Market Day!!

The sun was shining - it was a lovely day and I covered costs and made some profit! Even getting up at 5am wasn't so bad today.

I have so many ideas for stall display! Last week was utter shite because of the weather so it didn't really count ... really this week is counted as my first week, so all things considered I did okay ... Next week will be even better! Last week I had two pasting tables that pretty much fell to pieces - this week I had my proper stock shelves and it looked so much better, but still so much room for improvement!!

Ohh here's a pic of the votives! with their new labels! See, I remembered and I got the pic sorted eventually!!!

Ohhh and because it was outside and the sun was shining ... I got a nice tan too!

I am so pissed off.............

Okay good stuff first then I'll get to my moan of the day!!

I have new labels! OMG they look sooooo fantastic! I should have taken my camera in to work with me today, but I forgot ... my bad - I'll take pics tomorrow! I had created a new design for the labels based on the new logo. I showed L ... who suggested I tweak it slightly by changing one little thing and all of a sudden they look properly "branded" rather than generic and "samey"

It's funny --- whenever I have new packaging, all of a sudden I love doing the "monkey work" .... hehehe I'm sure the novelty will wear off!

Okay so the moan.

I am so utterly pissed off at home right now. I'm working my proverbial backside off daily and I feel that I get very little support for it from hub. He claims to be supportive and will stand there and argue the toss with me about how he is being supportive ... but he isn't! His salary puts a roof over my head and food on the table ... but it doesn't mean that what I do isn't important!

I don't have the luxury of being able to leave early in the morning and finish at 5pm. I have to fit my working hours into the time that the children are at school, then I go back evenings and weekends if I have to. I am working my backside off to try to build the business back up. I've invested hours and hours of my time to build it into something for the future - for my future and for the kids.

Hub has been complaining about HIS LACK OF WEEKENDS!!! It makes me so angry. He expects it to be absolutely fine for me to just not go into work for an entire weekend and either have to fit more into less hours or fall behind with orders ... just so that HE can go and do HIS stuff.

How is that supportive???

The latest one??? AFTER we had already had an argument about how unimportant my work is and how he doesn't get time at weekends ... he told me he wanted to go out on Saturday 26th - some bike or canoe thing - I didn't really pay much attention to the "what" because I couldn't believe it - not only did he blatantly not listen to me earlier in the day about how I need the weekends ... the 26th is the weekend after his daughter's birthday ... the weekend I have got 3 of her friends coming over to all go to the cinema and then pizza and a sleepover! Yeah okay hub, what do I do with Nathan while you are off doing whatever it is you want to do while I am with our daughter and her friends?!?!!

Is that selfish of me? Am *I* being the selfish one? Should I just cause myself MORE stress and MORE worry by having to work harder and faster during the day while the children are at school just so that he can have a weekend to do whatever he wants to do??

On the upside I wore new shoes today - so at least the bad parts of the day had a bit of sparkle to them.

More rain in a day today than in a month!

Well that's what the radio said this afternoon anyway!

I was up at 5am and all motivated to go do the market! I got there early, got a pitch, got set up and was absolutely drenched by around 8am! Had it not been for another trader who loaned me a tarpaulin and some clamps to protect at least ONE side of my pitch then I would have been totally screwed! At least I was only cold and wet! LOL

Technically NOT a good day to try out the market! The rain was just ridiculous and when the other traders started packing up by 11am - I knew it was pretty pointless sticking around! I stuck it out for another hour, but gave up at that point!

The people that were out braving the rain just weren't browsing ... they were carrying umbrellas with heads down and walking very quickly - I couldn't blame them for not wanting to stop and have a sniff!

Anyway, it wasn't a total loss - although I am out the pitch cost, but I learned a lot! I already know exactly what I need for my display now - and it shouldn't cost the earth AND I may even be capable of building it myself with some hardboard, wood batons and some nails! Have hammer - can travel! HAH!

After taking the stock back to the workshop and picking up the kids, I pretty much spent the afternoon asleep on the sofa. It'll be hard doing that every week with the early start, but fingers crossed for better weather next week!!

