Anhoki's Place

Second Chandelier......IS FINISHED

2012-01-27T17:45:00.002-06:00

We are almost finished with the inside. John put a bug in my ear AFTER I had the glass for the outside totally ready to go. He says....."Wouldn't it be better to work from the inside out"?????? UGH! Yes, it would. :~( SO....I have one more row (red) to do and the inside will be complete. Lighting portion is already in and all that is left is the socket and chain. We can do that once it is complete. I love the chain we used this time. Big and chunky and fully capable of holding up 196 or 216 pieces of glass. I say OR because I'm not exactly sure how many rows I will put on the outside yet.

Isn't the chain awesome?

The crazy thing is.....I already have another wheel and project waiting for me when this one is finished. I have the design for the bedroom chandelier already. And I have my wheels spinning for one in the foyer. I'm hooked. :~) Next time I post....I'll have her finished. :~)

I decided to edit this post with the finished picture. I love love love how she shines in the light. I can't wait to get the lighting kit finished and hang her in the living room. She is 13 round, almost 20 inches in glass, and weighs a ton. 192 pieces of glass and over 700 copper and stainless steel rings.

I Can't Help Myself

2012-01-26T00:33:00.001-06:00

Well....I've started another one. This one is going next to my chair. The first two pictures are of the glass I am using for the outer layer. I have it all cut and smoothed. Tomorrow will be drilling the holes and recounting the glass. I have more than enough cut but am positive I don't have enough finished for placement.

This next glass picture is no longer accurate but it gives you an idea. This is the glass used to "defuse" the light and add interest on the inside. I have since added a kewl blue and more white. The inside layers will be somewhat checkerboard in nature. I still need to smooth those pieces and then drill but I should be able to get all of that done in a couple of hours tomorrow. Another purple wheel. This is the other wheel from Katie's "big girl" bike. There is no saving or reusing that poor bike so we don't need to feel guilty about not re purposing it.

This is what I have had to house my glass in of late. It's truly pathetic. The brown shelf has ten drawers all filled to capacity. I am SO looking forward to finishing my storage shelf so I can properly store this awesome glass.....and of course....by more.

I hope to have this one finished this weekend. I actually bought a wheel from Amazon that will be delivered tomorrow. It will be the top for the chandelier that will make its home in our bedroom. Not sure what colors it will be. All I know is we need something different than what is currently in there. I also plan to make one for our foyer (much smaller) and then my mom has her eye(s) on one and bought the glass for it yesterday. I'll be busy for a while. :~) Be back later with more pictures....

XO

My Chandelier Project Is Finished

2012-01-16T23:29:00.001-06:00

After all the years of making bath and body, candles and the like I felt myself being pulled in a different direction. I no longer dreamed about soap. I no longer dreamed about what colors I would use or what technique would make the swirl take shape. I no longer desired to line the mold, measure the oils and butters, growl at the fur kids to leave my work space as I measured lye and liquids. It was no longer enjoyable. :~( That made me SO incredibly sad.

I started thinking about glass after my 15 yr old Pom died in late June. I can honestly say, after a few weeks, I felt all the money I spent on glass and the tools for making stained glass pieces was a waste. I didn't feel connected to the glass and didn't feel like I was moving in the right direction. Let's not even talk about all the cuts and blood.

I threw caution to the wind and worked with what I could do. Patterns and perfect cuts are SO not for me. Even when I've made the line with a sharpie I can't always follow it. When I embraced that I began making pieces I was happy with. Then I sold my first set of chimes. After I sold my first set of chimes I realized just how much fun glass can be. I slowly learned that following a "straight" line is not the way I can freely express my own creativity. I made several sets of chimes and added them to my shop. Some of them are still there but for the most part I have restocked my shop quite a few times. I've also sold several to Facebook friends and locals.

SO in early November while thinking about what I would do for the sales rush of the holidays I decided to look for a new project. At the time I had no idea what I wanted to do. All I knew is I wanted to make something that was mine and belonged to me. I didn't want to add it to my shop or make it for anyone else. Then I found Metamorphosi.

I love love love her style. The thought of taking glass rings and turning it into something this beautiful made me smile. I wanted to do that too. Then I found upcyclebicycle .

I knew what had to be "attempted". I knew I had to attempt to make my own chandelier for my creative space. I had some awesome glass and actually had a picture in my head of how I thought it would and should look. So...I got started. And that's as far as it went. My ideas for the Holidays didn't pan out as I had planned and as I was chatting with John it hit me like a ton of bricks. Bacon. What? Bacon. I got busy. Bought the containers and went on the hunt for the fragrance. This was my best seller during the holiday rush and has been my best seller over everything I have ever sold while on Etsy.

I had SO much fun making and shipping these candles over the holiday rush. Now that the holidays are over and we're in the new year and working on new projects for our shops and whatnot I can get back to my project. My project is a way for me to escape the day to day. I get my awesome noise cancelling headphones that John bought me for Christmas and get to it. After all this time I still have the picture of what the chandelier would look like in my head.

So these are the colors I used for the glass chandelier. I wanted a wide variety of color but I also wanted something that wouldn't "clash" with the decor should I decide to move this to another room. This glass was used for the outer layer of the chandelier.

This is where we started. I took the wheel from Katie's "little girl" bike. Rust and all. I brushed the dirt and debris off and went with it. On day one I was only smoothing and drilling the glass as I came to the color. Well....that was day one.

This past week I decided I was going to get it done. Why not?!!??! School was out on Friday and I knew I was going to need something to occupy my time when the kids had nothing else to do and were picking on each other because one wouldn't play a specific game with the other. SO....I decided to smooth ALL of the glass at once. Took about an hour. Then I decided to sort all of the glass. The kids were home and John was working from home because of the snow we got. Good thing too because the people who live in our neighborhood do NOT know how to drive and we saw several round the corner and slide right into the neighbor's front yard. Idiot people. ANYWAY... I got all of the glass smoothed and we sorted the color pattern. I took a picture and then started drilling. I decided to double drill all of the glass just in case we decided to change something. Yes....lots of people would have this worked out ahead of time. I don't walk a straight line and don't design that way either. I REALLY wanted this to be the end of it but realized the glass I had cut would not not not dampen the brightness of the bulb as I wanted and it simply wasn't enough to fill in all the holes. SO.....since the girls were so far removed from showing interest in my light project I skipped right over them and John helped me with the colors for the inner layers. Since the outer layers had all sorts of textures and whatnot we thought the inside glass just needed to "defuse" light.

I loved the way the chandelier glowed. I genuinely thought I was finished when I took this picture. Until.......I started looking at it again. Grrrr....The third and forth rows on the inside had to be removed so I could add them both around the second row. When I originally did the second row it was a strand of glass on every other spoke. This time John and I added a piece of heavy gauge wire around the wheel and it keeps the strands from sliding forward to the bulb. GENIUS idea that John came up with. So the outer edge has 28 strands of glass and the inside row also has 28 strands of glass.

It still needs something. SO...Are you still with me? The outer rim has 28 strands of glass. The inside has 56 strands of glass. I added more rings to the glass that hang from the upper spokes which allows them to now hang lower than the other strands. It defuses the light exactly as I had hoped but SO needed a little more.

There! Finished. I only added glass to half of the strands (14). This gave it the little extra it needed to finally get me to STOP. I still need to get a different bulb because this one is uber uber hot. John added the switch along the chain so I can turn it off there instead of going through the glass each time.

Final numbers are 84 pieces of glass on the outside.
56 pieces of glass on the bottom layer of spokes.
42 pieces of glass on the upper layer of spokes.
714 stainless steel and copper rings connecting it all together.

And after all of this what have we learned?
A) this was a harder project than I expected it to be.
B) it is VERY hard on the hands.
C) when you think you're finished you aren't.
D) there's always one more thing to do and then ANOTHER to undo it and yet one more to do something else.
E) when you finally finish it and hang it for the 25th time you have a calming sense of relief come over you and you want to collapse and cry.....until you realize there's glass on the floor and you need to sweep.
F) when you walk into the room the next day....after an awesome sleep....and see it for the first time as the morning light shines through.....you get a little teary-eyed. WHY? Because you can bask in the glory of knowing you are finished and.....MAN...It's PRETTY!

Would I sell it? Erm....no. Not this one. But I WILL be happy to make one for you and charge you $650 plus shipping. You will have to have someone do the light kit for you though. And yes.....once my hands have had a little break I will be making another one. I think I need one next to my chair in the living room.

Custom Stamps Ala John & Anhoki Version 2012

2012-01-06T16:38:00.007-06:00

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

Happy New Year to all you soap junkies out there. I know there is a search box directly to the right of this text but I thought I would bring this post back to the front for all the newbies and those who may have forgotten the process. :~)

Here are a couple of posts you may find helpful.....
WILL MY IMAGE WORK?
HOW DO YOU USE THESE?
Past Custom Works.

