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 some other types of candles
can 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 26 years, have 2 children and 3 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!