It just gets better! (And quick moan about my period!)

What a fanfuckingtastic day!!

In chronological order of happening! ...

1. My appointment with my solicitor went very well. I definitely have a case and that is what I wanted to hear - somebody with a legal background who can turn around and say HEY you can't charge somebody for something that they haven't received. It was a very positive appointment.

2. When I got back to the workshop, I got a call from the manager of a weekly market in town nearby that gets a LOT of passing traffic. It's on a weekday but it is very popular and it's a slot I desperately want! He called to say that there is space for me as a casual trader when I want it. It basically means that I need to turn up there at 7am in the morning and hope for a pitch with no guarantee of getting one, so sometimes I'll end up coming straight back home again ... but, once I've been as a casual for a few weeks, I will be able to sign on as a regular. This is massive! It will be like having a shopfront without having a shop! I need to do a fair bit of work before I can think about it - stock building and organising a decent display table (oh and getting the tables as I have to provide all of that) but it's a very positive move forward!

3. I got all of the stock packed up for the market in East Preston tomorrow morning. I don't feel like I have enough stock - but I *always* feel that and I *always* come home with plenty ... so I'm happy about what I've got! Plus, the new shrink wrap packaging looks amazing

4. A cheque arrived for £192 and it was paid into the business account within two hours of opening the envelope! It's all about cash flow right now and as long as the cash is a flowin' I am a happy chick!

5. Orders are coming through the website again! It slowed up last week - but I put a lot of that down to it being the end of the month and Glastonbury being on as well could have had a LOT to do with it!!

6. Had a really nice chat on the phone with my mum this afternoon! We caught up on gossip and I told her about the weekly market ... she has offered to have the children after school until their dad gets back from work - as long as it will fit in with her work hours!

I'm afraid to say it too loudly (touch wood) but ... it all seems to be going okay right now! I know I have a LONG way to go and I'm still sinking right now, but I'm closer to "the light at the end of the tunnel" than I have ever been and it feels GOOD! I have to thank L for most of it, errr umm some of it hell okay - all of it! The eternal butt kicking and the way I now question everything ... it's all down to L!! God, if L hadn't come into my life at the right point, then I dread to think where I would be!!

WARNING PERIOD TALK!!!
Okay time for the period talk! I didn't have a period at all for a few months after Christmas, then a mega nasty heavy one - then two came 2 weeks apart! I worked out it's been around 5-6 weeks since my last one and it's worrying because my body seems to be so screwed at the moment. Trust me when I say there is absolutely ZERO chance I could be pregnant - bwahahaa (cobwebs is not the word!) it's just that it feels so "unfemale" not to get my period every month!

So anyway, lack of period aside, the upshot is that it's been a really really REALLY good day :-)

Ohh I did LOADS today!

Today has been a really good day! I was in the workshop this morning and got a ton of stock votives poured ready for the East Preston market on Wednesday. I made myself a list of the scents I wanted to take with me and got them ALL poured!

I spent the afternoon when I got back chilling in the garden with the kids - it was really nice and it was great to spend time with them. I forget sometimes what great little people they are!!

Megan is growing up TOOOOOO fast these days - it scares me! One of her classmates has already started her periods, and knowing that my daughter and her friends are that developed ... woah it's scary stuff for a mother!

And Mr Nathan ... well it was a surprise to see him actually EATING ... let alone eating a chicken wing - AND thoroughly enjoying it too!!

Yeah ... a good weekend!!!

Thank Crunchie it's Friday!!

Whew what a week!

It has all ended on a fairly good note though! Let me start from the beginning! Yesterday I spoke to a woman who was organising a school PTA Ladies pamper evening in Rottingdean ... tonight! It was short notice but I didn't have any plans so I said I'd love to go.

Soooo today I spent the day packaging stock for this lil event. I decided to make a conscious effort to try and shake things up a bit for shows!! I usually take about 30 baskets full of of votives, and the baskets are great for shows as it gives people lots of chances to sniff a wide variety of different things ... but it hasn't been bringing in the sales.

