Wooowww! That's awesome!No soap stuff today (but I'm keeping my hopes up for Sunday), but it's mostly because I've taken a break from making soap to build myself a dedicated soap station. Yep, I know how lucky I am to have the skills/tools/cash/room* to do this (thank you, former self, for learning basic carpentry!).
View attachment 78138
Here's a snapshot of my current soap-making workstation. It's my old workbench and the only place in the house I have to make soap AND to do repairs and wood projects for the house. Every time I have to do something other than soapmaking I have to pack everything away, then clean up and get everything back out to make more soap. It finally reached the point on July 4 weekend that I decided to do something about it. I've moved my 'home office' desk over to the opposite wall and am building a new workbench for the soap:
View attachment 78139
I snapped this shot as I was trying to figure out how to get the shelves in after I foolishly put the sides on first! This is the kind of task that's a lot easier with a second person. I finally did get the main shelves in, and now I'm working on the upper shelves. I'm installing lighting over the new bench, too, and it will be very nice not to be working in murky lighting for once. I'm really looking forward to getting it set up, and also happy that I'll be able to set up my old workbench for what I build it for originally! It's been ages since I had my tools out where I can find them. I actually have been making soap, after the awful winter doldrums; according to my records I've made 10 small batches since mid May. Here's most of that production:
View attachment 78140
I'm running out of drying rack space, so I've gathered 6 milk crates we had lying around and I'm going to give them a good cleaning and use them as 'racks.' I think I can get 12 bars in each crate, and they stack so they shouldn't take up much floor space at all.
I promise to take a 'glamor shot' of the new bench once I get it set up & before Iwreck itstart making soap on it.
My soap To Do list for the rest of the year includes making more soap for the farmers markets this autumn (can my nerves stand it?**), finally learning the online inventory system I've been paying for and not using, and perhaps studying for my HSCG basic certification (but I may wait for the winter to do that, and try to get the Basic and Advanced done in one big push... have any of you been through the certification process?). I've been making progress on my plan to standardize on a handful of suppliers (and alternates) for my core raw materials, though we're still trying to figure out which scent suppliers to go with.
I also need to buy a couple of tables, more display shelves, and an awning thingy for the markets. Now that I have my workbench back, maybe I can make my own display shelves! ***
-=-
*I don't really have enough room; I'm just cramming it in anyway.
**I'm stressed because I don't care for crowds and my introvert self will be exhausted after every event, I know that.
***Can you tell that I'm in an 'upswing' phase of my mood swings?
![Grinning face with big eyes :smiley: 😃](https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f603.png)
It's nice to get a glimpse of what's been keeping you busy lately ~ I was wondering what you have been up to lately!
Keep us posted when you can!