HillBilly Kandles

It's been awhile

2010-10-18T11:09:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the long hiatis, a lot of things have been going on since my last post.

HillBilly Kandles has been in full swing since I have my new candle making shop in my basement.

Right now I'm pouring Fall /Winter scents Gingerbread, Sugar Plum Berries, Bayberry, and Mulled Cider.

This past summer I tested several different fragrances and chose just a few to add to my line.

Blackberry Brulee is one of them, it's smells so delicous.

Vanilla Mint, is going to be my new Frosty during the Holiday Season and Vanilla Mint during the off Season. It's one of those scents that can be offered all through out the year.

That's all for now, soon will come more.

Whipped Container Candles (Testers)

2010-02-03T18:44:00.000-05:00

I love trying out different candles when I have the time to and January is usually the only time I have a few weeks to test finished products that have been waiting to be tested.

This time around is Whipped Wax Container Candles, I'm sure there is an easier name to call them but I'm drawing a blank right now.

The colors aren't that appealing at all but I grabbed the blue coloring block instead of the cranberry one.

All my candles are Natural Wax, so I get a lot of pastel looking colors but not this time.

These are the ones that I have yet to test burn, I haven't even clipped the wicks yet. I got the idea from looking at this site http://www.candlehelp.com/?content=whipped

They are scented in the following scents Cranberry, Cinnamon, and Marshmallow. They smell wonderful.

The site gives me insperation on making different styles of candles to try to see if the will work or not for my candle business. Right now I just have the basics containers and melts. I want to add on so this year is for testing new products.

Soon I will have a complete Candle Shop in my basement that will give me room to do whatever I want. So this year I know I will be doing many things that have been on my list for years that I just couldn't do because of having no room.

I also closed down my Etsy Shop to work on a Regular Website. It's still a work in progress, I'll keep everyone updated.

ttyl

What this blog will be

2010-02-02T17:11:00.000-05:00

This blog will be turned into HillBilly Kandles Blog ONLY. No more personal information nothing like that. I started another blog just for that. I will be sharing tips and tricks that I've learned and tried. I will be posting new pics of products that I will be testing. I also will be posting ideas that I so want to try and would like to see what others have tried.

I want HillBilly Kandles Blog to be just about Candles and maybe some Bath & Body Products.

ttyl,

To help friends or not, that is the ???

2009-12-19T17:11:00.002-05:00

I always get asked by people how do you make candles? I hate that question with a passion, not because I don't want competitors or anything like that, that one question leads to others. Like for instance what type of wax do you use, where do you buy it, or where do you buy your fragrances??? What jars do you use, what supplier sells them?

I feel like they want the easy way out instead of testing all the waxes that are out there through trial and error like I did or the thousands of dollars that I wont recoup till whenever because I tested hundreds of fragrances in all those different applications till I found that perfect wax that I thought knocked your socks off with each fragrance oil that I decided to keep in stock.

I want people to test their products thoroughly like I do every time I pour an order. But with TV shows like Martha and other DIY shows that make it look so simple it's getting harder to emphasis testing to the newbies of the candle the world. It's not as simple as putting a wick into a jar and pouring wax in it. You have to test, yes TEST that product for at least a year.

Why a year?? Because of all the different seasons, when I first started I thought this was going to be a simple hobby that turned into a lucrative business within months. Boy, was I wrong...

Seriously test test test till your broke because if not your not going to know if your candle will frost after some time, if it burns right, if it throws good, if it catches fire at the end of the candle, I could name more but I'll stop.

The same goes with Tarts, not a year but give it time. Also get testers, they aren't going to have the same tart warmers as you so to test all the different types of warmers with your tarts is great.

I usually point them to http://www.fragranceoilsbystate.com list and http://www.craftserver.com

With those to sites you can't go wrong in researching and ordering candle supplies.

But please don't ask me how to make candles and hand you over all my trade secrets. Yes there are several fragrance oil companies out there, yep we might end up buying from the same place but I wont tell you...

I feel better now, lol

ttyl

Melt Orders Are Rolling In

2009-12-02T21:16:00.002-05:00

WOW, they are really rolling in. I have to mail out an order from Etsy tomorrow, my friend keeps getting orders from her party 2 weeks ago, my other friend gave me 2 orders on facebook from her friends, my usual customer ordered and the lady down the street from me ordered more. So that's over 100 Melts that have to go out this week.

I love orders like this, keep them coming....

HillBilly Kandles is getting more and more exposure by the minute by referrals from friends. Facebook has become an incredible marketing source for my company.

I'm reading a book called Trump University Wealth Building 101. It's a little outdated but the information in this book is the best advice you would ever want to know about being an Entrepreneur. I'm only on Chapter 12 and I've learnt so much already, I can't wait to dig into the book tonight.

Donald Trump is one person that I would love to meet, I would love to pick his brain for a few min. But anyways back to the book... In the 11 Chapters that I have read it talked about getting out of debt which isn't a problem that I have that much but the information I got out of it gave me such a duh moment.. It also talked about what type of business you want to get into and how to pick the right one. Which I already have a business but it made me think of my business in another way. There is so much more once I get further I'll let you know...

I have made a list thanks to this book of all the ways I want to market my business, ideas started popping out every sentence I read. Now I'm not endorsing this book I'm just telling you what the book did for me, it may not do it for you but I like it so far.

Anyways, lol.. The best selling scents from this order of 100 melts are:

Love Spell "Type", Blueberry, Downy Clean Breeze, Autumn Harvest, and Cinnamon Bread Pudding. What a variety, huh??

Well I gotta go just wanted to update you on how HillBilly Kandles is doing..

ttyl,

Little bit of this & that

2009-11-30T22:11:00.003-05:00

I think I went over board on the colors on this blog, lol. If their to bright please let me know, I will change them.

Ok, the melts are a work in progress round 2 didn't go as well as I hoped but hey I'm up for round 3, 4, or 5. I'm hoping to have them ready for at least Spring so I have plenty of time.

My man is stringing up the lights on the tree, we put up the white tree this year. Last year we had the green tree up. The little one is getting into everything, he even broke a bulb or two but what's Christmas without some little accidents.

I can't wait to let them decorate their own bulbs, I'm sure they will look great.

Tomorrow our Advent Fun List Begins, I finished it and put them in the Snowman Container our Girl Scout Pretzels came in.

I love Christmas, the Family, the Traditions, the Music and Spirit really gets me going.

I forgot to add in my pasts posts about another Tradition that we do every year, I don't know how I forgot about it because it's the most important one, I think.

We donate to Toys for Tots, each year my kids pick 1 toy each for a child then we drop it off.
It makes my oldest feel great, that he is helping out someone that might not get a toy. He understands that Parents and Santa Clause both buy presents for kids.

Well I better get off of here, the kids are screaming, my man is starting to raise his voice at them, lol. They are digging through the decorations throwing them everywhere, lol..

ttyl,

Practice Makes Perfect

2009-11-29T22:07:00.003-05:00

I love trying out different ideas that pop in my head, but they are so much more work than I anticipate. Last night I was looking at some pics of soap and got really inspired by them to try out some techniques on my melts.

My Melts are my #1 seller, so they are my main focus. I made up 2 different styles, they didn't come out so well but it's a good start. At least I know what I have to focus on now to make my idea a wonderful reality.

I would post them but they are so not what I want to show anyone right now. I have a list of projects that I want to do to add to my line in a 3 subject notebook that I keep looking at and adding to. I know all will come a reality at some point, especially when my shop gets built at the house.

Well my main purpose for this post was to say Don't Ever Give Up On Your Dreams, Make Them A Reality!!!!!

Traditions

2009-11-28T20:07:00.003-05:00

With Thanksgiving over, it's on to Christmas and it got me to thinking about Traditions.

Last year my family and I started a new Tradition, I read about it on a blog. I don't remember which blog but the lady was very creative and she should get all the credit for thinking it up.

It's like an Advent Calender, sort of. What I do is get Christmas Scrap Paper and fold it like a little football, in the middle of the paper I put an activity that we are going to do that night. Then each night one of the boys get to pick one and whatever is on there we do.

This is some of the activities I have so far:

1) Make Chocolate Dipped Pretzels and decorate with Festive Sprinkles

2) Make Mitten Sun Catchers for a decoration

3) Go see the Lights

4) Make Hot Cocoa with all the fixens in our special Snowman Mugs that I got from Celebrating Homes this year.

5) Make Cinnamon Dough Ornaments for family, friends, and teachers.

6) Color Holiday Pictures while listening to Christmas Music

7) Make Fleece Blankets for the Grandmothers

8) Decorate Christmas Cookies

9) Watch Christmas Movies with popcorn and snacks

10) Make Reindeer Treats for Rudolph and the Gang (we usually do this on Christmas Eve)

11) Decorate their own Christmas Bulb (usually I go and buy them one but this year I'm going to let them decorate one)

12) Read Christmas Stories

And that's about it so far, I haven't gotten to make a complete list but I'm almost there.

Another Tradition is The First Day of Hunting Season we decorate the house while making home made Chillie for my big guy so he has a warm and hearty meal at the end of a cold hunting day.

Pajama's of course on Christmas Eve, lol. The boys know it's not going to be a fun present that day. But they do wake up in new comfy pajamas every year.

This year my oldest is going to be excited about his PJ's. I found a pair that have his favorite wrestler on them.

And last but not least, making Christmas Dinner. Ham, garlic mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, chocolate pie and since we forgot to make Yams for Thanksgiving that's what we're adding to.

Black Friday Special

Free Shipping till Monday, November 30th

ttyl,

Black Friday Sale!!!

2009-11-26T11:59:00.001-05:00

Free Shipping starting November 27th till 30th

http://www.HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Since my products are ridiculously priced already the next best thing is to offer Free Shipping.

You can order a 6pk. Of Melts or (3) Container Candles and the shipping will still be FREE!!!!

If you want great smelling Candles at a great price then HillBilly Kandles makes scents!!!

Have a Happy Thanksgiving,
Mindy (HillBilly Kandles)

I had a HillBilly Kandle Party!!!

2009-11-22T22:32:00.005-05:00

Saturday a friend of mine had a HillBilly Kandle Party, it was so fun. We played a few games, gave out a few prizes (melts) and then they all went shopping. I wish I would of brought more change. I do have to say my Best Sellers by far were Cinnamon Bread Pudding, Love Spell "Type", Spiced Apples n' Peaches and Nana's Kitchen. It went really well, I'm thinking this might be the way to go offline. My hostess made out big time and had such a great time picking out all the melts that she got for FREE... She also got a great warmer for hosting the party...

I just added a few new listings on my Etsy shop. I'm so excited, this time you guys get to pick your own scent from the many scents that I offer. That I put on my Front Page.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35088738

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35088239

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33108661

Or you could just go to my shop at http://www.HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I was sitting here pondering what I could offer my customers for Black Friday and the only thing I could come up with is FREE SHIPPING, YAY!!! Who doesn't love that??

So Bookmark my site and go on it on Black Friday November 27th and shop with HillBilly Kandles and you'll get FREE SHIPPING...

Fishful Thinking - Emotional Videos

2009-11-03T11:45:00.000-05:00

Fishful Thinking - Emotional Videos

Whats been going on...

2009-10-23T18:06:00.003-04:00

I've been putting somethings to the side lately and I think it's about time to spread the word about everything that I've been involved in.

First I'm an ambassador for Barefoot Books, I mainly just order for myself but have decided to share the wealth about the books I have bought for my children to help spread the word about this wonderful company.

http://hbkandles.barefootbooks.com

I also am an Avon Representative and again just buy for myself because I love Avon Products...
Now I signed up to become an erepresentative so I'm sharing that with you to.

http://www.mindybarber.avonrepresentative.com

Again I'm going to be sharing my favorite products that I have continuously have used for years.

I also opened up my Etsy Shop Again, YAY!!!

I'm only going to be selling what I have in stock so orders are shipped out quickly. Some things have changed like the shipping days. They are Monday, Wednesday, and Friday only. There is still Free Shipping on the weekends (Saturday and Sunday). As of right now my Best Selling Fall Scents are available for purchase, I'm still looking around for a cheap way to ship so till I find it I have to ship using USPS for $4.95. I'm selling that amount because that's all I can fit in that box.

http://www.HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

And of course Fishful thinking. Every day I'm going to post an activity, a link to an article, or a video on my blog for you guys to check out. I think that Fishful thinking is the best. I've done so many activities with my children and they loved it.

So till next time...

ttyl,

Some Things To Do With The Kids

2009-10-20T19:45:00.004-04:00

I haven't been posting much lately because it's the Season to stay inside and enjoy excellent smelling Melts, lol. Seriously, I've been really busy making, packaging, and handing out tons of melts. I ran out of wax twice in 2 weeks. I also got new Tart Warmers, they are so cute. They are selling like crazy...

Anyways, back to my Title... I try to spend quality time with my kids every night. Since my kids are so far apart in age (6 years) it's hard to find activities to do with both of them at the same time.

I know I have posted this before but this site is amazing. There are so many different activities that you can do with all of ages of children that encourage them to be themselves and to think outside of the box.

http://fishfulthinking.repnation.com/Log.ashx?a=2&i=364&r=5f20836c-0da4-4b8d-8ff0-6be5473cf114

Yesterday after we went to the pumpkin patch, we went on a Nature Sensory Walk. The kids loved it, my oldest boy would say listen for the bird, then when he heard it the little one would scream in delight.

That night we did the Favorite Photo activity, it's where you find a picture that brings back good memories and you write about why the memories were great. That's how we did it.

Every morning when my oldest goes to school, the little one and I do the Happiness Scavenger Hunt where I make a list of all his favorite activities and we do them during the day. After we do them we mark them off with his favorite color highlighter.

Well those are just a few Activities that are on the site, there are also articles, and quizzes for you to take.

Check it out!!!

ttyl,

I'm not ignoring anybody....

2009-09-30T21:26:00.004-04:00

I've had so many phone calls from family and friends asking if I was upset with them because I wont answer their calls or call them.

I have been so busy lately, being the fundraiser coordinator for my sons school, being leader for Cub Scouts, going to football practice 3 days a week, games on the weekend and making candles for orders.

I just wanted to leave a note that I'm not upset at anybody and I'm actually happy, lol.

Making candles has helped me out so much it's like a therapy to me. And smelling all the wonderful Fall Scents has just put me in that mood of relaxation.

My best sellers this week are Autumn Apple Spice, Pumpkin, Creme Brulee, Marshmallow, Blackberry Jam Cookie, Very Vanilla, Cinnamon Stix, and Christmas Tree.

Yep, I have been getting Christmas Scent requests. My senses were all out of whack when I was pouring it because it just felt wrong since it's supposed to be spicy pouring time not Christmas Tree pouring time, lol.

Since I have been busy I have been trying to spend more time with my children than I usually do. The little ones curriculum is doing well. He is just talking so much lately that it kind of shocked me. Where did my baby go???

My oldest well he's struggling with a few grades but after talking to his teacher she reassured me that he isn't doing that bad. I guess I'm just used to him making straight A's that it's a shock when he isn't. I don't want him to be like me, yep I didn't make the best grades when I was in grade school but then again I was going through my parents divorce so that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it.

But I totally expect more out of my son he is a bright child. I'm also the type of parent that talks about College to my child alot. I didn't go to College because I wanted to take the year off, little did I know that I would take a decade off. I buy College Apparel for him to wear, especially Colleges that he likes their sports and academic programs.

My son watches College Football all the time, he knows every Football team and most of the players on each team. He's a Football Fanatic.

Well speaking of my football player he's done with his night time reading so I better get off of her and make sure he goes to sleep.

ttyl,

Rain Rain Go Away!!

2009-09-27T10:44:00.002-04:00

You would think that I would love the rain since it keeps me in to clean, lol. But my son has a game at 1pm and it's 10:44 am and showing no signs of it quitting any time soon.

It's been raining all morning, well I know since 5 am. Yeah, my little Alarm Clock woke me up to play. I thought we were out of those phases, people keep telling me when their kids were his age they started sleeping till 8am. Last week he did twice, but he has a cold so I'm thinking that's why.

I still can't find my hicky ma bob to hook up my camera to the computer to add pics. Now it will be winter time before I add my summer pics, lol.

So what's been going on?? Well with me it's been a bit chaotic to say the least...

Still trying to get the hang of Head Fundraiser Coordinator for the school, I'm a bit nervous to add my name but got busted by the principal and he said I should make it more personal by adding it. Whatever, I was trying to save my hide from the calls and letters sent to the school about me, lol... You know how some parents can be...

Ah yes then it's the Cub Scouts, my den is still fussy. The boys from last year can not sit by the boys that they do not still get along with. It's fun having 8 boys and having 4 of them not be able to sit together... But today I'm going to CONQUER that, wish me luck....

I'm not one to give up easily, when there is a challenge I'm the first one to be there to figure it out. I want these boys to get along and start acting like Bear Scouts instead of Tiger Scouts, I'm their leader so I need to show them how to.

Business, I have 1 more craft show to do then I'm done with craft shows. Wholesale I'm doing great just got a new client that loves loves loves my Melts and it's not to far from me to deliver to them. Offline customers are really starting to buy the Fall Scents, thank goodness. I was getting a little tired of pouring watermelon, lemongrass, butt naked, and others during September.

My main sellers so far Fall Harvest, Pumpkin, Cinnamon Roll, Roasted Chestnuts, Hearth, Primitive Cupboard, Nana's Kitchen, Autumn Apple Spice, Caramel Apple, and Candy Corn.

Well better get off of here to get ready to set up for the game.

ttyl,

Fishful Thinking

2009-09-22T22:02:00.002-04:00

Yep, I signed up to be an Ambassador. When I got the invite, I was so excited, because all summer my kids and I have been doing the activities on the site. Since school started we have been slacking but getting the invite was a great reminder to get back into it.

The site is wonderful, there are so many activities to do with your children it's hard to just pick a few to do. My oldest wanted to do them all in 1 day, lol.

Our family life has become a little hectic with school, football, and life in general. So it's nice to just kick back and do something fun with the kids sometimes.

Check it out here. http://fishfulthinking.repnation.com/Log.ashx?a=2&i=361&r=5f20836c-0da4-4b8d-8ff0-6be5473cf114

I'm sure if your anything like me, family time is precious anymore, the more time you spend with your kids the less you feel guilty about your crazy life.

Well gotta go, just thought I would update you all on what's going on with me.

ttyl,

Craft Shows and Candles....

2009-09-07T21:02:00.002-04:00

Business

My mother and I sat down on my porch swing yesterday talking about Craft Shows. We both decided that we would do 1 more Craft Show this year and that would be the end of it for a very good while. We both agreed that Wholesale is the way to go, so no more packing around huge containers of Melts, Container Candles, Flame less Candles, Pillars, etc.....

This past weekend showed that there are just way to many other chandlers out there selling the same exact things that I sell but for way cheaper. I've been making candles for 4 years, I know the time it took me to perfect each and every product, the amount of money that it took me to perfect those candles. So by far am I cheap about my products, I charge $1 per melt. Their cheaper than the stores but worth every penny, mine are also twice as big as others.

But I guess quantity beats quality anymore. I also had different scents, I made a pretty penny because I am known by people that have seen me before but I'm just so done with the Craft Show seen. Yes, I am a crafter but my products are better seen in stores than on a table at a craft show. Don't get me wrong, craft shows are great. I got my name out there, I got followers, I also made some very good money at them but I think it's just time for me to move on.

Usually I don't like change but change is a good thing especially in business. I have a few things up my sleeve to take HillBilly Kandles to the next level.

So wish me luck.......

Now onto my personal life, where do I start, lol.

My son had his first football game this past weekend, he did really well. I just wish he would get more aggressive in the game like he is at home, lol.

School, well it's going well. My son likes his teacher but doesn't want to go to school for some odd reason and he's not alone. There are several other students who don't like school to.

Cub Scouts, our first meeting will be soon, I have a lot of things planned for the boys. I'm really excited about it this year, there is just so much to do with Bear Scouts.

My baby he's doing well. Everyday he does his schooling, lol. He loves to color but with only 1 color per picture. He also loves to count his trains, so far I have him counting to 5. He's finally saying his name instead of Baby, and is also holding his fingers up when someone asks him how old he is.