    >>>>>>>>I know the first thing you are going to want to do is print out your image and place it on your bar of soap to see if it will fit. PLEASE do not do this and then send us an email saying you know the image will work because you've printed it out and saw that it did. The printed image does not take into account the displacement of soap when the stamp is impressed. The lines in the image must meet minimum width size to allow our CNC machine to actually mill the image. Most images in Photoshop or any similar program do not even come close to minimum size. If you have questions AFTER reading our blog post in full please feel free to contact us and we can converse further.<<<<<<<<

    1. What's your name? We'd like to know with whom we are conversing. :~)

    2. Do you have an image for us to review? This is important. We can not move forward without an image. And text is an image. John prefers to have a LARGER sized image. An image in the area of 3X5 inches or LARGER is preferred. Please do not blow up a teeny tiny image to meet minimums as this causes pixelation. Please send it in JPEG format as this is what works best for us (ie...ME). :~) I must insist on the viewable image part. Due to a recent virus I received that partially corrupted my operating system I will not download an image in order to view it. The image must be viewable without being downloaded. I will contact you with this request if it is not received in the first email.

    3. Do you have text in the image? For our purposes text is considered an image:~)

    4. Please provide us a link to where the font can be downloaded for free should we need it? This is extremely important.

    5.Do you know the size of the bar you wish you stamp? Many people have various sizes they wish to stamp. If this is you then please give us the bar size you use the most.

    6. Do you know the approximate size of the stamp you would like us to create? We say approximate because the image will be limited based on constraints of the image, bar size, detail of design, etc etc.

    7. Do you have a Paypal email address or Etsy shop name for billing purposes? This is also important. We do not accept checks, money orders or cash.

    8. If you are having a stamp made for a custom account or third party please keep the communication between us and the person who will be using the stamp. It becomes very complicated when more people are involved. If this third party has the information we require to move forward please obtain it before contacting us so the process is as simple as possible for everyone. This can become overwhelming for some and we try to avoid that as much as possible. Communication is via email only. We can not contact you or another party via telephone. Please keep this in mind.

Before you send us an email please be sure to read ALL of the technical stuff below. We do not custom design artwork before creating the soap stamp. We create a stamp based on images and information provided by you. Be sure you understand the additional fees you may be required to pay should changes need to be made AFTER we have milled your stamp.

"Technical” stuff.
The more boring and complicated side of it all. Please be sure to read all of the information.

Custom stamps BEGIN at $35.95.
This price point is for those stamps which do not require any modification at all or modifications which will take no longer than a few minutes and no communication being exchanged.
Pricing can not be provided before an image is reviewed by myself and John.
The price of your stamp will increase if, after you have approved your artwork and it is milled, you decide changes need to be made.
The first re-mill is an additional $25 and each additional milling will be in increments of $50. This MUST be paid before we will refill.
If you have paid for your stamp, require a remill and refuse to pay and also desire a refund of payments already made we WILL charge a 20% restock fee for our time and materials. Invoices, purchase orders and the like are not and will not be provided by us. If you need records for your accountant they are easily obtained through Paypal which is how you paid for your purchase with us. Please understand this before agreeing to purchase your custom soap stamp.

How big is too big for our methods of creating?
We try very hard to go no more than 11 letters across the face of your bar. Based on our methods of creating soap stamps it is almost impossible for us to do so. If we receive an image with more than 11 letters across the face of the bar and the font is one which requires a lot of work and extra space for thickening, font modification in order to be millible, etc... we will communicate this to you. We may request that you either
a) stack the text or
b) change the font OR text.
Changing the image is the responsibility of you, the customer. We make it this way so you can spend as much time as you need to create an image you are happy with. People change their minds all the time. It happens. Figure out what you would like to have, live with it for a little while and then contact us. If you have questions we are more than happy to try and help. I can't tell you all how many times I changed my font before I found the one I was happy with. This is why we are not in the business of custom design. The best part (to me anyway) is designing my soap stamp and then sending it to my stamp maker hubby and talking technical with him to make it work. Leave the creative aspect to the buyer and the technical to the stamp maker. Does that make sense? We want you to be happy with your stamp. THAT is the most important thing. Spend the time you need to get the design the way you like it. If you have questions, along the way, don't be afraid ask me...but please be open minded and understand we may need to change things up a bit in order to make things happen.

REQUIRED information
---Length and Width of your soap bar. We can not move forward without a bar size. If you have several soap bar sizes and want a stamp to work with all of them it might be best to go with more than one to get the best look on all bars.

---H-U-G-E JPEG, PDF, BMP file
Postage stamp sized will NOT work for us. Blowing an image up to meet size requirements is also not helpful and translates to a pixelated mess. s. We would prefer an image at least 4X6 inches and not 1X2 inches. We NEED BIG.
If you had someone design the image for you ask them to make the image meet our requirements before contacting us. This will save all of us a lot of time and the stamp user will have fewer gray hairs by the time this is all over.

We can not accept Google or Word documents for "images" we do not use Word. The way the "image" looks to you in these programs is not the way it looks when it comes through to us. Most of the images using Word look like Arial font when we receive them. We must have one of the above formats (an IMAGE which can be viewed and not downloaded) or we will not review it.
Along with the above please do NOT send us an image the size you PREFER your END PRODUCT to be. This sounds silly but it won't work. It will be kicked right back to you.

---Even if you have provided us with an image IF text is used we STILL need the font name AND a link to where it may be found for FREE. Should this be an issue we can not resolve we will have no choice but to decline the stamp project.

Communication is key.
Give us an image we can work with and then talk to us through email. This is the best way for us to communicate and have all information in hand in order to provide you with the best stamp we can offer. If we have questions we will ask that you provide us with an answer. If communication via email is going to be a problem for you we may refer you elsewhere.
Once more...if this is a stamp for a wholesale account or third party person please keep communication between us and the person using the stamp. If you ask us to communicate with the person not using the stamp things may become misunderstood, misinterpreted, and completely confusing. This is why we request that communication be between us and one person. If your “client” has questions please have them right them down and we would be happy to answer them via an email to YOU.

This section is about font types
Tell us the EXACT name of the font and where we can find it for FREE. A link to it would be awesome. This is extremely important. Due to the large amount of requests for custom stamps with text of all shapes and sizes it is impossible for us to have them all. I would bet that we have less than 1/10th of 1% of the fonts out there. Please go find the font and send us the link. This will make the process go much much faster. If you had someone create the font or logo please obtain this information from that person and provide it to us. We might need it to rework your image for any reason. We can NOT express strongly enough just how important this is.
We use Open Office on ALL of our computers. We do not have Microsoft Word or anything Microsoft. More often than not the font does not come through true to the original.    Should any of the previous lines of text not work feel free to go to www.dafont.com or any site of a similar nature and find a font that suits you. If you do not wish to download said font you CAN do a screen shot of the text and save the file to your computer and send that image to us.:~)
SCRIPT FONTS DO REQUIRE A LOT MORE SPACE THAN OTHERS. THERE IS A LOT OF TWEAKING THAT MUST TAKE PLACE IN ORDER FOR SCRIPT FONTS TO WORK. THIS WILL ALTER THE WAY THEY LOOK. KEEP THIS IN MIND AND UNDERSTAND BEFORE SENDING ONE TO US.

This is about how big you wish your stamp to be.
Give us an idea of how much space you wish your stamp to cover. Please do not tell us your stamp needs to be exactly 2X3 or whatever as this may not be possible. Size will be completely based on the image constraints and how it looks in simulation. If it is a garbled mess at 1.75 we will communicate this with you.

Size DOES matter
Size does matter. Detail does matter. A simple explanation of this is.....Just because it looks good in rubber stamp form does not in any way mean it will look good in soap stamp form. And...It may look awesome on paper (ie...printed out), in Photoshop or whatever program you are using. That doesn't mean it will look right transformed into a soap stamp. I know it seems perfect when looking at it in different programs or in an actual drawing. Contact me and ask questions. Let's work on what will and won't work before you have your heart and head set on something which might be impossible.

Design with too much detail
Too much detail in an image will not work. We tried that. I wanted a daisy stamp with quite a bit of detail. A zillion petals 2 inches in size...the whole bit. John made it....a zillion petals...it was beautiful. Not only would it not make a full impression the sheer amount of soap that it pulled with it when removed from the bar was amazing. Amazing and awful. It's a useless piece of material not even heavy enough for a paper weight. An image with too much detail will be sent back with suggested modification requests made. If the stamp size is too small we will explain WHY it can not be done. If the stamp is too large for the bar we will explain this as well.

Smaller does NOT mean cheaper
If the design is too small our CNC machine won't be able to fully process the request. Those areas which don't meet minimum spacing or line thickness will just be skipped over. The result will be a blob mess. This is why we say the smaller the stamp size the more money you will pay. In the same breathe.... small stamps with a lot of detail don't work. This is why we ask for a complete request before offering a price quote.

