Starla's Candle Making Best Picks

Mammy Melts

2008-05-13T11:27:00.004-04:00

How crafty and clever are these Mammy Melts!

Here is a website, not on Google's Main Street (top ranking results), worth a looksee. You will find Tara (the owner) full of creativity and imagination which exhibits itself in her craft artwork.

See for yourself - http://www.tarasscentgifts.com/store/Default.asp

Betty'sOnly left a comment in the comment section below, she wants everyone to visit her blog. I say "yes", it's a go visit blog.

Up and Running?

2008-03-25T22:22:00.001-04:00

Heads up!

Lisa is back to work now, her foot surgery healed and no longer giving her trouble.

10th Annual Arizona Soap and Candle Making

2008-02-20T11:22:00.003-05:00

This is a general announcement for the soap and candle making 10 Annual Arizona Gathering.

This June, if you are near Scottsdale, Arizona, I would highly recommend you attend.

You can get more information by going to: http://www.azgathering.com

Or you can email wendy@geltyme.com or call 623-937-6404.

As usual, a fun time will be had by all!

Candle making suplies

2008-02-18T07:59:00.003-05:00

For your website, some searchers use the wrong spelling when searching. Like the words, "candle making suplies" Last month 76 people used these words when searching. My site was listed at #3 in the listings because I have that misspelled word on my site.

Note, I don't recommend you have misspelled words all over your site, but if you use http://inventory.overture.com/d/searchinventory/suggestion/ to find what words were searched last month, it won't hurt to add the more popular one.

Yes, I know Google has the "did you mean ________" thingy at the number one spot. I just don't care and some people overlook it, scroll down and find me.
'
Oops! Here is another, candle making supplys

Tara's Scentsational Gifts

2008-02-10T09:27:00.000-05:00

Tara has a nice site.

Located in Ohio, Tara lives with two bouncing lab mixes and her adoring fiancee. She has been creating soy melts and dipping bears for over four years. Tara enjoys displaying her items at local craft shows for thankful customers. Two local craft shops offer her craft art to area visitors as well. The amount of attention and care she puts into each order only goes to show her devotion to her handicraft. She gives her customers the same amount of care and attention.

Please take the time to visit her shop.

Create Your Own Air Fresheners

2008-02-02T12:11:00.000-05:00

Welcome new crafter!

Susie Bell! I'm thrilled to say we have added a fierce new craft maker to our site.

For those of you already in the know, most of this will be old hat. For those of you new to our blog, Susie handmakes paper to create car air freshener blanks. You add your own fragrances and string/ribbons to these blanks and you have your own personalized line of car air fresheners.

This week she has added a new custom Smiley Face air freshener blank.

We grew up with this happy little guy and are please that he has come back. You can paint his eyes and mouth black or just leave him the way you see him.

Yes, we think it is a "he" because he had no hair. Just like Mr. and Ms. Pac-man, you can tell the difference.

Check out her other custom made blanks on our website.

Read PenVampyre Stories

2008-01-30T13:51:00.000-05:00

Read, "The Story of the Missing Cookie Jar" by PenVampyre. A delightful new little Christmas story with mouthwatering recipes for the most wonderful time of the year!

She is one of my favorite writers and this story is delightful.

Anothe story she has recently written for the recipe website is Santa and the Magic Key, a must read for anyone who is in the armed services and has children.

Along with the stories you will find vintage black and white photos, vintage recipes and many other stories from my childhood, my nephew's Halloween story, and Miss Vampyre.

You are welcome to use the photos or recipes providing you add a link back to my site.

Enjoy! -:)

Starla

Unique Soap or Candle Molds

2008-01-30T12:01:00.000-05:00

I am searching the web today for unusual, unique and otherwise uncommon soap or candle molds. I like different.

I like the American entrepreneur, the artist, the creator we have. Uniquely American, of which I am overwhelming proud to be today for some reason. My other half watched Yankee Doodle Dandy starring this morning and I think I caught the "spirit". Why does my brain take these crazy wonderings? I should be interested in the laundry, dishes and routine chores, but no! I am on the quest for unusual, unique and otherwise uncommon soap or candle molds made in America!

So, here we go..................

I liked these Angel Wings from GrandHorse. You can purchase these mold there and I hesitate when I say this, but I think you will be able to use these molds for candles or soaps.

Me, myself and I would try wax in the mold, even if, they only say for soaps. I have found if I keep my wax temp low, I can pour into almost anything.

She or he is located at a place called http://www.etsy.com/. A very nice assortment of handmade items. Interesting place to visit if you haven't already.

I also found:

Kiski Valley Kandles who featured this adorable bowl of cookies and cream. I loved loved loved this candle.

And Kiski, please don't sue me for using your photo to let people know how delicious your candles are.

