What soapy thing have you done today?

[powderpink]

I starter picking out brambleberry FO samples (10ml) for my Christmas project...
But then I couldnt decide...so now I have a cart full with 60-70 samples

I will have to pick wisely/get rid of a bunch of those as I'm sure a lot of those will be similar (e.g. Do I really need a pumpkin souffle AND a pumpkin and brown sugar?)

 

[Rusti]

Well, today I should get my order of Nurture micas. I got in on the sale, totally impressed with their shipping time! Also planning to sit down with my bagful of pipettes and FOs and try to do some fragrance blending for fan/nerd soaps. I have about nine, whose blends may or may not work as I have made the notes. That should be a good time.

 

[Violet_21]

I just received my soap mold from Nurture! I am so happy with the product plus fast shipping, and I was really excited to see a sample fragrance oil in there... Didn't plan on using fragrance for awhile, but now I can start my collection.

The only problem is that I have to wait for my oils and lye to get here before I start... *sigh*

 

[TeresaT]

I finally bought a camera and a standard tripod. I have been using my iPhone to take photos of everything and I am shaky. I have a tiny desktop tripod for the phone, but it's not helpful. So, tomorrow, I'm going to finish cleaning up the areas I want to use as backdrops (cleared/cleaned two so far), pull out all of my soaps and the fancy soap dishes I bought then play photographer. I might actually get my Facebook page back up and working by January.

 

[penelopejane]

^^^ Whoooo!

I am patiently waiting for FOs to arrive.
It's all part of the soaping process.

 

[jules92207]

I starter picking out brambleberry FO samples (10ml) for my Christmas project...
But then I couldnt decide...so now I have a cart full with 60-70 samples

I will have to pick wisely/get rid of a bunch of those as I'm sure a lot of those will be similar (e.g. Do I really need a pumpkin souffle AND a pumpkin and brown sugar?)

I totally have both of those to try, and a few others... I'm a pumpkin fo ho.

 

[snappyllama]

I've been ordering so many things for my moving resupply with new dedicated crafting room... I've got almost all my oils and lye already with a few belated birthday splurges for myself.

Today I bought a minifridge and microwave (the room is upstairs next to a rec room so DH encouraged me to buy ones big enough to accommodate popcorn and beer, LOL). Tomorrow I'm heading to Ikea to snag a storage thingie. I have a new countertop height table coming in the next couple of weeks. Is it wrong that I'm more excited about getting shelves than a couch?

 

[TeresaT]

I've been ordering so many things for my moving resupply with new dedicated crafting room... I've got almost all my oils and lye already with a few belated birthday splurges for myself.

Today I bought a minifridge and microwave (the room is upstairs next to a rec room so DH encouraged me to buy ones big enough to accommodate popcorn and beer, LOL). Tomorrow I'm heading to Ikea to snag a storage thingie. I have a new countertop height table coming in the next couple of weeks. Is it wrong that I'm more excited about getting shelves than a couch?

Nothing is ever wrong when it comes to soaping. That said...

OK, the camera was a bust. I got the battery all charged and started taking photos this morning and realized my iPhone takes much better pictures. Got the box and all the plastic bags that came with it out of the trash can (thank heavens it was a new bag!!) and repackaged the camera to return it today. The nice thing about using the iPhone with the full sized tripod is that I can still use the small tripod with it AND the bluetooth remote shutter control. I had purchased one of those thinking it would help me take less blurry photos. It does. Not having to touch the phone's buttons makes a huge difference. Even on the tripod, just touching the phone made a shaky, blurry photo. I know there's a delay timer I could set to get rid of that, but I think that thing is a PITA.

These are a few shots I took this morning in my bedroom. What do you think? Please be honest. I can handle the criticism. I'm not a photographer by any stretch of the imagination and lighting is a mystery to me. I was glad not to have too many shadows in these. I'm thinking of going to the hardware store and buying some oil for the lamp and lighting it. But I don't know how that will affect the lighting. Only one way to find out, huh? As it is, you can not see the top of the lantern anyway. I shouldn't have cleaned the soot off of it. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. :think:

ETA: I love the long shot with the whole top of the dresser showing. However, it doesn't really focus much attention to the soap. The close ups focus on the soap, but they don't give any context to the background.

 

[lenarenee]

I'm not a photographer either. I love the "story" of your photographs!

