It's time for the First Annual Soy Candle Blowout! (No pun originally intended... but that does have a nice ring to it, doesn't it?)

See, I figure I can justify my candlemaking hobby if I actually recoup some of the money I spend on supplies. My losses have been steadily declining over the years, until 2008 is finally looking like the year I might actually turn a profit on this hobby. Granted, I've spent only a fraction of what I spent on supplies in previous years, but still. It's all about learning how to maximize profit while still having a good time and making smelly-good candles for me and mine. Right?

I've had this idea in years past that I should really make a big push for Christmas sales, since that's when I usually sell (and gift) the most candles. Last year, 72% of my annual sales were made in December alone; the year before, 65% were from November and December combined. So, I figure that if I can increase my visibility in the months leading up to the holiday season, all the better.

I've considered putting up an Etsy store to try to sell my candles, but I have the feeling I'd probably only sell to my friends and family (and co-workers), anyway. So, best to skip the middleman and just try selling direct from my blog!

For sale to the first people to e-mail me (since comments have been wonky lately), I have up for sale the following 3oz votives from my current inventory:

• Kahlua (three available)
• Cool Citrus Basil
• Creamy Coconut
• Hazelnut Coffee
• Vanilla Mint
• Lilac

The price is $4 per candle. If you need your candles shipped, we can discuss shipping charges via USPS. Along with your purchase, you also will receive a FREE tealight sample of another fragrance (of my choosing). These samples come two to a box and are perfect for deciding whether you like a scent well enough to buy a votive or mason jar candle. (Not so good for smelling up a whole room, though.) Also excellent stocking stuffers. These tealight samples usually sell for 50¢ for a box of two.

My normal M.O. is to take custom orders: say, two eggnog candles in quilted mugs, or a 10oz cranberry candle. I prefer not to have too much inventory laying around for too long; since I don't have very many customers, I'd rather not make candles in advance and just hope they'll sell. But, while I'm making these custom orders, I like to make additional small votives and tealights, either for myself (why do you think I got into this hobby?) or as gifts, or to sell like this. It's helpful to have SOME inventory when a former boss e-mails me and says, "I need a holiday gift basket for the Secret Santa exchange — what can you do for me?" Since I'm such a small operation, I don't exactly have the equipment to make multiple batches of candles, so a gift basket could take me a week to create, you know? Nice to be able to pull out a Cranberry and a Pumpkin Pie and some boxes of tealights and only have to make one or two "big" custom candles.

Point being, if you ever decide you want a soy candle, and you have a particular scent in mind (even a Bath & Body Works or Yankee Candle scent), just ask. Chances are, I'll be able to oblige.

OK, enough rambling about candle crap that you probably don't care about. Who wants some?

Later on, Aaron suggested I try paying for our Starbucks with my debit card to see if the earlier issue had just been a glitch. Nope — my card was declined at Starbucks, too. I started to worry, and made a note to check my online banking when I got home.

Later that evening, I logged into my online banking and found the first major WTF: a $635 charge from Virgin Blue. Airline tickets?

I got on the phone immediately to the NCB call center.

The customer service rep who spoke with me was super polite and helpful and told me that my debit card had been frozen by the Fraud Department due to some suspicious charges. He gave me the number for Fraud, although they wouldn't be in until after the long weekend. That was OK: I wasn't overdrawn or anything, so it could wait.

Forgot to call Tuesday. Called from my desk at work on Wednesday. The woman in the Fraud Department was also very nice and explained that some unusual charges had come in. Since Saturday, another charge of about $400 from Oman Air had appeared in my online banking, in addition to the $635 charge for Virgin. (Good thing I'd just gotten paid, so my balance could take the hit.) Then she proceeded to rattle off the charges that they'd caught and stopped before they hit my account: London, Turkey, Skype, Yahoo, PayPal, all adding up to more than $1000 — and that's not counting the $1000 that DID post!

Now THAT would have wiped me out, but good.

So, the nice lady in Fraud ordered me a new debit card with a new card number (note to self: must change anything online that autodebits my debit card) and told me to go into a branch to fill out an affidavit of fraud to get credit for the charges that posted. Plus the International Transaction Fees that posted along with them. Sigh.

No problem. Left work early, went to the bank, and TaMika hooked me up. Didn't even have to fill out or sign anything — it was all done in their computer system. I should be getting my provisional credit in about four business days; until then, I'm going to be careful about which bills I pay when, so I don't overdraw myself before I get my $1000 back.

Despite all this, I'm not on the road to being one of those people who gets the prepaid credit cards from their bank for online shopping. I probably just used my debit card on one unscrupulous site — or with a company whose wi-fi network wasn't well-shielded enough — and away my number went. Who knows where it got leaked. At any rate, I'm still going to shop online, although I don't know if I'll be so cavalier about using my debit card online anymore.

My debit card number got stolen, and it turned out to be just a minor nuisance (so far). I count myself lucky: other people have had it worse.