Spring has Sprung!

Hi there!  I know it's been a while and I promise I didn't just up and vanish.  We have been busy here at GLC not only with business to do's but with the daily tasks that starting a homestead bring.  It's Spring so we have been working hard to get the garden tilled and the veggies planted, we are working on the workshop remodel (more info coming soon), and planning the chicken coop build!  Busy...Busy...Busy.
But we did get into the kitchen and make some new Spring Soaps and Candles!
But today we are going to talk photography...

For anyone trying to sell they're wares; photography is one of the most important things in your small business arsenal.  In this day of Internet shopping, Instagram, Facebook, and twitter...a good photograph can speak a thousand words...or followers.  And we love followers!

I have this beautiful wood platform that my handy father built for me to initially serve as a soap display.  It didn't work on the table as a display so I re-purposed it into a photography prop.  It took good pictures with the natural wood look, but I wondered if I could make it even better.

I took some ebony stain and applied it with a rag and immediately wiped it right off so the light wood grain would show through.



A simple project that took me literally five minuets to complete gave me a total transformation on my prop.  Now both the light and the dark colored soap stand out with this new background, and it's much more dramatic.
 The dark wood stands out and looks incredibly rustic.  I LOVE how this project turned out and can't wait to take more pictures on it.

I also played with using some botanicals as props to add interest and depth.  I don't usually add extras to my product photography.  I tend to be a minimalist..and frankly a little plain.  I have totally been missing out!  This soap was created to be a little plain, but by using botanicals I can add some interest and portray that this soap smells like Rosemary.  Bonus that it adds that rustic look to my photography that I LOVE.  I will definitely be experimenting with more props in my photography.

Now I am cheap (I'm sorry frugal), so I won't be heading out tomorrow to the local craft store to buy a bunch of props for upcoming photo sessions.  I will wait and see what I can pick from my garden.  I think the mint would be pretty fresh, and of course I have lots of dried botanicals I use every day for soapmaking.  I will keep my eye out for shells or pretty rocks at the beach, and look for stuff the next time I go junkin.

Do you use props in your product photography?
I'm sure I will find lots of Photography Inspiration on Pinterest!
Happy Soaping!





Stay tuned for more....I can't wait to show you all the workshop we have been working so hard on!  It's been a wildly fun re-purposed ride!  That's right...most of the workshop is being remodeled with re-purposed materials! I was going to wait until it was finished to do a series of blog posts...but I may give you all a sneaky peak!!!

The Not so Beautiful...

Black Canyon is making me want to pull out all of my hair. 

I love this fragrance it's masculine and soft at the same time, and I really think it will be a great seller in soap (especially for the guys).  It was requested by a customer to put this scent in soap (I prev only had it in candles), so I made a batch right away.  I did a black, uncolored, and red.  At first I thought, wow this is going to be awesome, until it came time to test it out.... so sad when you make your hubby use it only to find out that the black oxide didn't get mixed in all the way thus resulting in nasty black bubbles. 

I immediately thought, OK I can re-batch this right?  So I cut off all of the black, shredded up the plain and proceeded to re-batch. Did it turn out...of course not.  Don't get me wrong, it's usable and no longer bubbles black, but man is it rough looking not to mention way to small.

So into the freebie pile, or the sample pile these go and on to try it again, because I really wanted to get this scent in soap.  This time I opted to leave out any black, used just a little UM blue to give it some color, and did a swirl. 

I was excited the next day when it looked like this.  I thought yes, now this one will turn out!

Wrong...upon cutting, the fragrance or something affected the edges in a weird way and some of the bars were crumbly and yellowing, while others were fine.  I'm thinking the lye/water amounts were off, but I'm just not positive what went wrong.  It could have been the fragrance as I have used this soap recipe many times, or I could have had a brain fart moment and mis-measured something.

After a week, it has discolored pretty bad.  I was able to save about half of the soap in this batch, but I have yet to test the pH levels for safety.  Just in case I made a mistake and it wasn't just a bad reaction with the fragrance.  It also has these funky flecks..so I am thinking that this batch is a throw away batch...we'll see what the pH testing shows. Sigh...am I ever going to get this fragrance to work right?  After all these years of soaping...this is my most puzzling batch so far.  It just went all wonky (yes, wonky is an official soaping term..LOL..)

On my list for the next batch of soap is to try this fragrance yet again, maybe I will do no color and leave it plain.  I figure third times a charm, right?

Needless to say my week in soaping hasn't been the best.  I attempted some more cupcakes too....nope..still need some more practice.  Sorry folks I am not sharing my ugly little cupcakes, trust me, you do not want to see them.

Since all of my soap is ready for my shows in October, I have been taking this time to finish up Winter stuff, work on candles, get the displays ready for the shows, and play around with new ideas (because I just can't turn that part of my brain off).  Thanks for reading my latest soap nightmare....next time It WILL turn out right!!