Well I better get off of here, it's time to put the boys to bed.

ttyl,

How to Remove Lipstick From Carpet | eHow.com

2009-08-24T09:08:00.002-04:00

How to Remove Lipstick From Carpet eHow.com

Shared via AddThis

Yep, my little one decided that he would color my white carpet with my red lipstick. So I went searching for some help to get it removed and this is what I found to help remove the lipstick.

Enjoy!

August is almost over......

2009-08-21T18:42:00.003-04:00

Honestly, I can't believe my sons summer vacation will be over in 10 days. There so many things that we didn't get to do yet that we had planned. How in the world am I going to get to cram it all in, in less than 2 weeks.

Especially when I'm running around in circles with everything else going on like:

School Shopping, yes I'm still doing it. Just little odds and ends stuff.

Still haven't gotten together with my Assistant to plan for the upcoming Bear Meetings for Cub Scouts.

Football Practice at night, it just started last week. So from 6-8 I'm at the field.

Fundraising meeting for our school, so far we have 1 major fundraiser already planned but we're still not really when to have the other ones since we need to quite having so many, lol.

And we are still building our house, which is slowly but surely moving along.

Have to pour Candles for an Upcoming Craft Show, yeah I just added 4 new scents to my Fall Line so that didn't help much, lol. But I just couldn't pass them up...

I have yet, to go on my Etsy Shop and reopen it. I'm thinking holding that off till the beginning of next year. I finally have my packaging, and new labels done. I really need to work on my offline marketing for awhile then get back into working it online. I have a list to do with my Candle Business and slowly but surely I'm marking each task off.

I'm figuring by the time I get to post what we did so far this summer it will probably be Fall, lol.

And last but not least on my To Do List is starting my 2 year old Curriculum. When my oldest goes to school, I will be doing some schooling with my baby...

Well I gotta go, baby just woke up from his nap.

ttyl,

August Already???

2009-08-03T13:20:00.003-04:00

Geesh, where did the time go? I can't believe summer is almost over. The kids go to school August 31st.

It's really depressing when you go to a store and school stuff is everywhere. There were tons of people at Kmart school shopping already... I at least wait till 2 weeks before school starts and hit the stores with major sales...

I shop at the same stores every year, Walmart, Target, Gap, Old Navy, and Abercrombie Kids... Walmart has my sons jeans, Target, Old Navy, Gap, and Abercrombie Kids have the shirts that fit my son the best. Shoes, well he is so hard on them. I have to buy at least 2 pair for him to switch with or I'm buying shoes constantly. And of course they have to be Nikes because they feel better on his feet. (I'm the same way, I love Nikes)

I'm so thankful that my little one can wear Kmart and Walmart shoes.. I think my oldest is beyond spoiled because he was the only one for 6 years.

This school year it's going to different, we have a new Principal a man principal, lol. I heard that he is cocky and stern. But then I also heard that the kids love him at the other school, and that he is a really nice guy.. Heck, I'm just excited that we're not going to have a biased principal that does everything for the other school while we don't get anything. I'm sure whatever the other school gets to do we will to... I can't wait...

I personally think this change is going to be great, hard at first but Great!!!

We also have a new PTG President, she is a wonderful person and will think of great things to do with the kids during the school year. She is very creative and thinks outside of the box.

Some are afraid of change, but I think it's Good!! If nothing changes how can we move on and become better at things...

So even though I'm sad that summer is ending soon, I'm also excited about the new school year for my son.

I hope he keeps up his positive attitude about it to...

Well I have to get off of here and pick the baby up from his grandparents.

Have a Great Day!!!

ttyl,

Testing, Testing, 1 2 3

2009-07-29T10:09:00.003-04:00

I've been a testing fool. My sniffer has totally stopped working. I can smell the stuff as soon as I pour it but smelling it when it's testing in an area in my home is just not working. Thank goodness for testers.

I've poured over 25 different scents within 2 weeks and I have 18 more coming soon, hopefully tomorrow.

Fall is my biggest selling season offline. So I know what sells and what doesn't. I also know that colors are what draws the customers to my Melts. I have this new scent that is a little spicy and I just don't know what to color it. So I called all my friends and they gave me the same color Cranberry. But the only thing is, is that I already have several Red, Burgundy, and Cranberry colored Melts. I need another color, maybe a Blue??

Oh well I'll figure it out, I always do... Now onto packaging I just received my new packaging and if all goes well I'll take a few picks of the final product for everyone to see. I also have new labels.

Well I better get off of here and practice my packaging.

ttyl,

Our New Monday Funday Swiming Place

2009-07-20T12:49:00.002-04:00

The kids love it.... Last Monday I had a heck of a time getting my youngest out of the water to go home. He was getting cranky, it was nap time. My oldest had a blast with all of his friends. There was a total of 23 of us there. Nothing like sitting with the girls talking while the kids are playing in the sand, playing on the playground, or swimming. While going to our new swimming spot there are a few old Cover Bridges. We stopped and I took pictures of the kids. I'll post them next time. My camera is in my mans truck,

Today I'm not going because we are pouring the cement into our basement and I have to clean.

Monday Funday's started 4 years ago when all of our Boys were on the same T.ball team. We used to meet up at the local pool but it started getting expensive. The first 2 years it was $3 per person, last year it went up to $5 per person, and then this year it went up to $7 per person. So we had to find another place quick.

This place is Free and it has a nice set up for the kids. We bring snacks, drinks, and toys with us.

It's kinda funny though out of the 8 of us 3 of my friends have pools. But it's like we're at the beach there.

My youngest took a 3 hour nap when we came home, my oldest also took a little snooze to.

Well my man just called and said I better get over there, they just came with the concrete...

ttyl,

What it's like being a BzzAgent

2009-07-12T20:14:00.004-04:00

I really like being a BzzAgent, I just got my 1st BzzKit last week. I was so excited to see it in my mail box. My BzzKit contained a Cover Girl Lip Stain in the color of Teasing Blush, (10) $1.00 Coupons Off of Cover Girl Lip Stain, and the Cover Girl Official BzzGuide.

The day I got it, I opened up the box and put it on. It looks like a marker, I hurried up and tested it on my boys cheeks to see if it would rub off. It didn't, my oldest didn't believe me till he looked in the mirror and told me that I should tell Grandma about that lipstick because hers stays on him.

So of course I did that. Yesterday we went to visit my mother, my sister and my 2 teenage nieces were there to. It's kinda funny because they cracked up as soon as they saw me. Because Teasing Blush is not my color at all. But it did look good on my mom so I let her have it. I also gave my mom, my sister, and the ladies that work in my moms office each a coupon. I also talked about being a BzzAgent with them.

Later that night I went and picked up my oldest son and Bzz about being a BzzAgent and gave my oldest boys dads wife (gees) a coupon to. Today I gave my last coupon away to my friend Kim. She doesn't wear a lot of makeup but does wear lipstick or gloss almost everyday.

Being a BzzAgent isn't only about Testing the Product but it's also about Word Of Mouth Advertising about the product you are testing and about being a BzzAgent.

Becoming a BzzAgent is easy to do and it's free. I don't get anything if anyone joins, except for knowing that I'm helping out others in getting to try free products and helping get out the word about becoming a BzzAgent.

http://www.bzzagent.com or click on the right side of my page.

Out Of The Box Sampler

2009-07-09T13:20:00.002-04:00

I wish I would of taken a Picture of the box when I first got it to show you how wonderful everything looked before I rummaged through it. But of course I didn't because I was so excited to get my goodies.

I got a lot of neat things that I just couldn't wait to use so that day I took another shower just to use the soaps that were in the box. And the lotion, oh it smelled so good and my body just soaked it up because it's so dry.

The Melts, oh yeah the melts. Now I know I'm a candle maker but honestly I can't carry every single scent in the world so I do enjoy others candles that I don't make. I got this Graham Cracker Melt and I just fell in love with it. I hurried up popped out what I had in there and put that in it and lets just say my Kitchen smelled really good.

Then there was these Marshmallows, my kids snatched them up. I didn't get to eat 1 out of the 3 that I received. So I guess I'm gonna have to get me some to try.

I didn't even get to eat a cookie either, their dad snatched those up. So I guess all in all I got the girly things. Even though I like me some cookies, lol.

The Magnet, oh how I loved the Magnet. I'm kinda like a Magnet Junkie, lol. Well this one was of Fudge Brownies. It's a very durable magnet not a cheesy one at all.

Then there was a checkered 80's looking heart that you peel and iron on a piece of garment. I gave it to my niece because she's into that thing. And the 80's style is coming back.

* I will list all of the companies at the end of this post that were my fav....

But if you would like to see everyone that was in the box, go to http://www.outoftheboxsampler.com and get a box. Hurry up because they go fast!

The Marshmallows came from http://www.very-confectionate.com

The Cookies came from http://www.CutieCakePatisserie.Etsy.com

The Graham Cracker Melts came from http://www.StoneCreekCandle.com

The Lotion came from http://www.bellacustomblends@yahoo.com

The Face Soap came from http://www.carolynsnaturalsoap.com

The Small Candle came from http://www.crowesnestprimitiveshoppe.com

The Magnet came from http://www.traci-s.com

The Funky Heart came from http://www.tatteredtapestry.etsy.com

Well gotta go and make some lunch then wash my hands with some soap from http://www.dancinggrasshopper.etsy.com

ttyl,

Box Tops 4 Education

2009-07-08T21:32:00.005-04:00

Even though it's summer time that doesn't mean clipping your Box Tops should Stop!!!

I just got a newsletter from them and it reminded me of how important Box Tops are..

Our School Depends on Box Tops to furnish our Playground for the Children in our School and the Community.

Last year we surpassed our goal which was great and we all were very excited. Because that meant that we could get the Swing Set up for the kids next school year.

Box Tops has added more companies to there every growing list of products.

The best thing about this site is that even though you might have family that are out of state. They can sign up up on the site and still earn money for your school. They can shop on the site and wherever they shop they can earn a % for your child's school.

They also have a Reading Room where if you shop at Barnes & Nobles your school will earn 6% of the purchase.

Right now they're having a Special For every $50 spent you'll get an extra 5 Bonus Box Tops.

Box Tops also offers giveaways of boxtops to participants who sign up, you can sign up daily for a chance to win box tops for your school.

Right now they are having a Huge Giveaway.

It's called The Big Clip

Giveaway of 1,000,000 Bonus Box Tops to an American School. You can go there everyday to sign up and have a chance to win them for your school. Go Check it out.

There is so much more on this site that your just gonna have to check out.

http://boxtops4education.com

What was your favorite Happy Meal Toy??

2009-07-08T08:06:00.004-04:00

Since McDonald's is having a Birthday for their Happy Meals. I thought it would be a great post going through my favorite Happy Meal Toys.

My most favorite ones were the Muppet Babies

1) I have a faint memory of getting Miss Piggy a lot when I wanted another one. I wish I had those stuffed animals now.

2) The little Cars of the McDonald's Crew in them. You pulled them back and they would go all over the place. My cousins and I used to raise them all over my Grandparents house.

3) I absolutely loved the Halloween Happy Meal Pails, those were the best. I used to take them Trick or Treating with me every year. I wonder why they don't do that anymore??

4) Beanie Babies, I do have to admit when these came out I was 17/18 years old. But I did have 2 nieces that were little and absolutely had to have all of them. So on my lunch break I ate a lot of Happy Meals to get them almost all of them. I remember that a Hamburger Happy Meal cost $2.11 then.

5) I would have to say the Hot Wheel Cars are great for the boys now. Except when they give us Barbies when I specifically ask for a Boys Meal, lol.

So what are your favorite Happy Meal Toys??

Summer Fun working out and playing with the kids

2009-07-07T10:19:00.006-04:00

HillBilly Kandles

This past weekend I ordered 31 Sample Scents to test in my wax. Yes, 31. I've been wanting to try this supplier forever and I finally got the chance to. I can't wait to get my order, it should be arriving Thursday. So this weekend I'm going to be very very very busy pouring, my testers can't wait.

Working Out

This is really kicking my butt and getting it in shape. I know I'm only at the beginning and doing 15 min. work outs but man, I am so out of shape. I'm also drinking my Tea and SoBe juice (I think that's what it is called).

I also signed up on http://www.livestrong.com/

They have dares, you can keep track of your calories, working out, water intake, etc.....

Check it out, you can sign up for Free to.

Personal

My oldest has been going to Cub Scout Camp this week it's only 2.5 days but they do so much with the boys and the boys have so much fun. My son got to shoot a BB Gun, Hit targets with a Bow and Arrow, he also got to shoot targets with a Sling Shot. Since he already has a BB Gun and a Bow and Arrow now he wants a Sling Shot for his 9th Birthday. I might since I got my first Sling Shot when I was 6 years old.

We also went on another Beauty Detour and ended up in a field with deer in it. By the time I got the camera they all ran away, lol. That's just my luck...

We also did a Nature Sense Walk, we listened to all the different animals and guess which one was which. Along the way we found a turtle, my kids went crazy because I picked it up. I'm not so much a Tom Boy as I used to be but I love turtles. They wanted to bring it home but I told them it's best they leave it here so next time we can visit it. I remember taking turtles home and they never lived or they escaped.

My oldest made an outdoor gym that him, his brother, and friends could play on. It's in his Bear Scout book. He had a blast figuring it all out and making it happen. He put a lot of thought and consideration into it, especially making sure his 2 year old brother could play to.

Today we are getting our Gravel for our Driveway, we also started digging the hole for the house. The boys love to play in the piles of dirt, I'm pretty sure every truck we own is on the property.

Well gotta entertain the little one, he's getting sick of watching Elmo.

ttyl,

Happy 4th of July !!!

2009-07-04T09:24:00.002-04:00

I'm not doing anything much today except for probably going down my moms then going to watch fire works in the field like we do every 4th of July.

Last night I guess some teenagers were letting off fireworks in the back of a truck while riding up and down the road. What idiots.. But my little one liked it, he was looking out the window up at the sky and watching them. It must be a natural thing to say eww and ahhh when you see Fire Works because my little one kept saying it over and over again.

I hope the weather works out tonight, last year it got really foggy during the Fire Works and all you could see is colored fog. It was interesting but not the same.

Well gotta get off of here and do some laundry, the never ending laundry is getting bigger and bigger, lol.

ttyl,

I Just Bought My Fitness Coach for Wii

2009-07-04T09:15:00.003-04:00

I haven't used it yet, I will be trying it out later today. The reason I bought this is because it's hard trying to find a babysitter for your kids during the day every day. I hope it's better than what the Wii gives you. Although I like that, I want some more challenging Tummy Work Outs.

I also decided to cut down the Dew for good, I think with the lack of exercising and drinking almost a 3 Liter or more of Dew a day that's my problem. No wonder I feel horrible every day.

So I started drinking Lipton Green Tea with Mixed Berry. I love this stuff, I even like the Citrus one to. I'm going grocery shopping today to get some stuff to snack on like veggies. My body will probably go in shock.

I'll keep you updated on my progress.

ttyl,

10 Things that I'm Thankful For

2009-06-29T08:37:00.003-04:00

I saw this on http://thisoldhenhouse.blogspot.com/ and I thought this would be great to do.

You have to think of 10 things off the top of your head that you are Thankful For.

1) My Boys

2) Being able to be home with my boys

3) My Mom

4) My Sister even though she can be a butt head sometimes, lol

5) My whole Family, instead of adding them individually

6) Having the chance to build a house

7) I got 5 acres of Property, cause it's hard to find anything where I live let alone decent property

8) My Bestie Celia, she's the only friend of mine that wished me Happy Birthday on my Birthday

9) My Animals

10) My Business

That wasn't hard at all, now you try it....

Gotta go and get the kids dressed.

ttyl,

It's my Birthday, YAY I guess, lol

2009-06-27T17:09:00.003-04:00

Well my birthday started awful this year, with a cough attack that lasted from 10 pm to 5 am. I know I should of went to the hospital but I was actually exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

When I go to the hospital it takes at least 4 hours or more because I have to sign in. Let the Dr. check me out, get a breathing treatment, take some medicine and antibiotic. Then the next day go fill out the prescriptions. I know it would help me but I was just soooo tired.

What I got to do today was sleep, yep. My mom came up gave me my presents, we had cake and she took my boys so I could sleep. Sounds awesome doesn't it, it would of been if I didn't have this stupid cough and cold.

What I got, I got wax not candle wax but good old hair wax. I so desperatly needed my eyebrows waxed again. I also got a big mirror so I can see all the little hairs that need waxed. I just used it my eyebrows look awesome.

Now I just have to rest a bit more then go get my boys. I would have to say this has been the most well almost relaxing birthday I ever had.

Gotta go and try to get the wax out of my eye brows again, lol.

ttyl,

Another Fishful Activity

2009-06-26T20:44:00.003-04:00

My son isn't much of a Reader, so that is why I signed him up for the Reading Program at our Local Library.

For awhile now he has been eying up his Harry Potter book that he got at our local Flea Market for just 50 cents. It's 341 pages long, very overwhelming for an 8 year old that doesn't like to read.

I remember reading on the Fishful Thinking website http://www.fishfulthinking.com about a Goal Setting Activity and thought it would totally fit in with him wanting to read this book.

He decided since he loves to play during the day at night he would read the book, I also had him figure out how many pages per night he would read and how many days he wanted to finish his goal.

So he got his tablet out and figured it out by hand all by himself. I love getting him to work on school skills during the summer even though he doesn't know that's what he is doing.

Anyways, he figured out that he wanted to read the book in 2 weeks. So that meant that he had to read 24 pages a night to reach his goal. Every night he read those pages and marked off his trail till he was done.

I am soooo sooo proud of him.

Well just wanted to brag him up and let you all know that he is progressing a little each day..

Taking a Break from Etsy

2009-06-26T16:32:00.003-04:00

Hello all, I've decided today that I'm going to take a Break from my Etsy Shop. I have been neglecting it for some time and I think If I just take a break I can come back full force and do what I want to do with it.

During my break I plan on doing many things with HillBilly Kandles.

1) Cutting or Adding more Scents. Not sure yet, I know some need to go and would love to just have time to add some more.

2) Redesign my logo a bit

3) Packaging, I need something new and appealing

4) Adding New Items/Testing New Items

Testing is a major part of my business and I haven't been able to be creative lately and it's driving me batty.

I will still be posting on my blog about the things going on with it but other than that. I'm just taking a little break to be Creative Again... Something that is much needed....

There are so many candle companies out there and in order for me to compete I have to take this break to get back in the game...

Well gotta go and pour some new scents that I've been wanting to test for a month now...

ttyl,

Our Wednesday Adventures

2009-06-25T12:36:00.003-04:00

You know with the kids home, us parents have to start being creative when there isn't instant playmates around. Usually there are at least 3 or more kids around here but yesterday and today there wasn't.

Yesterday we went on a 10 min. Beauty Detour. I got the idea from http://www.fishfulthinking.com/ On the site it says 5 min. but since we live in such a Rural Area, I made it 10 min. We did it twice, the first time we ended up at a dead end road with a beautiful Farm on it. I didn't take any pics because of privacy issues. But when we were turning around in the window of this old farm was a little kitty. It would of been a great pic.

The 2nd time, we ended up at the Windmills. My son is the one that took the pictures while I was driving. They looked closer when we were driving past them.

So go check out the site, they have great Articles and many great Activities to do with your children.

Well gotta go and take some medicine, my cold turned into Bronchitis and I can't stop coughing.

ttyl,

We are home

2009-06-19T14:14:00.004-04:00

Our time at the beach was cut short this year. We got home around 11pm last night, it's a 6 hour drive, blah....

When we arrived Monday it was beautiful, we got to walk the beach collect a few broken shells, went to our rooms, and then went out to eat at our Favorite Place The Dough Roller.

Tuesday, it was freezing and very windy and it was like that Wednesday and Thursday. We checked the weather channel and it was supposed to be like that today to so we decided to leave early.

We did get to Go Kart Racing, We saw Wild Horses, Go to the Amusement Park, See Ripley's Believe it or Not! museum, go swimming in the Hotel Pool, Went Golfing, and walked the beach one last time. Oh and the Arcade, lets not forget that, we had over 7,000 tickets to spend.