Required modifications
More often than not some modifications are required. It is a fact. If changes are needed in order to meet minimum milling requirements WE will do them as we know what our machine is and is not capable of doing. Often these changes are not even noticed by you the buyer or the masses. If changes to the over all design are required because it is too detailed and complex or the required changes will change the design itself we will tell you what needs changing and ll ask that YOU do them before we move forward. This is supposed to be your baby. We don't want to change it to make it work for us. It must work for you because you are the one using it. We can walk you through the changes we would make and advise you on how it might look best but it is your design and we prefer you have the control in the design +aspect of it.

Shipping charges
Custom soap stamps are shipped via USPS ONLY. US orders are required to ship via priority mail with delivery confirmation and insurance. This is the only way we will replace non-delivered or damaged in transit stamps. Should your stamp be damaged in the mail you will need to file a claim with the USPS to receive the insurance funds and then contact us. We also request the damaged item back.
Shipments going to addresses outside of the US do not carry delivery confirmation or insurance. USPS is the least expensive way to ship which is why we use it. Also you must realize the amount of time it takes for your stamp to be delivered once it leaves our possession. Some countries hold incoming packages in customs for weeks. This is beyond our control. If you feel enough time has passed since your stamp was mailed contact your mail provider and ask if it is held up.

How long will it take for me to receive my stamp
These stamps DO take time to create. It DOES take hours to
-work through the image you provide,
-make needed changes in Photoshop and communicate said changes with you,
-provide a proof ONLY IF significant changes have been made to the image you provide us.
-wait for response from you if needed,
-generate code for our CNC machine,
-set aside the hour(s) time slot to mill the stamp
-mill said stamp
-have Anhoki test the plate if it is required....
If significant changes have been made to your stamp image a proof will be provided for you BEFORE we go to mill. You MUST approve this image before we go to mill. A stamped proof will be provided once the stamp has been milled. If we do not hear from you about either image we will not move forward. Should you decide changes are needed AFTER the stamp has been milled you will be required to pay a remill fee. The first remill will be $25. The second remill will cost you $50. All additional fees must be paid in full before we will move forward.
-block and finish the stamp

As always...communication is key.
>>When we have all of the information we need we will provide you with a quote.
>>You approve the quote and pay for your stamp and THEN we will work on your project.
>>Your stamp proof (should your image require one) will almost always come to you in backward format. Stamps are milled backwards so they will read correctly on the bar. When you ask yourself "why is my stamp backward".... simply answer the question by stamping a bar of soap or placing your stamp on a piece of paper. Even easier would be to view it in a mirror or look at a rubber stamp if you have one. It too is backwards.
>>You MUST approve the proof which means you do need to reply to the messages we send you regarding the images. We've had tons of people who do not reply to our messages and then are angered when the stamp is not as they expected or desired it to be. We will communicate everything with you before actually making the stamp. This way we are always on the same page.
>>Once you have approved the proof it goes to mill. As stated above....this can and usually does take hours.....YES...even for the smallest of stamps. It is milled with a CNC machine and NOT magnesium cast. :~)
>>Once we have milled the stamp we will send you a test stamp picture to approve. Your stamp will be blocked and finished only after you have approved the stamped imaged.

****** We do request a two week turn around for our soap stamps and we require all of it. Life happens and sometimes things come up. If we are waiting for a return email or payment from you and have not heard from you in a timely manner we will put your project on hold and move to another one. Likewise...if something happens in our lives that might prevent us from meeting a deadline we will let you know.

Contact Us:
PLEASE EMAIL ANHOKI at info@soaptattoos.com for more information. All communications are between the buyer and Anhoki. Please do not request to speak with John. Do not add a comment to blog posts. It will get lost. Please do not ask us to call you for information about your custom request. It is much easier for us to document the information and refer back to it should any questions or disputes arise.

Custom stamps are custom stamps and we can not offer a discount on multiples. Each stamp is milled one at a time and there is no casting of the stamp. Once the original has been mailed to you we have no way of quickly reproducing it and must generate all secondary pieces the exact same way we created the first.

We feel it necessary to make this public knowledge. BEFORE you send us an image you must, at all costs, be sure you are allowed to use it and make it "yours". Don't shake your head... Be mindful of where your image came from. If it is not yours and you have not obtained permission to use it you might get sued. HOW do we know, you ask? Because it happened to us. We KNEW where our image "came" from. It came from a "FREE" image site that claimed to be free of everything which might bite you in the behind. Well....Having had the image for longer than we can remember we DON'T remember where it came from and had no choice but to pay the fine. Should you provide us with an image that has not been cleared for your use both personal and professional it will be you and YOU ALONE who will be stuck with the fine. We will not be held responsible for any damages your custom stamp may cause.

Thanks for your interest,
Anhoki & John

Merry Christmas....Happy Holidays

2011-12-09T23:53:00.000-06:00

I have had a B L A S T these last few weeks.
Our Christmas tree went up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. It would have gone up on Black Friday but I went TV shopping with my dad.
Everything I planned to "buy" for family and friends has been purchased. All that is left now is the handmade. ((@@))
One of the moms called and asked if I could make 3 dozen cookies for the teachers and have them by THIS Monday. Erm....sure. SO I agreed to make Whoopie Pies and have promised myself I would rock these Whoopie Pies. I made a batch today and already know what I will change tomorrow. The cookie needs to cook about a minute longer. The extra spice I added to the batter balances the ginormous sweet of the filling. The filling I will make will have the pumpkin pie spice & allspice I added to the batter to smooth out the sweet. I will probably add less sugar next time also.
I have 4 sets of chimes to make before next Friday. So...once I get the Whoopie Pies made I'm hoping to rock the chimes in a day or so. Two sets are for teachers. I am seriously considering making candles instead.

When trying to find the ultimate Christmas/Holiday item to add to my shop for the busy shopping season I struggled. Only after I decided I would do a Christmas candle set, incense bundle and a nice discount on my chimes did it hit me. BACON! Who doesn't love baon? Yes...I know Vegetarians do not love bacon. BUT....this candle was the best snap decision I have ever made.

Etsians have put my bacon candle in a ton of treasuries....Thank you....and it was in Etsy Finds Holiday Spectacular on 12/08/11. Scroll down until you see Mr Eastwood and we're right next to him. Needless to say our Bacon candle has been the best selling item to date. John and I were talking about our best selling items to date. We both agreed that in the short time we have been selling the bacon candle it has done better than the Dude collection ever did. I love it. We also have a beer scented candle and one we joyously call Bah Humbug. I love the blend. A beautiful blend of Patchouli essential oil and Vanilla fragrance. It's fantastic.

We are offering free US shipping on all of our wind chimes. Get them while we have them. The prices were reduced for Black Friday and Cyber Monday and we've added the free shipping just to give you that little extra nudge. :~)

Since our candles, incense and stained glass wind chimes are doing so well now we have decided to omit our bath and body products from the Etsy shop. HOWEVER....for those of you who are diehard fans of our products we can and will make custom batches for you. We have well over 200 bars of soap for our family to use so soaping does not take place on a regular basis these days. Because of this we do ask that you purchase the entire batch.

Oh....While I have you.....I am working on items for the new year. Christmas is in high gear and all the new items are already here. This allows my brain the time to relax a little and then think ahead to the new year. SO....I'm working on Valentines Day blends for candles and incense. My daughter Katie gave me a great idea for a Phat Tuesday item I'll work on after Christmas. So...with the information you now have what new items or scents would you like to see us bring to the shop?

Grab yourself a nice cuppa eggnog, grab your favorite pet and give it some thought. Leave me a comment if you wish. Merry Christmas and may 2012 be the best year ever.

XOXO

Wind Chimes

2011-10-17T09:11:00.000-05:00

I just sold my favorite wind chime set to date. I'm in that "really happy it sold" and "oh wow. it's leaving" place. I had SO much fun making this set of chimes and am really excited it was for the Eclectic Friends Of Etsy's first team challenge.
This set of chimes taught me a little more about myself. I like color. I like textures. I like a collage of color instead of a mono-toned ho-hum sort of deal. I like little scratches and choppy cuts. I like when a cut doesn't go quite as planned and the the result is sides that are a little jagged. To me...that is character and personality. If a piece isn't interesting it might as well not exist. Wow. That seems harsh.
I went with John to S Georgia last week for his business meeting. The drive was awesome....long but awesome. The colors were awe-inspiring. Browns, oranges, deep purples, reds, pinks, yellows, greens....beautiful. I tried to get good pictures with my IPhone but they did nothing for actually being there in the moment.
Hobby Lobby and Books A Million were directly across the street from our hotel. Of course I had to look at the glass and see what magazines I needed to buy for inspiration. Once I started flipping through the magazines the creative juices began to flow. I could see the ideas coming together. I've had dreams about a few of the pieces I want to make soon. I had one idea that might not work as I originally planned but I'm an "everything happens for a reason" kind of girl. I can't wait to get the current projects finished so I can get started.
I'll be adding more chimes to my Etsy shop and would love to hear what you like and are interested in.

