sockmonkey

If I'm not mistaken, I think I have seen Bittersweet selling their candles at wholesale shows. I wonder if it always takes 4-6 weeks for her to get her candles or if it is just temporary because this is the busiest part of the year for candle sales. It will take me 2 weeks to get my Yankees delivered, and you can imagine the volume they can turn out, compared to Bittersweet. Regarding the "pour to order" thing, to me that just reeks of a small time operation. Candle makers doing any volume of business can't wait for orders to come in before they pour.

Everyone has given wonderful advice so far. I would ask if they allow mass produced items, or if it's handcrafted items. I bought space at a huge craft fair this summer that was advertised as "handcrafted items only", and it was a juried show. Imagine my surprise after setting up and seeing a booth selling BEANIE BABIES. It was my first time there, and all day long I heard customers commenting about how this fair used to be much better. So, I guess another good question to ask the promoter is what percentage of vendors are returning vendors. If the numbers are low, that's a very telling sign.

This was nothing but a FREE ADVERTISEMENT for her company. This post belongs under SUPPLIER ANNOUNCEMENTS, or should even be deleted as SPAM. As for her threats of monitoring this board and taking legal action, she ought to recognize that her membership (and all of her staff lurking here) is a privilege that can be revoked at any time. I think we've been had everybody...look at the post count for all the wonderful people who love DIY in this thread. See a pattern?

http://craftlobby.com/glitter.html I bought their disco gold, and let me tell you, a little goes a L-O-N-G way.

Look in your local drugstore. You might find it around laxatives.

This link has information regarding fictious names. Of course, it can vary from state to state, but it should at least give an idea of what you might be facing when you select your name. http://www.dos.state.pa.us/corps/cwp/view.asp?a=1093&q=431168

Your post confuses me a little bit. Are you trying to ask her if she is a legitimate business?

I believe this was originally called "Sniffie Swap." There's nothing wrong with your idea, it's just that I, and some other people interested in doing this don't do wax. The word sniffie implies that you basically go to no trouble, you just supply a little dab of fragrance. It's great if you have some finished products you can supply as samples, but for anyone who doesn't, that will require a bit of effort. I know from experience that the scent from different scented shrinkwrapped votives will contaminate each other, so I don't think doing wax is necessarily the solution. Maybe cello bags are part of the answer. I hadn't even thought about that. I put my soaps in them, tie the ends and you can barely smell the soap when you sniff it. The soaps don't ever end up taking on the scent of another soap when they're mixed together. I wonder if putting the sniffie in a ziplock bag and then in a cello bag would be beneficial. You would have to do that for each scent. What experience does everyone else have using cello bags?

I have found that to be the case. The only alternatives are to just do one scent at a time, or put everything in vials.

Why not send your sniffie(s), along with a postage paid envelope addressed to yourself. That would make it super easy. If we did it that way I would be happy to manage it.

What if you just do it like a soap swap. You have people sign up to exchange sniffies without picking and choosing what they want. Just make everyone who participates responsible for sending one sample for each of the scent categories. For example: 1 Vanilla 1 Floral 1 Herbal 1 Desiger Dupe 1 Food 1 Holiday 1 Random I know we all have scents we would like to try, but if we all list our inventory and allow people to select from that, I think it would be way too hard for someone to manage it. Another way around it, other than my previous suggestion, is to do a swap based on brands. For example, Swap One could be for 5 sniffies from Scent Works. Swap Two could be for sniffies from Nature's Garden, etc. The thing about that method is...if you don't already buy from them, you can't contribute. But, perhaps if you couldn't contribute, you could mail $1 to the person who is managing the swap. Some random person in the swap will then receive $1 instead of sniffies. It could be fun. I would make sure that people who sign up state whether they will be sending sniffies or $1. If we get more people sending $1 than sniffies, then we wouldn't do it. But otherwise, everyone who participated would get sniffies or a $1 "booby" prize. Whad'ya think?

I would think that Lorrie should be able to contact them if it is a defective product. How long ago was the co-op? If it is something you have to ship back at your own expense, I would probably write it off as a loss because it might cost as must to ship it as the price of the merchandise itself. I dealt with Candlewarmers in the past and received a defective unit. They told me to destroy the defective unit and shipped me a replacement free of charge. Who knows...it might be worth a try.