The first one has too much stuff to look at and the soap isn't getting enough attention. It's a fantastic picture but is more suited to hang in your bathroom than to showcase bars of soap.

I think they all need more light - the background wall and the items all seem to have the same light intensity, so there's no "sparkle" on your soap.

The oil lamp is awesome - but it's nearly invisible.

The last 2 pictures - the colors are all to similar to showcase your soap.

I think the tiny tub pictures showcase your soap best, but would just a little more oomph somehow. Maybe a hint of a primary color from a hanky or washcloth? Live sprig of herbs?

But dang Teresa! I do love the pictures as "art"! And you've got good taste! They are far and away more than the so many "common" photos you'd find on Etsy - you've put some personality in the photos.

 

[penelopejane]

I love the little tub and your soap is lovely. Gorgeous mold in the top one!
I agree the close ups are best - I need to see the soap. I love the dresser but the background is too busy and the wrong colour for your soap. I'd use something else to cover the wall. You also need another light to get rid of the shadow behind the soap on the wall. I use a desk lamp strategically placed to wipe out the shadows. But your pictures are "friendly".

Maybe you can take it from the top and just show the timber and not the background? I don't know I'm not a photographer.

Personal thing, but it drives me crazy to see the corrugated soap cutter going in two directions on the soap. I'd prefer the sides smooth or vertical - in the same direction as the face. :twisted:

 

[TeresaT]

I love the little tub and your soap is lovely. Gorgeous mold in the top one!
I agree the close ups are best - I need to see the soap. I love the dresser but the background is too busy and the wrong colour for your soap. I'd use something else to cover the wall. You also need another light to get rid of the shadow behind the soap on the wall. I use a desk lamp strategically placed to wipe out the shadows. But your pictures are "friendly".

Maybe you can take it from the top and just show the timber and not the background? I don't know I'm not a photographer.

Personal thing, but it drives me crazy to see the corrugated soap cutter going in two directions on the soap. I'd prefer the sides smooth or vertical - in the same direction as the face. :twisted:

Funny you mention that. I don't like the crinkle cut, at all. But I'll plane the sides smooth to see if that improves the look. If not, I'll plane the whole darned bar! I've got another batch I did a crinkle cut on and just hate it. The sides are smooth. The reason those bars are so messed up is because I cut them crooked and tried to correct it. I ended up losing about a whole bar in my "corrections."

I'll take a couple of photos of shawls I have and post them to see if any of these will be good backgrounds for the photos. I also have some shirts I could probably tack up to the wall. Or just use my bathroom. I'll post that photo, too and see what y'all think of that.

 

[TeresaT]

I'm not a photographer either. I love the "story" of your photographs!

The first one has too much stuff to look at and the soap isn't getting enough attention. It's a fantastic picture but is more suited to hang in your bathroom than to showcase bars of soap.

I think they all need more light - the background wall and the items all seem to have the same light intensity, so there's no "sparkle" on your soap.

The oil lamp is awesome - but it's nearly invisible.

The last 2 pictures - the colors are all to similar to showcase your soap.

I think the tiny tub pictures showcase your soap best, but would just a little more oomph somehow. Maybe a hint of a primary color from a hanky or washcloth? Live sprig of herbs?

But dang Teresa! I do love the pictures as "art"! And you've got good taste! They are far and away more than the so many "common" photos you'd find on Etsy - you've put some personality in the photos.

Oh, yeah. I totally understand about the lamp. I didn't realize that when I was taking them. The chimney was covered in soot and I thought that would be gross in the photos. So I cleaned it. Nice and shiny!! Dumb move, in retrospect, the soot would have been perfect. I'm going to go the the store and get some lamp oil and burn the chimney. I'm out of oil and the lamp is empty. I'll probably add a little bit of color to the oil, too, just to make it a bit more visible in the photos.

Thanks for the complement. I love old beat up stuff. My wall is kind of urban renewal and was a complete accident. The contractor (for whatever strange reason) painted the wall brown (my color choice) THEN added the texture to the ceiling. This splattered texture all over the freshly painted brown wall. I was annoyed at the wasted time and paint. But, the more I looked at the wall, the more it grew on me. I told him he was not to touch that wall under any circumstances. So many people see that wall and are repulsed by it. It makes me love it more. I look at it as a metaphor of me: rough, unfinished, not exactly pretty, but incredibly beautiful once you look beyond the surface. This house can burn to the ground, but I hope that wall survives.