Wind Chimes, Candles, Incense....Oh My!

2011-09-13T21:59:00.001-05:00

MAN! I am having so much fun cutting up my fingers. Seriously! I never thought I would say I love cutting glass as much as I love(d) making bath and body products.

I bought a sample pack of stained glass on Ebay and had some fun with it. This is the first set I made. I looked at it once I finished it and laughed uncontrollably. Then I looked at it and smiled. It reminded me of my first (or was it my third) batch of cold process soap.

My first set of chimes.

This is my absolute favorite batch of soap.....EVER.

I made this set for my mom.

After I made the set for my mom she bought the glass and had me make these for her and my granny. I like them. Simple and pretty kewl. I love the crackle glasses.

I made this set for the Military brat Etsy challenge. Part of me wants to take it apart and do it over. Another part of me feels it was meant for these chimes to be this way. SO...I leave them as they are.

This was my first kaleidescope chime set. I wanted to do something with all of the "scrap" pieces I had in a box. The pieces are chipped, scratched and SO not perfect. It's meant to be this way. I sold it. :~)

The Happy Hour Kaleidescope set is a favorite of mine.

Pumpkin Vanilla Latte is the limited edition candle I made for the Fall. I love love love this candle. It smells SO good. My inspiration for the candle was the Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte. The manager of our local shoppe always lets me know right before it gets there and always knows exactly what I want when I show up. Today I had a cold Pumpkin Spice. It's amazing.

I've got Absinthe incense coming. They are awesome. I have Plush Pumpkin incense on the way and several others.

I am having SO much fun. Now that I feel I have the creative freedom to be "creatively free" I am happy and spontaneous and being creative again. I don't miss making bath and body products. I wake up and think....what can I make today? THEN I make sure I know exactly where the band aids and neosporin are and start cutting glass. And on that note....I am going to watch a little inspiration and then think about the next set of chimes.

XOXOXOXOXOXO

It's time to spill the beans....

2011-08-12T11:14:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since my last REAL post and it seems that all posts since have been about soap stamps. SO...I thought I would let everyone in on what I have been doing.
I've always loved glass. I love the different textures and looks of stained glass. SO....I bought supplies to learn stained glass. Taping, soldering, the whole bit. So far I've learned a ton of tricks and found my own techniques when cutting the glass AND myself. It would seem the actual act of cutting the glass is not my issue. I seem to cut myself at the strangest of times....IE...when I'm looking for that one sheet of glass for the piece I need in the mosaic below or when I want to find the scrap glass to try a new cut. SO....I make sure I have a good stock of band-aids. I have a ton of "scrap" for an awesome mosaic and have even looked into making mosaic windows. I have a huge mosaic window about 50% completed but I REALLY need to take a break from it. This window is 24.25 inches wide and 25 inches tall. Whatever possessed me to have my first project be this large???? It's not perfect but it's mine and will be a fun piece to look back on. :~)

Several people have asked if I'm going to make wind chimes. I am. I already have the supplies and have been working out ideas in my head and in my dreams. As I do and did with soap I also dream about glass.
I also wanted to attempt a stained glass pillar holder. While on "the Google" I happened upon the neatest stained glass pattern. This gave me the idea for a stained glass pillar "vase". I have had the idea in my head for months and have the idea laid out I just haven't unpacked my soldering iron, tape and flux. I'm not sure why. It will happen when the time is right.
I'm having a blast. I've cut myself pretty badly a couple of times. But I attribute that to a part of the learning process. And is no worse than some of the things I've done while making soap. ((@@)) Just remember to wear safety glasses and keep your work space clean.
With all of the drama in and around the SAFE Cosmetics Act we have decided to slowly move in a new direction.
http://www.amathiasoapworks.com/2011/08/11/safe-cosmetics-act-2011-bad-business/
We're not afraid of rules and regulations. We simply will not tolerate Government officials sticking their noses in our business anymore than they already are. I refuse to get on my soapbox and move away from the point of this post. Please refer to the link if you have questions. This does NOT mean we will no longer make the bath and body products we make. It does mean IF this "bill" becomes law we will no longer sell our bath and body products through Etsy, Artfire or our site. It's been a very hard decision to come to terms with but once I realized it did NOT mean the end of me doing what I love it was easy to accept. And with all of the resellers and fake soapers out there it is becoming harder and harder to "compete" and ENJOY at the same time. SO.....with all this said and typed....once the above linked bill becomes law I will be completely covered up in glass, tape, solder and adhesive. I hope my next post will be about the newest exciting projects I have on tap. until then.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Will OR Why Won't My Image Work For A Soap Stamp?

2011-06-13T01:07:00.046-05:00

I wish I had a number count for every time I've been asked those questions.
I wish I could say every image will work.
I wish John and I could wave a magic wand and just "make it go"...but we can't. Unfortunately not all images can be translated to a successful soap stamp. In the same respect not every soap formula is compatible with soap stamps. Why? There are many reasons.

1) oils used

2) water discount used

3) essential oils used

4) fragrance oils used

5) type of liquid used for the lye solution

6) image-wise it's just not possible and I will get into that a little later.

I know some of you are saying these should have absolutely no baring on my soap stamp concept. That is not true. Case in point....

Anhoki is my own custom stamp that I used to stamp almost every bar I make.

The stud stamp is a standard that is perfect for any occasion. You can do a Google search for stud and soap stamp and see the variety of soapies it has stamped.
Both of the stamps get used A LOT.
BOTH of these soaps are beer.

BOTH soaps are scented with fragrance oils that I custom blended.

Both are made with the same soap recipe which I also use for 99% of my successfully stamped beer soaps. It just happens and I have yet to nail down why. The only way one will know if their stamp will work with their soap recipe is to try it. IF they have used a soap stamp with their soap formula before and have not used ours here is a great blog post that might help. Here is another.

Now that we've touched on the makeup of the soap itself let's talk about the IMAGE. Any and all images sent to us for review are designated as artwork. An image is artwork. Text is artwork. ONE letter is considered artwork. I know you think it's not but if it is sent to us for stamp consideration it IS artwork. :~)

We have a maximum letter count of 11 that we will consider. There ARE some stamps than can go past this amount but they are rare. Not all fonts are fit for soap stamp usage. I know that sounds tacky but it is very much true.

The Curlz font and those like it are extremely complicated because of the amount of detail in the font itself.

The Curlz font is extremely popular. However it is not one that is easy to work with. As you can see we had to make TWO letters take up the bulk of the bar face in order to give the font the amount of space it demands. :~)

Some fonts NEED to be larger in order to give them the respect they deserve. I like the stamp but do feel it should be bigger to show off some of the more delicate parts of it.

Some fonts are small and look great that way. :~)

When it comes to PICTURE images....those are a tough call. Sometimes we think an image will be a "piece of cake" to work with and even we are schooled on what will and won't work. Sometimes we are surprised....and not just a little bit either. Some of our most recent stamps...

The donkey stamp is one we just finished and shipped last week. It was a lot tougher than it would seem. For starters....we had to round over the middle of the donkey in order to make it impress properly. Had we left it as a solid image it would not have impressed. If it had managed to impress it would have brought a ton of soap with it when it was removed from the bar. The legs, tail, bottle....EVERY small line had to be thickened up in order to meet the minimum bit size we use to mill stamps. Remember.... we use a CNC machine to create our stamps. Every time we thickened a line we had to remember the beer bottle that dangles in front of the donkey. It MAY have milled OK but it was not to scale and we had to remember it, too. Let's also not forget the letters underneath the donkey. We had to make those big enough to SEE but small enough to work with the donkey. Definitely a learning experience.

Natural Aroma is a stamp that went through quite a few changes in order to make it work. Script fonts are HARD to work with. We had to remove quite a few of the curls in the script font and thicken all of the lines in order to make it work. Since we do not design the stamp images you must give us permission to change the image from its original form to one that will work. And remember.....Natural could not be too big because it would dwarf aroma. This worked beautifully.

Jane's Soaps is a small stamp but needed to be larger in order to make the inside text large enough to shine.

Saponista's stamp needed very little work. We needed to thicken everything and do the spacing but it worked.

The Live Love Alive stamp had quite a bit more to it and we have to simplify it. Sometimes less is definitely more.

Sweetmade needed some modifications to the font but I think it came out beautifully.

Cosmic was a breeze of a stamp. We had a great & simplified font style and the bulk of the canvas to play with. A beautiful stamp.