Wausers, had to pull myself away from Etsy, to many things I love there. Antiques, vintage purses, candles. That was like going to Ebay, it's hard to come back.

Speaking of which, I just came back from an Ebay shop and found the following:

I simply love dragon flies and the pastel coloring here is simply lovely. What a fairy like look to these candle tarts or soaps.

Must go, customer calling.....................

DianesHouse.com

2008-01-30T10:50:00.000-05:00

I took the time to look over http://www.dianeshouse.com/. The site was pleasant, easy to navigate and had some wonderful frogs!

I have included one of her photos to the left. How cute is that.

I have always been a fan of frogs.

Her scent selection of the following:

Almost Heaven
Burgundy
Cabernet
Diane's Memories
Dream Angel-V Secret
Exotic Embrace-V Secret
French Vanilla
Juniper Breeze
Orchid Breeze
Plumeria
Red Hot Cinnamon
Sweet Temptation-V Secret
White Musk

are wonderful aromas. I have samples of some, not all, but some from my scent manufacturer. Nice floral fragrances.

I will give a thumbs up on her site and sugget that you visit soon.

Fom me to you..................

Custom wood signs made for all occasions

2008-01-17T10:21:00.000-05:00

Signs of Wood, Co. EastKathy Burkhardt 1808 Ave I, Fort Madison, IA 52627Voice: 319 371-5681

USPS and your business

2008-01-15T10:49:00.001-05:00

We have included flat rate shipping for many of our products. This allows us to ship some of our supplies to Alaska and Hawaii, which we would not have otherwise been able to do at a regular rate.

What we are offering are the Wax Dipped Bear Kits for 50.00 plus the 9.35 flat rate shiping.
The Cinnamon Bun Kit for 24.95, plus the 9.35 flat rate shiping. We are slowly adding others, such as some scents, so check the website for new pricing.

When it rains........................

2008-01-15T10:37:00.000-05:00

Hi, well as most of you know, Lisa broke her foot a month ago and it has been holding her back, but she is coping and filling orders with the help of her family and dear husband. She should be back up and running full time be the end of March....cross our fingers and hope to die! It has been hard without her.

I, on the other-hand, was just released from the hospital. Something wicked walked into my lungs and set up a shop of it's own. Wow! That was a blast of nasty. So I am going slow on making bears, not yet ready to breath in so much scent at once. Probably knock me off my feet again, so I am giving it till the weekend before I put myself in that situation. Should have taught my family how to make the bears...drats, hindsight!

Everything has been shipped out that I could do with help of friends and family, but I am the only one who can make and oversee the bears, so that is on hold. My perfectionist side showing, I know, but you have to resell these and I need to make sure you can.

Hold on and be patience. I will get it all done.

Later,
Starla

Candle Making on Craft Gossip

2007-05-26T07:53:00.000-04:00

If you like gossip and you love crafting, then you will love CraftGossip. Here you will find a collection of bloggers discussing everything from editable crafts to candle making, (my favorite).

The candle editor, Sandra Williams is right on the mark. A freelance writer and web savy explorer, her musings on candle making will delight one and all. Go on, nose around and see what you can find.

Let me know what you think!

Bacon and Roses

2007-05-02T11:48:00.000-04:00

Silky Tyme has a nice selection of wax novelities. From it's wax buttons to the roses, pansies and wax leaves, I give this site a 4**** rating for the variety of wax embeds.

They, also have a decent Ebay Shop with a whopping 100% Positive feedback, since 1999. Now that is worth blogging about. You don't get better then that on Ebay!

Ha! Ha! They have wax bacon! How funny. Ain't it a kick what people will come up with. I love it!

Creative Illuminations Wax Embeds

2007-05-02T08:11:00.000-04:00

This place has a ton of wax embeds, they make their own.

Wonderful little chocolate bits, pie toppers, cute little waffles toppers and teeny tiny gingerbread men, to name a few. They also carry a selection of gel candle supplies.

I would suggest giving this place the once over for every gel candlemaker.

Simply Adorable Tarts and Candle Treats

2007-04-25T17:46:00.000-04:00

Here is another one of those shops that is hidden in the back alleys and side roads of the internet. Most shoppers will never find this speciality shop full of adorable candle tarts. How clever the creator of these crafty little tarts.

If you are a candle maker and your creations don't look this good......you need to start over from the beginning!

Kisty is a real artist with wax.

Candles Guide

2007-04-25T15:43:00.000-04:00

A nice place to visit if you are looking for candle making supply companies or other craft supply places.

Need a Content Writer for Crafts?

2007-04-09T10:48:00.000-04:00

I know many of you have websites and a website requires fresh content, in order for the big G to pay attention.

You can either write the piece yourself and take up valuable time, when you could be creating a new product, waiting on a customer or even, making a candle!