 

[TeresaT]

I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow and do these in the yard. I was trying to figure alternative ways of taking the photos, but there's not much lighting in my house and I've only got a few goose neck lamps. I used those to light the shots I took. I was thinking of taking the photos in my living room and set this up (first photo) and the shots would look like the second photo. But I think there's not enough light. So, I took a couple of the soap dishes out onto the back porch and set them down. I think I'll have better luck placing the soaps on the ground and stumps in the yard and a bit in the overgrown grass. I'll have to see how that goes tomorrow. Here are the soap dishes that I have to work with.

 

[carlyjones]

Christmas! This batch riced (FO I suspect) and I was devastated, but I stick blended the heck out of it. A beautiful disaster I think! I love when the batch misbehaves and you get a beautiful end product!!

 

[Rusti]

Made my first attempt a liquid soap today. Looks like I have paste now, but I'll wait until morning to zap test it and try to dilute.

 

[TeresaT]

Christmas! This batch riced (FO I suspect) and I was devastated, but I stick blended the heck out of it. A beautiful disaster I think! I love when the batch misbehaves and you get a beautiful end product!!



View attachment 22248

Beautiful!! How did you outline the tree? That really is gorgeous soap. What FO did you use?

 

[carlyjones]

Beautiful!! How did you outline the tree? That really is gorgeous soap. What FO did you use?

The Christmas tree was a total fluke. I had never used melt and pour before. I had a little bit of a darker colour left over from another m&p project and I figured I'd just pour it on top of the tree mold where I had a little extra space. I thought it was completely set up, but it actually sunk down around the outline of the tree.. If that makes sense. I used sparkling snow flake and Christmas wreath from candora. I soaped fairly cool, and used my go to oil blend.

 

[earlene]

TeresaT, I love your decor. That said, for selling your soap, the photos are too busy and need more color contrast, as mentioned above.

The best photo for selling your soap, IMO is the second one, and even that one here's what I would suggest you change: Put the soap in front of the writing on the 'tub' as the writing distracts the eye. Use a light reflective background and more light to prevent the shadows. Turn the soap so the lilies are upward rather than on their sides, or at least the central focal bar of soap to be with the flowers in the upward position. (while hiding the wording on the 'tub') Cover the wooden surface with something simple (a place mat, a table runner, something that will go nicely as a background to the colors you have but not detract from the soap). Direct a light source above the soap. Build a small portable light box with reflective sides and back and use that to control the light.

Just some ideas that you might try.

 

[TeresaT]

TeresaT, I love your decor. That said, for selling your soap, the photos are too busy and need more color contrast, as mentioned above.

The best photo for selling your soap, IMO is the second one, and even that one here's what I would suggest you change: Put the soap in front of the writing on the 'tub' as the writing distracts the eye. Use a light reflective background and more light to prevent the shadows. Turn the soap so the lilies are upward rather than on their sides, or at least the central focal bar of soap to be with the flowers in the upward position. (while hiding the wording on the 'tub') Cover the wooden surface with something simple (a place mat, a table runner, something that will go nicely as a background to the colors you have but not detract from the soap). Direct a light source above the soap. Build a small portable light box with reflective sides and back and use that to control the light.

Just some ideas that you might try.

Thank you! I'll have to take a photo of my fireplace (after I clear the junk away from it) and post it. I love my fireplace.

I have a flimsy light box I built a few months ago, but I thought these would be better. However, I'm realizing that isn't the case at all. I have a table that I'm going to bring out into the yard tomorrow (today, actually) with all of my soap stuff and set up the light box. I'll just use the box and the plain white back ground. I need to buy a couple of colored poster boards to change the background color of the light box, but that will have to be the way to go. I'll save the "artsy" photos for something else.

 

[earlene]

I am home again! After unpacking and starting a load of laundry, I went upstairs and checked my curing soaps and turned the fans back on. Hubby had turned them off, probably the minute I left the house, and turned off the AC the whole time he was gone. Well, he was only gone about 2 weeks, but I was gone much longer, so they had no real air movement going on while I was gone. Anyway, they are getting a nice breeze again and some of them are smelling so nice.

Tonight I plan to review the some recipes with a mind to what to use for this month's challenge. Tomorrow I want to review some of my travel photos for inspiration for color combinations to use for the ribbon pour.