This is what I took tonight instead ....


I took stacks of 3 votives in different scent groups (fruit, floral, spice, food, perfume etc) and as many hurricanes as I had in stock plus my flip flop floating candles. I took as much in 2.5 hours this evening as I did ALL day at my last one!! Crazy!

My friend L gave me a huge tip today that possibly saved my ass tonight. It was duly commented that the packaging looks terrific on the votives, but the scent just wasn't gonna get through 2 layers of cellophane packaging!! It worked a treat!! At the last minute I grabbed a handful of "sniffy" votives in the same scents as the ones I had packaged up ... and OMG it worked a treat!! I invited people to come up and sniff the samples and let me know which ones they liked so that I could point them in the right direction!!

The flip flop floaters went down a treat ....

But then, they are sooo gorgeous that they usually do!!

I feel really positive! I didn't exactly make a million ... but I made more than I did from sitting on my ass tonight *grin*

I have a LONG way to go before my head is above water ... but for the first time I feel positive.

Candles, photos and a BBQ at Sis's!

Today started off as a great day ... I got a ton done at work and that always makes me feel good! I pity my poor courier come Monday morning - 42 steps (2nd floor) isn't so bad the first time you do it ... or on the way down ... but the second, third (etc!) time it's a back breaker especially with heavy boxes or sacks of wax!!

It turned into a great evening too as we went over to see my sis and her hub in their new place for a bbq and it was such a nice evening! Good food, a nice atmosphere and a pretty garden! Our mum and her hub's mum had been working hard in their garden planting and repotting - it looked fabulous!!

I'd arranged in advance to take a few photos while I was over there as inspiration for a main shot for my website ... so I took some candles with me. I didn't get exactly the shots I was after, but these are a couple of my best ...

I'm working hard on bringing the website up to scratch ... i.e. really emphasizing the lifestyle factor of what I do, and the best way to do that is through photography. These are just a couple of my best shots that I took at my sister's place this evening.... I wish I'd had more time and more "stuff" with me!!

I have had another brilliant idea though! My sister is a fantastic photographer. She and her hub both are ... and I'm going to ask her if she'll spend some time taking photos of my candles around her house!! Sis has some very "quirky" stuff in her house and really good taste - and they are both very inspired by angular / eccentric / unusual photography of very normal every day things... which is exactly what I am looking for!

It's weird because I'm not even jealous that my sister can do a better job at this than I can - and it almost surprises me that I am NOT jealous! I take really good photographs of things that inspire ME ... and that pretty much comes down to photos of my children! Sis and her hub take amazing photos of "stuff"!!

I think between the two of them, they will come up with some great pics for me! Besides, if I make a list of everything I give them for the photography, I can mark it off as deductible too, so it's worth it tax wise - and she / they will probably get FAR better shots than I ever could anyway!

I really enjoyed spending time with them this evening. They are such a great couple and I'm so glad Sis and I are closer.

236 votives later ....

Yeah that has been the sum total of my Friday night!

Damn I live an exciting night huh!! I have a two day show Sunday & bank holiday Monday, and as I have spent most of this week working on accounts, paperwork, and current orders, I had to spend the day pouring stock today! I take mainly votives when I do shows, so it involves wicking, bagging and labelling literally hundreds of votives in preparation. When I have a whole pile of stock to package, I bring it home and attack it with a glass or four of wine! I didn't do brilliantly at the last show, so there hasn't been a huge amount to do ... but I have wick'd, bagged and labelled 236 votives tonight!!

I've had a really good day today! I haven't done a huge amount done with the paperwork & accounts, but I did get QuickBooks up to date as far as 1st May this year (from 1st April) so that only leaves me the last few weeks to input into the computer. I feel REALLY positive about the progress I have made towards the accounting ... it's only been a week since I started making inroads into sorting the backlog out, and in that time I've done sooo much! I know I could have done more - but I'm not going to kick myself about it. I'm setting myself targets and missions to achieve each day, and as long as I do that - I am happy!

It's been a crazy week ... and it isn't over yet!!