My oldest got some Cub Scout Achievements/Electives Done along with some Belt Loops taken care of while we were there.

He did these Achievements 12 e- Plan your Outdoor Family Day, 14 a, b, c, f, and g Ride Right, 24 d Tell 2 people they did a good job.

Electives, 9 b & c Art and 19 a, b, c, d, & e Swimming

He also did his Belt Loops for Swimming, Bicycling, and Golf.

He also read 2 books while we were on vacation, which I'm so totally proud of. So now we can put that on his log for the Library.

We got back and I got a phone call from his coach from Baseball. They are having a program during the summer every Wednesday night to practice ball. Which is great because don't kids usually get bored around that time in the Middle of the week??

Summer is just and I have a list of things to do with the kids that I want to get accomplished. Even thought the beach wasn't what it was all cracked up to be, we still had fun and a lot of memories.

Gotta go and clean up the place,

ttyl

Going to the Beach

2009-06-14T09:36:00.003-04:00

We will be leaving Monday and wont come back till Friday at some point, hopefully not till night time.

When we went last year, it was my first time ever being at a beach. I loved it, I could of stayed forever. My mom bought me a little thing of ocean water, sand, and shells so when I need a break I just look up at it, What A Tease......

I had a blast last year, I boogy boarded, I swam in the Ocean with the Ocean Critters, caught sea shells with my toes in the Ocean, laid out on a towel and soaked in the sun. It was the best, I think the last time I was on vacation before that was when I was 3, we went to Hershey Park.

We have so many Sea Shells from last year that I didn't do anything with and I know this year it's going to be the same. I need to look up and find some neat things to do with them.

I have a few ideas, like making frames, 4-ever candles, and putting some in a vase for decoration.

Maybe when my house is built I'll make a special room in the house for all our Shell decor, lol.

When we get back from our Vacation we will be starting on the house, that includes the drive way and the whole for the basement.

We could of started digging last week but what's the point? When we'll be away for almost a week.

But anyways, gotta get this house semi un cluttered before we leave. My friend will be taking care of the pets, Hermie and Shawn while we are on Vacation.

ttyl,

Went to the Drive Inn Last Night

2009-06-08T12:15:00.003-04:00

We went to see that new Up Movie and the Night of The Museum 2.

My 8 year old really enjoyed Up, I thought it was ok. My 2 year old, well he fell asleep half way through the movie.

We got to watch half of the Night of The Museum because the kids fell asleep and I was freezing. It was so cold out, next time I know to dress warm or at least take my car instead of the truck.

I wish I would of took my camera, I would of loved to get some laugh shots of my kids.

That's another thing on my to do list:

1) Take Camera everywhere I go

We are leaving for Vacation next Monday, I can't wait. I really really need a break away from here. There is so much going on. When I thought that ball was over, I was handed a paper with tournament information. Tonight is our first game, if we lose we still have to play against the other losing team.

When will it ever end?????

We will also miss the first Day of The Summer Reading Program but that's ok. There will be more every Wednesday till August.

Well gotta go, my oldest and his friend wants to go over his house now =)

ttyl,

I found some things to do with the boys this summer, YAY

2009-06-07T08:48:00.005-04:00

I've been on the search for some Programs for my kids.

Every year at our local Library they have a Summer Reading Program. It's for Preschool to School Age children. For the Preschool Aged Children, you read to them but for the School Aged Children they have to read the books.

This year they did it differently, well my library did. Not sure about others..

We have to sign our kids online instead of getting everything at the library. Which is a great idea, because one they have computers at the library and two their not wasting paper.

The kids read the books, count how many pages, put the Author, type the Title and it will save the info and keep track of how many pages were read. Then they have programs once a week till August when they have their little party where every child gets a treat bag and the child with the most pages read gets an extra prize.

My son has been reading 2 books a day, not little books but The Magic Tree House Books. Small Chapter books. He sees this as a challenge and he's going to beat it. I wish he would of done that with his Accelerated Reader during school but maybe this will help him next year.

This Years Theme is : Be Creative @ your local Library

So go check it out and see if your local library is doing it!

If you have a Barnes & Nobles book store around they are having a Kids Program to, Online you can print out the sheets. Kids in Elementary School need to read 8 books, then turn your sheets in and your child gets a FREE BOOK. http://barnesandnoble.com

Borders is also doing something like this to. http://www.borders.com

Then I discovered Book Adventure http://www.bookadventure.org
This site is run by Sylvan, it's a program where you read books, take a small quiz, and earn points for prizes. It's just like your childs Accelerated Reader Program at their school. I signed my son up because he was slacking this year, and thought that this might help him with next year.

Cub Scout Day Camp

This one is for my oldest boy. This will be in July it's 2 days during the day for 8 hours. And then there is a Family Night on the 3 rd day. For the past 2 years I've been wanting to send my son and help out but finding a babysitter is hard in the middle of summer. This year I have a plan.
One day at my moms and then the other day at his other Grandma's.

Our Local Conservation Park is having Programs to, like Night Owl Watching and other things. They usually have a day program for the kids to but haven't heard word on that.

Then there is the local Church Summer Programs, it seems there is one almost every week this month. One is starting Monday.

Then the usual Community Fairs and Camping with the Scouts, I think my son will be a little busy. I hope I don't hear, I'm bored this summer.

I also got some educational things for him to do if I do hear the I'm bored thing, I looked up what 3rd graders will be learning and bought some supplies for him to practice with..

Well gotta go, kids are up and hungry.

ttyl,

I'm here.....

2009-06-05T12:20:00.002-04:00

Everybodys orders will go out today, when it rains it pours I swear....

I'm so behind on everything, shipments, house chores, life itself I can't keep up all of a sudden.

I have been dealing with some family issues that deal with my ex, his wife and my son. Now that we have figured out what they are up to, I have had to deprogram my son. Life has been pretty rough for the past 2 months.

I'm not trying to give excuses but I just want everyone to know that I'm here, we are moving forward and everything will be sent out today.

I'm not usually behind on things of importance but my mind has come back to stay. I was being forgetful there for awhile but I'm back on schedule.

Thanks for everyones understanding.

ttyl,

We got our Permits

2009-05-24T07:17:00.003-04:00

I'm just so excited that I had to share, yesterday we got our Permits in the Mail. We will be building soon, well as soon as we both agree where we are going to put the house, lol.

You wouldn't think that would be such a hard decision but it is, he wants it more pointing towards the right because down the road he wants to add a garage, plus he wants this funky drive way. Which I'm not to sure about, it looks long and weird. I would like a drive way that's like a circle in front of the house, decisions, decisions, lol.

My mother and I have collected $600 in Home Depot Gift Cards and $250 in Lowes. All I need is 400 more mypoints and I can get a $50 GC to Home Depot or Lowes to add to my collection. I haven't checked my bank points yet, so maybe I'll be able to get more GC.

We have so much to figure out it's pathetic, I really didn't think this would be happening yet. We want to be out of where we are living by August, before school starts. My son is going to be sooooo soooo soooo bored once we move. He's used to kids being around all the time, a lot of boys being around. Where we are moving there isn't many kids and the kids that are there are girls, lol. He knows them but still it's not going to be the same. But hopefully with 5 acres he'll find something to do.

The picture above is what our house is going to look like. It will have the blue shutters and roof but have like brown siding, we can't agree which one, lol. With a Blue matching door. I know it's going to be awhile but I can't wait to go to to decorate Ikea to decorate the house. I love Retro Modern Stuff and that's going to be my whole house. Lots of Color to, I really don't like blah white walls. Oh yeah and the house will be switched, the door will be on the right side instead of the left. I'll be taking a lot of pictures to keep you all updated.

Well it's time for me to get off of here and make breakfast.

ttyl,

Business as usual...

2009-05-21T14:26:00.003-04:00

HillBilly Kandles is doing fine offline but online my etsy shop isn't doing well. Now I shouldn't be complaining because I haven't been advertising it like I should but still I love Repeat Customers. I guess my online customers don't use their Melts up like the offline ones do. Which I can understand it's easier just calling someone up saying I want this, this, and this can you have it to me by tomorrow. Rather than waiting for someone to send it to you which can take up to 3 days or more depending where you live.

A few of my friends offered to help sell my Candles, if they can get Free Melts for doing so. Which is a great idea, and if I do the 3 day show in October I have helpers. Now these ladies usually buy off me each pay so I'll be losing their orders which are at least $20 per pay. They like to stock up and burn at least 2 or 3 at a time in different rooms, and have to change scents at least daily. I know it doesn't sound as much but that adds up. We'll see it's not definite.

With The Soap Queens Soap video on Youtube, I thought that I would try my hand at making swirled soap bars. She made it look so easy and it was till I thought that I would tweak some stuff and of course mine turned out UGLY. I dare not post it because I wouldn't want others to see how awful it looks. My son wont be to Happy because I made the soap with his stuff, he'll get over it. He hasn't made soap in such a long time, I doubt he'll even notice that I used some of his M&P Soap.

We do have another New Scent that will be added in June * Cannabis* It will be made in Melts only till I get a bigger bottle and try it out in my Container Wax.

One of my testers said it smells divine, lol. My mother loved it and we both got a good laugh after I told her what she loved. She told me she kept sniffing it and sniffing it, that she couldn't get enough. I asked her if she got the munchies after she sniffed it, lol.

Pictures, Well I don't have a set date yet but I did find someone that will take very nice and professional pictures of my candles for my etsy shop and blog. I'm sick of having post after post without pictures, it's so boring.

Well I better get off of here, I can't find my sons ball outfit and he has a game tonight at 5:30pm.

ttyl,

Need to find Creative/FUN things to do with the kids this summer

2009-05-19T08:59:00.002-04:00

OMG, lol. My kids drove me CRAZY yesterday. Especially the oldest one, yesterday was my sons school districts KennyWood Day. I wanted to take him, but I'm thankful that I didn't because it was cold out.

Of course all of the neighbor kids went so my son was extra bored, nobody to play with. I tried my best, went outside with the boys let them get down and dirty in the dirt. I even let them trash the living room, I was desperate. We also did an Achievement in his Bear Scout Book, baked cookies, made trail hike food, and we cooked outdoors on the grill.

But nothing was working, he was still complaining that he had nobody to play with. And since he came back from his dads this weekend he's been extra lippy and extra agitated with me for some odd reason. So of course I couldn't do anything right.

I was at my wits end, till one of his friends called and asked if he wanted to sleep over. I know I should of said no because of how he was behaving but I was getting ready to ground him forever so I let him go.

So that got me thinking, if he was bored for just one day. How is he going to be all summer?? I don't want to him to be bored all summer long. He's the type of kid that has to be entertained all the time, he's been like that since the day he was born. If I wasn't holding him, playing with him, or doing something with him he was crying. I know it's my fault, but he's my 1st. I've learnt that lesson and now teach my 2nd child to play by himself sometimes.

So I'm on the look out of things to do with the boys this summer, something easy and fun. If any of you have any ideas, please share.

So far I know that the Library Reading Program begins the day that we leave for the beach. But he will make it to the next meeting, and the program is till August. So that takes out 1 day during the week.

Then I was thinking about letting him sign up for Guitar Lessons Again, the lesson is only 30 min. long. So after that we could go to McDonalds and let them play for an hr.

We have stuff out of the Cub Scout Book to do.

Oh and lets not forget Monday Fun Days, that's where all of us T.ball moms, oh crap we're not T.ball moms anymore, lol. Meet up at the local pool and let our kids swim and have fun together.

Last summer, we started going to Ohiopyle, they mainly played in the dirt and some of the water collecting rocks. But they had fun. I was a nervous wreck because the currents are strong in those waters .

I need activities that an 8 year old and a 2 year old can do. They love to be outdoors and do crafts.

But anywho, my 2 year old wants me to play with him.

ttyl,

I can't believe it's Sunday Night Already??

2009-05-17T21:31:00.004-04:00

Where did the weekend go??? I haven't got anything done at all. I was supposed to plant flowers, have a cook out, wash a few loads of clothes. And I didn't do any of the above....

Business

Ha, Ha, My mom found a store near me that carries Candles. She bought some to scope out the competition in the area. She gave me a 4 oz. candle and 2 melts.

I loved the scent, they smell so lemony. I honestly can't tell you what the scent is because it isn't anywhere on the 4 oz. candle or the Melt.

I lit the 4 oz. Container candle and put it in my kitchen, I couldn't smell it unless I was on top of the candle so I put it in my bedroom which is smaller than the kitchen. When I'm in my bedroom I can get a whiff here and there but nothing major. I was really hoping for a knock your socks off candle believe it or not. The Melt well I put it in the warmer and nothing.

So I got the bright idea of taking my candles to them and having them try it out. My melts are twice as big and my candle containers smell up a huge room to a small room within minutes. That's not only what I think but also my customers.

Testers, YAY..... These scents will be added later in June. After I get back from Vacation.

Acai Berry & Apple Blossom (Picture of Acai Berry Posted Above)

I got Rave Reviews from all of my testers with these scents, I also enjoyed them to.

Personal

Well our Boys Finally WON their first Baseball Game Saturday, YAY.....

This is what our boys needed.

I am so proud of All of Them.

Cub Scouts, How to Try to Make A Mom Part Of The Den, lol.

We have a boy that joined our Pack at the beginning of the year. He was in Cub Scouts before, his mother was a leader when he was in Tiger Scouts. But supposedly turned down when asked if she would be the Wolf Scout leader for our Pack. Well anyways, all packs are different no 2 are the same.

The whole year, the mother complained about us. None of us could do anything right, but she didn't want to step up and help till the end.

We just had a little problem with this mother bad mouthing me to several people, even one of my best friends.... So I confronted her told her that I know that she is talking about me, that I don't appreciate it and that everything I do, I do it for the boys. I told her you know as well as I do that I didn't have the help that I needed to run the den at the meetings. This year that's going to change and if she had any ideas or would like to run a meeting that would be great. I told her that, the following year things were going to change. That I'm going to require parents be involved in some of the planning of the activities and actually run a pack meeting once a week at a selected location.

I also told her in 2 weeks my Assistant and I were going to have a meeting about what we were going to do the following year and places that we were going to go and that she was more than welcomed to come to the meeting if she would like to.

She told me that she can't do it on this and this day so we should make the meeting this day. Which was totally inconvenient for my assistant and I. I told her that it's a set date, and that if it didn't work for her then I could send her a copy of the notes that are going to be taken during our meeting.

She wasn't thrilled about it but at least I tried and I'm leaving it at that.

Things I learnt last week.

1) You can't please everyone, no matter how hard you try you just can't.

2) Don't take things so personally

3) Listen

4) Have Fun!!!!

Well even thought the kids don't have school tomorrow, I still want to have some peace and quit so I'm off to get the kids to bed.

ttyl,

My house smells soooo gooood!!!!

2009-05-13T10:02:00.003-04:00

Business

Yep, I'm at it again. I'm pouring testers. I wish I was pouring orders instead though.

I poured 12 different scents last night and I just got done pouring 6 more. I think that's it for now.

They are a mix of scents, some are fruity, bakery, floral, and spicy. But boy does my house smell like a Craft Shop. I love it.

I'm testing one upstairs right now, It smells divine. I hope it lasts. I like to know how long the scent will last before I add it to my line. If the Melt smells good that's great but it has to last or it's not going to be added.

I put my site on bzzagent to see what others thought about it. The one thing that is mentioned several times is that I don't have enough variety. Variety of what?? I figured it out, yes I have several several scent choices in Melts but not enough in Container. I also don't have any soaps listed which is another thing on my to do list.

My To Do List

1) Test these new scents in my Containers

2) Get my son working on his soap, he's been slacking lately.

3) Get some fab pictures of my Candles

Personal

I have a Personal To Do List to but it's rather long and boring so I wont post it. Instead of making one each day, I made a list of all the things that I want to get done for the month. I've been crossing stuff off daily and it seems to be working well.

I'm on the losing weight kick again, I've been drinking my slim fast and have cut down the Dew. I noticed the other day that they have a new Dew out, it's with natural sugars or something like that. Well it tastes Nasty, and this just might be the ticket that I need to stop drinking it.

I also need to start on the Wii Fit again, I don't know why I quit because it made me feel good. That's probably why I quit, I'm my own worst enemy. Once I feel like I'm losing weight, I eat cookies and chips all the time and gain the weight back.

My son has a game tonight, I hope they win this time, lol. He did really good Saturday, he hit the ball it went in the outfield and made it to 2nd base. Of course we lost that game but if it weren't for the other team stealing bases left and right we would of won. But that's how it goes, the boys just need to practice and get better.

Well I have to package these melts up and get them off to be tested.

ttyl,

Parties, Parties, Everywhere

2009-05-10T08:50:00.002-04:00

I guess it's that time of year, that everyone starts having Home Parties. I've been to 2 of them in the past 2 weeks.

The first one was a Partylite Party, I felt like such a trader going to the party. But I only bought what I don't make, Reed Diffuser, Votives and T. Lights. I'm not one to talk bad about a company but Partylite has gone down hill within the last 10 years. Or since I make candles myself, I'm just used to stronger things, like my candles.

But I do have to say their Strawberry Fields Reed Diffuser kicks butt, it is strong. I have tried making Reed Diffusers before but couldn't smell them so I kinda put them on the back burner till I figured out how to make them stronger.

They have this T. light holder that I want soooo bad and there are two ways I can get it. Either pay the $79.95 for it or have a book party. While having a book party, threaten all of the buyers that they better not order anything that I can make them, lol.

So I chose option #2, yes I am a trader but I do want the Infinite Reflections Candle Holder. It is beautiful, and when I do finally get my house built it will look Great in it.

Last night I went to a HGP Party (Home & Garden Party) but since they have taken over HI (Home Interior) they are called I guess Celebrating Home. I got that from the front of the book so if it's wrong I apologise.

They have alot of nice stuff, again I got suckered into having a party. I hate when friends look at me in despair, lol. So I roll my eyes and agree, maybe with this one I can get my mom involved and we could have the party at her office. She is the owner of a company and has over 100 employees surely some of them would come, lol.

I wonder what the next one will be Tupperware???

Lets see I just ordered some more scents, I really need to stop. I'll have over 100 if I don't stop again. I just cut the list back not to long ago. I ordered more Fall scents/Winter Scents, my testers are going to love me, lol. They hate to test scents that aren't with the season. Testing Fall stuff in the summer I guess, isn't fun, lol.

Hmmm, I wonder what we're going to do today?? I know my mom wants us to come down to her house for dinner but since it's so nice out, I was thinking about having a picnic. I haven't had a picnic in years, unless you consider sitting in the yard eating then I have them all the time with the kids, lol.

Well I better get off of here, I have to stop at the flower shop and get me some flowers to plant. That's a Mothers Day Tradition for me.

So Happy Mothers Day to Everyone!!!!!!

ttyl

Happy Monday !!!!

2009-05-04T15:35:00.003-04:00

Business

Well our 2 new scents are Toasted Marshmallow and Warm & Cozy. They are the most awesome scents that I have smelled in awhile. They both are all year round scents, I'm thinking I might have to come up with a new name for Warm & Cozy because it reminds me of a Fall/Winter Scent.

And really I don't think Warm & Cozy fits it, when I think of that name I think maybe a Fireplace scent or an Apple Cider Scent. But for now till I think of something that's what it's going to be called.

Saturday I got 2 new offline customers from ball, they are the mothers from the opposing team that my son played. Although they kicked our butts, I'm totally excited about them being new customers. I hope they enjoy the melts that I gave them.

Personal

Not much going on here, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the field is to muddy for the kids to play their game. Yes, another game..... I apologise about talking so much about ball but it seems that my life is totally revolving around it lately.

Basically there is only a month left and how these months have been going by so fast, I really shouldn't complain about it. Because 2 weeks after ball stops we are going on Vacation, Whooo Hooooo.........

This will be our 2nd year going to OC (Ocean City). I loved it, I think it's funny how you can be down at the beach for what seems only like an hr. and actually 4 hours or more has passed.

But anywho, have to get off of here and find out if there is a ball game.

ttyl,

What's next??

