August 4th, 2010 | 
Author: Well peeps, after much deliberation I’ve decided to call it a day at Cosy Candles & Aromas. After almost 4 years I’m closing down the site at the end of August. I’ve had great fun while it lasted but due to changes here at home I feel it’s time for me to close this chapter.
I will still probably make candles but they will be for my own personal use rather than selling to the general public. So, what caused me to make such a sudden decision? Well, many of you will know that my DD is off to Uni next month. She’ll be leaving our home here in Essex to go and live in Lincoln. Our eldest son has also decided that he wants to go to Uni too. So in September he is going back to college to do a 1 year Access course in Humanities and then he will go to Uni next year, after a 3 year “gap year”. That will leave our youngest who, come September, will start his final year at school. He too has ideas of studying for A Levels and going onto Uni too.
Sooooooo, they are some big lifestyle changes. Within 3 years it’ll be just me and hubby. Now, some people would think that it would be the perfect opportunity to take Cosy Candles into the next level. And yes, I have thought about it, but in 3 years time I will be 50. Not old by today’s standards but I did find myself questioning whether I really wanted all the extra stress and hassle at a time when most women start to go through “that dodgy age” ie menopause. Would it be fair on hubby me never being there, when for the first time in 20 odd years we would have the chance to do things together that we couldn’t do because we were busy raising 3 brilliant kids. I used to work in a very highly pressurized job in the City before the kids came along and, to be honest, I don’t fancy doing it again.
Our retirement goal for us is to live on a Dutch Barge, cruising the waterways of Europe. Something we are planning to achieve once our youngest has finished University and has settled in his career. That is just 6 years away. Having candle making supplies delivered to a boat that is constantly on the move is going to prove difficult. I think it’s just time to call a halt now and help hubby to shift his IT business, of which I am a partner, so more of it is on line rather than on site. This means we can still earn a good income whilst messing around on the rivers and canals.
I will still be quite crafty as it’s something that has always been in me. Some of you will know that I’ve recently renewed my interest in working with yarn. Something that I’ve done since I was 7 years old. If anybody is interested in following my rediscovered journey I have a new blog Ruby’s Crafty Diary. It’s going to be a lot easier to knit and crochet on the barge as most towns have a wool shop that can satisfy my yarn addiction. And who knows, maybe I may end up selling my wares again.
So thank you all for putting up with my ramblings over the years and for your loyal support. I hope that you all enjoyed my lovely scented candles and melts as much as I enjoyed making them.
Blessings to everyone and once again thank you all.
Love
Ruby Mole xXx
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Well, it’s finally here. It’s summertime!!!!!!! Which means everything grinds to a halt for candle sales (well, for me anyway). Here in Britain we are having some simply gorgeous weather, everybody is out and about enjoying the outdoors. A lot of people therefore, don’t bother too much with candles, hence the drop in sales.
But it is coming up to the end of the school term and what better gift to give your son/daughter’s teacher but a lovely scented candle. Even better when you can get them at a reduced price. Until Sunday 11 July you can purchase any Luxury Soy Candle for £3.00 or our Small Candle Tins for £2.00.
Crazy prices for our Midsummer Madness Sale. I did mention in my newsletter that I would be doing some special deals. If you haven’t subscribed to my newsletter then you can sign up now from my homepage. All new subscribers get a 10% discount code for signing up, which can be redeemed at any time.
So while it’s all quiet I shall be spending the time having a bit of a clear out of accumulated inventory and enjoying the sun with some crochet work and cider
Well peeps, this month I’ve been rushed off my feet. Things normally start slowing down in May as a general wind down in candle sales occurs during the summer. Well, this month it seems to have bucked the trend as I’ve been rather busy with online orders. Maybe it’s the months of advertising on various social networking sites or as my hubby puts it, nattering online. Whatever it is, it seems to be working. A few new customers and rather largish orders have been keeping me busy. Hope that this will continue.
At the moment I’m in the middle of making up a wedding order for some votives. How infuriating, I had the colour down to a tee when I sent the bride to be a sample. Started to make up a batch using the same ratio that I used for the sample. Has the colour come out the same??? Has it, hell!!!!!! I now have the arduous task of remelting the batch and playing around with the colour. Luckily, they were unscented, and as for any unused “wrong colour” mix, it certainly won’t go to waste. All scrap ends tend to get used for personal use or for R & D.
Talking of R & D I have purchased a couple of pillar moulds to try again making pillars. This will be the perfect project for all that “wrong colour” mix. I’m hoping for better results than my last attempt. Granted it was a couple of years ago and the pillars I had were 2″ diameter. I learned why nobody does 2″ soy pillars. They’re practically impossible to perfect. So, I have 2 nice and shiny 3″ moulds, which are more commonly used sizes. I shall be experimenting with them once I have some free playtime.
On the fragrance testing side, I’ve got soooo many to test it’s going to take me a little while to get through them. One scent I will definitely be adding is Cactus & Sea Salt. It is so lovely, clean and fresh. A friend asked what it smelt like and the only way I can describe it is this. Think of the smell of the sea, all salty then mix it with Aloe Vera. It is a strange and unusual combination but it smells divine.
