Rain, Rain, Go Away

Really, I don't mind the rain much at all. It's great this time of year for the area farmers and gardens and it's much better than snow right about now.

However, I was planning on getting outside to take some pictures and dark clouds and rain aren't exactly ideal conditions for that. It is supposed to rain tomorrow as well and it looks like any outdoor photos will have to wait until Sunday afternoon for this week.

On the bright side, we will be able to get several batches of soap made that we have been planning. Plus, we will probably be able to get around to sorting our work room and living area this weekend.

Hopefully the rain will let off a bit so that we can enjoy some of the weekend outdoors.

Have a great weekend,

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com
http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com

New Retail Location!

Just an update for locals who are looking for great candles and other wonderful handmade items in the downtown area of Manitowoc, WI.

You can now find a selection of our pillar candles, container candles, and breakaway melts at Persimmons on N. 8th Street.

We are very excited to have this opportunity to have our candles in this great shop. If you are in the Manitowoc, WI area please be sure to stop by and check out Persimmons.

Along with our candles you will find a great selection of fused glass pendants and earrings, cards, art, crochet items, jewelry, and more from over 100 local and national artists and designers.

You can also find some of our products at:

AGOG ARTS - 225 E. Grand River Ave., East Lansing MI (soaps, incense, breakaway melts)
Silver Heels Truck Stop - Fairplay, CO (pillar candles, votive candles, breakaway melts)

Johnny Depp in Oshkosh, WI

Johnny Depp arrived in Oshkosh, about 20 minutes from us, Friday night around 7:00 PM to film a part of "Public Enemies".

Depp stars in the film as bank robber John Dillinger, who was killed by FBI agents in 1935 in Chicago. Filming began in Columbus, WI, a small town north of Madison, last month.

Over the weekend, scenes were filmed at Wittman Regional Airport. A slightly "remodeled for the set" downtown Main Street will be the set starting on Monday.

The local newspaper is following closely with updates available at their website .



"Public Enemies" Johnny Depp as Dillinger- Oshkosh gets ready

Feature - Purselady / KDemARTe

Today I'd like to share a few great items I recently purchased on Etsy.

The first is a very nice purse from Purselady.

I just love this purse, it is very well built and sturdy. There is plenty of room and the sturdy bottom is a nice touch. Another great thing is that the bag has been pressed and sprayed with scotch-guard for extra protection.

If you're looking for a new purse check out her shop - http://purselady.etsy.com.

Next is a great necklace from KDemARTe.

I love coffee, and this necklace is just perfect for me. I'm planning on getting the matching bracelet from her soon.

From her item listing, "I made these coffee bean pendants using the age-old process of gravity casting and forging. They have an antiqued hand polished finish."

There is a great selection of rustic handmade jewelry in her shop http://KDemARTe.etsy.com.

Thank you for your time and have a creative Friday,

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com
http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com

New "of the Month" Clubs

We are pleased to offer you several choices as a great way to receive new scents or soaps every month!

Introducing the Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co. Breakaway Melt of the Month Club and Soap of the Month Club!!

Both of these great clubs are available on our website http://www.crazytimescandles.com as well as our Etsy shop, http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com.

Soap of the Month Club

A wonderful way to pamper yourself. Also great as a gift. As they pamper themselves each and every month, they'll be thanking you over and over again.

Each month you will receive one or more (depending on the plan you choose) of our luxurious handcrafted soaps delivered to your door or sent directly to your gift recipient.

We'll even include a special card with the first shipment to announce your thoughtful gift.

We'll match your monthly soap selections to the season. Lighter scents during the summer months and richer scents during the cold winter months.

Want to request certain items? Or are there specific allergies/sensitivities of which we should be aware?

Let us know and we'll make sure that you'll be absolutely delighted with each and every month's shipment.

*** Shipping in the US and Canada is included in the price. ***

Available packages include:

1 bar per month plans:

3 months - $24.00
6 months - $45.00
12 months - $85.00

2 bar per month plans:
(save even more!!)

3 months - $40.00
6 months - $78.00
12 months - $145.00

Breakaway Melt of the Month Club

Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co. Breakaway Melts are highly scented wax chunks meant to be melted on a tart/melt warmer. As the wax melts it releases scent to fill your room.

Simply place a melt in the upper tray and light a tea light to place in the bottom. As the flame of the tea light heats the upper tray where the melt is, the melt releases fragrance through its wax pool.

Now you can enjoy a new scent every month with our Breakaway Melt of the Month Club.

You will receive 1 pack of our breakaway melts (6 squares per pack) each month in our featured scent of the month.