Ugh .... and headache!

Well despite another massive headache today and the awfulness of yesterday, I was determined to have a good day today...

<---- HEADACHE!

No pain killers in the workshop either :-(

I was in the workshop fairly early and my wax finally arrived - along with the UPS man with a box of fragrance oils that have been stuck in customs forever (or so it seems!!!) It's been a nightmare recently for work, especially with the kids off school ... no wax and low on so many oils!

Anyway after both deliveries had arrived, I was able to really get stuck in and get some orders cracked out today and as the kids are still off school this week, I'll be working a couple of evenings to make up!! Fingers crossed by the end of this weekend I'll be totally caught up on everything.

It's a shame we don't have scratch and sniff internet because the black cherry votives you can see me pouring in the photo are soooooo strong!! I have to hold my breath while I pour this fragrance! LOL

Doesn't help my headache!

Ah well, break over ... back to work!

Don't drink and blog! LOL

LOL yeah reading the post I made last night, that's definitely one of the best ideas I have had in a while! I really shouldn't ever allow myself near my blog when I am drinking and feeling melancholy! Gawd yesterday was a depressing post eh!

Today is going to be better!!! I have an event tonight at a place called The River Club in Surrey ... http://www.theriverclub.info/ - it was booked fairly short notice last week but I spoke and confirmed with them yesterday and we are all on! Their website looks amazing and it's a pretty exclusive club in a good area, so it will all depend on people through the door!

I have to be on the road by about 4-4.15pm to allow for traffic ... so it will be a LATE one for me tonight and around a 3 hour round trip! Let's just hope I make more than pennies tonight!!

A blah Tuesday with a minor alcohol panic!

I had totally forgotten that when I was at the little show in Chichester a couple of weeks ago, a woman approached me and asked me if I'd like to do a small 2 hour event just up the road on 1st March ... which is this Saturday! DOH! I said I would be very up for it as it's Mothers day on Sunday so it's a good chance to sell people some "little extra bits!" LOL

Thankfully the organiser called me and asked me if I was still interested in going along or I would have forgotten all about it!! Needless to say I spent a good part of the day today (after I'd sent out some essential orders) making lots of mothers day appropriate stuff and a ton of flip flop candles!! These are really cute and I make them in all kinds of different colours. I've got them on sale on the website at the moment and I'll do a special price for them this weekend too! I'm also going to be making up gift sets with some of my leftover frosted gift bags and they will be £20 worth for £10... surprise bags but all with nice stuff in - a way to get rid of some CDs, some old floating candles & bits and pieces I have in the workshop that are PERFECT for mothers day! Fingers crossed for a good one - it's only two hours, but a lot can be sold in two hours, especially if I take my good luck Megan with me! Hehehe

Other than that it's been a bit of a blah day today ... well, compared to yesterday! I got chatting with my friend Lisa today before picking the kids up from school and we've arranged another girlie chat session on Thursday evening ... dangerous those as we totally pick the world to pieces! I NEEEED a girlie chat right now that even the happy pills can't mellow out! There is sooooo much going on inside my head it's dangerous.. and there IS stuff I can't write here in the public domain or I'd be arrested ... LOL okay well mebbe not arrested ... unless you can get arrested for thinking!! HAH!!

For example .... and I totally filched this image off the web. If it's yours I apologise for my filchiness, but it was so utterly fitting I had to grab it!

One of the things I've been worried about (that I CAN post in public!) is the amount I am drinking at the moment... but ALL of my girlfriends that I have talked to seem to drink around the same amount I do, so we're all either perfectly normal or raging alcoholic piss heads! LOL

Yeah let's not answer that question eh! LOL

Nah, in all seriousness I did some research online because I do find myself having a wee glass of wine or four most evenings now ... and I wanted to know if that is REALLY bad or just bad as in not good for me etc. Not good for me I can handle, but ending up an alcoholic? Naaaaahhhhh I've watched WAY too much Jeremy Kyle for that one!! HAHA ... okay I am joking again (Hmmm note to self - am doing that a LOT!)