The mountain range was not as easy as it would appear. What everyone must remember is we need HUGE images to work with. When I say HUGE....I mean.... like...5X7 inches or larger..... We need the image as large as possible with the fewest pixels as possible. Pixels are the spawn of Satan and make it very difficult to work around. A black and white image would be ideal. If you can send us black and white images that would make it SO much easier. Also....when working with a logo....YOU need to be the one to remove all of the logo but that which you desire in your soap stamp. If you've had it designed by a third party please have them do this and give us exactly what we have asked. This will save you money and save us time. Asking us to pull a very small and very specific portion from a huge logo is very time consuming and costly for those who are not graphic artists. :~)

This is one of the most interesting projects we've had to date. This image came to us in the form of a picture. The person took a picture of a vintage gold weight she had been using as a stamp. This piece was said to be hundreds of years old and deteriorating quickly. She asked if we could duplicate it into a soap stamp. Several of the bottom "legs" were missing and we had to freehand those back in. I think it turned out great.

The beta was interesting, too. We had to remove a lot of the fine lines in the tail and fins but you definitely know it is a beta.

The r2s stamp is larger than it seems. To get the right impression it needed a round-over.

The double hands has a lot of texture to its image. This is one that should not be completely impressed. John says it will lose the ruggedness and detailing if it were to be fully impressed.

The Cellar Door stamp is complex on several fronts. Two different fonts AND bubbles. We needed to thicken EVERYTHING and do a round-over for the bubbles to make them....look like bubbles. For this kind of stamp I think 10 is the max amount of letters. You want it to look as great, in soap, as it does on paper.

More BUBBLES.....I love when bubbles turn out. SO kewl. You have to round over the circles or they will look like nothing more than dots on soap.

There is NOTHING about this stamp that I do not love. It's perfect. :~)

Required round-over AND script font. Because we removed a lot of the loopy lines from the font and made minor changes to its overall look it worked out well.

We needed to simplify the circle around the SC and thicken it up WAY more than you would think to get it even this small. The soap creek text needed to be thickened in a lot of places but It's an awesome stamp.

The mermaid lost a lot of the detail in her face. Her hand needed to be solid and we needed to simplify the ripple she came out of but it worked.

The "tribal" stamp is an actual drawing he did. We made it as rugged and true to the original as we could.

The island couldn't have all of the little nubs but it still looks like an island and pretty awesome with the round-over.

I know we say 11 letters and organicouture is 13. We set 11 as a base to start from. IF the font is simplified and easy to read in a smaller format we can go with more letters. This bar of soap is 3.5 inches wide. This is the right size stamp for this bar.

Panakeia worked because it is the type of font that allows thickening without drastic change.

Kristi did a great job with this design. Less is definitely more.

This one is not like the original. The branches needed to be thinned our and the text had to be spaced just right to actually make HOTEL show up. I like this stamp a lot.

This is one we just made this weekend. It is a redesign of the original. Remembering that we try to stay as close to the 11 letters across the face of the bar as possible we had to move some things around. She loved it, we loved it and it's just a cute stamp.

After all of this...what have we learned?

........Images are NOT true to size. Printing your image from Photoshop or a similar program and place it over your bar to see that it fits. That won't work. The printed off image has not accounted for the thickening of lines, spacing between letters and overall modifications we will have to do in order to ready the image for milling.

........Telling us you are looking for something in the range of whatever font at 48 pt in Word won't work either. Why? We need to know what size stamp you would like to have. Once we have the bar size and the requested info we can let you know if what you are asking for will work. Fonts show differently in different programs. It may look like the Georgia font in Google documents and Comic Sans MS in Word. Please do not tell us it is a standard font and can be font in most programs. Provide us the link to where it can be found for free. There are, literally, millions and millions of fonts and variations of them out there and we simply can not have them all.

........Understand that we must work within the constraints of the image we have been given. If you provide us with a rectangle image and ask that it be square.....If you provide us with a square image and request that it be rectangle.....:~)

........Since we do not do custom design work we can advice you on what we think will look best but it's up to you or your designer to find fonts that will work. Not every font can be successfully translated into a successful soap stamp. I wish they could because I have found a zillion fonts that would be AWESOME in a stamp.

........DON'T be discouraged by this blog post. Be encouraged that TOGETHER we can create a work of art for your soap.

........ We use "scrap" soap to test ALL of our soap. It's not "trash" soap but older, more firm, harder, less desired than our "normal" bars. If you LOVE the way YOUR stamp looks on this soap imagine how much you will love it on your FRESH or newer bars. From time to time I do have to make a batch of soap specifically for testing stamps. This soap will be a light tan or brown color. This does not mean your stamp won't show up on your white, beige, or milti colored soapies. Check these bars out.

The MOST important thing. Your artwork is YOURS. Taking your artwork and translating it into a soap stamp does NOT mean we own it. It is YOURS and we will not duplicate it for anyone other than you. :~)

THIS is the blog post that you need to read in order to provide us with the information for your custom soap stamp.

HERE is a post on how to best use our stamps.

If you have questions about an image you would like to have made into a stamp email me. We'll look at the image (text or otherwise) and talk about it.

XOXOXOXO

We've been busy at Anoki's Place

2011-06-05T23:11:00.000-05:00

Holy cow!!! So last time I posted we talked about wanting to help Joplin, MO. Well....we're doing much more than what we said we were. Since then I decided to scan the soap stock and donate a ton of soap. The problem was.....as first....I couldn't find anyone willing to take it off my hands. I checked the Salvation Army's website....called and was redirected to 6 different people in 4 different states. NO one was willing to take the soap I wanted to donate. Ugh. I went to the Red Cross site and they didn't want it either. Everyone wanted CASH. Well...look....I have money to give but I also have over 600 bars of soap I am willing to label, box, and send to you if ONLY I can find someone to send it to!!! Work with me PEOPLE! SO....I was chatting with John about how frustrated I was and he told me something that was music to my ears. The poor man plays WOW. I know, right. BUT... one of his guild-mates is a paramedic and works in Joplin. She was on duty when the tornado hit. Her regular shift turned into a 60 hour shift. SHE is a true angel. She mentioned several local and surrounding churches are taking donations exactly like mine. She also mentioned several radio stations that are streaming live and are on FB. SO....I took my little self and went to Facebook and started looking. I found them all. I wanted a live person to talk to so I quickly ruled out those who had online forms to fill out with ALL of my personal information and little about THEM. Then I started calling. The Harley-Davidson Of Joplin dealership is now my new best friend. I called them and told them what I wanted to do. The woman said they would gladly take my donations. I asked if they were up for at least 10 boxes. She said they were. AWESOME SAUCE! SO......I asked if I could use their image from their website for my listing so folks would know this is REAL and not a scam. You know how people are. Sad, but true. She connected me with the legal department. I explained who I am and what I wanted to do and asked if I could use the photo. She giggled when I mentioned the scam. It's not funny. How often do we see stories on the news about losers scoping out victims and scamming them for all that they have left? I know, right!!! SO....To date we have sent almost 300 bars of soap to Joplin. I've since decided to move to MEDIUM flat rate boxes instead of the large. We can still get 32 bars of soap in a box so it's good. It's a lot lighter and much easier to handle. I'm so proud of John and the girls. While I cut labels John labels the bars and the girls pack them in boxes. I would love to get the boxes I have left sold and packed and gone.

I do want to give props to those who have already purchased boxes. Thank you SO much for you love, support and encouragement. It means the world.

Helping Joplin, MO

2011-05-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

So....I called the Salvation Army and got nothing. Called another location and was sent to 4 different ones. Thank goodness for unlimited LD. I emailed the Red Cross and they are not taking item donations right now. SO....For EVERY candle I sell to you guys I will send $5 to the Salvation Army.

Once they are set up to receive boxes from out of state I will be donating soap to them. I want it to be a DONATION but....that can get expensive. SO...when I get the green light I will have listings for large flat rate boxes and ask that only the shipping be paid. You buy the box of soap for the $0.20 listing fee and pay the large flat rate box shipping fee. Seems reasonable to me. If you would like to help leave me a comment. I will be checking back often. I hope to load them up with a mountain of handmade soapies. Everyone needs to bathe. The least we can do is give them a bar that will pamper them just a little bit. XOXO

Anhoki's Place Spring Madness Sale

2011-04-13T09:07:00.000-05:00

♥.♥.♥.♥.SPRING MADNESS SALE!!!! $3 a bar for MOST Anhoki's Place soapies (while supplies last). If you need MORE than is listed contact us. We're getting ready to bring in a TON of new soap selections and want to give you a last change special deal. HAPPY SPRING! .♥.♥.♥.♥

It's time for us to add new and different soapies. In order for us to do so we need to move some out. SO... We're having a S-A-L-E! Prices have already been changed. We will keep relisting as long as we have stock. Once they are gone that's it. Go stock up and get your favorites.