2009-05-01T11:42:00.003-04:00

Business

Lets see what did I accomplish this week. I did some online advertising on my cafemom and yahoo groups. That's about it. Next week I plan on advertising more. I have some great Spring/Summer Scents that will need to be listed in my Shop http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com.

I will be pouring some new scents that my testers will be testing soon.

The other scents that they were testing were duds. I'm not to happy with that because they smelled so good out of the bottle.

And I found my mold stuff, so I'm contemplating whether I should make a candle or soap mold out of it. And of course what type of design it should be. I've had the stuff for almost a year now.

Personal

I'm getting burnt out on the running. Although I thrive on it, I'm getting tired of it, lol.
And of course everything happens when my son comes home from school. All day, I'm running after a 2 year old and in the evenings I'm running my 8 year old around.

Saturday- Opening Day, worked the Concession stand. Will never ever ever work the concession stand on opening day again.

Sunday- Ran all over gods creation to pick up my son, then went to the Blue & Gold Banquet

Monday- Since our weekend was crazy. I cheated and went to the Laundry Mat, then had to go to a book fair for my son at his school then there was a PTG meeting I attended that night.

Tuesday - Baseball Game, it was raining and miserable.

Wednesday - Baseball Practice, at first it was raining and miserable then it stopped and it was pretty decent outside.

Thursday - Baseball Game, it wasn't bad at first but then it started pouring down rain. I was soaked and my son was soaked to.

Friday - We are supposed to have Baseball practice tonight, but I highly doubt we will. My son also has Spanish Class tonight at 4pm. I don't know if we are going to go, he's pretty worn out.

Saturday - we have another practice

Sunday - Cub Scout Party

And although my son is only in 2nd grade, he also had 3 tests to study for this week.

I applaud and praise the parents with older children that are involved in different activities, How do you do it??

Next week, we only have 2 baseball games and that's about it. So next week wont be as bad.

I have tons of things that I need to catch up with.

ttyl

Business, Business, Business

2009-04-28T08:06:00.003-04:00

Business

I have been thinking of ways to get my name out there and last night I thought of a good way to have a fundraiser.

Our 6th and 5th graders have little fundraisers on the side. So I thought that maybe before school ends this year, I would send in a form, some information, and some samples to the teachers to see if they could have a candle fundraiser for next year.

With schools, well with our school. We figure out which fundraisers we are going to do for next year during the end of the school year/summer along with the PTG president.

I don't know if that's the same for the teachers but I'm going to do it that way.

Personal

OMG, how do I get my son to stop being afraid to go upstairs by himself????

He thinks up some scary movies and refuses to go upstairs. He has been doing this for years and it's really starting to get to me. I've tried monster spray, flash lights, sleeping with a little light on, and nothing works. Absolutely nothing........

So if anybody has any suggestions please post them, because I'm at my wits end.

ttyl

Fused Glass Pendant Giveaway at Mommatudes Blog

2009-04-26T18:00:00.003-04:00

I really, really, really want this pendant, lol. It is so pretty.

The Giveaway ends May 6th. There are several ways to enter to have a chance to win this beautiful necklace made by Dye Lot Collection.

So hop on over to http://mommatudes.blogspot.com
to check out the Give Away so you can have a chance to win it to.

ttyl,

My chaotic life, lol

2009-04-26T16:23:00.002-04:00

I love it, I love my chaotic life. This weekend was especially chaotic.

Yesterday was Opening Day for Baseball. My son did great. His first 2 hits, he hit right to 1st base but at least he hit the ball. Then one of our kids got hit in the side with the ball, so my son ran for him. My son stole 2nd base, 3rd base, and home within 2 plays. He was so proud of himself.

The concession stand was hoppin, it was non stop working. I think I need to go back to school for basic math. I used the calculator more than I should of that day. It was so hot and miserable that day.

Then last night I helped decorate for our Blue & Gold Cub Scout Banquet. It took us 2 hours to set up the tables and decorate.

Today was the Blue & Gold, kids everywhere, I had to go up and speak in front of a large group and tell them all the awards my boys got. I can't do that, I had to have the other woman do it for me, because I really really hate speaking in front of large groups. I just have some type of phobia about it.

So it was chaotic and tiring and I totally loved it. I wish I was that busy every day.

Pro's and Con's of Today

2009-04-25T10:35:00.003-04:00

Well this just going to be a simple little post. Nothing seems to be going right this morning =(

Things that aren't going right

1) My SO decided at the very last min. that he was going to work today. So that meant I couldn't help set up the concession stand that I had planned to do since last Monday.

2) My youngest is totally destroying my semi clean house.

3) Sons # isn't ironing back on to his shirt. I wonder if I could glue it back on??

Things that are going right today

1) I can still help out at the concession stand today

2) Now I have a really good excuse to scrub my carpets and get new rugs for the living room.

3) My son is getting a new shirt Monday for Baseball, so we only have to deal with this shirt today.

I know what a way to complain but the things that are going right today totally out weigh the things that aren't going right. So I guess the saying is right, when life gives you lemons, Make Lemonade.........

So how do you like the new look??

2009-04-23T17:30:00.002-04:00

I have been trying to find Free Backgrounds for my blog for good while now. And I have finally found one. My fav color is blue, go figure, huh?? I just like this so much, now it looks more professional than it did before.

So leave me some comments, telling me if you like it or not.

Well gotta get off of here, the little one is trying to ride the cat like it's a pony...

ttyl,

Pain, Pain, Go Away

2009-04-23T08:23:00.002-04:00

Business

Next month there will be a new scent added. I am so excited about this scent. Another winner from all the testers. This scent is an all year scent, ya know the kind of scent that it doesn't matter what season it's still awesome.

My testers and I are testing 2 other scents that will be added either in May or June. These are I guess you could say seasonal Fall/Winter Scents.

1) Is spicy/fruity it is the best of both worlds if you like spice and fruit.

2) I really don't know how to describe this scent but it smells so yummy.

Craft Shows are popping up everywhere, I can't wait to start selling my amazing products that I'm so proud of.

If you have a craft business I suggest you try to sell at Craft Shows. You might not sell a lot but that's just more people that know you exists. It's a good way to show people that here you are and this is what you make.

Personal

I don't know what's up with me, my arm has been aching for a month. I'm to young to have arthritis. I've been rubbing Icy Hot on my arm every morning and the smell reminds me of my elderly clients that I care for that are 80-90 year old.

Yesterday my son had practice in the pouring down rain. It kind of reminded me of Pee Wee Football Practice. My son didn't mind playing in the rain and neither did I till I couldn't feel my hands, lol. I was so miserable but I guess that's just how it goes. The coaches know what they are doing and if they felt that it was ok to practice that way then I guess it was. My son had a blast...

He's doing really good and learning a lot. I'm so thankful that he got to move up. Opening Day is Saturday, and boy will I be busy.

My Saturday Agenda is: Morning have help set up and get things ready for Concession Stand, at some point I think it's at 1pm I have to work the Concession Stand. Then at 3pm is my sons game. Then later that day at 7pm I have to go to our Community Center and help decorate for the Cub Scouts Blue & Gold dinner for Sunday.

And in the between times, I have to go pick up my son from his fathers.

Well time to get off of here and clean up a bit. My house is getting cluttered again.

ttyl

Added some products to my Etsy Shop =)

2009-04-18T14:57:00.003-04:00

Business

Yep, I finally added the New Scent Lemongrass to my Etsy Shop. I also added 3 pks. of Vanilla and Blueberry Melts to.

I can't wait for others to try these scents, they smell great and last a good while.

So far the complaint about my site is that it doesn't have a variety... So I'm working on that, I think the problem might be that there isn't really any scents that ring a bell in any ones head. Like Vanilla and Blueberry might.

For example with Primitive Cupboard, I know what a name but honestly the reason I changed the name is because a good friend of mine started to make candles to and she decided that she was going to sell the exact same Fragrances that I sold. So I went on a search and found better Fragrances and Renamed them to be mine in my area. I've heard that she is doing well with her business and wish her the best of luck with it.

Personal

My son had his first Minor League Practice last night. He didn't do that bad, I was so Happy and Proud of him. Note to self, wear pants on him next time. They teach them how to slide, and my son hurt his leg sliding to 2nd base.

He has a sense of pride since he has moved up, it's like he grew up a bit in one night. He told me that he wants to show them that he is good, and with some practice he'll get better.

My boy is growing up.

Well since it's such a beautiful day outside, I'm going to get off of here and clean my house. So I can enjoy the rest of it outside.

ttyl

Joining Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap

2009-04-17T07:36:00.003-04:00

I'm so excited, today I'm joining Mamarazzi's Favorite Things Swap.

It's a swap where you send a participant your favorite things. The cost of this swap should be no more than $30 but not less than $20.

Boy whoever I get will be getting lots of goodies, well lots of smelly goodies. Because I love smelly things, Good Smelly things, lol.

Come on over and check it out and lets make this swap the best it's ever been!!

Mindy
HillBilly Kandles

The New Scent for April is Dum Da Da Dum...... LemonGrass

2009-04-16T19:40:00.002-04:00

Business

My Testers couldn't get enough of that scent sooo it's the New Scent for April. I'll be adding it soon to my etsy shop which is http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I know what a cheap shot to promote my shop but sometimes I have to do that, lol.

I also put my shop here http://www.bzzagent.com//p/6159767140/mindy5140 at BzzAgent, so everyone that has ordered go and check it out and write me some good feedback, please =)

I'm also an agent for them, actually I just started being an agent for them but so far this is what I know about them.

They are a company that matches people with products to review. You have to do surveys and take polls on different products and things that you like. So they can match up the people with the right product. You also have to comment on other peoples sites and blogs.

You don't automatically get to review products, you have to work your way up to actually do that. But in the mean time and all the time you get to earn mypoints when you do a survey. I have earned 24 mypoints just by doing surveys so far. The most mypoints I have earned are 5 for 1 survey and 3 for another. But they do add up.

So come on over and check it out and sign up.

Personal

Nothing much going on except we got my son a new bike today. He rode it all evening, I'm so glad he likes it. Both boys played hard today that they both stink like lizards.

Practice is tomorrow for Minor League, Vincent is a little nervous but I think he'll do well. We only have 2 days till Pictures and 1 week till Opening Day so I hope all goes well. Speaking of pictures, my son needs a shirt, uuuggghhhh. I hope he gets it tomorrow....

Well gotta get off of here and get my boys cleaned.

ttyl,

Soaps, Melts, and Eggs Oh My

2009-04-14T08:34:00.005-04:00

Picture #1 Last week was a really nice day so a friend and I took our kids to the local park. Of course the boys got bored of the park and went straight for the creek. My son was soaking wet, I yelled at him to get out of the water and as soon as I said that he slipped and fell. We laughed so hard because right before I yelled at him, I told my friend he's going to fall.

Picture #2 is of our Easter Eggs, what a MESS. But the boys had fun coloring them. My oldest boys hands were Green. I told him he looks like the Incredible Hulk. He was freaking out because he thought it stained but after 6 good scrubbing it came off.

Picture #3 is of my latest Soap Creations that I totally sold out of. The scent was Mint Raspberry. Easter Sunday was so fun, I sold so many things as last min. gifts for family and friends. So far I'm having rave reviews from the new owners of the soaps. One told me, she knew she wasn't going to be disappointed because she knew the soap was from HBK.

ttyl,

Happy Easter!!! =)

2009-04-09T09:23:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to pop in and say Happy Easter in case I don't make it later today.

I can't believe it's April already soon Summer will be here, before we know it.

And I can't wait, I'm totally embracing Summer this year since Winter seemed like it was taking it's good ol' time.

Adding More Products Soon To My Shop

2009-04-08T10:22:00.002-04:00

Business

I really didn't want to add anything to my blog till I found my plug for my camera. This weekend I made the neatest and best smelling soap that I've ever made so far. And of course I wanted to add a picture of it but of course I can't find my cord to download my pics from my camera.

But anyways, Business wise Friday I will be adding Groupings. So far I have an Apple Grouping which will be Country Apple, Fresh Apple, Apple Jack, and Apple Crisp. For All the Apple Lovers out there, I know you'll enjoy this.

I'm also going to have a Banana Grouping to. Monkey Tinkers, Banana Nut Bread, Banana Pudding, and I know I have another Banana but I can't think of it.

And I'll be adding another one after I take a peek of what I have on hand.

I will be ordering my 2 Newest Scents this Friday. I thought that I had ordered 1 of them but I guess I didn't.

Personal

Well the Baseball Fiasco is OVER, thank goodness. It was such a mess at first.

Here it is everything, it's confusing and sort of long. BEWARE, lol.

There is a group of us moms that are really good friends. We met when our kids started playing T.ball together. It's no secret that we're all friends everybody knows.

Well our kids tried out for Minor League and of course none of our kids made it. GO FIGURE,lol.

At first I was shocked and now I understand sort of. I know my son needs work but the kids that did get picked are of course the coaches friends kids. It happens all the time in sports. Whatever I'm over it. I'm happy that my son gets to at least play T.ball again for his 4th year. The only thing I'm worried about is that the 4 year olds that play T.ball might get hurt.

Just because my son is a hitter, the first T.ball practice of this year he lined drived our coach who was pitching. What if that would of been a 4 year old that isn't paying attention. But anywho..... One of the mothers couldn't let it go, she took it very personal that her child didn't make it and called one of her friends that is the Treasurer for our Little League which in turn she called the President.

Our Representative for our Teams where we live told my SO and one of the other mothers that they were thinking about making our kids just the two alternates they wouldn't play on the team as a Full Time Player but would play in case someone would go on vacation or if they needed another player. At first we weren't happy about that because if they weren't good enough to make it at Try Outs Why NOW. BUT they could still play T.ball.

Then the Representative for our Area told us that the president is pushing for 12 players on each team and both teams only have 11. So the Alternate might be a go but they wont know till the weekend when they have their meeting.

Now we are friends with the woman that complained, the rep was going behind her back talking to us about our kids being alternates for the teams. Which didn't make sense because in the end the one that complained her kid would be left out.

But now everyone agreed that 11 on each team for this year is good enough and NO alternates. But next year it will be different.

I was really starting to dislike Baseball and was ready to just say this is it, next year my son isn't going to play but the boy likes it and it didn't bother him that he didn't make it so, ohwell.

I told my son to do his best and have fun.

ttyl

Thinking Outside of the box candle, melt, and soap style

2009-04-04T08:23:00.003-04:00

Business

I feel like being so colorful today. So I'm going to write in color.

After watching a new video on how to make soap on The Soap Lab, it has left me very inspired to create beautiful things in my product line. I haven't had a min. to make anything yet, but that will change today. I think I have an hr. to play with something.

You should also check out her other blog for more cool soap making ideas if your into making soap. Soapylove Daily Ditties, she is so creative.

The reason I'm bragging her up is because she made a statement that is so true. This isn't her exact statement but in my words. Don't put all your eggs in a basket, you need to work all areas of your business to achieve one main goal (your business).

So that made me think, in what areas could I expand my business. I thought of some neat ideas just need to look into it more and figure out the pros and cons that come with them.

So to all you business people, think of ways to expand your business without spreading yourself to thin.

Businesses I bought from...

Lets see yesterday I got my Metalic Roses Earrings from wirefox. They are beautiful, I hurried up and put them on to go to Wally World. I'm kinda shocked by how I got many comments about them. They are nice. http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14888451

Last night I took THE Most Relaxing bath that I've takin in the longest time. And not only that it made my skin feel great. I used my Bubblegum Mini Cupcake Bomb. I'm still hoarding my Coconut Cream Mini Cupcake Bomb for later. From myotherprincess.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14881820

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14881821

Then I bought beautiful Earrings from airportlovestory called Contrastica. They are rather big, but really nice. You can check them out at http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14866366

All had very fast shipping and all were packaged really nice.

Personal

Where to start, the ball drama is still going on. I'm getting phone calls as I type this from almost everyone that is involved. Actually to much drama to type about still. I'm really not exactly sure what the actual point of the extra drama but once I find out I'll let you know.

Never a dull moment, lol. I'm really starting to think about writing a book about my life, lol. Not that it's so exciting but maybe someone can relate to the never ending drama.

Yesterday was such a good busy day. I love days like that. Days that exhaust me to the point where I lay my head down to go to sleep and I'm out the second I close my eyes.

I need more days like those.

Today, not much going on except my son friend is having a birthday party at 5pm. I'm good friends with his mother to and also on the Fundraising Committee with her.

I am so excited, last night I used my Martins Card to Save On Gas. I paid .88 cents a gallon and filled my tank up for $13.25. It usually cost me $40 to fill it up. Seriously if your town has a grocery store that lets you save on gas, please do it. You just never know when you'll need that gas when your money is funny.

ttyl

Changed my Layout again

2009-04-02T09:57:00.002-04:00

Yep, I got bored with the Blah Layout I had before and had to mix it up with a Bright Green one.

I've been feeling Green lately and have been associating it with Green friendly things.

Like the past 4 soap batches have been green, lol. My testers are asking for Pink, Purple, any color other than green.

That's why I love what I do, I love Color. I like to mix things up and be creative.

So to everybody today, be creative, think outside the box, and have fun.

ttyl

My Testers are really liking the soap and Lotion Squares

2009-04-01T21:26:00.004-04:00

Business

Well my Testers are really liking the Soap, the only complaint I've had about them is that they are to big. That's an easy fix though.

The Lotion Squares are getting Rave Reviews so far, I still think I may Tweak the Recipe a bit and have them test it again. I guess you can say I'm a perfectionist, I want my stuff Perfect before I offer it to the public.

My new scents for April haven't come in yet, so towards the middle of April I will be announcing my new Scents.

Some New Tester Scents have arrived so I'll be making Melts again for my Testers. These scents are more Fall/Winter scents. So they wont be available till then.

I'm really excited to try this one scent, I hope it works in my waxes.

But in the mean time you should check out my site to see what I have to offer. There are many great scents to try out at my Shop.

Don't feel like cleaning but want that clean smell in your house, check out our 6pk. Clean Scented Melts for $5.00.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Since I couldn't get anybody to post on my Give Away, I'm just ending it today. Maybe next time I'll have a better following.

Personal

Life has been a little hectic here lately. My son and his friend just can't get along anymore, I don't know if it's because they see each other to much or what's going on but they are driving me CRAZY......

T.ball practice, that's another story in itself and once it settles down and I finally have all of the facts together I will type about it more later.....................

But other than that, it was a swell day. I got a lot done in little time and fill accomplished.

I can't wait till tomorrow when I do more and feel more accomplished.

Tonight I did Wii Fit, I really need start doing this more often. I'm really starting to suck at it.

I still kick butt in the Hoola Hooping. Since I got my back cracked my balance is way better than it has ever been.

The other day I went to get myself the exercise Wii Fit Game but ended up buying my son the Star Wars stuff for Easter.

I really need to get into it and do it, I'm going to the Ocean Soon and I'm bigger now than I was last year. Thank You Mt. Dew, lol.

Well I'll leave it on that note.

ttyl

New Products Being Tested As I Type This

2009-03-30T20:06:00.003-04:00

Business

Hello all, Today has been an exhausting day for me. I was up at 4 am making Melts, Soap, and Lotion Squares.

Yes, the Lotion Squares are a new Product that HillBilly Kandles will be offering once I get my Testers Results. I might have to Tweak my recipe a bit because I thought it was to greasy myself.

I also put a few new additives in my Soap to make it more Luxurious, so those are being tested to.

The Melts well they are the same old Great, Strong Scented Melts that I always make, lol.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I will be shipping them out Tomorrow, Sorry for the Delay. I'll tell you Why in the Personal Section.

I have been an Advertising Fool lately, trying to keep up with all the sites that I advertise on.
So Far So Good....

I also got a Returning Etsy Customer, Thank you soooo much. I love Returning Customers =)

I also got a New Customer, I really really like New Customers, lol.

Personal

I bet your wondering What The Heck I Was Doing Up At 4 AM???

Well, Thursday my son wanted to practice pop ups (baseball) and I thought what the heck what fun that would be to spend some time with him. Well, I don't know what I did but that night my arm was on fire, from the elbow down. I rubbed Icy Hot on it and went to bed.

