their oils are a little better - but they would rarely be as good as the oils that a candle company would buy for themselves as it is the candle company's reputation on the line. I hope this makes sense?

Basically, what I'm saying is that trying to find high quality oils in the UK is hard. Most of them are suitable for hobbiest candle makers and soapers and are usually not the best quality due to high import costs and fragrance cutting.

Now, you might think to yourself "it says on their website that they don't cut their fragrance oils" and they WOULD be telling they truth - but the real truth of it is the statement should say "we don't cut our fragrance oils, but the people we buy them from do". Of course, the person they buy from could also say the same thing!!!

In addition to importing fragrances, I have now got a very large international fragrance manufacturer in the UK making my fragrances for me, to my specification. These oils have proven to be the best I have ever used and can be used at a lighter percentage and still achieve a fabulous scent throw. I have just found out that this company also makes all Jo Malone fragrances, and seeing as she charges up to £200 for a candle, you can imagine she only wants the best!! I have also been talking with another supplier in the UK and testing their samples - and they're very good too.

I am toying with the idea of selling fragrance oils in the UK, but at the moment I sell exclusively on a "come and ask me and I'll see what I can do" basis. I currently have around 350 different fragrances in the categories of fruit, citrus, drinks, food and bakery, fresh and clean, nature and floral. If you want to see a list of my fragrances then just send me a pm. I usually sell them for £2.50 for a 50ml bottle, plus postage. This of course includes the cost of the actual HDPE plastic bottle and packaging. No matter how much you order, the postage will never be more than £6.00 by courier as long as the weight is under 25kgs as I have a courier account.

Just to re-iterate, I am NOT a fragrance supplier, but I do supply fragrances to other candle and soap makers by request. I run my own candle business, so you can be assured that I'm selling an oil that I deem good enough for my own products and not an oil that has been imported as cheaply as possible to make a profit.

In any case - I hope you're having fun making candles and don't become as obsessed as the rest of us! Where in the UK are you based?

Natasha

amazing work! I just made my first rustic yesterday - I think I have a LONG way to go to get them anything like yours. Just HOW do you do that? I just dump my wax in, splosh it about about and set the mold at an angle, then wait for a little while before pouring the next layer - which I slosh around again - and then set the mould at the opposite angle.

I'd KILL to know how to make a rustic even 50% as good as yours!

Natasha

Thought I'd have a go at making my first ever rustics last night. Here's the result. (the chunky is rustic but you can't see the texture in the photo)

Can any logo designers PM me please?? Got a simple request but don't have the software to do it myself!

Thanks,

Natasha