It's Spring And We've Been Playing

2011-04-11T09:40:00.003-05:00

Allergies season is upon us and MAN is it brutal. The red SUV was a beautiful yellow-green this morning. We're not letting it get us down. We're playing.

We've made new candles...

Shades Of Green -- 40 oz Soy Wax Candle With Wooden Wick

We're having SO much fun with our candles. John has always been extremely opinionated about scent combinations and blends. I'll be working on a new blend or a scent combination for a multi-layered candle and he'll peak around the corner and ask what I'm doing. I'll have him sniff and offer his expert advice. He's pretty good. If you have an idea for a multi-layered candle don't be afraid to share it.

We've been using our own homemade laundry soap for quite some time now and love it. As soon as we finalize the packaging and pricing this will be a new item in our shop. Scent requests and suggestions are very much welcomed.

We're going to be phasing out some of the soaps that haven't been selling well. We're going to move in a new direction for a while. It's a "back to basics" kind of thing. I'll be blending essential oils, some fragrance oils and a combination of both for some scent blends. I'm excited to be making this change.

Soap For The Troops

For those who use our deodorant......Have you wanted to try our deodorant but haven't seen the scent you like? Let us know.

Sandalwood Orange Natural Deodorant with Aloe and Green Tea Butters

Everyone needs lip balm. We're sending lip balms to the troops, too. Check out our lip balms with our Summer formula. Stays nice and firm even in your pocket.

Mega Moisture Lip Conditioner ala Anhoki

share The Love.....Support The Troops

2011-03-23T11:45:00.001-05:00

It's been a while. This is extremely important to me and I wanted to share it with all of you. Being the daughter of a retired Air Force soldier I was touched when my friend San of Thistle Delight Soapworks told me what she is doing. She not only served her country but is also the wife of a retired Sailor and the mother of an active duty Sailor. When her son enlisted into the Navy she felt it her duty and honor to support him and the troops any way she could. San joined Navy for Moms.

Each month they choose a group from a branch of the armed forces and send cards, letters, care packages and anything else they get from donations and send it all to their contact of the month. These items are then shared with the troops. Pretty awesome! Now you are asking..what does this have to do with Anhoki or me? Well duh..... Did you really have to ask? :~) Anhoki's Place has set a goal and would love to totally blow it out of the water. We want to donate 500 bars of soap and 500 lip balms to San so she can send them to the troops. John and I have created listings for this very purpose. You buy the soap or lip balm and it goes directly to the troops. Never fear...you will get something sent to you. For every order received a little thank you will be sent to the buyer. So it's a win win situation for everyone. The troops are pampered with goodies. My heart grows with pride and you get something from us for supporting those who fight for us to do what we do.

SOAP FOR THE TROOPS

BALMS FOR THE TROOPS

Show our brave men and women some love and send them some goodies from Anhoki's Place.

Semper Fi!

Things That Smell Good

2011-02-11T23:51:00.001-06:00

I love things that smell good. Candles, incense, potpourri....We've added a few new things to our shop.

We put candles back in our shop and will keep them there....forever.

Candles

We're adding candles as the scent strikes me.

One is a tribute to my trip to Mendocino in 1999. John and I spent the whole day walking the beach, playing with the chipmunk and enjoying the fresh beach air. It was a perfect day.
One is a custom and completely original blend of Cocoa butter, hints of lemon, lime, orange and pineapple followed by coconut and caramel and base notes of coconut milk, vanilla bean, buttercream and musk. Truly a one-of-a-kind coconut blend. Totally complex it is the best coconut blend I have ever smelled.

Two is a tribute to Muir Woods. Walking amoungst these ginormous red wood trees, breathing the fresh air and realizing just how small everything is in comparrision is breathtakingly awesome.
Two is a custom blend of Sandalwood (Amyris), Sweet Orange and Cedar essential oils.

Three is a tribute to being happy. Sounds cheesy but it's a fact. When I smell this candle I do nothing but smile. Sweet Orange essential oil has been blended Indian Sandalwood to make the exquisite masterpiece we call Orangalwood (The Candle That Cannot Be Named). Why the phunkie name, you ask? Well...My husband and girls like to take the name of the essential oils I use and play with them. Orangalwood is what they came up with. An old high school friend (Thanks, Glenn) came up with the (The Candle That Cannot Be Named)part. I liked it so much we're going to use both. It's an amazing blend....trust us.

Four is delicious. A blend of lemon and lime essential oils with vanilla fragrance it smells like a citrus meringue pie. Don't eat it, please.

Five is a tribute to romance. Corny? Nope. Juliette is a romantic blend of lavender, orange and peppermint essential oils and is the perfect candle for romantic settings.

Six is all about one's journey through life. Cedar Wood, Sandalwood and Patchouli essential and fragrance oils come together for a unisex candle for everyone. Deep, spiritual, simple and uneventful. However you choose to view it this is for you.

We have the option of buying 5 full sized candles or 5 (4) oz candles. You can choose which you would like or let us choose for you. I am also going to do two and three candle selections. I know a lot of people have commitment issues and I do hope to change that for you. Our candles are awesome....or so we're told. :~)

We're making incense, too.

I started with cones. I don't like cones. I DO love the sticks we are working with.

I am having SO much fun with incense. Creating awesome EO blends and using some fantabulous essential oils. Blending is a passion I've had for years (we all know this) and applying it to incense is a major BONUS for me. Right now we have

Sandalwood Vanilla

Mardi Gras -- citrus, soft floral and vetiver, musk and ylang. AWESOME!

Dave -- Chocolate Sandalwood and loosely based on my love for Dave Navarro

Secrets --Black Pepper & Amber....super sensual

Spiced Apple

Romance (Amber Romance VS Type)

I have a ton of essential oil blends I plan to make as time allows. I would love some ideas. i have the standard patchouli, dragons blood and the like but I would love to keep going with the interesting blends and out of the box scents. Ordinary is boring.

Custom Stamps 2011

2011-01-09T22:30:00.135-06:00

XOXOXO

Blog posts you may find useful.... WILL MY IMAGE WORK? HOW DO YOU USE THESE? The tone of our post is not to be off-putting or scolding as some have previously mentioned. It is meant to be helpful and informing. The following ever changing post has been compiled after thousands of email conversations being answered the same way. Please review the blog post thoroughly and understand that we only ask for this information because we don't have it and it is required in order for us to fully understand what it is you are expecting and do our very best to provide it for you. We no longer design custom soap images. All artwork must come from you in image format before we can provide a quote. We also no longer accept rush orders. :~)

>>>>>>>>I know the first thing you are going to want to do is print out your image and place it on your bar of soap to see if it will fit. PLEASE do not do this and then send us an email saying you know the image will work because you've printed it out and saw that it did. The printed image does not take into account the displacement of soap when the stamp is impressed. The lines in the image must meet minimum width size to allow our CNC machine to actually mill the image. Most images in Photoshop or any similar program does not even come close to minimum size. If you have questions AFTER reading our blog post in full please feel free to contact us and we can converse further.<<<<<<<<

1. What's your name? We'd like to know with whom we are conversing. :~)

2. Do you have an image for us to review? This is important. We can not move forward without an image. And text is an image. John prefers to have a LARGER sized image. An image in the area of 3X5 inches or LARGER is preferred. Please do not blow up a teeny tiny image to meet minimums as this causes pixelation. Please send it in JPEG format as this is what works best for us. :~)

3. Do you have text in the image? For our purposes text is considered an image:~)

4. Can you provide us a link to where the font can be downloaded for free should we need it? This is extremely important.

5.Do you know the size of the bar you wish you stamp? Many people have various sizes they wish to stamp. If this is you give us the bar size you use the most.

6. Do you know the approximate size of the stamp you would like us to create? We say approximate because the image will be limited based on constraints of the image.

7. Do you have a Paypal email address or Etsy shop name for billing purposes?

8. If you are having a stamp made for a custom account or third party please keep the communication between us and the person who will be using the stamp. It becomes very complicated when more people are involved. If this third party has the information we require to move forward please obtain it before contacting us so the process is as simple as possible for everyone. This can become overwhelming for some and we try to avoid that as much as possible.

Before you send us an email please be sure to read ALL of the technical stuff below. We do not "design" the custom soap stamp. We create a stamp based on images and information provided by you. Be sure you understand the additional fees you may be required to pay should changes need to be made AFTER we have milled your stamp.

info@soaptattoos.com this is where all complete images and text images should be sent.

"Technical” stuff.

The more boring and complicated side of it all. Please be sure to read all of the information.

Custom stamps BEGIN at $35.95.

This price point is for those stamps which do not require any modification at all or modifications which will take no longer than a few minutes and no communication being exchanged.

Pricing can not be provided before an image is reviewed by myself and John. info@soaptattoos.com

The price of your stamp will increase if, after you have approved your artwork and it is milled, you decide changes need to be made.

The first re-mill is an additional $25 and each additional milling will be in increments of $50. This MUST be paid before we will refill.

