# Sharing my newest Yule creations



## Apothefairy (Nov 12, 2011)

Soap makes everything better. Started out the day on the wrong side of the bed, (literally fell out, I'm sure it was hilarious to God and creation, just not to me) and had some lovely soap-sess and wanted to share them!


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## nurse_75 (Nov 12, 2011)

Very cute. I love the last two. The gold bell and the Christmas Tree.


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## Sunny (Nov 12, 2011)

I love them all!


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## Chay (Nov 12, 2011)

Beautifully done!


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## trishwosere (Nov 12, 2011)

I love them all...beautiful-all of them


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## Apothefairy (Nov 12, 2011)

Thank you all so much, my kitchen still smells fantastic!


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## Fullamoon (Nov 12, 2011)

They're so perfect! That's hard to do. I really love the photography, too.


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## khermsen (Nov 12, 2011)

Beautifully executed........perfection!


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## saltydog (Nov 13, 2011)

They look soo perfect! Those results would make my day, too


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## soapbuddy (Nov 14, 2011)

Those look adorable!


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## Apothefairy (Nov 16, 2011)

Such wonderful feedback, I'm so glad everyone likes them!

Someone sent me a pm asking me about how I did these, so in the spirit of learning, I'm posting the answers here, so if any others seeking advice see these, they'll know how I got them to look so crisp.

Every time I get a new color or fragrance, I test it in one ounce of soap. So, melt an ounce and use either .15cc (one "cosmetic mini scoop" worth) of colorant .5 mL of fragrance or mix my colorant at 1 teaspoon powder into 1 tablespoon of glycerine and color my 1 oz with 10 drops of this mixture. If it's a liquid colorant, naturally you don't need to do this just put your drops in!

This is my benchmark for all my colors and fragrances and after I make my notes and take pictures, I record it all down so that I have sort of a "database" of color and fragrance.

When I design a new soap, I fall back on my database for the actual execution and measure everything out before hand. (In cooking, it's Mise en Place!) For these little soaps I melted about half an ounce of base for each of the "detail" colors and about 6 oz for the rest of the soap. Mix in color and fragrance to both of those and set the 6oz aside.

I have a very small injector syringe and a few cake decorating tools that I use to  get my decorating color into the part of the mold I want that color. I'll let this set up then take the mold and using some of my other tools (a mix of cooking and tools specifically created for clay-making) I clean up around the decorations if needed to make sure I get a sharp edge.

I wait until my base hits 120 degrees (Fahrenheit) at most to pour. If I'm layering colors or overpouring, I always pour at the coolest temperature possible to better control my results and lessen "disasters". Spray the soap already in the mold with a little rubbing/isopropyl alcohol. (I have 91% from the drug store.) Then very slowly pour my 6 oz out into the decorated cavities. If there are bubbles, I spray more alcohol, but since I pour so slowly and hold my measuring cup directly against the mold, I rarely ever get any!

Some don't like to do this, but I put them directly in the freezer to not only bring the temperature down and help them set up faster, but to keep the decorative color from warming back up and "bleeding" into the base color. This is a purely personal decision, but I find it helps me get exactly the aesthetic results I'm looking for with almost no "oops" soaps.


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## Tabitha (Nov 16, 2011)

Great photo styling & photogrtaphy too!


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## cinta (Nov 17, 2011)

Gorgeous!! I love the snowman


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## judymoody (Nov 17, 2011)

Those are really darling!  You did a great job.


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## LauraB (Nov 18, 2011)

Those are nice - I especially like the tone of the red mica (?) in the green ornament.


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## Lisars (Nov 18, 2011)

How adorable! Love them all. I wish I could take good pics like that.


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## Apothefairy (Nov 18, 2011)

@ LauraB: Well spotted! It is a red mica, but the secret is, it's the same red in -all- of the soaps! Shows you how important color theory can be hm? Depending on the background and surrounding colors, a specific hue can pop or blend. That said, it's quickly become one of my FAVORITE new colors.

@ everyone!: This is such a wonderfully supportive environment. You guys are awesome.

@ Lisars: Anyone can take good product pictures. Be ready to invest a smidge. For around $30- $50, you can get a tabletop photo studio (A tent made of fabric widely used in the photography industry to soften and reflect light, a couple lamps and a camera tripod.) Some of them even come with backdrops. I personally use a piece of white poster board with a piece of Canson ultra-bright marker paper over it. My camera is a 12.1 megapixel Sony Cyber-shot (DSC-W310), I believe now they're around $80. I take pictures both with and without flash, because some products look better with, some don't! Either way, I'm covered when I preview them. I also use a specific setting on my camera aptly named "snow" which is designed to get maximum results from a heavily white scene with high brightness.

If you're really strapped for cash, and don't want to get a photo tent set you can actually make your own lightbox with a decent sized cardboard box and some plain white tissue paper. Rather than reinvent the wheel, here's a great tutorial with pictures http://www.wikihow.com/Create-an-Inexpe ... y-Lightbox

If you've got a couple inexpensive desk lamps, they'll work wonderfully with a bright, white type bulb. But for really crisp pictures, you want your light as true white as possible. Heck, I used to use my glass-top kitchen table with an up-ward facing clip on lamp from IKEA as a fly-by-night illustrator's lightbox!


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