Right, well I’d better get back to my melting pot and colour charts and see if I can get these poor woman’s wedding votives sorted out for her. TTFN.
Given my blog a new facelift. Still need to play around with my widgets. Might need a little tweak here and there.
I had problems getting the sidebars to work properly on the home page. Spent ages trying to figure it out. Hubby had a look at it and sussed it out almost immediately. Five minutes later, job done. Well, he would know as he builds websites, amongst other IT/Internet related things for a living. Could’ve saved myself endless frustration but then again, I’m a stubborn mare and I do like to try and figure things out for myself. It really does annoy him, though……
Ooops just realized that it’s been 3 weeks since I last posted. So what’s been happening? Well, not much to be honest, apart from me feeling really lousy. I’ve had 2 bad colds since the start of the year plus home life is a little bit stressful at the moment. Nothing serious but I reckon it’s all caught up with me and has left me feeling a bit run down and lethargic.
This is the time of year when things start to get a bit quiet on the candle making front. Having said that, I am working with a new customer on an order of wedding votives. I did have a bit of trouble matching the exact shade to her wedding dress material sample, but I got there. Just waiting to hear now what fragrance she’d prefer and what colour combination. Hmmmm maybe this could be the way to go during the quiet summer months – wedding votives for favours and/or table decorations. Yes, I think it could be a good idea.
Not having a car at the moment is a bit of a bummer as this is when craft fairs and other events start to pop up everywhere. You never know which way the day will go but providing the event has been well advertised it really boils down to whether people attend and decide to part with their money. It’s also a good opportunity to do some networking and get lots of your business cards and other literature “out there”. Must admit though hubby and I are getting used to riding about on buses and walking. Still, should really think about saving up and getting a small runaround. Talking about selling markets I shut down my eBay shop. Sales have just not materialized so it seemed a waste to keep it going. I still have my Folksy shop which is generating some interest but I’m starting to doubt DaWanda. It seems that the German branch is by far more successful than the English one. I’d sell on there but my German is quite poor, so I wouldn’t be able to handle any queries. DaWanda are quite specific about listing on the French and German sites. They require you to be fairly fluent in those languages. So I reckon once the few listings I have have expired, I won’t be renewing them. Shame, but there you go. Can’t win ‘em all.
My newsletter template has now been finalized. Currently, I’m in the process of tweaking my website a bit in preparation for it’s launch. Should all be done by the end of the week. I’m also nearly done with my new blog template. I hope it’ll work with my widgets. Only way to find out is to upload it and see what happens. Should be a laugh 
Right I’m off to do a bit more tweaking. See you soon!!
Well, it looks like winter has finally departed. The last couple of weeks has seen lovely clear blue skies and it’s starting to get up into double figures now. So with this in mind I’ve been busy getting in some new fragrances to test. I’ve got some nice florals – Lily of the Valley, Wild Poppy and Sunflower. Butterfly Meadows and Clover Fields are fresh and green aromas. I’ve also got some Cactus and Sea Salt which smells really nice OOB (out of bottle). The next thing to do is to get them into the wax. Fragrances can smell so differently once you’ve incorporated them into the wax and allowed to cure for a couple of days. So for the next few weeks my home is going to smell all nice and spring like with making and testing.
Talking of testing, I finally cracked my wicking problems I was having a few weeks ago. These have now been added to my inventory and are available to order now. The new fragrances are Lemon Cake and Orange Caramel Crumble. I must admit I’ve fallen in love with Lemon Cake. It is to die for, well I think it is. Imagine,lemon sponge with lemon butter icing. Talk about making you drool …LOL
I’m starting to crack on with creating a newsletter. I’m sorting out content and layouts and html at the moment, all techy stuff to make it look nice and easy on the eyes. Once I’m happy with it and I’ve added all the relevant content, then I’ll be adding a sign up box on the website. It’ll be a monthly circular with hints and tips, new fragrances, special offers, etc. I’m starting to get a few fans on Facebook so it’ll be a good way of keeping everybody informed about my products.
Right well, off to sort out a bit more on it and see if I can get it out in time for next month. Till next time, TTFN.
I’ve just added some new fragrances to my range and are available for all product lines. They are as follows:-
English Rose – Freshly cut roses straight from the garden.
Green Apple – Sweet, tangy and crisp. Just like a Granny Smith.
Raspberry – Summer raspberries, ripened by the sun.
Let’s see, what have I been up to this week. Well, I’ve been busy testing out 2 of my new fragrances. I must admit it’s proving to be somewhat frustrating. Found what I thought was the perfect wick only for it to go and soot the glass on the very last burn. Aaaarrrrggghhh!!!!!! So it’s back to the drawing board for that one. I’ll need to make up some more testers I have 2 more wick sizes I can test and I think I’ll make a couple with slightly less FO ratio see if that makes a difference. Oh how I hate testing for wicks. Every now and then you get a new fragrance to test that is a right PITA. Oh well if it was that easy then everybody would be making candles and selling online.