The following night and throughout the weekend, my hands/fingers would go numb and I had a lot of pain in my arms.

So I called my Dr. he wasn't going to be in till the middle of the week so I figured the Chiro would be the next person to call. Awww, I love my Chiro, he is the bestest, lol. I felt like a new woman when I walked out of that room. I hope it helped out with the numbness, because I just toss and turn all night long and eventually wake up at 4am in pain. Wish me Luck!!!

Shawn aka Meow Meow is doing great, his wounds are healed and he has I think 1 dropper left of his antibiotic, thank goodness. She said to use up the whole bottle so that's what I'm doing.

I got my oldest his Big Easter Present, I bought him a Wii Star Wars Game Light Saber Duel or something like that with Light Sabers to play with that fit the Wii Remotes. How awesome is that. It's actually an Easter / Getting Straight A's on his report card Present.

The baby well he's getting something with Trains, not sure what yet but I'm sure I'll find something.

My kids rarely get Big Things unless it's Christmas so getting him something that goes along with something else that he accomplished makes me feel good to reward him for a Job Well Done.

Well that's all for now.

ttyl

Melts and More Melts

2009-03-28T18:06:00.003-04:00

Business

My Number 1 Product is My Melts, they sell like crazy online and off. Very rarely do I ever get orders for my Container Candles. But when I start thinking that I should not make Container Candles for Craft Shows or on my Shop. I get orders for them. Never Fails...

So I'm thinking maybe I should add my smaller Jars Back. I would need to retest them but I'm thinking the way the Economy is now. Smaller Things May Bring A Bigger Buck.

So that's what's new with my business, I'm going to retest my smaller containers. Now onto the fun stuff, change the jar or not??? I really do like my 4 oz. Jars because they the same lid as my mason jars. But those little Hex jars are so cute.

We'll see soon....

Personal

Nothing much going on in my personal life. I finally got my car back from my mom. She took it to get fixed and wouldn't give it back, lol. She loves my car, I didn't like hers at all. I have a Jeep Laredo and she has a Jeep Compass. Her car creeks, you can feel every bump, and it doesn't have a DVD Player in it like Mine does. I love my car, love, love, love it. I've never had a car that I absolutely loved before, yeah I liked them they did the job but this one I really like.

Maybe it's because when I was pregnant with the little one, my car broke down on me in the scorching heat on my way to work. I'm hard on vehicles, everyone of my cars have been through it all. This one seems to keep up with me and gives me minimal if any problems at all. It's great in the snow, on back roads, etc.....

After the last car breaking down, I bought this one. It is so worth the price tag and did I tell you my oldest one picked it out, lol. I wish the back was bigger so the kids could have more room but that's it nothing else negative about it. Well maybe one but it's miner. I wish I had cloth seats instead of leather ones, just during the summer time.

My son made Straight A's on his Report Card, He got 2 Star War Figurines for that. I hope he likes them, I couldn't remember the names of the ones he wanted. Dang Star Wars for having such messed up names, lol.

Because I'm so boring and I don't have much to say I'll leave it at that.

ttyl

More Scents coming soon!!!

2009-03-25T11:10:00.003-04:00

Business

Finally my friends, friend has picked out the scent, color, and packaging of her Melt Favors for her wedding. It was starting to get exhausting trying to please her, lol. And believe me she knows it. She has picked Fabulous as the scent (Great Choice), Fuchsia as the color, wrapped in cream tulle, Fuchsia Ribbon with a little tag on them.

Soaps will be up soon, my son has been busy with Basketball, Cub Scouts, and T.ball that he hasn't had time to play with Soap.

HillBilly Kandles will be adding 3 New Scents in April. I'm so excited for the last one that was tested. All 4 testers actually Agreed, lol. They loved the scent and it lasted for over a week in their Melters.

What I've bought: (I've bought A LOT)

I bought beautiful Red Ember Earrings from seesandbeads that I just got in the mail this morning. I can't wait to wear them, they are just beautiful.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14639383

I ordered 2 Pairs of Earrings Pink Flower w/Gem Stone and Silver Bird Earrings from MaineLeeCrochet. I've had several comments from family and friends they love them.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14616192

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14616191

All I can say is YUMMY I'm in love with my Strawberry Shortcake Whipped Cream Body Frosting Soap from Oakenstone Handmade. I just want to eat it, because it smells so good.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14612148

Then I bought 2 Mini Notebooks made out of Star War Cards for my oldest son For Easter.
He loves to write and he loves Star Wars so I know he will love them. Thanks so much to heavensentcrafts for making such a Unique Product.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14582520

I also bought him a Playstation Video Game Controller Soap. We all know he loves soap and of course he likes to play Playstation, lol. I bought it off of mommyslittlecritters.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14578407

Then I traded lilachillsoap Candles and Melts for 2 bars of Soap. Olive Oil Soap Sugared Lime Kisses for Me and Jasmine Essential Oil Goats Milk Soap for my Mom.
What can I say except that it was worth the trade and she made 2 women very happy, lol.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14597051

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14597052

Personal

Ok, yes I took it very hard that my son didn't get picked for Baseball. I took it hard because I know my son is good and is better than who got picked. Yes, he needs work in catching pop ups but couldn't he of worked on that during practices???

I'm really trying to push this behind me and move on, I just need to vent once in awhile because I see the people daily that didn't pick him and it takes all I got to not to go up to them and throw a fit.

My son was upset but he's over it, he's just happy to be playing ball at all. Although he doesn't know if he wants to try out again because of the denial. But when life gives you lemons you make lemonade.

I got the plans for my house emailed to me, they didn't change the living room but I think instead of waiting another 2 months for them to make that change. I'm just going to accept it and then when it comes time to build I'm just going to make the changes. I'm sick of staring at a field, I want to break ground, lol.

It's such a dreary day out that I'm stuck washing and drying clothes. I like that part, it's the putting them away part I don't like. So I'm going to have to force myself to put them away or I know for a fact I'll be washing clean clothes again because they'll be all over the floor mixed in with the dirty clothes.

Well I must get off of here, and play with son #2. He keeps pulling at me.

ttyl

How to turn into a Winner

2009-03-22T10:45:00.003-04:00

I know such an odd Title for this post but I'm so emotionally drained from yesterdays Baseball Try Outs... Yes, Baseball Try Outs, it's Crazy. So instead of being a downer I'm making this into a Positive.

Business

Our Soap has arrived, we have 10 lbs. to make beautiful soap with. I think it will be a great creative outlet for my son and I today and throughout the rest of the week. I'm sure you will love the soaps that we will be making.

Personal

Baseball Try Outs, ha ha. What a Joke!!!

They already had their team picked out before they even had the try outs. There were 21 kids there and 11 spots available. Of course the Crew my son and his friends didn't make it even though they kicked butt. But all of the coaches kids and their friends made it, lmfao.

So my son has to play T.ball again, this will be his 4th year.

They had them go in groups to different statons.

1) Catch Grounders then throw to 1st. base
2) Catch Pop Ups
3) Catch a Ball
4) Hitting a ball off a Tee off a fence (ewwww)
5) Running around bases

My son got sick in the middle of Try Outs, but I thought he showed good sportsmanship by going back in and finishing it.
But because I don't hang with that group of Adults my child didn't get picked. I kinda knew that's what was going to happen but I had faith that maybe it wouldn't and they would be fair.

So Yes, another year of T.ball but this year we are going to Kick Butt. The kids are going to be Super Stars Next Year.

ttyl, gotta go pick up my son from a sleep over party

It's Spring, YAY =)

2009-03-20T09:52:00.003-04:00

I feel so Inspired This Morning. As I was reading my fav blogs all of them were Positive.

Example of one was that she was happy she was healthy, another was Pay it Forward (very inspirational story), What are you Thankful For, Creating Happy Moments with your children, etc.....

So since it's the first day of Spring and it's Friday I'm posting this to get everybody in the mood to take a Positive Approach Today at everything you do.

Also make nice gestures to strangers, Open a door, Smile at people, Slow down and let people cross the road, etc......

Lets get out of this Cabin Fever and Show everybody how Happy we are that Spring has Arrived.

Have fun today!!!! Come back later today and tell me how you let everybody know your Happy about Spring.

I just signed up this morning for a Blog Party, I'm really not sure about all the details but it sounds very exciting can't wait to see what goes on. If you want to check it out.
Click here: http://www.5minutesformom.com/1042/welcome-blog-party/trackback/

I hope I did that right, lol.

So lets have Fun Today, Think Spring!!!

Soaps will be added soon

2009-03-18T23:43:00.000-04:00

Business

These are the first soaps my son ever made, lol. He used them all to, no wasting with that boy. He's on a roll, we ran out of soaping supplies so we ordered more today. He's ready, he's tested everything to perfection and wants to start selling them. His soaps now look better, but with everything practice makes perfect.

Tonight I'm adding 3pk. of Cotton Candy Melts to my Etsy Shop. If I do say so myself this is the best ever Cotton Candy Scent I have ever smelled before. Believe me when I say that. I went through 15 different scents to find this scent. I just couldn't please my testers till Viola this scent came along.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I'm advertising casually now, I just don't have the time . My youngest isn't wanting to take a nap during the day and I'm exhausted at night. I have to find something in between to let me advertise this business the way I should be.

Personal

I've ordered more Etsy Goodies that I will be posting soon, I can't wait....

Basketball was tonight, my friend and I were so excited thinking that tonight was going to be the last game of the season. We walked in and had papers handed to us, 1 was a schedule for next week our Children's Team made it to the Championship and the other one was a Sign up sheet for next year.

So yes, I got the shocker that I'm going to have to go back next Wednesday with my son so he can play 4 different games in a row. And had to pay $20 to sign my son up for next year's season. I hope I remember next year and don't try to sign him up again, lol.

This weekend is Baseball Try Outs, I'm a little nervous. But I've been told that unless your child can't throw a ball or catch a ball then he/she wont be picked. My son has 3 years of T.ball under his belt so I hope he gets on a team.

Well it's 12:05 am and I have to make some candles still.

ttyl

I have my New Colors in for my Candles

2009-03-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

Business

Last year I tried these new colors for my candles and they were so nice and non messy.

So when you order your candles they are going to be beautifully colored, lol.

I added Fresh Apple to my Etsy Shop, gotta check that out.

I also had to charge a .25 cents more per Melt and added .50 cents for shipping. My Wax went up and like I said before shipping was killing me.

But my Melts are still under $1.00 which is my goal. Even with shipping my Melts are cheaper than name brand types.

My mom found a place that will package my stuff for me along with mailing it out, I hope I get to that point where I don't have to package my products anymore. Wouldn't that be Sweet??

Remember, 12 pack of Melts are up for a Give Away. All you have to do is think of 2 creative names for my Candles and whichever one's I pick you win the Melts in Your Choice of Scents.

All you have to do is leave a Comment with your names along with your email address, Give Away Ends April 1st.

Personal

I went to a card reader yesterday, I was really hesitant to go because I really don't believe in it. But it was girls night out and the majority wanted to go. So that's what I did last night. It was freaky, it was fun, and I had more info than anyone there, lol.

My friends were freaking out because she was right on with them, she depressed me. The majority of the time she talked about my Dad, he's been passed away for going on 4 years in August.

I don't know whether or not to believe but I don't know if it was pure luck or a really good guess but she confirmed something that deep down I always knew.

Even though my sister and I aren't talking at the moment. I called her up and told her what I was told. It felt really good to talk to my sister, she's older =) But then she went back to her normal self and started talking badly about our mom and my family. So I just got off the phone more aggravated than I already was, lol.

Well I better get off of here,

ttyl

HillBilly Kandles Testers, Etsy Shop Updates, and More....

2009-03-15T23:27:00.000-04:00

Business

Tester #3 the Apple Scent is a Winner. Tester #4 failed miserably, so we wont even discuss that one. So far on Tester #5 I have 1-1 ratio, so that one is still up in the air.

I figured for every one scent I add, I must Retire one scent. This weekend I had a Sale for my Offline Customers with the Scents that I'm retiring. I'm so happy it went really well some of my customers made some comments but I promised them that they would be very happy with the new scents.

I know what the majority of my customers like. Fruity, Spicy, Clean, and Floral Scents. Their not into the Spa scents, I've tried them with no avail.

My Etsy Shop I have to add a few things to it.

1) Weekend Orders Will Not Ship Till Monday
2) Higher the Shipping a bit, I know it sucks but I'm actually losing money on shipping.

Personal

Wow, what an exhausting day. We went to a Mall that was 45 min. away to meet up with the Cub Scouts to a Baseball Collector Store. It was neat, each boy got a Baseball Card Collector's Kit, A pack of Baseball Cards, and a Discount Card.

Every time they buy something in the store and use their card it collects points for them to buy something with them. The points never expire.

The Kit came with a Card Collector Book, 2 Packs of Cards and A Baseball Collecting Badge. It was really cool for the kids.

And now my son has a new Hobby, other than Collecting Pokemon Cards and Postage Stamps.

This couldn't of happened at a better time to, my sons last game for Basketball is Wednesday and Saturday is Minor League Baseball Try Outs. So it's Baseball Season, YAY =)

Then after the Baseball Collecting thing we went to Chuckie Cheese, I've never in my life have seen so many rude people not the kids the Adults.

WARNING VENT COMING

1) My bf and the baby were playing a game when the baby hit the container with the coins in it. They flew everywhere, so when they bent down to pick them up a MAN an ADULT MAN came over and started picking up the coins then got up and Walked Away with the coins.

How rude is that for an Adult to take a 2 year olds coins from him. People disgust me. Bf said he didn't see what he looked like, but I know he was only saying that so I wouldn't make a stink in Chuckie Cheese.

2) My son and I were playing Basketball game against each other, there was this little boy that kept pacing back and forth around us. I knew he wanted to play the game, as soon as the game was done that boy jumped right in front of my son and told him He was playing the game now.

How rude, couldn't he wait till we walked away, my son just shrugged his shoulders at him, said whatever and walked away.

3) You know the game where there are all these coins at the edge of the thing where you get all the points but you keep putting in coins and it never seems to push them any further.

Well there was a game there just like that but you actually won more than 1 ticket, more like 200 tickets at a time. When my son was done playing one of the games, I told him pick 1 game so we could use up the rest of the coins so we could go home. By that time I had enough of the place.

A women walks away from the game and we all go over and start playing it, then the women comes back and is right up against my back hovering me. I looked at her then went back to the game, we were all shoving coins in there just so we could go.

She taps me on my shoulder and says she was playing that game. I told her she left the game that's when we came over.
She tapped me on the shoulder AGAIN, and says I was playing that game. I just had enough and told her sarcastically YOU SNOOZE YOU LOSE. And she finally backed off.

What is up with people????? Was it loser day or what???

We got out of there and I was physically exhausted actually came home and took a nap.

Well I better get off of here and fill an order

ttyl

12 pk. Melts Giveaway

2009-03-13T19:26:00.000-04:00

I decided to have a Give Away of 12 Melts. Winner Gets to Choose which Scents.

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20678795 to see what Scents I have to offer.

Winner Can be anywhere in the World.

How to become the Winner?

I'm adding 2 new Scents to my line and can't seem to come up with a name for them. So this is where you come in. Come up with some names for my Melts. I'll give you the descriptions of both of the scents and you can leave comments on what names would fit them. Please leave your email address so If I pick you. I can get a hold of you.

This Give Away will End April 1st, yes on April Fools Day. I love that day, it wont be a joke on who will win this contest. I will Blog about who won on that day.

1) More chances to win is to Become a Follower of My Blog
2) Twitter my Give Away
3) Blog About My Give Away

Scent Descriptions:

1) The fruity freshness of crisp lemon zest, Brazilian orange, and grapefruit mingle with sheer guava, sweet granadilla, and peach. The tart, sweet, and soft scent of passion fruit blended with musk and vanilla will awaken your senses.

2) Cedarwood has a delightfully earthy tone and a strong woody base. We've blended it with a classic vanilla and a touch of sweetness

Good Luck!!!!!

Melts, Electric Candles, and More.....

2009-03-13T02:00:00.001-04:00

Business

I know that I keep changing the color of my blog but I get bored easily and like to change things around alot. So that's just something to expect from me, lol.

Change is Good!!!!

I thought that I would try to be creative and make new melt shapes. They didn't work out as well as I thought they would but they are coming along.

I'm going to be adding Electric Candles soon to my Etsy Shop =) I just need to get all of the supplies and test the bulbs and I should be good to go.

I'm just going to let the customer pick the scent for them.

So new pictures are in order since I'm adding something new, I tried taking pictures of my melts and they just looked horrible. So I'm waiting till my mother is not busy on a weekend so we can play with pictures again. She makes me so creative.

Tester #2 is a Wiener, lol. Now onto Tester #3, so far the results are only 2-1 but that's alright it's an Apple Scent. And I already have 3 different Apple Scents.

I was mixing scents up tonight to, boy my testers are just going to love me, and believe me they do. I mixed up 2 different scents that are totally different and I love them. I'm planning on dropping them off tomorrow to them. Hopefully they are wieners to.

No word on the Craft Show yet, don't know if that's a good thing or not. Hopefully they'll allow me in because I have followers. I usually email or mail out a little Newsletter telling them where I'm going to be and what scents they would love for me to have there.

Personal

Ok, my friend just got her Wii Fit. She has noticed that I have been slacking so she came up with a plan or should I say a bet. I think she needs money, lol.

Since we both want to lose 20 lbs. Whoever loses it first pays the other person $50. I know it's not much money but we both have 2 kids that like to spend money just as much as we do.

I'm on it, I worked out this morning right after my oldest and his friend went to school. I also only drank 2 Mt. Dews YAY ME. Then after the kids got out of school, I went Tanning and walked around the school once. I know once, lol. But it's a start.

Shawn aka Meow Meow is alright. My bf's cousin came over, she's a vet tech and gave him an antibiotic. I hope I don't have to fight with him to take it like I have to with my kids. I have to give him 2 dropper fulls 2x's a day.

Well I'm off to bed, it's 2:23am and I have to get up at 7am. I knew I shouldn't of taken that nap, maybe the Golf Channel will make me tired.

ttyl

It turned out to be a Very Good Day Today

2009-03-12T00:54:00.000-04:00

Business

I have a new offline customer, she ordered 1 each of every scent that HillBilly Kandles has to offer. And this is the reason I have to cut down my list AGAIN. Since my thing is Made Fresh To Order I can't have Melts just hanging around till someone orders them. So I actually do pour the Melts in 1 day.

I also put new Melts in the CK office, I have had several requests for different scents to be added to that line there. They wanted Spring Scents. And I have several of those, lol.

I have 4 Testers that test each and every scent that HillBilly Kandles has, I have to have a 3-1 vote before I actually add a scent to my list. Most of my scents are all 4 votes, there are a few exceptions. Not only do my testers Test them but so do I. I know what I like but sometimes get candle nose and can't smell a darn thing so that's why I have them.

They are very picky and do have their favorite types of scents but are open to trying all kinds of different scents and the different ones usually end up being their favorites.

The first one well it's not really a dud per say but it's not as strong as my others are. But at the same time I got a 3-1 vote on it because it lingers in the room but it's just not in your face.
So I don't know if that ones a keeper or not.

The 2nd scent they tested today was a winner, I got 4 votes on it and they loved that had citrus in it. Sorry can't give it away till I'm done testing it.

Tomorrow is another day for testing.

Remember Check Out http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com I added 3 more Scents in our Melts. Scents are added every weekend.

Personal

You are never going to believe who came home last night....... Shawn aka Meow Meow, that cat has been missing for what ? Almost a month. Of course we didn't get to trap him because he disappeared from that home for a week. Last night he was meowing at the door to get in. He has lost so much weight. He does have some battle wounds to, tomorrow I'm going to see if I can fit him in at the Vet. I'm not worried about his leg, but his neck looks awful and it's gross looking.

So we have him in our Bathroom, because we don't want the boys to mess with him. That was his favorite place in the house anyways. So now he has his potty, food, and his blankie with him. He's been sleeping since he got home. Poor Fella.

Boy Scouts, I finally have it planned what we are going to do for the next meeting. I think the boys will have fun and not only will they be finishing up some Achievements and Electives. They also will be getting a Badge and A Belt loop. I'm so excited for them.

