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Fire and Ice

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Posts posted by Fire and Ice

    ** What's in your pot this week/end? **

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    Hi Robin!

    I'm waiting on more wax! Seems the people who make my wax were training someone new to take phone orders from supplies. My supplier called and placed a large order for wax and the person taking the call at Cargils entered the order to be delivered in ~2008~:mad: :mad: ! So now, I have no wax and I need to pour 250 candles for a large holiday show next weekend! My supplier is ticked, to say the very least!:rolleyes2

    Still, I relay on GOD to deliver it! If anybody can, HE can!

    So I've wicked up the jars and set out the scents on the pour table according to importance of pouring!

    Chocolate Brownie

    Lavender

    Whate Tea and Ginger

    Cranberry Cinnamon

    Cinnamon Buns

    Orange Cinnamon

    Cool Citrus Basil

    Clean

    Blizzard

    I am low or completely out of all of these scent and have a show with an attendance of 8000 next weekend. We set up the day after Thanksgiving!:lipsrseal

    But I know God won't let me down!

    Other than that, I continue to research CP soaps both here and on the Dish as well as lotion bases Shower wash bases and lip balm bases. I'm carefully aquiring the foundational supplies and storing them! Will get the oils and such when the time is near!

    Fire:wink2:

    Please be nice lol

    in Old Style B & B Gallery

    Posted

    Wow, coming from all of you, I feel great! It smells devine. In a couple of weeks, I will trim it up and label it, it should look kind of pretty. This base is really nice. I just washed with the "ends" and it lathers nicely! :grin2:

    M & P doesn't need cure time on a rack does it? You can use it right away. I never cured mine.

    You soap looks great! Very creamy.

    Fire

    wrapping soap

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    well, when i looked at shrink wrap, its kinda expensive to get started. are there shrink wrap available to use just with a hair dryer or something. if not shrink wrap, what else is available.

    Are you doing CP or M & P?

    The very first impression of you soap is given through how it is presented to the public. You will only have one chance to catch the potential customer and you catch them with the way your soap is presented.

    Shrink wrap will probably look more professional to the customer. If I see soap that is poorly wrapped, I won't even stop to investigate futher. Packaging is the eye catcher. Maybe a nice soapbox would be better.

    Fire

    UPS rate changes for 2008

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    Well I know that due to gass prices, my wax has gone up three times this year! It just went up another $ 2.50 per fifty pound box. Good thing I don't have to pay to have waxed shipped! But I understand the position my supplier is in too so I just tell them how much I need and pay it with a smile!:wink2: It doesn't due me a bit of good to complain and they are local for me so I have it better than most!

    Fire

    I feel bad for her....same show, different results!

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    At the show I was in today, a regular show I do twice a year, there were 9 Jewelry makers and they all had similar things. The craft show market is totally over saturated with Jewelry makers!

    At the one day show I did Saturday, only three jewlery makers were allowed in and they had to explain their creations. One used glass rods for making her beads and another did strictly silversmithing.

    I bought two pairs of earring from the glass rod jewler and two pairs of sterling silver earring from the other woman. The third jeweler made her own stuff but it was cheap looking and she wanted a fortune for it!:embarasse She didn't sell too much. heard her complain as I was packing up.

    I wouldn't feel sorry for your co-worker. She didn't do her own homework. The next show I'm doing, is well established and very large. I explored it last year for several hours both days prior to filling out an application, giving them permission to check ME out at any show I was in of their choice. I listed all of the shows I knew I was doing the next year!

    I don't know what show they came to in order to see me in action. I just know that after the biggest show I do, they called and told me I could get in, told me the table fees and did I still want in? Heck yeah!:yay:

    Fire

    WEEKEND SHOWS/HOME PARTIES!~How'd it go for ya?

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    It's so great to hear that shows are going very well for some. I personally hope they are good to great for all soap and candle crafters.

    I did notice at my show that larger ticket items were NOT selling well at all and some crafter went home with very light pockets:embarasse , Their crafts were very nice but they were not selling.

    I hope by this time next year to be selling things like lip balms, lotions~(scented base), body wash~(base) and if all works out, CP soap.:wink2:

    JMO~ Things that help us personally, candles, B&B, and the like are what people are going for in an econemy that is shaky. When things get rough, we are known to stay closer to home and nest. (so to speak).

    Fire

    does lye go "bad"

    in General Soap Making

    Posted

    I only make soap sporadically and have taken several months to get through a few pounds of lye. There wasn't a noticeable problem.

    However, it can definitely go bad. Sodium hydroxide voraciously absorbs moisture from the air -- practically to the point that it can dissolve itself in humid conditions. That could throw things off because you'll be weighing water in addition to the lye when you measure it out. The other thing is that it reacts with carbon dioxide in the air to form sodium carbonate, which is a mineral ash that's useless for saponifying your oils.

    You have to store it tightly closed.

    So then, what IS the very best was to store your lye? I plan on storing mine in the basement. If it comes in tightly sealed can, I'll still keep it in a small tote as well?

    I have a dehumidiphier in my basement as well. Not that I've ordered any yet but it's best to know before I do order it so I start off on the right foot the first time, every time.:wink2:

    Fire

    WEEKEND SHOWS/HOME PARTIES!~How'd it go for ya?

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    Well this weekend I did two shows and the one I will go back to tommow to finish up where my friend sold candles for me. She did very well for me!