Rosé wine is just SO drinkable and refreshing ... plus it's PINK! LOL! I gotta admit I'm a red wine gal out of choice, but I hate the ring it leaves around my lips in the morning and the baggy head it gives me! White wine has to be a GOOD white or it just tastes like frigging vinegar!! Sooooo Rosé is perfectly in the middle!!

Anyway, from what I read ... apparently although I do have a few glasses of wine most nights, I am not at risk (currently) of that changing to alcoholic level. I don't get up in the morning and think "must have a drink" ... I don't leave work early to come home and have a drink .... and don't ever drink during the day (except sometimes on weekends sometimes it's around 4-5ish! LOL) and "family life" isn't affected by alcohol ... well, except that sometimes you gotta stop off after dog walking to pick up more alcohol!

So anyway, it's only 9.30pm but my bed is calling me for an early night tonight!! Hopefully going out Friday night and it'll be an all nighter so I'd best get my beauty sleep now!!!

The weirdest Monday on record yet!!!

Well talk about Weird Mondays and I think the one I had today was just so totally utterly bizarre that it's just ... well, wow!!! It started off as a very stressful monday morning, but as the day went on ... despite some really sad news, my day was very definitely un-stressed!!

Today was my first proper day back in the workshop after the h*ll that is half term and I even felt really sick this morning for no real reason at all. I didn't actually throw up, and I could only put it down to feeling nervous about going back into the workshop after a few enforced days off (also for reasons other than half term, but that's not a story for public viewing!!)

Anyway, I got into the workshop and it was all actually okay! I spent the entire day pouring and cleared off eleven orders so I was very chuffed with myself!!! Tomorrow is a "top up" and package day where I will literally be topping up stuff that I made today ... and sending it out.

Through circumstances and no fault of my own I've ended up sooooo far behind with orders, but it was really good to spend a day just playing in the wax and making candles today!! I've had a ton of orders in over the last few days, so I'll get everything I've made sent tomorrow so I should have happy customers again :D

Then this afternoon, about half an hour after getting in from work, I got a text from a really good friend - L, to ask if I fancied popping over for a chat! Thing is, hub was unusually working from home on a Monday, so I took FULL advantage and went over to L's place! What was supposed to only be popping out for an hour or so ended up with me being out for hours and just about getting home at dinner time to say hi to the kids after their first day back at school!

A thoroughly worthy afternoon though *grin* - I have a smile on my face that won't quit and that's all I'll say!!

I actually feel a little disrespectful here today because after the great and terrific afternoon I've vaguely talked about, I haven't mentioned ANYTHING about C today and I feel truly bad for that.

PLEASE forgive me ... I have always sworn never to delete anything I write here (unless it's a typo!) and that will never change, but I feel I should have mentioned this at the start of today and it is SO tempting to go back and change how I have started this entry, but I won't...

C was the wife of R who has the unit along the coridoor from me. I found out this morning that C sadly passed away on Friday. It wasn't totally unexpected as she had been ill for quite some time (cancer), and to be honest, every time I had seen C, I'd been surprised that she was still around because she looked so ill and had been so ill for so long. That sounds callous doesn't it ... I truly don't mean to be... I just say it how I see it.

My friend Lou that works for R had been a friend of C & R's for years and I know that she had taken it harder than she made out when I saw her today. C died of cancer and Lou has breast cancer - for the second time and is right in the middle of treatment, so it has been soooo hard on them all over there. Lou is also a really good friend of mine and it's been really hard to see her go through her own personal battle as well as deal with C's illness and now her passing. I just wish there was more that I could do

I almost feel guilty for having a good day today after finding out about C passing away. I KNOW that's silly and that C would probably tell me off for it! I said to R today that I knew there was nothing I could say but that he would be in my thoughts.

It's been a tough time for them all over that end of the coridoor.

... I just have to add that this has been one of the weirdest blog entries I have ever made. To have had such a sad day combined with such a totally chilled out and fantastic afternoon has been utterly weird! Thank you L for one of the best afternoons I've had in a LONG time!!!

