Taking It On The Road!
07 Mar 2012 Leave a Comment
in candle business, Candles, family business, family owned candle business, women owned business Tags: business, candle making, candles, craft shows, natural candles, people, personal, soy candles, thoughts
Just when I think I have everything going in the right direction, I surprise myself and change my mind. Selling candles on the internet is no joke. You can’t smell them or touch them which means you have to be very creative to convey just how delicious they really are. Sometimes I hit the mark and sometimes I ask myself “what the hell did I mean by that?” and quickly adjust the scent description. I’ve sent out testers and free product in the hope that others would like to get involved and put up some YouTube comments or just spread the word. There are those out there that seem to have a following but so far I haven’t been able to make that connection. I hear the great comments from our customers and testers so I know we’re doing things very well. I appreciate every one of them, they make my heart sing and give meaning to what I do everyday, but I am still missing the mark, the sweet spot that really spreads the word.
I’ve tried doing some YouTubes, okay one, but I don’t do well in front of a camera (probably one reason you can view four years of my family and I in Sicily on tape with very little of me shown). CyberSpace tells me that doing videos is something I can learn and he’ll coach me. Who knows perhaps wearing a mask and feathers in my hair will allow me to feel more free and be myself. He says sequins make everything better.
In light of all of this I thought “why don’t we do some craft shows again?” It’s how we began 12 years ago and we loved it. We were able to really connect with people and to get to know them. The girls being identical twins behind the counter was always fun. So the planning has begun for a show in October. Not just any show but a large show in central Florida that draws 40,000 plus people every year. We’ve never done something on such a large scale, and how does one begin to plan. How many candles do you make, how do you get them there, the booth has to be designed and built, there’s millions of details. All this and there is no guarantee of getting into the show. Yes, it is a juried show which means you must submit an application with photos that are judged to be offered a spot in the show. CyberSpace wants to be in the pictures but I told him he is not the booth and he’s not a candle so it’s a no go. He says he’ll add sparkle, I’m sure this is not the last I will hear of this.
So begins another chapter in the journey of a candle maker, taking the show on the road, with a minimum of 500 candles, a booth to set up, friends to make, smiles to share and fun to be experienced, hmm maybe we’ll put that on YouTube. CyberSpace what are you doing and why do you have a flame colored feathers on the top of your head???? You’re still not a candle and back away with the glitter, watch out! Glitter in your candles anyone?
Until Next Time Wishing You Love, Laughter and Peace,
Lois
Why Tempt Fate!
11 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in inner reflection, Life, people Tags: 2012, inner reflection, people.thoughts
Hello Again,
Wow! I’m back already, shocking! CyberSpace pointed out to me that my last posted blog was the 13th I’ve posted. Not being very superstitious I thought why tempt fate, just in case, so I’m making my 14th blog entry now. CyberSpace hasn’t even had time to change his outfit now that’s a Wow. What to write about, hmmm okay got it. I know you have all heard about the upcoming end of the world as we know it on December 21st which just happens to be winter solstice maybe I should just tell you all Happy Winter Solstice now, just in case. I really don’t think anything unusual is going to happen to mankind but then what do I know. Maybe we’ll all wake up with a new attitude, drinking Corona with lime in one particular harbor in Margaritaville, (all parrot heads have first choice of the best hammocks and an extra beer on the house). I did dream the other night that aliens picked us all up but that was after watching a documentary on crop circles and the end of the Mayan calendar. Being afraid of heights that’s not really an option for me, so I’ll just be telling them now I’ll stay here. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see what happens so until then I will continue on this journey called life, maybe making some decisions I otherwise might have shied away from (like writing more than once in this blog). So go ahead smile more, laugh harder, dance a little crazy and put yourself out there just in case it’s the end, why not go out with a bang and a giggle.
Wishing You, Love, Laughter and Peace
It’s a New Year!
