Fri, Feb 15th - 12:13PM

Happy Valentine's Day everyone.  I am very pleased with our Valentine's Day sales as we surpassed last year and that's all any one can ask for.  As always, our Love Spell fragrance was the popular scent for the holiday.  I'm not sure if it's the scent or the label that attracts everyone :O)

We are moving towards our spring offering already and the snow is still on the ground (barely).  I have many Easter bunny & egg type candle holders that I am sure will be popular this year.  Our Shamrock tea light holders will most likely sell out early as they usually do.  I did order more this year just in case!

Our Premium Soy Tea Light business is just booming and I couldn't be happier.  We are looking to be featured in a "Green Bride" wedding guide in early 2009 and we will have an ad appear in this April's Special Event magazine's In Season supplement.  We are stocking up for the anticipated increase in business.  

I have always catered to brides by offering the perfect tea light candle - long lasting, elegent and custom colored to match the wedding theme.  However, we have scaled back this offering to now only doing custom colors for 200 tea lights or more.   The customization is taking a lot more time than what we can spend so matching colors for bigger batches makes it easier.  It is important for brides to understand that the color of the tea light in its hardened state is going to be different than what the color is while it is burning.  Soy liquifies pretty rapidly (after an hour the entire top is usually totally liquid) plus soy does not take to color well anyway so you rarely get the deep dark colors.  But in liquid form, the color is always several shades darker.  Sometimes the color is entirely different as the normal color of soy wax in liquid form is a champagne color.  So when you have a pink tea light, when it liquefies, you can expect a salmon or peach color.  We had two occasions where this was unacceptable to the bride but really there is nothing I can do other than alter the hardened color to something that will liquefy as pink (a pinkish red or burgundy will usually do the trick but then when it is hardened - it totally clashes with the initial color).  Adding fragrance only compounds the difficulty as fragrance oils have their own colors that also interact with the soy wax.  So....as a result, we have scaled down our customization until we can come up with an automated coloring system - something like what they use in a paint store. 

Look for a few new scents and some others that will be discontinued.  Our new Asian Amber and Bamboo Sugar Cane have attracted several new customers.  If there is a fragrance you are looking for, don't hestiate to let me know.  I'm always on the lookout for new scents!

That's all for now. 

Dina

www.countrylightcandle.com

Tue, Jan 1st - 11:56AM

Happy New  Year!  It's been a while since I've posted - we've had such a successfull holiday season - our Premium Soy Tea Light and Premium Soy Votives have become our top selling products and we just can't seem to catch our breath!  I've just published our Q1 2008 Newsletter which details proposed changes for 2008.  We are really excited about our Premium line of products and are looking forward to becoming your premier Soy candle company in 2008.  Thank you all for your patronage!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Thanks to all of you
who made 2007 our best year ever!  I am convinced that our
Premium Soy Tea Lights and 15 Hour Soy Votives are the best
on the market .... and it looks like you are convinced too!
Thank you for all of your patronage through 2007 and I look
forward to providing you with all of your candle needs in
2008.
 
We have a New Year's Resolution we want to share with you.
We are anticipating a lot of changes in 2008 and I'd like
to give you, my regular customers, an advanced notice. 
 
The first thing you will notice in 2008 is a new
streamlined ordering page for our Premium Soy Votives.  You
will have a one-page glance at all of our votive offerings
- wrapped, unwrapped, unscented , scented, aromatherapy and
custom labeled.  An unavoidable price increase will also be
evident as we try to minimize the impact of ever-increasing
soy prices as well as increases on premium fragrance oils,
essential oils and overall freight costs. I apologize for
this increase but our votives and some other candle lines
have been under-priced for so long and we are forced to
increase our prices to remain competitive in other areas. I
can assure you though that my prices will remain low in
comparison to other quality natural soy candle stores and I
also ensure that I will give you the most options when it
comes mix and matching scents within a given quantity lot.
We value your business and we want to be profitable so we
can stay in business for you.
 
Another anticipated change is that our price/quantity
configuration for various candle lines will change to
ensure the candles you purchase fit in the boxes we have
(no more onesy/twosy candles wrapped separately).  We will
keep our tiered pricing structure (the more you buy, the
more you save) because it offers the most cost effective
way for our candle lovers to purchase their favorites.  You
will be required to purchase in quantities of 4, 12, 48, 96
or 192 with the ability to mix & match scents in those
configurations.
 