    The show I was at was good because I'd never shown there but my candles have been there twice, so it was time for those regulars to finially meet me and I them!:yay: Had a great time and sold lots of candles! Sold out of quite a few scent s too but the stock for both shows was split so neither show was at full stock! People bought when they realized I was raising my prices in January too. Had great neighbor on either side; one woman did massaages and we basically tagteame the customers as we were down on the very end of the hallway! I brought them down with the scent of my candles, the customers bought candles and massages so we were both having a GREAT TIME! Attendance was very steady as was the buying in our corner!:P I even traded a candle for a ten minute upper body massage. It was really wonderful. The woman running the show was a friend and at the end of the show I bought her a ten minute massage because she certainly earned it!:laugh2: :laugh2: She ran my booth when I had to go out to get change at a McDonalds, delivered lunches to all the vendors, was the DJ for the Christmas music as well as all around helper! She was awesome!

    The other show was well attended as well, though it was in another town. My friend who ran the booth thought sales were down because I wasn't there but I don't think so. She did nearly $300.00 on sales. It was very cold out so that helped bring the crowds in and they were in the mood to buy too! She had a very good time meeting my customers.

    All in all, it was a GREAT, FUN DAY!

    Hope the rest of you had great sales today too!

    Fire

    Mia Bella?

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    i had a show last weekend and i had the same problems some of you had.

    they parked mia bella booth right across from me i had to look at her shoving candles under peoples nose all day.

    She was so pushie man i couldn't believe how she was and me and hubby watched her do she pissed some off and she was offering drawing for free candle too.

    Which i'm not a pushie person i let my product speak for it's self i don't like people pressuring me into sales and i sure don't wanna do my customers that way.

    Bad part she had the nerve while i was on my way to the bathroom to come over at my booth and pick up one my reed diffsuers and look at it GRRR.

    I got revenge tho they was a woman looking at her candles and a her friend came to my booth and asked if my candles was 100% soy i said yep they are.she grab her friend by the arm and dragged her to my table right in the middle of mia bella rep sales pitch i thought that was so funny!!! :laugh2:

    One good thing tho i think they gave out a survey at this show on improvements and boy did i let them know about it .

    So hopefully they'll take a hint i'm hoping cause i wanna do the shownext year but i don't wanna be across from her or i'll lose it lol!!!

    I was so angry they do that bad part for me i was straighten my shelf and one my candles fell off and bounced then broke right in front of her table. man i was :embarasse hubby laughed his head off tho. he told i know what you was trying to you was aiming it at her i said don't tempt me LOL

    So now i know how you all feel about dealing with people like mia bella etc.

    it makes it so hard for a person that testest and makes their products the best they can and have somebody like them be a across from ya GRR.

    I've been doing candles etc for over 5 years started it as a hobby and for over 2 years now it's been a business and it angriers me that these companies gets in these shows . Ok i'm gonna get off my soap box LOL i can't help it i get started i don't know when to hush sorry for my post being so long.

    I shown against them several times and the same rep complains to the show host every time! "Tell her to close her candles immediately because nobody can smell ours!!!"

    When I show, I take the lid off of the first candle of every scent and leave that way for the entire day! 60+ scents! The reps of all the big companies have a major fit about this because nobody can smell their candles!:rolleyes2 They even complain in an outdoor show!:laugh2: But you know they can do it too, but they don't!:rolleyes2

    I shown against them all and just learn to have fun and enjoy the whole show! Confidence in yourself and your product speaks volumes!! The reps from MB, HI, GC can great people too but they have to make sales. They no longer come to the shows I attend although I'll be showing against all of them Thanksgiving weekend at a new show for me! I look forward to the experience!:yes:

    Take lemons and make Lemonaide and kill them with kindness!

    Fire

    Mia Bella?

    in Business Side of Things

    Posted

    Ok, I tried to hush... really I did...

    I really, REALLY, can't believe how up in arms you are about this. Aren't you the one who was going and buying unscented laundry detergent... adding FO and reselling? You have proven yourself to be a liar, manipulator and shady character on this board so I'm sure it carries over to your products. You skirt the rules whenever possible! You sold someone else's candles when you first started and claimed them as your own! When you were busted you finally admitted that you were drop shipping them. You have absolutely no ground to stand on in this situation. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black! The gene pool needs some clorox!

    ROTFL!!!:laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

    I was wondering when someone was going to say something!:lipsrseal

    Fire:tiptoe:

    ** What's in your pot this week/end? **

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    I've got two shows this weekend! Two on Saturday and the one continues into Sunday. I've got a friend manning one of my booths while I do the other show!

    Then it's order like crazy on Monday to for for yet another two day show coming up over Thanksgiving weekend!:shocked2:

    My wax just increased again as well. As I'm being forced to raise the price on my candles next year, they are selling out this year!

    And at the same time, I continue to research CP soap, lotions and lip balms both here and at the Dish!:cheesy2:

    Fire

    Poll: Curing Myth or Reality?

    in General Candle Making Discussions

    Posted

    Curing is something that should be done if you want the best finished product, IMO. Natural waxes especially, but all wax types can benefit from curing.

    I agree with you, Teri! JMO~ I would never work with a wax or a scent that demanded two weeks cure time!:rolleyes2 My soy waxs needs cure time but only three to five days! As well as there are a few scents tha just don't throw in soy no matter the cure time!:lipsrseal

    Fire

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