Went Grocery Shopping tonight, I get to save $1.00 per gallon off of Gas. I am so excited, I love grocery stores that give points to get gas. So instead of paying $1.95 per gallon, I only have to pay .95 cents per gallon. WOW, reminds me of when I was a teenager.

Some more good news is I only need 50 more Mypoints to get a $50 Home Depot or Lowes Gift Card. My mother and I are saving Gift Cards for my house.

Our Bank also offers points on stuff to and that's where we got the majority of our Gift Cards but when I was also looking for more ways to get more Gift Cards. I noticed that I could get Gift Cards with my Mypoints Points.

Well ttyl, it's my bed time.

Bought ME Some Soaps

2009-03-09T21:24:00.000-04:00

Business

I signed up for a Spring Show, it's a Juried Show so I don't know if I'm accepted yet.
I love going to shows but I really dislike picking out scents to take, I can't take all of them because that would be to much to offer and I would end up with a lot of undecided potential customers.

My best seller at shows are my Melts, so I know to take plenty of them. I also printed out what I want the bf to build for me to show off my Melts. He's been promising me to make a little shelf for 2 years now. I think it's about time for him to make it.

What I bought off of Etsy

I bought some soap off of 2 very Talented Businesses on Etsy.
You must check them out their soaps ROCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Grumpy Girl, I have to admit it I've known Grumpy Girl for a long time now from another Craft Site. I have bought stuff for other people off of her site but never for me. Soooo I thought it was about time I treat myself to some of her beautiful soaps. You can check her out at http://GrumpyGirl.etsy.com

I bought 3 bars of Soap for $15.00 these are the soaps that I had ordered.

Love You Long Time, yeah gotta love the name. But the scent is just awesome.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=21951370

Pink Hissy Fit, mmmmm mmmm mmmm this one smells so good to.
http://www.etsy.com/view_listings.php?listing_id=20717144

And a must have is dum da da dum.
Ghetto Princess
http://www.etsy.com/view_listings.php?listing_id=21389628

I also got The Anti Bitch Bar in Pink Hissy Fit. Hope it Works, lol.
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14160826

Then I got some Soap from Burnt Mill. They smell sooooo gooooood and lather up great.
http://burntmill.etsy.com

Blue Raspberry Icee Cold Process Soap
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14355254

Beneath The Stars, I always wondered what this scent smelled like and it's awesome.
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14355253

Blue Raspberry Icee Shea Butter Bath Bomb. I can't wait to take a bath.
http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14355255

Personal

Well Cub Scouts is almost over, not completely but almost. We have 2 meetings left that we can get some things done in the book. We are going to do Recycling, I had the boys make a craft (anything they wanted) with things that could be used to Recycle.

I also thought that we would do a work sheet and a game about Recycling. Those 2 things I'm not sure of yet but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

We also have to do 1 more Achievement and 2 more Electives before they can become Bear Scouts. Yes, I'm moving up with them.

Today was a relaxing not much of anything day. I still have my sore throat so I'm just chillen and gargling all day. My throat is still hurting though, I wish I could get rid of it. It's the worst thing in the world to get when your an Adult. I've even relaxed a bit by not yelling at the kids.

Well I better get off of here and help my son with his homework.

ttyl

Candles, Melts, and Soaps Oh My

2009-03-08T21:50:00.001-04:00

Business

I poured 7 different scents today and handed them out to 3 different testers. So far I only have 1 scent tested and it's a dud. I was really hoping that the scent would work because I have been eyeing it up for some time. So my search continues on.....

Other Sites Contests

Check this out http://soapdelinews.com She has the best looking Soaps I have ever seen.....

You have 3 chances with this contest.

1) Pick out 8 soaps that interest you then comment about it

2) Blog about the contest and comment about it

3) Twitter about the contest and comment about it

Good Luck!!!!!!

Personal

Well, I have a sore throat and I'm pretty miserable. But the weekend turned out pretty good.

Contest or Not That is the Question?????

2009-03-07T18:55:00.000-05:00

Business

Business is slow, I know you have your good times and you have your bad times. But I really really like good times.

HillBilly Kandles offers Free Shipping on Orders of $20 or more every weekend.

Free Goody w/ every order all the time.

I was thinking of ways to make my store and blog more noticeable. I thought maybe I should have a Give Away, so what do you think?? This isn't set in stone yet but here are my ideas on the products to give away.

1) (2) Container Candles/ Retail Value $16.00

2) (1) Melt each of HillBilly Kandles Spring/Summer Scents / Retail Value $20 +

The actual number of Spring/Summer Scents is still up in the air. I'm testing 6 new scents to see how well they work in my wax. So I know that the # is up to at least 20 for now.

Just wanted to give a SHOUT OUT to my 2 Followers. They Rock. Email me at hbkandles@hotmail.com to give me your name and address and I'll send you out some Melts for being my first 2 followers.....

I know I promised Melts to someone that followed me so you both get them. Just pick 1 Scent out of my favorites on the side of the Blog.

Personal

My Bad, the Eye Primer actually only costs $12 from Mary Kay. But I did end up with a $30+ order on only 3 things. But man did I look good that night. At first I thought I looked like a hooker but then it grew on me, lol.

Another one of my New Years Resolutions was to wear Make Up more often. And I have and it's been working. I feel better about myself when I have it on. I don't use everything on my face just the basics. Eye Shadow, Eye Liner, Mascara, Blush, and Lip Gloss.

Tonight a few friends and I are getting together at my house to watch movies. Sometimes I think to myself this is what I have to look forward to anymore?? This is my weekend, lol. Then reality hits me and I fall asleep at 10pm like any other mom that has kids that wake you up at 6 am every morning. God I love my life, lol. Seriously I do. I just have to accept the fact that I'm getting older and that I'm not a kid anymore.

Aha, Wii Fit. I'm doing all right running finally, yay yay yay. I can do another Push Up. I have lost 1lb. I think they should make the little figurine a tad skinnier every time you lose a pound. Not the same balloon shape she is when you first get weighed, lol. I still rock at Hoola Hoops.

Anybody else do the wii fit?? I should start a Wii fit Yahoo group, lol. J/K.....

Well I better get off of here and clean my cluttered house so my friends don't think I live like a Pig.

ttyl

I got Mail

2009-03-05T15:28:00.000-05:00

Business

Business wise I'm doing fine, I wish I could get more Sales. Don't we all??

My list of advertising has grown significantly.

My Blog
Link Referral
Twtter
Facebook
Google
Flickr ---- which reminds me I need to post more photos
Etsy
Yahoo Groups
Indiepublic
Cafemoms
Ecademy
WAH Mommy Biz Network
byhand.me
crafterbuzz --- I just signed up this morning
MyCraft.com---- Just signed up
Ecademy

I hope tomorrow when I advertise on each one again it goes a little faster, I spent almost 3 hours advertising my business. Which isn't much compared to what others do but in my chaotic life it's a bit much for now.

What I bought from other Etsians

Just to give you a heads up my pics might not show up because I'm still not sure how to do it, lol. Heck I just learnt how to spin on Etsy, lol.

OMG, the Fairy Tale Necklace, yes I already posted about it but you have to actually see the necklace to appreciate it. In case the picture doesn't show up here's the link, lol.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14167159

Then there's my Mystery Box by AlchemicArtisan. It was filled up to the rim with goodies. My son was soooo excited when he saw the box of goodies that we could be creative and make.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14159066

Then my beautiful 3 Blue Turquoise Beads in a Resin Pendant Necklace. It is so pretty she also added an extra goody that I'm going to wear tonight at a Mary Kay party. You have to wear pink and I don't have pink except for my new necklace. Thanks ambershannon.

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=14195795

Personal

Skipping the Wii Fit tonight to go to a Mary Kay Party at my work. Their having a Mystery Hostess. I hope I get it because I can't afford Mary Kay. I'm more of an Avon Gal. But I do love love love their Eye Primer and that's what I'm planning on buying tonight for $25.

Plus all the guests are also getting HillBilly Kandles Tarts just for showing up except for me because I have enough of them.

Well I better get off of here and make dinner so I can enjoy myself knowing that my family isn't starving or eating Pizza again.

ttyl

I think I'm getting the hang of this

2009-03-04T17:41:00.000-05:00

Business

I must apologise for the huge spacing between the posts. My Enter button is sticking.

I'm starting to see how you get your blog noticed. You have to follow people and post. How simple is that, lol.

Not only that but you have to let people know about your blog, I honestly don't know what I thought when I wasn't advertising my blog like I was my Etsy Shop.

I also need to start adding pictures of my stuff that I buy cause my blog looks drab.

So now that I know what to do and how to do stuff, the Blog will be looking way much better.

Twitter, it is so much fun. I haven't been on there long but already have 32 followers not bad.

Network, Network, Network........

Personal

I went off my schedule today, but I'm going back on it tonight. I'm addicted to the Internet, honestly. I wonder if there is a place I can go to Internet Anonymous classes. It's really starting to show my house is crazy cluttered.

Wii Fit Wise, I'm gaining weight left and right. I have to kick the Dew Habit that's another class I should take including the Internet addicted one.

I look like I'm about 9 months pregnant, I can't stand it.

Cats still MIA, the kids haven't seen it for awhile so they say. But were still going to do the trap thing, lol.

Well I have to get my muddy son cleaned up for basketball practice.

ttyl

Another Blah, Blah, Blah Day

2009-03-03T17:17:00.000-05:00

Business

Well I guess I should take a peek at my Fragrances before I type what I'm putting into my shop. I don't even have enough Raspberry Sorbet or Pink Lemonade to make 4 Melts.

So I added Thin Mints, they smell just like the Girl Scout Cookies mmmmmmmm.

With the Container Candles I put a list of 10 scents that you can pick. Lovely scents they all are. They are my Best Sellers at Craft Shows.

My Adword Ad's went through for Facebook and Google. I got 1 click already from Google, yay =)

I'm also going to be sending a Melt to get Reviewed and they are going to offer a 12pk. of my Melts as a Give Away =) Sorry but USA Customers only. Once I get the shipping down packed I will be offering my Wonderful Candles and Melts Internationally.

I have been advertising faithfully every night so far and I've had several hits to my site. I'm still going with my saying, the more hits you have the more likely someone will buy. I'm keeping a positive outlook. I guess I'm doing fairly well for just starting selling on Etsy. I just keep the communication open.

Twitter is becoming more fun, I can post anything on there that deals with my business. I've had a few hits from there to.

My son is up to his soap making, he's ready for me to post some stuff on our Etsy site. He's making up a Loving You Batch for me to photograph tonight. So keep an eye out for them.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

My business dealings with others

You need to check out http://queenbee92026.etsy.com I just received my Bottle Cap Steeler Earrings and they are The Bomb. I love them, I've been wearing them since this afternoon and a few friends told me I better not take them out because when I do they are going to theif them, lol.

Also you need to check out http://GoodWitchCreations.etsy.com I bought the most beautiful Necklace that had flowers on it and at the time she was running a special buy a necklace get a matching pair of earrings free. And OMG is all I can say, they are just beautiful.

I have 3 more packages that should be arriving soon, Can't wait to let you know about them.

Personal

Looky, Looky this is the House Plan that we agreed on http://houseplans.com/plan_details.asp?id=13696

I am so excited, I can't wait to start building. The only bad thing about those plans is that I have to wait another 2-3 weeks to receive them. And they weren't cheap at aaaalllllll.

Still no Kitty, between me and you and everyone on the net. I think the kids stole the cat, lol.

I'm kidding, their parents told them there was no way in hell that they were keeping any cat. So I'm just hoping he's not moving around a lot because it's cold.

My friend and I were talking, she's the one that actually gave me Shawn his name used to be Tigger.

Anyways she suggested getting a trap, you know the ones where you put food in and they step in and the door shuts behind them. The only thing I'm afraid of with that is, I'll catch a pole cat (skunk) instead of Shawn, lol. Then what would I do????

But then again it's worth trying so I found someone that has one and within the next few days I'll be trapping my Cat.

Well I have to get off of here and help my son with his homework.

ttyl

To Do List

2009-03-02T09:54:00.000-05:00

Business

I'm adding 2 new scents in my Melts and 1 in my Container Candle.

Melts: Raspberry Sorbet, Pink Lemonade
Candle: Pick your scent

Since my container candles aren't my best seller, I'm only offering certain scents in them.
I'm only offering 6 scents in them. The ones that I mainly sell during craft shows.

Speaking of Craft Shows, I need to start looking around for some. I'm planning on doing craft shows 2 x's a month. During Spring and Summer.

Orders will be going out today.... Thank you......

Personal

What a stressful morning. My son who stayed home Friday from school because he had a fever and has a croup cough, vomited this morning. He was ready for school, actually ready to walk out the door and then vomited. What type of flu is going around????

He was finally back to his old self yesterday and then BAM he vomits, I'm confused?? When will this end??

So far my youngest hasn't been to sick other than the common stuffy nose.

I'm not feeling up to par either, I hope I'm not getting it. Because when I get sick, I get really sick. And you know how that goes for us mothers, absolutely no rest just go go go.
I hope my son just has the 24 hr. bug.

Well I'm off to list my candles on my shop. http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

ttyl

Advertising

2009-03-01T18:43:00.000-05:00

Business

Well, I have 2 pending accounts using Adwords. One is with Google and the other is Facebook. I hope they both do well.

I also made a list of places that I advertise my business with a schedule for the days of the week.
So I can check each place off as I do them each day.

I also made up a schedule of when I'm going to advertise, because it seems that I'm on the Computer constantly anymore advertising my business than doing laundry or playing with my boys.

I start tomorrow on my schedule, I hope it makes it easier for me and the boys.

My list, ha ha.

1) Twitter
2) Blog
3) ecademy
4) Indiepublic
5) Link Referral
6) sta.rtUp.Biz
7) My yahoo groups
8) byhand.me
9) Cafemom
10) Facebook
11) WAH Mommy Biz
12) Etsy, chat with people get my name and product out there

Seems easy enough, I know people that advertise way more than I do.

Personal

Well we still haven't found Shawn aka Meow Meow. I think the guy frightened him so bad by trying to put him in a box that now he wont come near him or the kids.

I get to pick up my Girl Scout Cookies tonight, lol. I bought 6 boxes of Thin Mints and to my surprise my SO bought 6 more boxes of Thin Mints from someone else. As if I didn't have issues about my weight, now I'll have 12 more issues.

Well I let you know how my schedule has gone so far (tomorrow)

ttyl

What A Day

2009-02-28T19:06:00.000-05:00

Business

Free Shipping on Orders of $20 or more. This weekend and every weekend for now on.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I signed up to do Adwords, it wont start till they verify my account. It said that could take up to 3 days. I'm so excited about this type of Advertising. I'm sure HillBilly Kandles will be seen by a lot more people.

My Mom dropped off more boxes for me, she even brought Labels and Tape. I think she is just as excited as I am about me being online.

I'm almost ready to take new pictures of my Melts, my Camera is charged and I have Melts ready. I just need to make a light box tonight and tomorrow I'll be taking the pictures.

I hope they come out ok, I'm not the best photographer in the World.

Personal

I signed my oldest up for Baseball, I can't believe he's in Baseball :(

Last year was his last time playing T.ball, the last 3 years I made great friends from my son playing T.ball. We're known as the T.ball Moms, last year they did split our kids up because they were doing really good and it wouldn't of been fair for the other teams if our kids got to play 3 years together in a row.

But I've heard some talk that they are thinking about putting our boys back together for Baseball. That would be great. It's not like we don't see each other all the time anyways. But it's nice to be together cheering on our boys on the same team.

The T.ball Moms are already talking about going Swimming for Fun Day Monday. It's not even Spring yet, lol. It's our little thing we do every Monday during the summer, this will be our 3rd year of doing it.

We may have found our Cat (Shawn). One of our friends that live about a 1/2 mile away seem to think that the cat that their kids have been feeding is ours. They say it looks exactly like the pictures I posted up of him. I'm hoping it is, the poor kitty's foot is hurt though. Her husband called me up tonight and he told me it's in his shed to come and look. By the time I get there, he said he was trying to put it into a box to drop it off and the cat jumped out of the box and ran into the woods.

We went up to the woods, and I of course was screaming here kitty kitty and I did hear something moving but then the little boy starting running in the woods and the cat stopped moving. So I told them tomorrow during the day I would come over and I would look for it.

Well I better get off of here and make my light box.

ttyl

Added a few more Scents

2009-02-27T19:52:00.000-05:00

Business

Free Shipping for orders $20 or more at http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com
Every Weekend.......

I added: Pretty in Pink, Blackberry Patch, and Pink Sugar "Type" to my Shop.
Check out the candle section on Etsy, Tomorrow I'll be on the Top of the Page, yay.

Dilemma Alert, Dilemma Alert, lol.

Shipping, How do you ship without losing money???

It's crazy how the amount fluctuates when you add just 1-4 more Melts. It cost me $2.35 to ship a 3pk. out with 1Melt Freebie to it. It costs me $7 and some odd cents to ship out 6 Melts with 1 Freebie. It cost me $13 to ship 1-12 oz. Container and a 3pk. of Melts is that crazy or what???

I know I'm cutting down my freebie to a mini cube which is still use able and you can still test the scent out.

There is a place in my Home Town who Ships Products but I'm not sure what they charge. I'll see tomorrow when I pick up the rest of my boxes there. He also offers a service of packaging and shipping where he puts the products in the boxes to be shipped and then ships them out.

I can't wait till I can use that service!!!

It's crazy shipping cost more than the Melts, there has to be a way to resolve this issue and I'm on it. Even if I have to offer them as a 4 pk. I will.

TO DO LIST for this weekend

1) Pictures, I have to start taking pictures of my Candles/Melts people are sick of looking at the same pictures over and over and over again.

2) Make a Light Box, this sounds fun doesn't it?

3) Read up on AdWords, Advertising.

4) Advertise my usual tonight

Business is doing well so far, lots of hits on my site. I've also been hanging out in the Etsy Community getting to know others there, been buying and trading. Gosh, is there just the loveliest stuff ever there. I've been doing link referral, posting on my yahoo groups, ecademy (still confused on that site), Indiepublic, Twitter, Flickr, and Cafemom.

Personal

Kids are so smart, I can't believe that my 2 year old just threw a fit because he thought his dad was tricking him. Usually when he wants Juice we give him Strawberry Milk and he downs it thinking it's Juice. Well tonight he wanted Poweraide and we gave him Milk instead boy that ticked him off. So then we put some Poweraide in a sippy and gave it to him. Well he didn't believe it was Poweraide because he didn't see him put it into his sippy. He threw a major hissy fit, lol. So he handed me his sippy and the Poweraide so I can put the Poweraide in it. I put a some in and end of story, the boy was happy.

My baby isn't supposed to know when he's getting Tricked, lol.

My son stayed home from school today, he was fevered and very very sleepy. Which is totally not him so I knew he was sick. Then the baby woke up with a fever to but was the total opposite of his brother, he was running around acting like himself. So I had to deal with 2 sick kids today and I wasn't feeling the best either. I just got up from a nap, I really dislike taking naps after 4pm because now I'll be up till 3am.

ttyl

Another Review =)

2009-02-26T10:12:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Business

Check out this Review on some of HillBilly Kandles Melts.

http://shescribes.blogspot.com She's also giving away a bag of HillBilly Kandles Melts.

This is fun, I might have to try out Reviews again in the Fall. I like giving out Freebies, maybe it's because I love Freebies myself.

This Friday I will be adding more Scents, don't know which ones but if anybody likes certain types of scents let me know and I'll post them. Like do you like Fruity, Spicy, Floral, Food, Clean, Aromatherapy, etc... Let me know, I'll put them on my Shop.

After all the reviews are done I'm definitely going to put all the scents together for sale. And I'm also thinking about having an Friday Event Sale on HillBilly Kandles Shop every Friday. I was thinking along the lines of Free Shipping on orders of up to $10.

I finished all of my Business To Do's yesterday, I'm so proud of myself.

Today's To Do list is to Mail out an order that I received last night. Thank You!