We have grown this business so much over the last 5 years
and now we know what our customers want - quality natural
candles and unique candle accessories!  So we are reducing
our inventory of gift, collectible and home decor items to
concentrate on what we do best.  We are striving to be your
number one source for natural wax votives, tea lights,
pillars, jar candles and scented tarts.  So we will be
offering more of them as well as more styles of related
accessories (e.g. votive holders, tea light holders, candle
lamps & lanterns and tart warmers). 
 
We will be increasing our unscented candle offering as we
know that many of your prefer candles unscented due to
allergies and sensitivity to fragrance.  Also, our Natural
Blends Aromatherapy line will be expanding as a lot of
customers are enjoying the earthy and true to life aromas
of these candles.
 
We also will be reintroducing our wholesale program for
certain candle lines.  First will be our Premium Soy Tea
Lights.  Our restaurant, spa and event planning customers
are growing by leaps and bounds and we want to offer them
additional price breaks on large volume purchases to help
them achieve their goals as well. 
 
And lastly, we have discontinued our Scent of the Month
discount.  We have found that this promotion is just not
popular and the time and effort required to modify the
website to offer the Scent of the Month just isn't bringing
in the sales. Our regular customers use the discount code
offered in the quarterly newsletter to get their favorite
scents at reduced prices all of the time.  Which brings
about another change.  Since some of our pricing will be
increasing, so will our quarterly discount codes offered
through our newsletters.  Instead of 3-12% discounts, you
can expect 5-20% discounts or equivalent gift item
promotions (e.g. lighters, candle holders, snuffers, etc).
 
We will only allow our newsletter customers access to the
discount codes so keep your quarterly newsletter handy and
make sure that we are listed in your address book so you
don't miss it every quarter.  Newsletters will no longer be
posted on our website.
 
This transition is going to take us all through 2008 and by
2009, we anticipate being a premier online shop for Premium
Soy Candles. 
 
So, in the meantime, what does this mean to you?  Well,
first of all, significant savings on our gift, collectibles
and home decor items. Starting in 2008, we will be marking
down our home decor items 20-50%.  Browse through our Home
Shop, Howl at the Moon Shoppe, & Wreath and Garland pages
to see what I'm talking about. 
 
And finally, please enjoy this quarter's 15% discount code.
 Use it right away to save on our current prices as after
January 1, UPS shipping prices are scheduled to rise and
after January 10, our prices will slowly creep up a bit.
Just enter discount code RESOLUTION15 at checkout to
receive 15% off of your total purchase (excluding S&H)
until the next newsletter comes out. (discount codes do not
apply for wholesale purchases)
 
Again, I want to thank you for your patronage in 2007 and I
look forward to serving you in 2008.
 
Our best wishes for a happy and healthy 2008 to you and
your family.  And as always, please take time out in 2008
to enjoy the glow!

Happy New Year!

Dina
www.countrylightcandle.com

Sun, Sep 9th - 10:55AM

Autumn is the favorite time of year around here - the weather cools just right, the trees put on a glorious show and the candle business is booming.  I love the Autumn scents the best.  A new one for this year is Autumn Wreath.  This scent is just too perfect.  A perfect blend of balsam fir, cedar leaf, clove and a touch of vanilla to soften the edges.  It is going to be a best seller, I am sure.  Other favorites for fall are Harvest, Autumn Lodge (if you like patchoulli), Ginger Spice, Orange Cranberry, Simmering Cider and everyone's favorite - Cinnamon Sticks.

I've been preparing for our annual Apple Festival show which is Columbus Day weekend every year in Lafayette, NY.  This year it's October 6th & 7th.  We do this show every year and it has always been our only show....until this year.  Now I'm scheduled to do the Syracuse Christmas Show and Sale which is HUGE and is indoors in the Syracuse Convention Center at OnCenter.  It's a three day show - November 16-18th.  I'm really looking forward to that because it's for gift retailers - not necessarily crafters.  The Apple Fest is only for "make-it-yourself" crafters and I'm not allowed to bring more than 10% of my gift items.  That's hard because I have so many nice things.  But at the Christmas Show, I can bring EVERYTHING!  I have gotten extra Christmas items just for this show so I'm hoping for a successful event.  Lots of holiday fragrances too - Frosted Snow Drops, White Christmas, Holiday Berry, Hollyberry, Candy Cane and all the pines (Sugared Spruce, Windsong Balsam Pine, Apple Balsam Pine) and more.