If this is being sent for a gift, we'll include a special card with the first shipment to announce your thoughtful gift.

Shipping is included in the price.

3 months - $20.00

6 months - $38.00

12 months - $74.00

Be on the look out for our next Featured Etsy Seller coming tomorrow!

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com
http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com

iCraft.ca

Recently, Southamptoncreations made me aware of a new site where independent artists can display their work for sale. It's called iCraft.ca, and right now you can sign up for a "showcase" free for one year before April 30th.
Yes, if you sign up before April 30th and list at least one item they will waive the $25.00 annual fee for the first year as well as all fees involved in selling!

iCraft.ca is an outlet that those who sell their hand-crafted items may want to check into. The site is designed to allow crafters to sell their work. There are also a message board, an events calendar, and a number of great content-related articles.

Though this is a relatively new site, from what I can see there are quite a few people over there already.

I have set up a showcase there and added just a few items right now, but the process can be made fairly simple by opening a window for your Etsy shop and one for your iCraft.ca showcase and using "copy / paste" to add your items.

You can check out my iCraft.ca showcase here - http://www.icraft.ca/crazytimescandles

Jewelrybytiti has a more full showcase here as an example - http://www.icraft.ca/jewelry_by_titi

If you sell, at least go check iCraft.ca out! Hey, it's free...

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com
http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com

New - Eucalyptus Foot Cream

Just in time to prepare for summer sandal weather.

We've developed a thick foot cream specially formulated with Eucalyptus essential oil and anti-fungal Tea Tree essential oil to treat dry and cracked feet.

Enriched with a large amount of organic unrefined shea butter, this cream moisturizes, softens, and protects.

Available at our www.crazytimescandles.com and at our Etsy shop.

Thanks for visiting our blog,

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com/
http://crazytimescandles.etsy.com/

Warm & Sunny Sunday

Today the weather is quite nice. I am planning on grabbing my camera and taking some new pictures outside to see the difference.

I'll be sure to post some shots taken inside and outside with various camera settings later.

Also, we are getting our outdoor products ready to list for next week. These will include the fire starters (already listed) as well as all natural bug repellent spray and candles using blends of some great essential oils.

First it's time for some coffee.

Revolution Money Exchange (RME)

We added a few more payment options yesterday. I'd like to share them with you so you can take advantage of these great sites.

The first one many of you are probably familiar with, Google Checkout.

Google Checkout allows you to receive payment for a lower fee than PayPal ($0.20 + 2.0%) compared to PayPal at ($0.30 + 2.9%). One nice thing about the Google Checkout system is that it can be integrated into our web page's shopping cart and therefor becomes another easy payment method on our site.

With Google Checkout you can also add payment buttons which are similar to PayPal's "Buy it now" buttons. This is great for sites that do not have a shopping cart system.

This next one I am a bit excited about.

Late last night, I found out about Revolution Money Exchange, a competitor to PayPal. If after reading this you are interested in signing up please contact me either by leaving an e-mail address in a comment or by e-mail at erin@crazytimescandles.com.

If you haven't checked out Revolution Money Exchange (RME) it is worth your while. The really nice thing about RME is that there are no fees unless you want a physical check sent to you or want a paper statement mailed (which you can print from their site for free).

That's right, it's free to register, add money, send money, receive money, request money and withdraw electronically to a bank account.

Plus as a bonus you will get $25.00 FREE in your account for signing up before April 15th. That is a great bonus. Each referral you make will land you a bonus $10.00 in your account as well.

Signing up is simple, just click the picture below to get started.
It took me about 2 minutes and I got my $25.00 instantly!

To accept this payment method you will need to send a request for the funds to the buyer and then they will have to pay the "invoice" that you send. A small price to pay to not have to pay PayPal's transaction fees.
Washington Post – "Former AOL chairman Steve Case is at it again, this time using his Revolution LLC investment firm to start a new credit card company he's calling Revolution Money…AOL vice chairman emeritus Ted Leonsis will chair the new company…the board also will include former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers, former Mastercard CEO Russell Hogg, and former Charles Schwab chief executive David Potruck."

Dave and Erin Powell
Crazy Times Candle & Bath Co.
http://www.crazytimescandles.com
http://www.crazytimescandles.etsy.com

April Scent of the Month

For those who don't know, we feature a different fragrance each month as our Scent of the Month.

Products in the Scent of the Month section at http://www.crazytimescandles.com are offered at a 25% discount.

There is no limit, but you MUST order the items from the Scent of the Month page to receive your discount.

We have chosen Cucumber Melon for April.

A perfect blend of wild watermelon, cucumber, and honeydew make this an incredibly fresh and fun fragrance!