Rosmerta's Cauldron is closing

After a good deal of thought, I have decided that it is no longer sustainable to keep the Rosmerta's Cauldron Artfire shop running. This is due to a multitude of factors.

Firstly, it is very expensive to host a shop with Artfire, around £12.00 a month is debited from my bank account. This is spare money that I do not have. I am a disabled person living under a Conservative government who have already killed tens of thousands of us and are implementing further cuts. Spending £12.00 a month just to host a shop is not viable in the long term.

Secondly, my incurable pain is gradually worsening, the mere idea of pouring a pan of wax is an intolerable one right now. I like to think that I will still make occasional candles as gifts, but I honestly don't know.

Thirdly, there are only a couple of key points during the year at which sales really happen, due to the widespread need for gifts at those times. Bearing in mind that I make no profit from this, it is really not worth continuing to host an Artfire shop year-round because of the sporadic contribution to charity that I will be able to make when sales do happen.

I have considered transferring to Etsy, which is somewhat cheaper when paying on a per-listing basis, but the fact remains that I do not feel physically capable of continuing to make candles. Custom orders are now closed, and I will have to keep paying to host the Artfire page until the stock in my cupboard is sold. I made 78 sales in 4 years so I like to think it wasn't a waste. It is a great shame to stop but I hope you will all continue to support Assistance Dogs.