11 Jan 2012 Leave a Comment
in Candles, family business, inner reflection, Life, people, women owned business Tags: business, candles, family, life, people
Hello Everyone,
It’s a new year with new possibilities, wahooo, who can resist that. The endless opportunities are mind boggling when you stop to consider what each and every day can bring.CyberSpace is here dancing around in his newest creation gold sparkle tights, black jersey and a mardi gras mask, hmmm I think I might know who his favorite NFL team is and I thought he was just celebrating the place Leo and I meet 31 years ago ( yes we met in New Orleans at Mardi Gras). We also have a new creation, drum roll please CyberSpace…..Pouring Candles. It’s our latest branch of Strega Moon okay it’s our only branch of Strega Moon. Why the new addition? So glad you asked. Strega Moon is about natural waxes and that is all we work with so we thought it might be fun to get back to our roots and dip our hands in paraffin. We thought long and hard about it and decided that parraffin has been around for a billzillion years and there’s really no ill effects that have been medically documented and linked to it’s use. Most people still burn it and it’s not easy to get them to try anything else. I’ve come to realize that most people really do not do well with change, so instead of adding it to our existing line we went the extra ten miles and opened up a whole new company. Never thought we would be Strega Moon Candle dba Pouring Candles but here we are. Just another step in the journey of candle makers.
This has now made it necessary to step out of my comfort zone and do YouTubes and talk on Facebook more and Tweet Tweet Tweet. But such is life and those new possibilities. I’m still trying to figure out this blog thing and keeping the website (now two) up in the search engines and making links that count. It’s always easy for me to talk to people face to face but this cyber space thing is alittle tough to grab hold of and just when you think you have it they change it as often as CyberSpace changes his outfits. On top of that there’s new decisions about jar styles and labeling, waxes and tarts and packaging and ahhhhhhhhh! But that’s all in the day of a candle maker/business woman.I did my first ever YouTube yesterday, CyberSpace was singing “all by myself” in the background. Angela and I tried making a YouTube together and after three hours and lots of laughter our first try didn’t turn out so well. So I jumped in with both feet and gave it a shot. Will anyone see it, probably, eventually some one that is having a really boring day will click on it and watch. Good news there will be more to come, CyberSpace says I could become a star, okay gotta check his coffee cup to see what he’s drinking.
So I’m off now to check out some jars, look at some labels and sling some wax, NOOOOO CyberSpace that was just an expression, put the wax done. Hey watch out for the chihuahua, oh gotta go…..
Wishing you Love, Laughter and Peace
It’s Okay to be Happy!
20 Jul 2011 Leave a Comment
in candle business, Candles, family business, inner reflection, Life, people, women owned business Tags: candle making, candles, inner reflection, life, people
Hi Everyone,
We’re back. It’s summer my least favorite of all the seasons. It’s hot and humid here in Florida but then I hear most of the country is having the same experience. I thought I would use the heat as a time for some inner reflection, learn something about myself and prepare for fall my favorite season.
Yep, things I never knew have revealed themselves, forced me to work through them and made me better for it.
I learned just how terrified I was of the dreaded…dun dun dun….. “what if’s”…ahhhh there I said it and wait, nothing happened. See that’s just it if you spend your time saying “what if” then nothing ever really happens or at least not to the degree you want it to. What if no one likes what I’ doing, what if I am wasting my time, what if (this is big one) people think I’m foolish (this is not a problem CyberSpace has I can assure you). You notice everything is negative. The” what if’s” rarely come saying great things. The “what if’s” are based in fear. Yes sir I said FEAR, I was afraid of being happy. Why if I let myself be giddy crazy happy about life and what I am creating then, whoaaaa, something bad could happen to take happiness away. I had actually conditioned myself to look for the clouds and not see the beauty in the rain. I realized that rain serves a purpose, it cleanses and allows us to start fresh. It was a real eye-opening discovery. I realized that it’s okay to be falling down, giddy, brain crazed happy with yourself and nothing bad is waiting around the bend, watching to see if you are happy so it can jump in and snatch it away. “What if’s” only exist in your mind.When I woke up out of a sound sleep last night with a smile on my face and joy in my heart I realized I had finally allowed myself to receive happiness, unfortunately no one else was awake to share this with.
So I’m ready to kick the dreaded “what if’s” to the curb and get on with making things happen, no longer living my life from a fear base and being happy. I’m learning to trust that I am exactly where I am supposed to be doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing at this time and I like it. CyberSpace is dancing around the living room dressed in yellow looking very much like a ray of sparkly sunshine. He’s says I should learn the cha-cha. I get up and start toward him and then….dun dun dun….”what if” I fall? Hmm maybe I’ll just go pour some candles instead, keep dancing CyberSpace you make me smile.