If you have paid for your stamp, require a refill and refuse to pay and also desire a refund of payments already made we WILL charge a 20% restock fee for our time and materials. Invoices, purchase orders and the like are not and will not be provided by us. If you need records for your accountant they are easily obtained through Paypal which is how you paid for your purchase with us. Please understand this before agreeing to purchase your custom soap stamp.

How big is too big for our methods of creating?

We try very hard to go no more than 11 letters across the face of your bar. Based on our methods of creating soap stamps it is almost impossible for us to do so. If we receive an image with more than 11 letters across the face of the bar and the font is one which requires a lot of work and extra space for thickening, font modification in order to be milible, etc... we will communicate this to you. We may request that you either

a)stack the text or

b)change the font OR text.

Changing the image is the responsibility of you, the customer. We make it this way so you can spend as much time as you need to create an image you are happy with. People change their minds all the time. It happens. Figure out what you would like to have, live with it for a little while and then contact us. If you have questions we are more than happy to try and help. I can't tell you all how many times I changed my font before I found the one I was happy with. This is why we are not in the business of custom design. The best part (to me anyway) is designing my soap stamp and then sending it to my stamp maker hubby and talking technical with him to make it work. Leave the creative aspect to the buyer and the technical to the stamp maker. Does that make sense? We want you to be happy with your stamp. THAT is the most important thing. Spend the time you need to get the design the way you like it. If you have questions, along the way, don't be afraid ask me...but please be open minded and understand we may need to change things up a bit in order to make things happen.

REQUIRED information

---Length and Width of your soap bar. We can not move forward without a bar size. If you have several soap bar sizes and want a stamp to work with all of them it might be best to go with more than one to get the best look on all bars.

---H-U-G-E JPEG, PDF, BMP file

Postage stamp sized will NOT work for us. Blowing an image up to meet size requirements is also not helpful and translates to a pixelated mess. We would prefer an image with a resolutiong of 300 ppi or better. Realize that sending an image of 300 ppi or better is great but the OVER ALL size also needs to be at least 4X6 inches and not 1X2 inches. We NEED BIG.

If you had someone design the image for you ask them to make the image meet our requirements before contacting us. This will save all of us a lot of time and the stamp user will have fewer gray hairs by the time this is all over.

We no longer accept Google or Word documents for "images" we do not use Word. The way the "image" looks to you is not the way it looks when it comes through to us. Most of the images using Word look like Arial font when we receive them. We must have one of the above formats (an IMAGE) or we will not review it.

Along with the above please do NOT send us an image the size you PREFER your END PRODUCT to be. This sounds silly but it won't work. It will be kicked right back to you.

---Even if you have provided us with an image IF text is used we STILL need the font name AND a link to where it may be found for FREE. Should this be an issue we can not resolve we will have no choice but to decline the stamp project.

Communication is key.

Give us an image we can work with and then talk to us through email. This is the best way for us to communicate and have all information in hand in order to provide you with the best stamp we can offer. If we have questions we will ask that you provide us with an answer. If communication via email is going to be a problem for you we may refer you elsewhere.

Once more...if this is a stamp for a wholesale account or third party person please keep communication between us and the person using the stamp. If you ask us to communicate with the person not using the stamp things may become misunderstood, misinterpreted, and completely confusing. This is why we request that communication be between us and one person. If your “client” has questions please have them right them down and we would be happy to answer them via an email to YOU.

This section is about font types
Tell us the EXACT name of the font and where we can find it for FREE. A link to it would be awesome. This is extremely important. Due to the large amount of requests for custom stamps with text of all shapes and sizes it is impossible for us to have them all. I would bet that we have less than 1/10th of 1% of the fonts out there. Please go find the font and send us the link. This will make the process go much much faster. If you had someone create the font or logo please obtain this information from that person and provide it to us. We might need it to rework your image for any reason. We can NOT express strongly enough just how important this is.

We use Open Office on ALL of our computers. We do not have Microsoft Word or anything Microsoft. More often than not the font does not come through true to the original. Should any of the previous lines of text not work feel free to go to www.dafont.com or any site of a similar nature and find a font that suits you. If you do not wish to download said font you CAN do a screen shot of the text and save the file to your computer and send that image to us.:~)

SCRIPT FONTS DO REQUIRE A LOT MORE SPACE THAN OTHERS. THERE IS A LOT OF TWEAKING THAT MUST TAKE PLACE IN ORDER FOR SCRIPT FONTS TO WORK. THIS WILL ALTER THE WAY THEY LOOK. KEEP THIS IN MIND AND UNDERSTAND BEFORE SENDING ONE TO US.

This is about how big you wish your stamp to be.

Give us an idea of how much space you wish your stamp to cover. Please do not tell us your stamp needs to be exactly 2X3 or whatever as this may not be possible. Size will be completely based on the image constraints and how it looks in simulation. If it is a garbled mess at 1.75 we will communicate this with you.

Size DOES matter

Size does matter. Detail does matter. A simple explanation of this is.....Just because it looks good in rubber stamp form does not in any way mean it will look good in soap stamp form. And...It may look awesome on paper (ie...printed out), in Photoshop or whatever program you are using. That doesn't mean it will look right transformed into a soap stamp. I know it seems perfect when looking at it in different programs or in an actual drawing. Contact me and ask questions. Let's work on what will and won't work before you have your heart and head set on something which might be impossible.

Design with too much detail

Too much detail in an image will not work. We tried that. I wanted a daisy stamp with quite a bit of detail. A zillion petals 2 inches in size...the whole bit. John made it....a zillion petals...it was beautiful. Not only would it not make a full impression the sheer amount of soap that it pulled with it when removed from the bar was amazing. Amazing and awful. It's a useless piece of material not even heavy enough for a paper weight. An image with too much detail will be sent back with suggested modification requests made. If the stamp size is too small we will explain WHY it can not be done. If the stamp is too large for the bar we will explain this as well.

Smaller does NOT mean cheaper

If the design is too small our CNC machine won't be able to fully process the request. Those areas which don't meet minimum spacing or line thickness will just be skipped over. The result will be a blob mess. This is why we say the smaller the stamp size the more money you will pay. In the same breathe.... small stamps with a lot of detail don't work. This is why we ask for a complete request before offering a price quote.

Required modifications

More often than not some modifications are required. It is a fact. If changes are needed in order to meet minimum milling requirements WE will do them as we know what our machine is and is not capable of doing. Often these changes are not even noticed by you the buyer or the masses. If changes to the over all design are required because it is too detailed and complex or the required changes will change the design itself we will tell you what needs changing and ll ask that YOU do them before we move forward. This is supposed to be your baby. We don't want to change it to make it work for us. It must work for you because you are the one using it. We can walk you through the changes we would make and advise you on how it might look best but it is your design and we prefer you have the control in the design aspect of it.

Shipping charges

Custom soap stamps are shipped via USPS ONLY. US orders are required to ship via priority mail with delivery confirmation and insurance. This is the only way we will replace non-delivered or damaged in transit stamps. Should your stamp be damaged in the mail you will need to file a claim with the USPS to receive the insurance funds and then contact us. We also request the damaged item back.

Shipments going to addresses outside of the US do not carry delivery confirmation or insurance. USPS is the least expensive way to ship which is why we use it. Also you must realize the amount of time it takes for your stamp to be delivered once it leaves our possession. Some countries hold incoming packages in customs for weeks. This is beyond our control. If you feel enough time has passed since your stamp was mailed contact your mail provider and ask if it is held up.

How long will it take for me to receive my stamp

These stamps DO take time to create. It DOES take hours to

-work through the image you provide,

-make needed changes in Photoshop and communicate said changes with you,

-provide a proof ONLY IF significant changes have been made to the image you provide us.

-wait for response from you if needed,

-generate code for our CNC machine,

-set aside the hour(s) time slot to mill the stamp

-mill said stamp

-have Anhoki test the plate

If significant changes have been made to your stamp image a proof will be provided for you BEFORE we go to mill. You MUST approve this image before we go to mill. A proof will be provided once the stamp has been milled. If we do not hear from you about either image we will move forward. Should you decide changes are needed AFTER the stamp has been milled you will be required to pay a remill fee. The first remill will be $25. The second remill will cost you $50. All additional fees must be paid in full before we will move forward.

-block and finish the stamp

As always...communication is key.

>>When we have all of the information we need we will provide you with a quote.

>>You approve the quote and pay for your stamp and THEN we will work on your stamp proof.

>>Your stamp proof will almost always come to you in backward format. Stamps are milled backwards so they will read correctly on the bar. When you ask yourself "why is my stamp backward".... simply answer the question by stamping a bar of soap or placing your stamp on a piece of paper. Even easier would be to view it in a mirror or look at a rubber stamp if you have one. It too is backwards.