First craft show of the year ...

Well yesterday was! Oving in Chichester, so a nice local one that only took 20 minutes to get to. I'll admit that I hadn't even thought about writing about it when I got back as my head just needed to hit my pillow!

Megan came with me and she was absolutely brilliant! Such a superb little saleswoman and I had so many people compliment me on her! She handed out a ton of business cards to people and was standing there telling customers how to use the breakaway melts and the story behind my multi layered candleshop votives!

Plus, it was nice to just have some Mum & Megan time together! I didn't make a fortune, but we got my name out there and that's what it's about!! I've got a fair amount of interest in candle parties too ... so fingers crossed!!

Prep for my first craft fair of the year

I don't know if you can even call it a craft fair really! I am in Oving, Chichester tomorrow and it's only a little local one 1-4pm so I am not expecting huge amounts, but it's the first one of the year and I'm taking slightly different stuff so I am a little unsure! LOL

To a certain extent I have stopped doing shows and fairs because you have to stand there all day with a false smile on your face as people pick stuff up, tell you how wonderful it smells, how they've never smelled anything as good ... and then they walk off without buying anything! It can be incredibly frustrating!

So, I'm being pretty picky now about the events I will attend. I wouldn't normally do something just for 3 hours, but I figure it's a local one, it's in aid of a really good charity, and getting out there making SOME money has to be better than being sat on my ass at home!!

So anyway I've got stacks of 3 votives, break away melts and my "just say it" slim pillars. I spent most of today in the workshop re-packaging the soaps that are now "to clear" and organising all of the labels and making sure I have everything I need. Megan is going to come with me so it will be a nice girlie day for us too :-)

If it feels like a Monday, then it probably is!!!

Ooops I didn't get around to writing anything yesterday because I spent most of the day packaging up a whole bunch of these 3 stacks of votives to take to a craft show this coming weekend! It's only a small local one for 3 hours ... so I didn't want to invest too much time into building stock for it and I don't want to be carting all of the stock votives and baskets out just for a few short hours!!! Sooo I'm taking as many of these votive stacks as I can in different scent combos - some florals, some fruits, perfumes, bakery & spice, fresh/feminine etc. The idea is that each set has different fragrances in and they are only £3.75 for a stack, so it's AFFORDABLE and I'm hoping that if people actually stop to look at what is on my table then they should be able to put their hand in their pocket for £3.75 and take something away!!

I am also going to take a load of different breakaway wax melts and put them in a big rummage basket because these are all things that I can keep in stock and re-use if they don't sell this weekend!

This will be a completely different sort of set up for me as I usually just purely take single wrapped votives in their baskets. It will be interesting to see if it makes a difference to the money that I take!

Other than that I am TIRED today! I have had a bit of a sore throat for a few days that hasn't really amounted to anything, but I've just been really run down, under the weather and full of BLAH today!

I really AM a creative genius!!!

Okay well there is a VERY good reason why I've not blogged for a couple of days ... I've been working on yet ANOTHER project! Yeah, see I think I found some of that time that I lost last week, and when Dee finds herself with nothing to do ... oh well life gets really really awful for anyone in her path!

Hence ... even though I haven't even finished the updates on the candlemaking website, and I'm still playing around with the format of the forums and moderating that, plus working a LOT as orders are really coming in at the moment, plus the whole domestic goddess bit, plus (ah well you get the idea!) ... I found myself thinking "Hmmmm deestapleton.co.uk .... now THAT sounds like a GREAT idea!"

Within a few minutes the domain was registered, and by the time it had the 24 hours to propagate throughout the Internet, I'd designed the main page and got the format for the sub pages done! So uhuhuh I've been a very busy bunny!!

www.deestapleton.co.uk - it's there and it's live but very MUCH under construction so I haven't "officially" launched it yet ... I just wanted to share it with the 2 or 3 of you that may actually read my daily mutterings and rambles!! HAHA!

It's going to be a site to house information about ALL that I do and I'll have all my sites linking to each other anyway, so hopefully if someone gets in touch for a candle order, they'll see I do photography, handmade cards, scrapbooking --- plus all the other things I do ... and they might want to commission me for something else!