I've been working on our table setup.  My husband has cleaned out our garage and we have the dimensions of our spot outlined.  I can never bring ALL of my scents so it takes me forever to decide which ones to bring. This year, I have it set up so I can bring 90 scents.  So that's 90 scents for Votives, 90 scents for Tarts, and 90 scents for tea lights.  Those are the main candle items that go during these shows.  Also my jar candles but I usually have time to make only 1 or 2 of half of the scents. They are so heavy and take up so much room it would be impossible to bring all of them.  I also bring some wreaths but this year, I'm not bringing so many - only closeout items.  There are so many wreath vendors at the Apple Fest anyway and I sell out of them on a regular basis just via my website.  I also bring my Witch & Cauldron candle which is always a big hit.  It's a black silhouette of a witch stirring her cauldron which is filled with soy wax.  I do it in a bright green scented in Witches Brew, and a bright orange scented in either Crackling Firewood or Autumn Lodge. 

I love Autumn and it's coming very quickly!  If your in the neighborhood of these shows, stop in and say hi!

Enjoy the glow!

Dina

Tue, Jul 17th - 3:13PM

Is this year flying or what!  I can't believe it's the middle of July already.  I have just 3 months to get ready for the Apple Festival.  That is the one, and only one, show I do.  I love it.  It's so down home and country....with cider, apple fritters, apple pie and everything that the autumn season has to offer.  My favorite time of year, for sure!

This summer has been very hectic with wedding business, picnics, a visit from my mom from Georgia and other family issues.  My father-in-law passed out during a picnic and we had to rush him to the hospital.  Was a scary time....he didn't look well at all and his heart rate and blood pressure went really low.  After 3 days of extensive testing - he's 82 so they were thorough - the only thing they could figure out was that he was dehydrated.   I hope that was it and there isn't some underlying malfunction that we don't know about.  He is a dear man and I'd like to have him around for a long time.  He is in amazing condition for his age - no one at the hospital could believe he was 81.  He walks every day and still goes fishing every day.  That morning he was on his roof cleaning his gutters.  Thank goodness he didn't pass out then!  Luckily we were all around him and got the ambulance there in plenty of time.  It was well into the 90's and very humid.

Our parents are all getting so old now...my mom is 80 and my husband's parents are 81 and 82.  I wish time didn't pass so fast.  It seems like just yesterday I was in my 20's and carefree.  Now every day I have aches and pains and seems like I can't get anything done.

But on the bright side, I am doing what I have always wanted to do - own my own business and have a passion that I work at every day.

So my plan is to enjoy every day as it comes and hopefully keep on plugging doing what I love to do!

Enjoy the glow...

Dina aka candlemason

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Fri, Jun 22nd - 12:36PM

The Father's Day rush is over and now I'm getting ready for the 4th of July.  Father's Day use to come and go without even a sale but now it seems men are into candles as much as women are.  I went through my 2006 orders and calculated that 41% of my orders were from men.  Now that could be high considering a woman may be using a man's credit card and sending it to herself in his name but I think most women now have their own credit cards in their own names.  So it's probably really close.  I do notice that the men like votives whereas the women will order jars and tea lights....lots of tea lights.  I think they use them mostly for tart burners as our tea lights will burn for most of the day.

I tried to make 3 toned votives for 4th of July.  They came out pretty well.  The next batch should be better.  You have to time the pouring of each layer just perfectly otherwise they intermingle and don't look right.  I did the top layer in blue scented with Blazin' Blueberry, the middle layer is white unscented and the bottom layer is red Hot Apple Pie.   The test votive I burned actually turned slightly purple in the end as the red and blue mixed together.  It smelled really good - like a fruit stand!

Getting ready for my 80 year old Mother to visit for Mother's Day.  She will be 80 on the 5th of July.  She lives in Georgia but spends a few weeks with each of her daughters up here in NY over the summer.  Not sure how much longer she can make the trip but we'll enjoy her while we can.

Glad it's Friday.  It was a slow morning but now I have several custom orders to work on this evening and into tomorrow.  I'll have to get up early as I have two that have to go out in tomorrow's mail to make it on time.   That's the thing with weddings and tea lights.  They always wait until the last minute.  Luckily I have several hundred made at all times so I can ship these two orders right out.

Thanks for stopping by and I'll blog at ya soon!

Dina aka Candlemason

Enjoy the glow!

www.countrylightcandle.com

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