Until next time wishing you laughter and peace.
Paraffin, Palm and Soy Oh My!
26 Feb 2011 Leave a Comment
in candle business, Candles, family business, family owned candle business, women owned business Tags: candle making, candles, random thoughts, woman owned business
Hello Everyone,
It’s been waaaaay too long since I did an update. I’ve been busy or maybe driving myself crazy is a better description testing waxes. You see when we started out almost 11 years ago we worked only with paraffin wax. Back then soy was a new item and palm wasn’t even heard of and paraffin was the accepted medium for candle making.
Over the last 7 years people decided they wanted something that was cleaner burning and soy became a real contender on the market. In 2003 we made the switch and left paraffin behind. As we worked with soy and later palm, we found there are some real differences in the waxes from a candlemakers standpoint. Neither are as pliable as paraffin making them harder to wick, harder to burn and just plain not as fun to work with. They’ve become better at holding fragrances and if wicked correctly and cared for while burning they do produce a clean burn, but ….. so does paraffin.
We’ve been struggling with working with paraffin again as we have become well-known as a natural wax company and we do, if I may say so myself, make some excellent quality candles in natural waxes. But the bottom line is the bottom line and most people still buy and will continue to buy paraffin candles. Maybe it’s because it’s what they know and some folks don’t like change or maybe it’s because they realize that no one has ever been had any negative effects from burning paraffin. Heck we eat in on our foods, rub it on our skin in some ointments, even soak our arthritic hands in it for comfort. So what’s the big deal? Yes it comes from oil and it’s refined but every wax goes through some kind of refinement in order to be usable either for consumption, candle making or therapeutic and medicinal purposes.
I’m thinking it’s all about personal choice. Honestly some of our earlier customers are asking about it, they still have candles from 11 years ago that they swear are as fragrant as when they bought them.
We’re gonna give it a try and put some paraffin candles up on the website and see how they do. We hope our natural wax fans understand, we promise the different waxes will never cross each other’s path, we use different melters on each wax type.
While this is change and somewhat scary there is one thing that will never change, Strega Moon will always strive to give you the very best candle burning experience we can. We will always continue testing wicks, fragrances to make sure we are using the highest quality on the market and CyberSpace will always be dancing in the background just to add a little extra spice.
Until Next Time Wishing You Laughter and Peace, Lois
It’s The Holidays!
24 Nov 2010 17 Comments
in candle business, Candles, family business, family owned candle business, Life, women owned business Tags: candle business, family business, family owned business, Holidays, life, miscellaneous, personal, random thoughts, shopping, woman owned business
Hi Everyone,
It’s really been a while since I’ve written so I thought I’d give it a go. The holiday season is once again upon us and for candlemakers it’s the most busy time of our year. We’re mixing, melting, pouring with one hand, wrapping presents and making pumpkin pies with the other. Wow, never knew I had such talent. Of course I have CyberSpace to help me and as always I am grateful for his smiling face. This brings to mind that this is time of year most people stop to reflect on the past months and count their blessings. Even if we don’t necessarily get everything we think we want throughout the year there is still much to be grateful for.
Most important are the love and laughter from friends, family and coworkers we share our lives with. Really how boring would your life be without them in it? How bout your wonderful pets, they love us unconditionally. I can’t imagine my life without all five of our little yapping Chihuahuas (one of which belongs to our daughter Candice), our one long time friend Murphy the mini schnauzer and of course the lone cat. Each brings their own piece of joy to our family and without them there would be a large vacant spot. I’m pretty grateful when I can get up and walk across the floor in the morning, still see where I’m going and hear the sounds of the day and of course smell the coffee. One can never really know what the day will bring and how quickly life can change for both the good and the challenging. So CyberSpace and I just wanted to take this time to say Thank You, we appreciate you being here, we are grateful for all the wonderful feedback and we hope we’ve brought a few smiles to your faces.
We wish you all a wonderful and thankful Thanksgiving Day tomorrow. Smile at what you have in life, kiss your spouse, hug your kids. give your pet an extra treat and never ever forget to thank Aunt Mable. Hey, CyberSpace I know you’re grateful for hats but you please take the turkey off your head we gotta eat that tomorrow.