Dee is gonna make money this year! I am going to HAVE that shop this year even if I have to work all the hours under the sun to achieve it!!!!

If it doesn't move ... tidy it up!

Seeing as I took the day "off" yesterday with Nathan at home for "Insect Day", I spent most of the day in the workshop today. I'm pretty pleased with my progress too ...

A huge part of what I have been doing has been about sorting out and re-arranging the stock room so that I can easily see at a glance exactly what stock I have got. I keep my votive stock in these nifty baskets and there's around 18 in each basket so that when I get orders that are "1 of this, 2 of that" for votives, all I need to do is go into the stock room and they are all there laid out ready. It also means that when customers come to pick up orders, they can browse and buy more stuff while they are there!! I have been trying to work on getting every single fragrance that I have into votives and ready on display in the stock room. I have over 100 scents so it's not an easy task!!

This is what WILL eventually be my new office and what USED to be the "rubbish room!" It has turned out a bit more complicated than planned to get my old antiquated office PC wireless so I need to either buy some really long cables or buy a new PC! LOL Both can wait - it's not essential for now, and in the meantime this is my chill-out room where I can actually sit down and take a proper break!!! This room is opposite the stock room so it will be perfect to take customers into the stock room, then sit down in my office while I prepare their invoices!!

And that's how I spent my day today!!!

New projects and a new forum!

I’ve been working on a new forum for candlemakers – a web based forum to almost replace the email group that I have run since oooh around 2000-2001!

I’ve been working on it for a few days sorting out all the admin, creating the categories and sub forums etc, then I launched it last night on my candlemaking email group. By the time I’d sent the email, made a coffee and refreshed the forum main page, people had already started joining!! When I woke up this morning and checked, there were 165 members … that is just in twelve hours!!! I anticipate this is going to be huge!!

http://candlemaking.hyperboards.com/

It's Friday already????

Crikey this week has gone FAST!!!! With the help of B and L in the workshop we had 99.9% of orders packed and dispatched by Wednesday and then we spent Thursday morning cleaning up and boxed up the last few orders!!

I honestly couldn't have got through it without L! She is a friend who just comes in to help out and wants payment in candles - she has turned out to be a real speedy packing gem too!!

THANKFULLY the problems seem to have been few and far between with deliveries. I did have one major problem where I couldn't access the Parcelforce website so I had to book the collections over the phone and the stupid bint booked them all to be collected from the customers and delivered to me!!! I did manage to discover this error and stick a rocket under Parcelforce to get it fixed in time! I haven't had any panicked phone calls from customers in the last few days and my mobile has been pretty quiet today so that is a really good sign!!!

This Christmas season has been .... well, I'm not sure. I've been BUSY definitely but I seem to have stayed on top of it and part of me can't help wondering whether it's thanks to the happy pills! God I love those pills!! I haven't been stressed or strung out in a long time, and although I still have the odd day where I am sick in the mornings, it's a very rare occurance these days. I just generally feel happier and able to tackle things head on rather than running away.

Still dreaming of a shop too - *sigh* I have spent a lot of the day thinking about all of the walk by trade that I have missed out on this Christmas and the number of people milling around town shopping. Some of those pennies could have been mine!!!

The new website is almost finished too - I have been working on that most evenings! I just need pour the Monochromatics and new message candles to to take some photos - then the new site can go live! Very excited about that!

Stick a fork in me cus I'm DONE!!!

Well the pouring is anyway!! All of the pre-deadline orders have now been poured and I had Lisa helping me out today as well as B back at work, so there was also huge pile of boxes that got sent out today!! I have both of my little elves back in again tomorrow and by then we should pretty much have got it ALL done!!

I'd set my deadline for final dispatch as Wednesday but as far as I can tell from what we did today, it SHOULD all go out tomorrow now!! Phew! I'd also anticipated having to go into work again tonight ... but I don't need to do that either!

Blimey, Dee may even actually get a Christmas break!!!!