HOW do you use these stamps..... anyway?????

John and Anhoki have decided it is time to bring our custom soap stamp making to an end.  It has been an awesome ride but one we need to end.  Thank you to ALL of the (hundreds, if not thousands) of people who have chosen us for their custom projects.  We appreciate you and hope you have many many years of happy stamping with your Custom Anhoki & John Soap Stamp. 

XOXOXO

HOW many times have I replied to an email JUST like this???

" Hi Anhoki,
We received our custom stamp (awesome btw) but we aren't sure what the best way to use it is. Do you have directions or tips?
Signed,
Your Name Here"

Hundreds if not a thousand times now. I did explain it in the original post about stamps and the process of making custom stamps. Since it seemed to get lost in the "process" I thought it was time to devote an entire post just to stamping. SO... Here we go.

You have one of these in one hand

 And one of these in the other....

 But you also have this look....

 
This is when I laugh so hard that I spew coffee all over my laptop and then have to clean it up and begin typing. To those who have not used a soap stamp before one might ask why I would be giggling. It is not directed at the person with the question. It IS directed at the picture in my head as I am reading the email and imaging the author attempting to use the stamp for the first time. The visuals REALLY should be made into a movie. It would make BILLIONS in ticket sales. $$$$$$$

OK...we'll get serious now.

K...we stamp our soapies on our kitchen counter. As you can see this is a no joke kind of area. We are very serious when we stamp. The coffee pot in the center of our world. It is within arms reach as all times. Just to the left of the coffee are 3 new bags of Starbucks coffee. We're ready to get down to business.

 

We have a soapie
a mallet
a can of cooking spray
a block
a brush
and a stamp plate (remember that mine are not blocked).
It never ever fails. I always get someone who says they have read the original blog post and then sends an email saying their stamp has brought soap along with it as it was removed from the bar. This can often be prevented by adding a light coat of cooking spray to the stamp BEFORE using it.

Q: Should you spray directly on the stamp?
A: NO!

This is what the brush is for. Over your sink you will lightly spray the brush with the cooking spray and allow the excess to drip off into the sink. Take the sprayed brush and lightly coat your soap stamp plate. You want good coverage but not drippage. And you REALLY don't want all that cooking spray to coat your soap bar either. It looks awful when this happens. If, after you've stamped, you find you have an excess of spray on your bar just GENTLY blot it off with a paper towel.

Camryn stamping soapies.

 

Katie stamping soapies.

Stamping is an "art".

~You have to make sure the stamp is centered.
~Then you LIGHTLY tap the top of the stamp with the mallet.
~Don't use it like a sledge hammer and then wonder why your soap cracked and the stamp fell apart.
~Lightly stamp and CAREFULLY remove the stamp. I like to tap one side of the stamp. This raises the other side and allows me to "rock" the stamp back and forth and remove it slowly and carefully.

You will see one of a few things.
A) it's perfect (insert ta da moment music here)
B) it's not stamped deep enough
C) you stamped it too deep and had pullout or a border where one should not be
Practice does not always a perfect stamper make. Even seasoned stampers have their oopsie moments.
IF you have a perfectly stamped soap now would be the time to throw your arms up in the air and chant YES! When everyone comes running to see if this is the time you've won the mega lottery you can show them your masterpiece and throw a high five.
IF the soap is not stamped deep enough you should simply carefully place the stamp back in the impressed soap and restamp it.
IF the stamp has gone too deep you should refer to the above line of text about the sledgehammer.

Camryn's stamped bar

Katie's stamped soapie.

Have I left anything out?
If I have leave me a comment and I'll fix it.