Wishing You and Yours a Most Wonderful Thanksgiving filled with feasting and always Laughter and Peace, Lois
Website Mania
16 Sep 2010 Leave a Comment
in candle business, Candles, family business, family owned candle business, Life, soy candles, women owned business Tags: candles, family business, Holidays, humor, miscellaneous, personal, random thoughts, shopping, woman owned business
Hi Everyone,
I was reminded today by my buddy CyberSpace that it had been awhile since I had written and he felt terribly neglected. I suppose that explains why he was lifting my eyelids at 5am and checking to see if anyone was in there. A startling experience before coffee. So here it goes…. I’m back. Ahhhhahahahah (sinster laugh) I know a scary thought. Speaking of scary thoughts, Autumn is right at our door and with it the most fun and exciting time of the year in my humble opinion. Halloween! Yep, who doesn’t love a holiday built around candy and things that go bump in the night. All those yummy gooey half melted chocolate bars. Wahoo it’s enough to make a body wanna dance!
With the coming Autumn and Halloween I’ve been busy trying to pick out new Fall fragrances and update the website. CyberSpace has been a constant companion giving his opinion and trying to search for fall colored tights in the process ( it was sad day when I explained to him that Country Bumpkin was a fragrance and not a new theme for tights).
I live in Florida so it’s been a challenge picking Fall fragrances when it’s 100 degrees outside but I think I’ve done okay. My husband swears all I pick are food related scents, he calls them Lois’ scents. White Chocolate Truffle and Apple Strudel, but then isn’t Autumn all about food? You have Halloween with all that candy, Thanksgiving with savory turkey and who can forget that it’s football season with all those hot wings and snacks going on. Even though I live in Jaguar country all I gotta say about that is WhoDat?
I picked out at least 50 new scents, everything from Pumpkin Crunch Cake to The Witching Hour and then began the process of actually putting them on the website. Step number 1, make sure the name is not used by someone else and if it is come up with an alternative like a Twinkleberry Dough Thing, yeah that works. Step 2 you decide what color it’s going to be and make a graphic. Make a what! I make candles! But learning how to make web graphic is all in a days work of a candlemaker. Surprise!
Now you have 50 bright and shiny new graphics and you are on to Step 3, describing the scent. Now that’s a tough one, just try to get someone to smell something from words. Okay I say to myself, JK Rowling was pretty darn good at describing things in Harry Potter so I can do this, can’t be that hard. So I start with rich and buttery, carmel and orange zest, sprinkled with cinnamon,hmmm alittle harder then I thought but hey I make candles for a living.
On to Step 4, putting all the scents on your site for every candle. You are going at super sonic speed, CyberSpace is busy dancing with the chihuahuas and time flies, you find yourself at the very end. You start to pat yourself on the back planning to get a cup of coffee and feeling very satisfied with the work you’ve done….then it happens. Somehow in all your excitement you made everything disappear. All the codes are still in front of you but your website is a total blank. How can this be? Uh Oh somewhere there is a little dot, dash, bracket thingy that’s missing. Now you have Step 4.5 find the missing dot. It’s alittle like finding Waldo but not, cause the missing dot looks like everything else on the page so you spend hours happily(okay maybe not happily) going line by line. Ah ha there it is and smiling you place a small little dot in place and like magic there’s your website. CyberSpace has been dancing for hours. He’s has his “you can do it sign” for support. Now he stops and applaudes your efforts blowing kisses to the air.