Talking about selling online, anyone noticed the missing badges on the right hand side??? I took a long hard look at where I was selling, how well the site is listed on Google, the hits I had, the sales I had and decided to ditch MISI and Coriandr. I know many people have had success with MISI but for me personally I only ever made one sale. Coriandr doesn’t seem to be going very far at the moment. I know that it’s hard work to get these craft online marketplaces up and running and I applaud the site owner’s hard work and commitment to their project. It’s just that some seem to be better supported than others and from a seller’s point of view I want to sell my products to as wide a range of customers as possible. So I’ll be sticking with Folksy and revamping my DaWanda shop, as I’ve neglected it a bit and I did have some good sales in the beginning.
I’m starting to maybe think that maybe going back to eBay might not have been a good idea. Stats don’t look that brilliant at the moment, but I’ve just paid out for another month so I’ll see what that brings. Anything can happen in the world of online sales. I’m also contemplating selling on Etsy, although looking at the listings there are shed loads of candle sellers, albeit US based sellers, but I’m just wondering whether my listings would just get lost. I’ve signed up for Artfire, which is also a US based crafty marketplace. It’s free so I may test the International waters with that first, as I would like to reach more overseas customers, though not necessarily in the US. I think that as Etsy is more of a worldwide, household name in the world of handmade/hand crafted goods so I shouldn’t really ignore it.
Ooh. I have added another line to my website. Simmering granules are now available to buy. They cost £1.50 for a 200g bag.
For those who are unfamiliar with them they are extremely versatile. A couple of teaspoons placed in your oil burner will ensure that your home will smell absolutely fab. You can put some in the bottom of the ashtray to keep it smelling fresh. If you use a bagged vacuum cleaner, then pop some in and fragrance your whole house while you hoover. All sorts of other uses too, the list is endless.
I’ve got some brand new fragrances winging their way from the States that will be available to order from middle to end of next week. I’ll let you know when they’re here. I think they’ll prove quite popular especially as the warmer months are not far off (she says ). Some really nice summery fragrances.
Right, that’s all for this week. Back to my melting pots and stink the place out.
Got my new oils toward the end of last week. Spent most of Friday making up some testers. Just going through the tedious process of wick testing. It must be the most frustrating part of candle making, but also the most important. A poorly wicked candle will result in a disappointing burning experience and could also create a potential burning hazard. Luckily, after doing this for a number of years you do get a bit of a feel for it and can normally narrow it down to 2/3 choices which isn’t too bad.
I also got some new samples to try out from a different supplier. I chose some girly, feminine perfumy types. I must admit I’m very impressed with the quality and they smell absolutely gorgeous in the wax. I can see them making an appearance in time for summer.
Don’t forget, if there’s a fragrance you’d like me to carry you just need to drop me a line and I’d be more than happy to accommodate.
Finally gotten round to sorting out my packaging for my votives. I used to offer them in packs of 6 and 12 but they didn’t sell very well. So I decided to sell them in a box of 4. Got myself some nice acetate boxes courtesy of Jo at Sensory Perfection. Trouble is, I didn’t take much notice of the box size. It’s meant to hold 4 votives. Well, it kinda does. Trouble is where mine flare out at the top, if you put them in the right way up the tops end up overlapping. Which I guess is fine if they’re paraffin, but mine are soy and the wax is softer than paraffin so they get squished looking. It’s my own stupid fault, the boxes come in at a centimetre too small all round. So the only way I can make use of the boxes is to top and tail them. I must admit I’m not 100% too sure about the presentation, as they would’ve looked better, in my opinion, all placed the right way up.
What does everyone else think? Would they appeal to you presented this way? Hmmm, maybe the more I look at them, the more the presentation grows on me. Oh why am I so critical of my own work?????
So what else have I been up to? Well, I’ve been desperately trying to get my shopping cart to be able to offer some discounts. For example, when I do craft events I like to offer my tins, which retail at £3 each, as buy 2 for £5. Same with my tealights. It’s not a huge discount but it does encourage people to take up the offer. So I want to do the same thing on my website. I stalled a couple of modules that was supposed to enable me to do this but I just couldn’t get them to work properly. One of them involved adding bits of coding which even though I followed I couldn’t get to work and ended up mucking my admin panel, so that was quickly put back the way it was.
I won’t be beaten on this though. I will persevere with this, if others can get it working I’m sure I can. I just need to be in a technical, geeky frame of mind, which some days I’m not. At times like this I wish I was a little bit like Worzel Gummidge! Well, he had a different head for whatever he was doing …LOL
So for now I’m waiting on some new oils I ordered especially for a prospective new customer. Like I say on my website if you don’t see what you want fragrance wise, ask. She did and it’s winging its way over from the US. 2-3 weeks for testing purposes and there you have it. As they say, don’t ask, don’t get
Oh hey, guess what? Got my first order last week through my eBay shop. Not bad going seeing as this is the beginning of my 3rd week. Well you know, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Hope this will be the first of many (fingers crossed). Nothing yet on the other crafty sites but hey ho. Maybe I should give out a discount
Oh well, enough rambling for the moment. Got lots of ideas, just need to get my finger out 
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