One way to do this is to hire a writer. Now, I know the first word that comes to mind is "cost". It isn't as expensive as you think. There are many content writers out there, but trust is also and issue. So, I wanted to let you know I use PenVampyre@aol.com. (LOVE that name!)
She is knowledgeable about various craft, sewing, vintage and recipes. I have purchased several articles from her - payment was sent through paypal - so no fuss there and in a couple weeks, I had new content for the Google Bot to eat it's way through.

Cost - only 40.00 for large articles and 20.00 for short ones.

You can visit her at her new website - http://www.penvampyre.com/ Her friend just started building this site, so don't expect to much yet. But you can find snippets of her work there or on my website twisted-candy.com

Good luck to all my crafting website owners out there and may the Google Bot visit often.

Your inner artist.

2007-04-07T09:10:00.000-04:00

Gals, this is what I am talking about.....

Here is a craft site, whose resident artist - Josh Goehring, is making a living from his love of art. A Renaissance artist, Josh works in wood, metal, paint and any material which can be fashioned into his antiques of tomorrow.

Don't be afraid to put your art work out there for the public to see and purchase. Be creative, use water colors or oils....wood or clay....just be yourself and go for it.

Take a visit and see what Mr. Goehring has in the way of original paintings and pencil drawings. Give your inner artist a chance. Just go for it!

Brown Coffee Bags

2007-03-03T12:39:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for the little brown coffee bags with windows in them, try Nashville Wraps! Love everything they have for packaging. Where would craft makers be with out them!

Chillicothe, Ohio under the leadership ... BANGO,Jeffrey

Room Spray Scenters

2007-03-01T18:32:00.000-05:00

Recently, a request came in for information on making room sprays using candle scent. Here are a few places on the web, I would suggest seeing.

Just By Nature sells the air freshener room scented base liquid with super easy instructions. Also selling 4 ounce spray pumps. This would be my pick, if I was going into production for resale. A liquid base and just add your scent. I would want colored bottles though. I don't like the look a plain clear glass spray pumps.

Remember to package your spray pump attractively. People want to purchase something pretty. It will need a really cool label or some other attractive package. I like the brown colored bottles with the primitive looking labels.

Excellant Living Guide has room spray instructions for sprays made from water, grain alcohol and fragrance oils (fragrance oils are candle scents in most cases)

Specializing in soapmaking products Snowdrift Farms has complex instructions for using essential oils. Fantastic place if you have any skills in chemistry what so ever! I love their dried herbs and they sell in smaller quantities. Perfect for the beginner.

Comments welcome.

Soap Manufacturers

2007-02-19T13:22:00.000-05:00

Hey, Lisa.....did you see those muffins in the pic below?

Have fun in LasVegas! I am so jealous.

For those of you looking for bulk buys in the soap making sections, check out this shop. They have 25 pounds of baking soda for .85 a pound.

No, I don't know why you would need that much baking soda......unless you live in a college dorm. They carry dead sea salt, foaming bath butter and soap by the gallon.

You can tell I'm not a soap maker.

Brown Primitive Candle Muffin

2007-02-19T08:52:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for a muffin candle, then take a look at these! The color is right, the look is right, the size is perfect! See the little blueberries on top? This is how a muffin candle should look.

See, Carnation Candles is one of those cute litte shops that no one would ever see. Hidden in http://www.countryroadcrafts.com/ .

I would have liked to see an "About Us" page, so I didn't feel like I was all alone on their site....know what I mean? I didn't get a "connection" with the crafter, but all in all, their products were perfectly country cute and what a perfect muffin. Doesn't get any better then this.

Painting Angels on a Candle

2007-02-19T08:32:00.000-05:00

If you are looking for the candle painting medium, look at this DecoArt page. It list what shops in the different states that carry their products. Nice....a company that helps you find what you are looking for without a lot of clicking from page to page.

They have a nice project library with an adorable Primitive Country Angel, that I think was submitted by Contact Kenna and Donna at Kenna & Donna Designs, P.O. Box 214, Williamsport, IN 47993-0214; (217) 269-3279; fax (765) 764-6202; dmalone@comwares.net. At least this was written at the bottom of the page and I can't think of another reason DecoArt would do this.

Cudo's to Donna's Designs if this was their creation. How country cute! Love it! Love it!

I've purchased metal molds here forever.

2007-02-09T12:42:00.000-05:00

This shop has been in the biz long before I was born.......I think! Anyway, I have found for purchasing metal molds, they are the best, in my humble opinion.

They won't let you show one of their mold on my blog....why? I don't know. Silly to stop people from telling others about their products, but then people are silly. Go figure.

Anyway, if you are looking for good, cheap metal molds or some nice cheap plastic ones, here is the place.

They have always been honest, shipped fast, and were courteous in phone conversations. AND all that was before the Internet....if anyone remembers way back when!