On to Step 5. What Step 5 you thought I was finished. Nope, Step 5 is repeat Step4 minus the missing dot until you have all the scents loaded into all the drop down boxes on every page. Somehow you ask yourself how did I get into this I just wanted to make candles. Deep inside you know it’s all worth it, when you strike that match and the warm scent of the Twinkleberry Dough Thingy wafts through your house, you know you’ve found paradise. And you thought all I did was make candles…
Until next time wishing you laughter and peace, Lois
Memories, Mishaps and Strokes of Genius
15 Jul 2010 1 Comment
in candle business, Candles, family owned candle business, Life, women owned business Tags: candle business, candle making, candles, family business, family owned business, humor, life, miscellaneous, personal, random thoughts, shopping, soy candles, woman owned business
It’s 7 am and our 50 lb wax melter is heating up and orders will be pouring out soon. I drink my coffee while wicking molds and my mind wanders back to our humble beginnings in the small fishing village of Winter Harbor, Maine. I chuckle as I look at the hundreds of pounds of wax surrounding me and thousands of pounds of fragrance oils remembering how all of our supplies fit nicely in a small closet. Natural waxes weren’t on the market so we worked only in paraffin. Not being a family that ever does anything normal, we made chunky candles. One afternoon comes to mind and I can see a vision of my daughter Angela walking out of the kitchen (which was also our pouring room) with her hands behind her back. Her sheepish grin alerted me that I was in for something really special, not necessarily good , just special. “Surprise”, she screams as she pulled the most beautiful candle I had ever seen from behind her back. “Do you like it? I thought we could call it Tuscan Rainbow.” she says. Angela explained how every color was a different scent that would release as the wax melted. A genius I thought, my child is a sheer genius until her twin Candice comes in saying hey “I think I got all these sorted out in the right piles.” Seem my genius child had what we loving refer to as an a–hole accident and dropped several boxes of chunks. Trying to recover she scooped them up and threw them in a mold and poured wax over it. The candle looked like a painting by Monet and became one of our biggest sellers. Seems genius comes in many forms if we are opened to them. My accident was not so successful.
I wanted to try over dipping a candle. It was a very popular technique at the time and how hard could it be. You make a candle in one color, melt wax in another color and dip the candle in hot wax and let it dry. This was going to be a piece of cake. Why make another candle I had a four pound candle sitting around and it would make a perfect tester for over dipping. The wick had long been cut to a quarter of an inch but so what, I would just find something to hold on to it with, no problem. Spying a pair of kitchen tongs, the problem was solved, I should be able to grasp the wick and hold the candle securely while dipping it. The moment the candle dropped like a bomb into the pot of hot wax I realized maybe the tongs weren’t such a good idea. You know it’s amazing how far hot wax can splash, at least a good ten feet in all directions, covers things pretty thoroughly too, leaving a thick paraffin coat on everything. There was wax on my hair, my clothes, my feet, the dog, the floor, cabinets, microwave and on every inch of the stove. Like I said we never do anything normal so when I have an accident it’s usually a doozy. My dream of having it all cleaned up before my husband arrived home from work was just that, a dream. Now mind you my husband is a chef and our kitchen is his haven. He says cooking is relaxing, ok not on the planet I come from, so the very fact that he allowed me in his domain to make candles was a feat in and of itself. The look of sheer shock as he screams “are you alright” was priceless and almost worth the mess. I have the stove torn completely apart still in my wax covered clothes with my one of a kind waxed hairdo, one daughter is scrubbing cabinets, the other is on the floor with a paint scraper getting up the first layer of wax and the waxy dog jumps on him with slobbery kisses. “Welcome home Honey, I love you”. “How was your day?” I say with my best smile. I would have probably pulled my out southern lady charm at that point and batted my eyelashes but they were glued together with, you guess it, wax. “Better than yours”, he replied as he turned to go upstairs to change from his work uniform. You find out just what kind of man you are married to in situations like this. Peels of laughter rang down the stairs along with footsteps as he comes in with another paint scrapper and says, “Well I guess it’s pizza for dinner tonight, eh?” It took several weeks to find and clean all the wax from that little escapade. In the years since, we’ve whipped wax, shaved wax, molded and twisted wax but we have never ever tried to dip another candle.
I’m brought back to the present by the sounds of bins falling. CyberSpace when did you get here? You thought you would help me, how sweet. NOOOOOO STOP that’s too much wax for the melter it will overflow…time to find the paint scrapper.
Until next time wishing you laughter and peace, Lois
It’s okay CyberSpace stop whining, it’ll wash out of your tights.
Got Christmas Cake or Time to Find a New Recipe.
18 Jun 2010 Leave a Comment
in candle business, Candles, family business, Life, women owned business Tags: candles, family owned business, humor, life, natural candles, soy candles
Hi Everyone,
I started my day at 6 am met immediately by my buddy CyberSpace; we had coffee, he likes lots of sugar. It’s possible that he overdid the sugar just a little, he’s dancing on the ceiling and the upside down flapping cape thing really is annoying. I think he may be just a little giddy….