Personal

I cleaned the bathroom, yesterday. Yes it's the smallest room in the house but it took 3 hours to scrub it, clean out cupboards, and scrub the walls down. It looks so pretty, I didn't even want anyone to use it.

Today I have way to many things to do especially like Washing Clothes so that's all I will be doing today.

Ha, I lost my 2 lbs. that I gained last week. Yep, and I'm now able to do 1 more push up, lol.
My balance is still a little off again but what are you gonna do except try, try, again.

Well I better get off of here. My washer just stopped and another load needs washed.

ttyl

Early Spring Cleaning

2009-02-25T08:28:00.000-05:00

Business

I twittered today, I'm starting to like just writing odd things. Mainly I just say that I'm blogging or getting the kids ready for school. But I'm sure I'll add more later on.

Today's list of things to do today are:
1) Do my Link Referral Stuff
2) Post on Yahoo Groups
3) Make a few Candle Orders to ship out tomorrow
4) Make Candles to send out to Craft Stores
5) Pick up my Shipping Boxes, Labels, and Folders
6) And of course Blog, I guess I can put an X on this one. X

I added 2 new Candles/Melts to my Etsy Shop.
1) 6 of my Clean Scented Melts- $4.50
Fresh n' Clean
Downy Clean Breeze
Sage & Citrus
Fresh Linen
Sun Washed Linen
Daisy Fresh

2) Fresh Linen 12 oz. Container Candle - $8.00

I figured with me Spring Cleaning I would add my Clean Scents in to help you all with the smell of a clean house without the actual work of it.

Remember Free Melt with every order...............

Check them out at http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Personal

Well I already cleaned out my candle space but if you would look at it now it doesn't look like I did anything.

So today I'm starting my Early Spring Cleaning. I'm only going to do 1 room at a time, scrubbing walls down, dusting, cleaning ceiling fans, scrubbing floor, pitch things, etc...... Wish me luck!!

I guess it's time to say that my cat Shawn isn't coming back home. It's been a week and 3 days since he's been missing. Honestly, I'm hoping this ends up as a Happy Thing, like with my old cat. He would run off for 3 months at a time and then come home. He was an outside cat, he hated to be in the house so that was his thing. But Shawn liked to go outside then come back home to sleep all night with us. The kids seem to being doing well about it, I finally can open up the door without one of them screaming Here Kitty Kitty.

Sorry about the rant yesterday about Cub Scouts, I just needed to get it off my shoulders or I was going to burst. I don't like to complain a lot but those parents drive me absolutely CRAZY......

But now since I printed out and stapled together papers explaining what is expected of them. I think it might change now that there is only 4 meetings left.

I was looking on Amazon.com and Ebay for Cub Scout books from the 50's, 60's, 70's, and 80's.
I think Friday when I get paid I'm going to order a few, to get some ideas on different things to do with the boys and to also see what they did back in the day compared to today.

Next year is going to be so different, I already told the Head Master Den Leader Person that I'm going to have meetings in between the meetings we have now and my scouts meetings are only going to last an hr. and a half not 2 hours unless we are outside enjoying ourselves. I just think that's to long for some of my kids.

Well I have to go, ttyl

Haven't posted in a day or 2

2009-02-24T09:01:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

Business

My Melts are being reviewed in a newsletter in order to see my review you need to sign up for the newsletter here http://www.powerwomenmagazin.co.cc

I'm starting to like Link Referral, I've had over 100 hits on my site from Link Referral and over 25 reviews of my Etsy Shop. Of course I haven't had a sale yet but the more people that see your shop the more you have a chance of one of them buying. That's what I keep telling myself.

With Link Referral you have to check out 30 Different Sites, Type a review on 5 different stores, add 1 store to your favorites, and Post 1 comment on their forum. Total time= 1 hr.

Check it out here: http://linkreferral.com/adwel.pl?oldrefid224996

I also joined Twitter this morning, looks like fun. http://www.twitter.com/HillBillyKandle
I couldn't fit the S on the end, lol.

I also joined Ecademy, it's a place that you get to network with people all over the world. I'm a little confused about this site. But once I get to sit down and figure some things out I'll post more about it.

Gabbriella's Closet got kicked off Etsy so if you want to purchase a box full of sample goodies (mine are regular size) you can order and check out her site at http://gabbriellascloset.com

And like always check out http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Personal

I went to a PTG meeting last night. I zoned out half of the meeting because it was sooooooo Boooorrrrriiiiinnnggggg. Sorry for the exaggeration but it really was. We did talk about some things that I was interested in but when they started talking about pssa's for the older kids that's when the zoning started. There wasn't that many of us at all, like 10 and that's including the principal.

So my question to all of you is, Do you get alot of People to Come to your PTG meetings???
If so How do you get the parents to come?? Our School has only a handful of parents that come in and help out with things and the rest of them 300 parents just complain that we aren't doing that well.

Cub Scouts, I don't know if the parents filled their kids up with Red Koolaid or what before they came to the meeting but the kids were WILD. They wouldn't listen to me at all. We got 1 thing accomplished and that was it out of the 4 things that I wanted to accomplish at the meeting.

I had 7 kids there and 5 parents. Do you think any of the parents helped me out, of course not. They just took up all the chairs and complained about me amongst themselves.

I get 2 tables, and they are set up so that I can split the boys up so they can do different activities so the meeting will run smoothly. Well the parents and their family members took up the one table and then a few parents kept stealing the kids seats when they would get up.

It was a nightmare, I'm still fuming about it and it happened Sunday. So Monday morning at 2 am I was printing stuff up and I'm going to mail them out tomorrow. It explains that the tables are for the scouts and 1 adult to help them. Other family members like your wife, your other children, nieces, nephews, grandmothers etc..... Should be seated where the rest of the parents sit if your not going to be involved other than gossiping about me. It's not exactly typed out like that but you get the point.

Then I also made a point that complaining about me in front of the children make them not listen to me, that if they have a problem please call me or tell me about it after the meeting is over.

Again, I had to tell them that doing their child's work is not going to fly here. I tried to do a mad lib thing you know where you put an adverb, verb, noun, or a funky word in the blank and the story ends up wacky. I told the kids to listen to me to figure out the word that they would have to put in the blank, of course none of the kids listened and started putting all kinds of words in the blanks and then I had the few adults that were doing their children's work.

I pulled the parents over and they both told me that their kids can't read or write well so that's why they do the stuff for them. I was a little ticked by this point and asked them what the hell are their kids doing in 2nd grade if they can't read or write. And then told them that I'm not going to grade their work, I'm not here to criticize anybody we are here to have fun and the boys have to do things themselves here.

It's either I want all the parents there or they all can leave and I will give them all 2 hours of Free Baby Sitting Services.

Sorry about that, I had to get that off of my chest. It was consuming me to the point that I was about to quit. But I'm not a quitter.

Well ttyl, I hope that business wise you found some great ways to advertise your business.

I got my mail and a picture of our Heart Art

2009-02-21T16:25:00.000-05:00

Yes, I'm starting to love my mail lady. She brings me the best goodies that I have bought over the Internet. I love getting goodies in the mail and so do my boys.

I got another pair of the most beautiful earrings in the world. I have a set that are Blue (go figuare, lol) and Orange. Plus she put them in little pouches that matched the earrings. They look so cute. Check her out, her jewelry is awesome. http://alicesangeljewelry.etsy.com/

And one of my many new friends online Kathleen Contenta owner of http://gabbriellascloset2.etsy.com/ sent me some goodies as a Thank You for being in her Sample Box. Remember check her out to sample some Great Companies Products.

Speaking of my boys and mail. I had them make Mail Boxes so when they get mail I can just stick it in there for them to get it out. We made ours with Cereal Boxes. They cut the top off and we decorated the rest of the box with construction paper, stickers, markers, etc...... Once I find my camera hook up I'll post pictures.

I love crafting with my kids, I think it is so much fun. For Valentines Day we made Heart Art. I cut out hearts, then put glue on one side of the heart then we folded the hearts together and opened them back up. So that both sides had the same design and then they sprinkled well they poured glitter on top of the glue. I wish I would of had glitter glue but I was out so we made it the messier way. My kids love Messy Crafts. Pic is at the top.

My Cub Scouts are always doing Crafts. Like Tomorrow for instance they will be decorating a Pencil Holder it's in their books as an elective so we're going to do it. My mom saved the dogs food cans and cleaned them really good so we could use them. I try to recycle and reuse everything I possibly can when it comes to crafts. Like I'm having a contest within my Wolf Troop to Recycle and Reuse. They have to make something, I'm thinking maybe making it a sculpture of some sort and then having the Bears Vote on it to see who wins.

I'll post pictures of the Unique Sculptures, we meet every 2 weeks so April 5th will be when their due.

Remember HillBilly Kandles new Melt Candle Shop is out check it out at http://hillbillykandles.etsy.com/

ttyl

WOW, Where did the Week Go????

2009-02-21T09:34:00.000-05:00

Honestly, it's like I was just standing to the side and the days where flying by me. I just couldn't keep up with last week. So many things to do and not enough time.

Everybodys orders are out and shipped.

I added a new scent called Candle Shop.

Candle Shop is a Layered Scented Melt. They all differ no 2 are the same. The scents will vary, it will depend on what I was pouring that day. Some lucky buyers got to sample a few of them, with their orders.

A 3 pk. cost $2.25. If you really think about it that's .75 cents a Melt. And their not cheapo ones they are fully scented to the max Melts all of my Melts and Candles are.

With every order you get a Sample Melt, the scent of the Sample with vary.

http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Go Check out http://gabbriella.etsy.com She is selling Sample Boxes. HillBilly Kandles sent in Sample Melts to be included in the boxes.

Lets see, I have more findings from Etsy. I bought some stuff that I absolutely adore.

I got Mermaid Spa Soap and Orange Woman aka Lucy Morgan Soap. These are wonderful, the lather is just right, the smell is awesome and they make my skin feel SO soft. I love these soaps. Plus she makes other great things, you can check her out at http://ljctree.etsy.com

Then I bought Pink Sugar Whipped Body Frosting from another Etsier. I love the scent of Pink Sugar but have always put it into Candles and not B&B. So when I saw her Body Frosting I jumped on it. It's really nice and makes my skin feel soft to. I kept Smelling my arms and hands all night. My SO kept looking at me like I was crazy till I had him sniff me. You can check her out at http://HeathensHearth.etsy.com

Exploding Frog Soap from http://HowardsHome.etsy.com I think I got duds but how can you tell if their duds or not though. Mine didn't fizz like in the pictures but the kids did get a kick out of the red stuff coming out of their frog soaps. So I guess this one is a winner. My 2 year old, was screaming ewwwww and then would laugh hysterically about it's guts coming out. My 8 year old was like Cool Dude. Go check her out, they would be neat to give away at parties.

Then I bought beautiful blue and gold earrings from http://vintagecalif.etsy.com
I'm in love with them, they look great on me. Now I just need to accessorize myself with my earrings. I need blue stuff, have I mentioned that Blue is my fav color.

I still have a few other things coming to me, when I get them you know I'll post them.

Disclaimer: I don't get any kind of money, or products to do these reviews. The reviews are my personal opinions about these products that I have ordered from other Etsy Businesses. I love to shop and if the product is good I like to tell people about it.

Onto the fun stuff about Cub Scouts, Wii Fit, Itunes, Star Wars, and whatever I think of.

Ok, lets start off with Itunes. I just downloaded 4 songs for my 8 year old on his Ipod Shuffle. I won the Ipod Shuffle from a raffle. It's been sitting here for I bet a good year till my son asked me for an MP3 player. I whipped it out and said how about an Ipod Shuffle, he doesn't know the difference and honestly neither do I. They both play music right?? Well I figured it out and put his 4 fav songs on there. I know 4 songs, ha ha. I wanted to test it to see if it would work before I downloaded more songs.

Lets see, my son listens to all kinds of music just like me. He likes Rock n' Roll, Hip Hop, Oldies, etc.... He likes them all. So I figured all the kids in his class are listening to Kids Bop music so I downloaded Kids Bop of all his fav songs like Rock Star, American Boy, and that lil Wayne song it's kinda like dance/rap, and of course even though it's not on Kids Bop I had to download Poisons Talk Dirty To Me, my son loves that song.

I love watching Rock of Love, and I told my son that's the guy who sings Talk Dirty To Me. He was shocked. Now my son wants to grow his hair long like Bret Michaels, lol. My son has a buzz cut. I told him it would take forever to grow your hair long. I told him this summer he could try because his hair looks awful when it's growing out and he looks dirty like I'm to poor to get him a hair cut.

On to the Wii Fit, I gained weight. I finally got that plug in thingy back yesterday and I got on and weighed myself the little figure got fatter. I'm ticked off I thought I was doing well. I guess not.................. Well it's back and this morning I got on and did some stuff on it so now I'm back on my routine. I can't believe I gained weight, like 2 lbs. And, my balance is off. Well I could of told them that Thursday when we went Snow Tubing, lol.

Snow Tubing, Oh the joys of feeling like a kid again. Thursday we went with the Cub Scout Troop. There was a group of us that kept going down together. I do recommend going down as a group rather than by yourself. Because going down by yourself sucks and it's boring. But with a group your screaming together in sync.

We took one of the boys in our Troop with us and he had a blast. It was funny, when we got on the conveyor belt you have to stand on it and wait to get to the top. I about fell on my butt every time. Then I would turn to talk to someone and almost fall on them. Yeah, my balance is a bit off.

That was my first time ever going Snow Tubing other than in my back yard. So not only did my son get to go Thursday but we were invited to go with one of his buddies with the church on Monday then the following Thursday is Snow Tubing for the Firemen. So we get to go 3 times within a week. I had a blast and so did my son. Great Bonding experience if you ask me.

What is up with Star Wars. My 8 year old is a Star Wars NUT. Him and his friends play Star Wars Video Games, they go outside and Play Star Wars with their light Sabers. They Watch the Movies they know all of the names of the characters. They have the little figurines.

I think I'm just a little frustrated I can't find Dark or Darth Citius (sp?) figurine anywhere. All the Stores in my area and beyond never have it. Day in and Day out all I hear about is Star Wars this, Star Wars that by 4 or 5 kids constantly. It's starting to get to me. My son has all the DVD's and he can tell you which one is which and what the scenes are and blah blah blah. He driving me crazy.

Anybody else have a Star Wars Nut????

Ok well I think I filled you in enough about last week. If anything else happens that I think I should blog about I'll fill you in.

ttyl

Come On........................

2009-02-17T19:17:00.000-05:00

Doesn't anybody follow me, lol. Doesn't anybody want to know what I spend my hard earned cash on, how I work out and about my business???????

Alright, I see people just want some Melts aka Tarts. The first person to become my follower gets a 3pk. of Melts your choice of what scent/s as long as you live in the USA.

Anyways, Shawn is still missing. I put out some Tuna outside on the porch to lure him home and so far nothing. I'm sure if I keep it out all night, I'll have all kinds of critters on my porch.

My sons friend still has his Wii thingy, another day of not working out (sigh).

Business wise, I made quite a few sales last night on Etsy within the Community. I'm also on a Team.
Go Team Pittsburgh, Whoot Whoot.

Our house is still at a stand still. Finally we did get a hold of the Secretary at the Township, lol. I'll keep my comments to myself about that.
Now we are just waiting for people to do their jobs and send us the stuff.

Back to business, I signed up for link referral, I'll post more about that after I actually get a Sale from it instead of just visitors. Which I know the more people that see your business the more chance you will get a sale. I'm still advertising on my yahoo groups, have been getting a lot of visitors :) And of course I have been posting on this blog and I started putting pictures up on Flickr.

I'm sure there is more that I could be doing and I will shortly once I get all my finances in order.

The house is killing me and I haven't even started building yet. I'm trying to put money aside instead of spending it but man is it hard, lol.

Well I gotta get off of here and make more Melts.

My Etsy Findings & More

2009-02-16T21:28:00.000-05:00

Hello all,

I've been very busy on Etsy, I've been getting more orders and I have been buying a lot of stuff. There are just so many neat things on Etsy it's hard to not order stuff.

My first thing I bought was a Young Archaeologist Kit that I bought for my 8 year old son. It took him an hr. and half to dig out all the treasures. He loved it. The kit came with everything you would need to dig. It only cost $9.00 plus $5 shipping. But for an hr. and a half of fun, I think it was well worth it. Shipping was very fast considering it came from California and I'm in Pennsylvania. My son told all of his friends and even his teacher about his digging adventure and for that week I was Mom Of The Year. Now I'm just Mom. This is where you can find this neat digging kit and the rest of her neat things she has on her site. http://LeakyMouth.etsy.com
My next purchase from her will be the rocks with the goodies in them for my Wolf Scout Troop. I think they would love those.

Ok, lets see who's next. Oh, I bought a Wild Cherry Candle Mat. At first I was going to keep it for myself but then Valentine's Day came about and I gave it to my Mom with a Beautiful candle that I made in her favorite scent Primitive Cupboard and she just adores it. This seller also does custom orders. You can take a peek at her Candle Mats here http://Sparkles2385.etsy.com

Then I bought a beautiful Yellow Texas Flower Handmade Resin Pendant.
I've had several people comment on how beautiful my necklace is and have asked where I've gotten it. I tell them Etsy and then I write down this http://EternalJewelry.etsy.com

I also bought a pair of earrings but they haven't arrived yet along with soaps, body butter, and another pair of earrings. When I get those I'll post about them.

I added a 3pk. of Honey Do Melts today, they cost $2.25. The scent is so Juicy and Sweet.
Check them out. http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Well Personally, my life is good. Although my cat is missing. I'm totally sick about it. But then again he is a male cat and not fixed so I'm hoping he's just out and and about. Boy he messed up a good thing when he comes home. He's getting fixed and he's not going outside without a leash. Yes, a leash.

I couldn't do my Wii Fit tonight because my son's friend borrowed his plug in thing to see if it would make his Wii work because of the Power Outage he thought that it blew the Wii out. And of course that poor little boy just got it for Christmas so I said he could borrow it to see if it worked. And It does, his mother was sick thinking she was going to have to buy another one but now she only has to spend $25.

But I have lost 2lbs since I last posted. My balance is way better and I can do more push ups. I still can't jog without gasping for air but then again I'm asthmatic, and that's my excuse and I'm staying with it :)~

Tomorrow is going to be a fun day. My To Do List is already made.

1) Mail out 4 orders
2) Make more Melts
3) Call the Township guy again, I haven't been able to get a hold of him and it's been a week. I'm starting to get a little ticked off about it. I hope I can keep my cool when I talk to him.
4) Find a Randy Orton (sp?) Wrestling Figure for my son. It started out that I liked him because well he's just so handsome and built. But then my son started liking him and he's the only wrestling figure he doesn't have. Sorry Big Show, Randy's the new man around.

And well that's about it, I have to go and make some orders now.

ttyl

Gotta Catch up

2009-02-13T20:08:00.001-05:00

Of course at the worst time possible my computer tower would go ca put because of a power surge. I knew I was going to get orders and I did. Thankfully, I did. I just hope there isn't bad feelings. I really didn't have another computer to go to because none of my friends had any electric. Some still don't and wont till Sunday or Monday.

Lets see what HillBilly Kandles has been up to :)

You can check out this Blog Review on my Primitive Blessings Melt.
http://willowlakescentes.blogspot.com/2009/02/hill-billy-kandles-reviewgiveaway.html.

Primitive Blessings is one of my many Best Sellers. There is just something about this scent that makes customers absolutely love it. I don't blame them it is a wonderful scent. To check it out go to http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

Also you can check out http://gabbriellasampler.blogspot.com to see what she said about my Melts that I sent to her for her sampler boxes she sells. She also has an etsy shop that she sells Sampler Boxes her blog is http://etsygiveaways.blogspot.com

More reviews will be taking place soon, when they do I will post the links so you can see what others think of my Melts.

After all the reviews are done, I'm going to have a listing with just the Scents that I sent out for Review. I think that might send some buyers coming.

I'm also putting Melts in a local Craft Shop, they also want Container Candles. They bought 1 each of every scent that HillBilly Kandles offers so they can pick out which scents for me to put into their shop.

So now that I'm all excited about that, I plan on making more Melts this weekend to send out Monday to shops around me along with Wholesale Information.

