More on Soap Stamping

Last night I stamped quite a bit of soap and wanted to pass on some techniques I discovered while doing it.  

• When stamping soap press straight down.  Use little but uniform force as you do so.
• My stamp is clear acrylic. This is helpful in that I can see the stamped image through the stamp as I'm doing it.  I can see where a little more pressure needs exerted to make the image uniform.  I then press the stamp a little more in the areas that need it.
• To remove the stamp from the soap I find it's easier if you *gently* rock the stamp slightly back and forth to release the soap.  I have found that pulling straight up sometimes pulls some of the soap off with the stamp.
• As always, wait at least 5 days after unmolding your soap before you try stamping it.  

Please excuse the photo.  It's just a cell phone photo and not that great but I wanted to pass on some more information regarding soap stamping.

I purchased my soap stamp from this etsy store and have really liked it.  You can read some other tips to stamping soap I wrote in a previous post.

Pinterest

I've been lazy.  I've been very slow to effectively use social media.  The way I typically use social media is I'll create an account on say Facebook or Twitter or Pinterest and I'll poke around on it for a few days.  If I find a benefit to it I'll stick with it for a while, if I don't, I'll never log on again.  My Facebook and Twitter accounts are proof to this.  Google+ is a little different.  I'm immersed in the google environment.  Gmail, Google Apps, Drive, Sites, Adsense, Analytics, Adwords, Blogger etc.  Goggle+ is just an extension to all the other Google tools I use everyday.

I've stuck with Pinterest a little longer because, well, who doesn't like pictures!?  Pinterest is like looking at a never ending magazine about gardening, decorating, fashion, hair, beauty, etc.  I'm sure I don't use it correctly, only one person is following me--wait, I take that back 5 people are following me!!

Yesterday I read this article regarding how to use Pinterest to promote your business.  It contains many good ideas, most of which are common sense--which I haven't been following.  Well I got on Pinterest today and started poking around.  Yes, I lost an hour or so looking at all the pretty pictures but then I thought of something.  I found a way to make Pinterest work for me!

Recently I threw away my entire recipe collection.  It seemed that I rarely used it anyway.  Whenever I cooked something I usually found the recipe on the Internet.  I did take photos of a few recipes I liked before I threw them away and uploaded them to Google Drive under a Recipe folder.  As I found more recipes on the Internet I would copy and paste them to a document in Google Drive.  This works ok until I had my Pinterest revelation!

When I find a recipe on the internet I like now I click Pin it! I then select my Pinterest board conveniently named "Recipes" and there it lands complete with the link to the original page!  Ok, I'm sure this isn't a revelation to many people however I was still stuck thinking that Pinterest was only for pictures.  It works great for just saving links to websites and organizing them!  Of course, there are a million other ways to save links to websites and most of them have been around since the first websites, such as bookmarks.  I find using Pinterest to be not only quick, easy, and organized but it has the added benefit of keeping me engaged in another social media platform--which is good for business, and I can look at all those pretty pictures too!

I think I'll even start a Pinterest Board for Soap and Body Care Recipes.  I now know that this board doesn't have to just contain pictures of soap and body care items but can and will contain links to actual recipes as well!

Another good idea...thinking of going on a vacation?  Start a Pinterest Board of your vacation locale.  Add to that board any and all links for places to stay, where to eat, things to do, etc!  Sure, include a few pictures but more importantly Pin links!

Soap Dishes

It's been a busy month so far for Lora's Beauty.  A well placed ad on a popular blog resulted in all of the handmade soap dishes being sold out.  Luckily they are now replenished!

Since these soap dishes are handmade with reclaimed wood, no two batches are the same.  This particular batch was made with an old  fence post. Two groves are cut into each dish to allow your soap to dry between uses.

Handmade soap made only from fats, water (or goat milk), and lye contains about 10% naturally retained glycerin.  Along with the fats, this glycerin makes for a very moisturizing bar.  Because of this, it is important that your handmade soap does not sit in water as it will quickly dissolve into a soupy mess.

These soap dishes have been specially designed to be beautiful as well as functional.  They are stained with wood stain so they work well in any room--bathroom, kitchen, or laundry room.  Priced at only $4 they go fast!  Grab a couple as well as some handmade goat milk soap and remember, Lora's Beauty ships free for all orders $20 and over in the US!