Hi, my name is Valerie Garner, owner and operator of Joyful Designs in Soy. I've loved candles my whole life. The first time I made candles was when I was around 10 years old. I made molded, novelty candles and sold at our local Christmas bazaar for several years. Many years later I tried my first soy candle, and loved how long it lasted, how you could actually smell it while it burned and how clean it was. I really need to take care of myself now (to keep up with the grandkids), and while there are toxins in our environment and food that we have no control over, we can make a choice about the type of candles we burn. I didn't want to have the toxins in our home that petroleum based candles give off. That basically re-kindled my love of candle making, so I invested time, finances, research, and testing to come up with my own line of high quality soy candles. I call my business Joyful Designs in Soy, because it gives me joy to make them, and hopefully joy to those who use them. 

We are a small, family operated business. My husband and I have been married for 24 years, have 2 children and 2 darling grandchildren. We've lived in Washington state our whole lives except for 6 years when my husband was in the Marine Corps. During that time we lived in North Carolina and Hawaii, returning to Washington afterwards. I also work full time at a local refinery, so life is busy. My youngest leaves for vocational school soon, and the candles will be a good outlet for me during this next season of becoming an "empty nester." Kind regards to you all!