Fun time in Ballard!

Tonight, I drove over the lake on a weekday (something I try to avoid) to meet up with an fellow Team EtsyRain member, Kristen. Kristen is a potter and she's going to be making soap dishes for me.

The only thing is, neither of us is a soap dish designer. I had one that I'd found that I liked some things about, so we took it from there and came up with 5 prototypes that use various methods for keeping the soap dry and drained. It was really nice to play with some clay.

After the dishes dry, Kristen will do the first firing. Then, she'll glaze them and fire again. The prototype dishes will be ready for usability testing in mid-Sept.

Let me know what you'd like to see in your ideal soap dish. Or, what you don't like about your current soap dish.

The right tool for the job

I always want to kick myself after I buy the right tool for the job after struggling with the wrong tool. I was reminded of this tonight.

In soapmaking, you can use almost anything for a mold and almost any pot (not aluminum or tin) or spoon. You need a scale. None of those items needs to be fancy.

But, you might really benefit from a tool to open those 5 gallon buckets. I rejoiced for days when I got mine a few years ago. Long gone is the feeling that I might lose my fingernails entirely as I tried to pry the lid off my base oils. This site has a lot of them. I picked mine up at the local Cash & Carry (Smart & Final for some of you).

My latest "OMG!! Why didn't I get this before!?!? I should just kill myself for being an idiot and not buying this earlier but I won't because I love it!!!!" purchase is the For Crafts Sake QuickCut Soap Cutter. What an incredible time and frustration saver. Not to mention, nice even width bars!!

(photo from For Crafts Sake)

I love my soap cutter. I love my pail opener. I love my DishDrawer and my Tivo.

The soap cutter allowed me to cut 180 bars in 20-25% of the time it used to take giving me more time to watch the TiVo. :)

What is your favorite "right" tool? Talk about it in the Comments section.

Saponifier Magazine supplier survey

Take it today! If you've already taken it, take it again because they had to reset it.
http://saponifier.2009-awards.sgizmo.com

The survey closes on August 27, so get your opinions heard before then.

Lil' Soap t-shirt is back in print!

At the HMSG conference in May, my Lil' Soap t-shirt from Threadless was a big hit. Unfortunately, it was out of print.

However, I just got word that they've reprinted it! So, get yours now before it's too late.