Ha ha my personal life.

What a day today was, lol. Today was my son's Valentines Day Party. Of course my son left his Valentine Cards home and my sons friend whom I watch in the mornings before school left his cookies at my house. Thankfully, I was one of the helpers for today. WOW is all I can say today. We filled the kids up with pure sugar and sent half of them to church, lol. I know that sounds awful but it's the truth.

There were 3 of us that participated at the Valentines Day Party. It ran smoother than I thought it was going to. The kids were CRAZY. But I remember what it was like when I was younger.
We had them do 2 small crafts with glitter glue, lol. It worked out well they all shared the different colors and they listened to the directions rather well. Then we lined them up while we unwrapped individually wrapped ice cream squares so they could decorate their own. We had sprinkles, m&m's, choc. syrup, strawberry syrup and freshly cut up strawberries. You know we had to try to add a real fruit in there some how. Some of the kids concoctions totally grossed me out when the ice cream melted.

Then the kids that did bring treats got to hand them out which consisted of cookies and cupcakes. Oh did I mention the Hug Juices one of the mothers brought. All that was left was the orange ones, lol. We had water there to for the kids that didn't like Hug Juices, but I think only 5 kids drank them out of 20.

Then we played a game with Hershey kisses and chop sticks and they got to keep every piece of candy that they got out of the bowl. Then the kids were sent off at Kings Camp that's held at one of the Local Churches. I hope they weren't to crazy there.

Well that's all for now, I'll be back tomorrow as long as there isn't anymore power surges.

Bummer!!!!!!!!!!

2009-02-13T12:45:00.000-05:00

The other night we had a thunder storm and very bad winds. We had a power surge and it blew my tower on my computer. This morning I ran to Walmart and got a new Tower. I was going through withdraw from blogging and posting melts on my etsy shop.

For everybody that placed an order, orders will go out tomorrow. Sorry for the inconvience.

I'll be blogging tonight updating everybody on what HillBilly Kandles has been up to and what I've (Mindy) been up to.

Tonight was a blast

2009-02-10T22:25:00.000-05:00

I had so much fun on Etsy tonight just blabbing about my business and everything else under the sun. I met some very neat and sweet people there that make and sell the most neatest stuff. Boy I can't wait to get paid Friday to shop. Yes, I have a job.

The 3 people that most stood out to me from the rest are: dum da da dum

vintagecalif, she was so nice. Very knowledgeable about Etsy and helped us all out with getting to know what we were doing and how to advertise our businesses. Not only that but she kept our hopes up for getting orders. A very Positive person. Her stuff is so cool. I bought a pair of earrings off of her site. I couldn't pass them up. http://vintagecalif.etsy.com

DzyMsLizzy, she was great. She is hilarious and very easy going. I love people like that.
She sells Vintage Items, she has some great looking stuff on her site.
She also helped a fellow Etsy Gal by being her first buyer. The picture is beautiful. She inspired me to be the best and most gracious person I can be. http://DzyMslizzy.etsy.com

ljctree, she makes the best looking soaps ever. She is very knowledgeable about her products as you will see on her site. She is very creative. Her jewelry is just beautiful. She is also really funny and I had a blast chatting with them and the rest of the people tonight.http://ljctree.etsy.com

I added a few new products on my Etsy Shop http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I added a 3pk. of Mix and Match Melts. You get to pick the 3 Scents you want out of the many I posted. I put almost all of the scents that I had on that one post.

I have a lot to read tonight about advertising. I have a few ideas up my sleeve but don't want to post them yet till I find out the dirt on them. I don't want to point others in the wrong direction if you know what I mean.

Like my business my personal life is flourishing to.

I lost 1 lb. yeah me. I know 1 lb. but it's better to lose than to gain. I still haven't kicked the Dew habit man is it addicting. I'm still going strong with the Wii Fit, my balance is getting better with the Yoga. I can do 2 more push ups now :) And I still Kick Ass with the Hoola Hoops. I did try the jogging game again and I wasn't as tired out as I was before, I just have to keep working on it. I might try it every 2 weeks, lol. I'm still not thrilled with that yet.

House wise, I need to get a hold of the Township people so I can get a Copy of the Perk Test, I ordered the house plans and faxed my new drawing for the house plans to the house plan people so I can get my new house plans (yeah my memory is getting bad, lol), I need a copy of the deed and then after I pay a good $500 something I can get a permit to build.

I am getting so excited, I never thought this day would ever happen. I am building a house, it might not be my dream mansion but it's a house.

My son brought home 2 A's that went straight on the Fridge along with a lot of Good Jobs and a Special Cabbage Patch Dance that cracks him up every time I do it. I've been doing it since he's been in Kindergarten so it's kinda like a tradition.

My son also kicked butt playing basketball at the church with the other local kids. He didn't back down. They don't play traditional Basketball it's kinda like Wrestling Basketball. But Boys will be Boys.

Oh, and I got an IKEA Catalog Today, I was trying to look at it while dodging basketballs at the church. Those kids gotta practice shooting. It didn't matter where you sat you were dodging.

I still haven't found the bath bomb lady, I think I might of got the sample boxes mixed up. I ordered from 2 different places so I think I'll go back onto their sites to see who sent it. When I find out you'll find out, lol.

I'm going to check it out now,

ttyl

Doing things on your list

2009-02-09T20:32:00.000-05:00

Have you ever written down a To Do List?? I make several of them and half of the time I don't do anything that I put down. But as 1 of my many New Years Resolutions I forced myself to finish the whole thing.

Today:

1) Package and Label all the Melts (88 to be exact)

2) Kitchen Pick a Spot

3) Change all the sheets

4) Make the Beds

5) Go to the Post Office

6) Call The Township Office

7) Finish the Wolf Scout Newsletter

I know what your thinking, Why put Make the beds on there??? Well obviously I'm going to make the beds after I change the sheets but I add that on there so when I cross it off it looks like I did more, lol.

I need to find small boxes to mail out my Melts, if you know of a place that sells small boxes to ship things in let me know.

I'm still working on the Wolf Scout Newsletter, It's almost done. I just need to make a list of things they need to bring with them for the next few meetings and I'm done.

After I get this done, I'm using the last of my bath bomb that I got from http://www.outoftheboxsampler.com

Everything in the box smelled great. I had a hard time picking which Sample I was going to use first. But that huge bath bomb was the first thing I noticed and I used it first. I wish I could find out who made it because I would love to order more. It made my skin so silky smooth, and the bubbles and fragrance were excellent. I must do some investigating cause I need more.

Hopefully, Tomorrow I'll have something exciting to type about.

Yesterday was a chaotic but good day

2009-02-09T00:21:00.000-05:00

Let's see the whole crew (me, mom, and boys) went and walked the property today. You know from the road it doesn't look like 5 acres. But man when you walk it, it feels like 10 acres.

It's huge, my mom kept asking me where are you going to put the house? I kept telling her IDK, yet. I've only had the property for less than a week I still have to let it soak in that it's mine.

I still can't believe it. I've been wanting property for so long, that now that I have it. I don't know what to do with it.

Cub Scouts was a little hectic. I went in thinking that the mother of one of the boys had everything planned out and that she was going to be the one in charge and that I would be her helper for the day. It turned out that she didn't have anything planned out, she didn't have enough stuff for all of the boys, and she wanted her money refunded that she spent on supplies.

Half of the supplies that she spent money on I already had and I have enough for all the boys plus the whole troop to use. I was a little bummed not just because I thought I was getting a break but the boys didn't have anything to do so I had to improvise. And not only that but she specifically said to me that this was her donation to the boys and that she didn't want a refund. Because I told her that I was saving the money that our group contributes every meeting to take the boys Fishing as part of their Conservation Badge. And since she decided all of a sudden she wants a refund we wont have enough money to go Fishing. Soooo, I called the Head Den Leader and we figured something out so that it will be a trip for the whole Troop to go fishing.

Sorry had to vent a little :)~

Candle wise I got another order off of my site YAY. Playing F5 on Etsy. I'm pretty sure that's what it's called. This is how I understand the Rules. Someone gets 5 min. to represent their products from their Etsy site, whomever wants to be the next person up needs to buy off the person that is representing their products. I bought a candle mat, a beautiful country candle mat.

Her Etsy name is sparkles285, I can't wait for my Candle Mat to come in.

So in turn I got to be the next person to represent my goodies. That's the first time I ever participated in something like that. I've peeked in, said Hi but never bought anything or showed off my goods (candles).

I'm still making Melts, I have quite a few to go. I want them out of here before 11am tomorrow, I mean today because my youngest has a Play Date at Mickey D's at 11:30. I can't wait to actually get them out of here because their going into a sample box, their going to get reviewed, and their going to be given away to very lucky winners.

I see that my pictures haven't gone through, I'll try later today.

Well I guess I better get off of here and pour some more the wax is getting cool and it's time to pour.

I have Spring Fever

2009-02-08T09:23:00.000-05:00

I am so loving this weather now, I know I know it's only going to last till the middle of the week.
But ahhhhhh I love it.

I guess everybody in the County had the same idea as me, I went to 3 different car washes to clean my car and I would of sat in line forever if I had waited. So I went to my moms and we went shopping, now I remember why I do most of my shopping online. The people where crazy, I couldn't go down an isle and actually take my time to look at anything because I had people banging into my cart trying to get around me. Targets isles need to be bigger.

Then we went to Petsmart, I hate going in there just because even though I only have a cat and a hermit crab I could spend over $100 on them within 1 min. by just walking in that store. You should see the stuff they have for Hermit Crabs, it's crazy.

Yes, my son got a Hermit Crab at the Beach and yes it's still alive. It will be a year in June that we've had it. I wanted my son to experience everything our first time at the beach even buying a local pet. And Hermie has the life, he gets to climb, snack on things, eat, drink, sit on water pillows and sleep all the time.

We also have a cat Shaun. My 8 year old named him after the Shaun of the Dead movie. Now I'm probably going to get bashed for this but yes I did let my son watch the Movie. Why you ask? Because we were at the Movie Rental place and my son was driving me absolutely insane by jumping up and down and saying please please please please please please. I told him it was scary it had Zombies in it etc.... He didn't care. So I figured the movie would scare him and that would be the end of it.

Well it ended up he laughed throughout the whole movie, he thought it was hilarious. Especially the part where they throw records at the Zombies. I did watch the movie before he did and I made a point not to let him watch Shaun's mother get shot. I think that would of been to much for him. For Halloween he dressed up as Shaun, it was funny. Nobody knew who he was, lol. But that didn't matter to him, because his family and friends did. I hope I didn't ruin the movie for anybody, I'll keep the ending to myself.

I downloaded some pictures of my candles from my Etsy shop I hope they went through. Yes, they all have the same picture. That's something that I'm going to work on next weekend. When I have a whole weekend to do something uninterrupted.

I got my first order from my Etsy shop. I am so excited. She's the best. Thank You!

I signed up for a few more Reviews of my candles. I'll be sending everybody there candles Monday.

Deb Bailey owner of Power Women Magazine, Radio Show, and NOW TV will be doing a review for me. http://wwwpowerwomenmagazine.co.cc I'll also be in her Newsletter. :)

My Etsy Banner and Button are done. I really like what Tara did it has color and pizazz. I think she did a wonderful job. You can see my Etsy banner and my button at:
http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com

I see that some people are looking at my blog, Thank You so much. If you want to leave a comment or 2 that would be cool.

I'm sorry this blog is so long, I just got a lot to say today.

I found my sons Wolf Scout Book, Hooray. Today is the meeting, so I just found it in time. I found a lot of neat stuff to do with them on the net. I'll post the pages next time. It was underneath the book shelf. I have a feeling that it got there with my 2 year olds help.

I messed up yesterday, I had 3 Mt. Dews. It was a little crazy with the weather being so nice and everybody pulling me in different directions that I couldn't handle it and went straight to the Dew. I know if I didn't have my Dew I would be an alcholic. So I did some extra work outs on the Wii Fit. I especially love the Yoga, even though my balance is nothing to brag about. The lady keeps telling me that my right side is stiff. I could of told her that, I need to go to the Chiropractor and get my body put back in place. Then I'll be able to do the Yoga Poses better.

I worked as a Home Health Aide for 6 years and lifting the elderly is tricky. Trying to lift someone heavier than you without any help from them really messes your body up. My knees, hips, and back are always popping out. Now I can't blame them I had these issues since I was little. Thanks to me being a Tom Boy.

I kick butt with the Hoola Hoops on the Wii fit, not only does it feel good to kick butt at something but to see my sons face laughing hysterically at me while I do it is even better. My 8 year old did the Hoola Hoops and I laughed so hard that I had tears running down my face. That poor boy has absolutely no coordination at all, he got that from his father.

The jogging part of the Wii Fit I probably wont do that for awhile. I thought I was going to die, lol. That's my sons favorite.

Well I'm off to make some candles and get ready for the Wolf Meeting at 4pm.

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-02-06T22:16:00.000-05:00

It's been hectic here today. Not only business wise but family wise to.

Business wise, I have been spreading the word around about my Etsy Shop.

I have Tara Todd from http://www.AMiracleCreation.com making me an Etsy Banner and a HillBilly Kandles Button.

I got in contact with http://gabbriellascloset2.etsy.com to participate in a box for this month. I'll be sending samples of my Melts to be put in the boxes. I'm super excited about this since it will be my first time ever participating in a box.
She also has a site http://www.gabbriellascloset.com

Then I contacted Heather from http://www.willowlakescents.blogspot.com to write a review about my Melts. She'll also be giving out a bag full of my Melts as a giveaway. I'll be sending those out Monday. Now which scent to send her, hmm. This is going to be hard.

I received a call today from a friend of a friend if that makes sense. She needs 250 Melts for her Wedding which will be in June. I know it's quite some time away. I guess she doesn't realize it would only take me 1 whole day to make them for her. I'm going to give her some Melts to sample in different styles of packaging, scents, and color so she can pick them out.

Enough about Business already, cause that's all I've been thinking about today sort of.

My BF/SO or Acehole as my father called him and I were talking today. And a little debate came about the discussion. He told me after we build the house he really wants to put a Shed up, I looked up from reading and asked a Shanty? Actually, I pronounced it Shanny. He looked at me puzzled and said NO a Shed. I answered yeah a Shanny. We went back and forth for a good minute doing this for some odd reason. Till he asked, What in your Opinion is a Shanty?

I told him it's a building where you put stuff in just like a Shed. Now, I've grown up visiting my grandparents on weekends when I was younger and my whole family on my dads side called the darn shed a shanty or shall I say shanny. But I guess a Shanty is a dilapidated Shed. I told him I don't care what he calls it, it's a Shanny to me. I thought it was funny and so did my mother we both had a very much needed laugh about it on the phone today.

Sunday is our Wolf Scout Meeting and I still can't find my sons Wolf Scout Book. I'm the Leader of the Pack and I can't find his book. I'm at a loss, I've looked everywhere. I usually base what we're going to do for the rest of the month off of his book and now I can't find it. Thank goodness for a down to earth mother who is taking it upon herself to buy the materials for 4 crafts and 2 games to do with the boys on Sunday. But still since it's getting to be towards the end and we only have 4 meetings left till they turn their books into me to review them we have things to do and accomplish. I still have to write my newsletter to the parents to inform them about what they are to do at home and what we are going to do as a group. You know now that I think about it I haven't checked my Scout Bag. Maybe it's in there. I'll check later.

I've also have gone 2 days without drinking Mt. Dew and I'm doing great working out on my sons Wii Fit. We check in every night to weigh ourselves my lady is still plump even though I did lose some weight. I wonder if they'll ever put her back to normal???? I like it that they don't make the kids plump, my son is just doing it with me so we can have fun together.

The Work Out is a pain in the butt. I was ashamed at how many push ups that I can only do. I wont say because it's embarrassing but I'm working on it daily.

Well I should get off of here and find that darn Wolf Scout Book so I can plan out the months ahead.

I finally Found/Bought Property YAY ME

2009-02-05T23:01:00.000-05:00

It's been almost a year since I posted about looking for houses to buy. After many disappointments we finally found someone that was willing to part with some acreage.

We bought 5 acres in the town next to us. We're planning on building a house. Nothing to elaborate like I really want just a basic house.

It's funny since my mother found out about us buying this property she's been saving all of her points from her bank and so have I. Both of us together saved enough points to get $300 worth of Home Depot Gift Cards and $50 worth of Lowes Gift Cards. I'm also saving my mypoints points for a Lowes Gift Card. I just need 500 more points and I can get it.

Tonight while I was taking pictures of the Property I took my 8 year old with me. He ran and ran and ran all over the place and still didn't cover half of it. He was so excited. I can't wait to start building. Oh the things to do before we can break ground.

So it looks like 2009 is starting out with a Big BANG for me, Finally.

I have a New Shop & Vincent's Soaps

2009-02-05T11:37:00.000-05:00

I opened up a shop on Etsy, I'm so excited. I already have some candles listed and I also have a Sample set of Melts in HillBilly Kandles Spring/Summer Scents for a great deal.

It's not anything great so far but it's a work in progress. http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com
Is my shop.

I'm also starting to change my packaging for my Melts. I'm trying out the Portion Cups they are 2 oz. just like my regular Melts. I think it will go over well, you just pop them out and put them in your Tart Warmer. You could recycle the cups by using them for small projects around the house.

I also have a new Spring/Summer List.

All About Me
Apple Crisp
Apricot Freesia
Black Raspberry Vanilla
Blueberry
Buttercream
Cotton Candy
County Market
Country Apple
Country Kitchen
Creamy Coconut
Cucumber Melon
Daisy Fresh
Downy Clean Breeze
Fabulous
Flower Nectar
Fresh n' Clean
Fresh Pear
Honey Do
Hydrangea
J. Cherry Blossom
Lavender Vanilla
Lemon Pound Cake
Lick Me All Over
Lilac
Lily Bouquet
Loving You
Mint Raspberry
Monkey Tinkers
Nag Champa
Orange J. Cake
Peach Blossom
Pear Berry
Pear Vanilla
Plumeria
Pineapple Blossom
Pink Flamingo
Pink Lemonade
Sage & Citrus
Strawberry Jam
Tropical Vanilla
Wedding Cake
Wildberry Scones
Vanilla

It was very hard to cut down the list, yes I actually cut the list down even though it doesn't look like I did.

My son has the Soaping itch. He started making soaps for family and friends. Since he got really good feedback from them all he has decided to sell on Etsy with me. He has 3 scents so far, we will be listing them soon on http://HillBillyKandles.etsy.com His soaps will be Glycerine Soaps scented Blackberry Harvest, Tropical Fusion, and Watermelon.
New Scents will be Coming Soon!

He is very proud of his new Hobby and Small Business. I think every child should have the chance to start a business. We sat down the other night figuring out the cost to make the soaps and how much he should charge. He is really into this and it also helps that we get to spend 1 on 1 time together. His math skills have gone through the roof, his teacher even commented that he is way above the class in his adding and subtraction. Wait till she see's him with his multiplication because he's been working on if I sell this many for this much this is how much I'll make.

Well onto making orders, I have my last order of Fall/Winter Scents to make.

Getting Organized/ Goals for Next Year

2008-12-28T00:03:00.001-05:00

Yesterday, I cleaned my candle area and found things that I totally forgot that I bought. I have several Molds that I could create so many different types of candles. Scents, all I can say is WOW. Now everything has a place again instead of it being scattered everywhere.

So after cleaning and organizing everything, I sat down with my whole list of Scents and figured which ones have to go and which ones will stay. I made a flyer emailed and handed them out to all my customers, so they'll know that the Sale will go on next week. I already have 4 orders lined up, which I'm pretty excited about.

I'm trying to get organized before the first of the year, because I'm supersticious and my thinking is " If it's clean the beginning of the year it will stay that way all throughout the year".

My Motto for 2009 is going to be Out with the Old in with the New. Starting with my kids play room. It isn't much of a play room at all it's more like a room that stuff gets pushed in and forgotten about till the kids want to play and have to push things aside to actually be able to sit in. So that's on my list, to go through the clothes and give them away to children that do need them. Instead of hoarding them in that room for god knows how long.