Today it’s all about the nose day. I started by pouring some more test candles. Just because it works the first time doesn’t mean it will work again so you gotta test, test and then test some more. I’m pretty excited, this is the double wick soy candle again and the first one was a winner. I love it when a new candle creation is born.
I thought I’d mix up something really special for these test candles. A pinch of this and a dash of that, this time a little maple butter, cinnamon spice, apple pie and caramelized pralines together. Sounds great right? Yeah what the hell was I thinking! It’s a tad disgusting; okay it’s really just plain gross. CyberSpace, who fell from the ceiling, is stumbling around holding his nose, I tried holding mine but I just couldn’t breathe. I suppose I could just name it “this stuff sucks”, or “smell at your own risk” and sell it but that’s just not what I’m about (besides I would have to pour it again). Maybe it will smell better after it’s dried and burning, some scents do change and improve with the wax. Okay not a chance this one will so it’s a good thing I’m really testing the candles for a burn quality and not smellaliciousness. That’s a new word just made it up, pretty cool huh? Maybe I’ll start a trend. No CyberSpace I did not say phewalicious, how rude. A lesson learned, just because they all smell good separately does not mean they smell good together and I still have to top these again.
Good news, I survived the topping. The smell actually did change a little in the wax, smells a lot like one of those weird Christmas breads someone gives you. You know the one that just doesn’t taste quite right but there’s always someone in the family that says “this is the best”. Does it really matter that it’s crazy Aunt Agnes that loves it?
I decided to burn some blueberry cobbler to rid the place of the unusual smell and later I will be pouring some chocolate mint brownies that always makes my day.
UhOh, CyberSpace is on the floor! You ate some of the wax! Are you crazy? It smells like what? Your Aunt Agnes Christmas cake ohhhhhh I think it’s time for a nap.
Until next time wishing you laughter and peace, Lois
A Candlemaker Does Nothing Well Sort Of.
11 Jun 2010 2 Comments
in candle business, Candles, family business, family owned candle business, Life, soy candles, women owned business Tags: candles, soy candles, woman owned business
Hello Dear Readers,
Yippee it’s Friday and I am taking the day off! Perhaps you are taking the day off too or just looking forward to a fun and relaxing weekend.
It’s been controlled chaos around here, pouring, shipping, testing, and learning all about marketing. I promised my husband Leo, that today I would do absolutely nothing. Feels a little odd, taking the day off to do nothing, its soooo not in my nature but I’m going to give it my best shot.
I decided to treat myself so I’m burning dark vanilla and raspberry while I’m writing you. Okay, so that’s not the total truth, I’m really testing a double wick soy candle to see how it burns. So far it’s doing great. I see you standing in the corner CyberSpace. Stop wagging your finger at me; I’m still doing nothing (this relaxing stuff is very stressful).
We’ve been working on finding a new cookie fragrance and it’s become a real challenge. It has to make you drool, crave cookies and run over the dog to get to cookie jar. I’ve tried several different waxes and none have made me even think about a cookie. One did make me want a bowl of cheese tortellini with sauce. But then come to think of it I always want a bowl of cheese tortellini with sauce, yum. I might try a chocolate chip raspberry cookie later. Oooohhh damn, I supposed to be doing nothing! This doing nothing stuff is getting in my way.
So here I sit, holding my own, doing nothing. Doing nothing leaves way too much room for things to wander into my mind. I’m looking at a great burning candle and wondering how I can make it better. Now ask yourself, if it’s burning great and smells great and the flame height is great what more can be done? I suppose the answer is nothing so now I’m back to doing nothing. Doing nothing is over rated it’s actually pretty boring. I’ll bet people like Martha Stewart and Donald Trump don’t sit around doing nothing. They wouldn’t be where they are if they had done nothing. Besides doing nothing causes stress and stress is deadly. I want to live a long and productive life so I’m going to do something healthy, I’m going to not do nothing. What’s that you say CyberSpace? I promised Leo, why yes I did and he would want me to be healthy and stress free so back off CyberSpace, I can take you green tights and all. Yeah, who’s bad and I don’t even have a mask with sparkles!
Until next time wishing you laughter and peace, Lois
P.S. I’m gonna go make some candles now, fill some orders and be stress free. Yeah ain’t life grand.