I wish the photos of the notepads were bigger. So what are you going to do with the mirrors? Are they giveaways, or are you selling them? Did you pay $3 each for them or get a better deal? I could not afford to giveaway items that cost $3 (unless it was to only a few select customers).

This is customer service? This is how your staff talks to your customers. This is an example of why people who were not involved chimed in. If I were you, I would also hope this thread gets locked, because I wouldn't want potential, or existing customers to see what kind of nuts you have working for you.

I use a log mold so it's all poured at once. When I previously used multi unit molds I poured the whole a whole tray and then sprayed each mold. When I make multi layer soap I pour the first layer and spray as mentioned, then I let it firm up a little, and get that "film" on top, then I spray it once again and pour my next layer on top of it. Then I spray the new layer while it's still hot and the bubbles completely disappear.

I'm not sure from your post, but you said you spray the film. That sounds to me like you've let it cool slightly before you sprayed it. I always spray mine while it's still hot and has just been poured.

You seriously need to give them some type of idea. You think being a layperson you can go do a print shop, or designer, etc., and they will magically come up with the perfect design. Sometimes they do. Sometimes they don't. I've got to tell this story, although it does nothing to help you, but only illustrates my point about the lack of creativity in people. I have a store, and wanted to put an ad in the newspaper. I sell mostly candles and home decor. So the paper's sales rep came out to my shop, took a look around and said she would have their artists whip up a proof for me. What I got astonished me. They just had a picture of a houseplant. That was it! Why they thought that related to my store I have no idea. Needless to say, I created my own ad. Ok, back to you...when you say rustic, are you thinking mostly about colors, or do you have images in mind? Did you discuss with the printer how many colors to use in your logo? So you didn't like the heart, what other rustic things do you think of: pine trees, moose, pip berries, ivy, buttons, baskets, fences, calico prints, americana/flags, dolls, crows, pineapples, stars? Something else? What is the name of your company by the way?

Don't do it. They'll all laugh at you. Nah, I was just borrowing a line from an Adam Sandler CD. If they found you selling your soap, they obviously liked what they saw or they wouldn't have asked you. You should be flattered and do it.

I guess it just depends on what you perceive as the beast...

Hmmm...Apparently, this month, Smelly's site has been up, then down again, then up again, then back down again. Does that mean her domain name expired, renewed, expired again in one month? Everyone from DIY is stating this Yahoo's fault, but it doesn't sound to me like all of the trouble she has experienced this month could be due to her Yahoo domain registration expiring. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't believe once your domain name expires they activate your name again for a few days, then deactivate it, then re-activate it, then deactivate it again. Edited to add: I make it a policy NEVER to do business with a company that does not list a phone number or address where they can be contacted. That is wise advice for everybody to follow.

You can try to get a feel for whether they are being read or not by offering a special and telling them to enter code such and such to get the discount. When I create my newsletters I think about things I like and newsletters I get from other companies and the things I like or don't like about them--what things I read and what things I skip. I always try to have a little stuff not necessarily related to any of the items I carry--just things for entertainment value, like horoscope/zodiac stuff, recipes, fashion trends, puzzles, etc. If you're selling candles maybe you can give them information about home decor. There are resources that you can find that discuss color trends in homes and fashion. You could also discuss aromatherapy or facts about how fragrance is made, etc. You could discuss candle accessories or show pictures of your candles displayed in a decorative fashion (on a mirror, surrounded by florals or Christmas greenery for example). You could create a puzzle where you mix up the letters to the scents of your candle sand they have to figure out the what scent it is supposed to spell.

Now that I'm looking at my other suggestion, how about Jay Ashby & Co? Does that sound any better?

What about Ashby Jay & Co. I realize the "Co." is not correct for Kody, but the sound is the same, and I think it will be more memorable. I think your original name sounds kind of Indian, which is not associated with quailty products, but rather cheap imports.

The company they buy from is located in Canada, and I can tell you they are a lot cheaper than SFIC (I have their wholesale sheet). I used to use that company's m&p before, and was happy with it until I gave other brands a try. For me, I found out it just didn't lather as well as other brands. I'm not bashing that brand or trying to prevent you from buying it from Alabaster or anywhere else. It's a very affordably priced soap, and you can make a lot of money off of it selling it at craft shows, etc.

One of the best ones I got from them was thier version of Coconut Lime Verbena. One to avoid is Sage & Citrus.