>>You MUST approve the proof which means you do need to reply to the messages we send you regarding the images. We've had tons of people who do not reply to our messages and then are angered when the stamp is not as they expected or desired it to be. We will communicate everything with you before actually making the stamp. This way we are always on the same page.

>>Once you have approved the proof it goes to mill. As stated above....this can and usually does take hours.....YES...even for the smallest of stamps. It is milled with a CNC machine and NOT magnesium cast. :~)

>>Once we have milled the stamp we will send you a test stamp picture to approve. Your stamp will be blocked and finished only after you have approved the stamped imaged.

****** We do request a two week turn around for our soap stamps and we require all of it. Life happens and sometimes things come up. If we are waiting for a return email or payment from you and have not heard from you in a timely manner we will put your project on hold and move to another one. Likewise...if something happens in our lives that might prevent us from meeting a deadline we will let you know.

Contact Us:

PLEASE EMAIL ANHOKI at info@soaptattoos.com for more information. All communications are between the buyer and Anhoki. Please do not request to speak with John. Do not add a comment to blog posts. It will get lost. Please do not ask us to call you for information about your custom request. It is much easier for us to document the information and refer back to it should any questions or disputes arise.

Custom stamps are custom stamps and we can not offer a discount on multiples. Each stamp is milled one at a time and there is no casting of the stamp. Once the original has been mailed to you we have no way of quickly reproducing it and must generate all secondary pieces the exact same way we created the first.

We feel it necessary to make this public knowledge. BEFORE you send us an image you must, at all costs, be sure you are allowed to use it and make it "yours". Don't shake your head... Be mindful of where your image came from. If it is not yours and you have not obtained permission to use it you might get sued. HOW do we know, you ask? Because it happened to us. We KNEW where our image "came" from. It came from a "FREE" image site that claimed to be free of everything which might bite you in the behind. Well....Having had the image for longer than we can remember we DON'T remember where it came from and had no choice but to pay the fine. Should you provide us with an image that has not been cleared for your use both personal and professional it will be you and YOU ALONE who will be stuck with the fine. We will not be held responsible for any damages your custom stamp may cause.

Thanks for your interest,

Anhoki & John

We're Making Incense

2010-10-21T13:23:00.001-05:00

I love these things. I truly love them. I started with supplies from one of my absolute favorite suppliers and failed...miserably. I cried.....OK....I didn't cry but I did get angry. I'm not saying I can make anything and everything. To me...these seemed like a simple and fun item to add to my collection. Well...after getting mad AND getting even we are offering incense cones. The question is.......WHAT scents do you, my buyers, prefer? I'm currently working on Cranberry Peppermint and Dragon's Blood for the Holidays. What would YOU like to see us bring to the table? I would like to stay away from the "average" scents you seem to see everywhere. I do plan on bringing some pretty awesome essential oil blends to the table as well.

AND!!!! I had a very awesome Etsian make me some custom incense burners. They are stunningly beautiful. Simple, elegant, charming. I plan on having a"starter" kit of a burner and incense and then the incense by themselves. I'm hoping the burners take off and my supplier is busier than she knows how to be. They truly are art.

I digress. WHAT scent do you think of when you think of incense? Let's be creative. Who knows. I may choose a commenter and send you a free sample.

XOXO

Custom Stamps 2010..... with revised changes

2010-10-18T08:43:00.007-05:00

XOXOXO

WE DO offer custom soap stamps but we can not design the image for you. The image MUST come from you. An image is both a picture AND text. Please, before sending us any image, read #7 below. You must follow all guidelines if we are to create a stamp for you. Providing us with artwork we can not work with or is larger than what we CAN work with is simply a waste of both your time and ours.

>>PLEASE READ all of the information below. We would not ask for this information if it was not needed.

>>PLEASE EMAIL me at info@soaptattoos.com for more information. Do not add a comment...it will get lost.

Please understand and respect that we also have a family and will get to your email as soon as we see it in our inbox. "Normal" business hours are 8-5 for most people....this is also true for us. Like everyone else...we take time away from our computers. This means we will not be checking email on a constant basis. :~) This also means I will not be answering my cell phone for soap and stamp related inquiries during off business hours. If you "NEED" me you need to send an email.

>>We will NOT give pricing until the image has been sent and we see how much work is required. Please remember that we will not design your custom soap stamp for you. ALL artwork..be it an image with no text or simply text IS an image and must come from you in order for the job to move forward. Thanks!
Please allow us up to two weeks to complete and ship your custom soap stamp once the image has been approved by you and paid for.

>>Custom soap stamps START at $35.95 but may be more depending on the amount of work Anhoki and John have to do to it.

>>The quoted price does NOT include shipping. Standard soap stamps will ship for $3 in the US. Multiple stamps will be more based on their weight. We ship USPS. If you want delivery confirmation and insurance you MUST ask for it BEFORE ordering stamps. If you do not request it your stamps will ship first class mail without delivery confirmation and insurance. We are NOT responsible for non-delivered packages. Shipping via USPS IS the cheapest way to go ANYWHERE so that is how we ship.

CUSTOM STAMPS will REQUIRE priority mail, delivery confirmation AND insurance for the value before we will mail them. You MUST agree to this shipping price before any work will be completely on your project. As with standard stamps we are not responsible for any lost or stolen packages onces they have been mailed.

International orders are based on weight and country they ship to. Delivery confirmation and insurance will be added IF it is offered by our postal service. Be advised if there are any fees associated with your shipment entering your country YOU are responsible for those. Without insurance being purchased we can not be held responsible for lost or stolen packages once they have been mailed.

* Due to the uniqueness of each custom stamp we can not provide quantity discounts on custom stamp bundle orders.

>>If you are in dier need of a rush job we can do that but it will cost you. Rush jobs cost $50 ABOVE the cost of the stamp. We will do all we can to move as fast as possible on your rush job. HOWEVER... if you do not reply to our emails and pay for your stamp right away it WILL delay your rush order.

>>We currently have shipping set to a flat $5 for outside of the US. We will refund anything above $1.50 more than what it costs us to mail the stamp. If you are charged fees upon receiving the package it IS your responsibility to pay them...not ours.

>>The price of your stamp WILL go up if, after you have approved your artwork and it is milled, you decide changes need to be made.

The first remill is an additional $25 and each additional milling will be in increments of $40. This MUST be paid before we will remill.

If you have paid for your stamp, require a remill and refuse to pay and also desire a refund of payments already made we WILL charge a 20% restock fee for our time and materials. Please understand this before agreeing to purchase your custom soap stamp.

>>PLEASE communicate fully with us and understand the stamp design process before we mill it for you. This will save our time, our supplies and your funds. Payment IS expected in FULL before we will do any design modification changes OR milling. We only accept Paypal so keep that in mind when requesting a custom stamp.

>>One of the best thing you can do for us is tell us APPROXIMATELY what size you would wish your soap stamp to be. Exact isn't always possible. Approximately is the best way to go.

>>And remember we DO allow for a 1/4 inch border all the way around the design. This helps prevent bulging when the image is impressed into the soap. We do not make allowances for beveling If you require this please make a note to yourself and also let us know you wish to have a little extra "shaving" room.

>>Giving us an image the EXACT size of the requested end result is of no use to us.

>>Also... If you give us an image that is TOTALLY square and want it to be made into a RECTANGLE stamp ((@@))... We need to work within the constraints of the original image in order to keep it as close to the original as possible. Please keep this in mind.

1) PLEASE provide me with a name. I'd like to know with whom I am exchanging emails.

2) Length and Width of your soap bar (this is very important). Without a bar size we can NOT move forward. Don't be shy about this. It IS information we must have. If you wish to have a stamp that works with many bar sizes give us the smaller bar size but PLEASE give us something so we have something to work with.

3) H-U-G-E JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF, BMP, TIF file of your image. We prefer a size of 5X7 or larger to avoid pixelation. Please be sure to not take a very small image and BLOW it up at this does not prevent pixelation but enhance it. Sending us an image the size of a postage stamp is not helpful. We will re-size it to the stamp size as we go.

4) Along with the above please do NOT send us an image the size you PREFER your END PRODUCT to be. That is of no use to us. Communication is key. Give us an image we can work with and then talk to us through the email process. Makes life MUCH easier for everyone involved.

5) Tell us what the EXACT name of the font is and where we can find it for FREE IF we might need it to rework your image for any reason. We use Open Office on ALL of our computers. We do not have Microsoft anything so letting us know it is in Word...doesn't help.

6) Give us an idea of how much space you wish your stamp to cover. Often times images are not well represented in a smaller stamp but an idea of what you have in mind is most helpful.
Larger is better. SERIOUSLY..SIZE DOES MATTER! The larger your stamp image the better it will look on your soap bar. However, we don't want to have it so large that is buldges out the sides of the soap bar so please be reasonable.

6a) Believe it or not smaller is NOT the better way to go. The SMALLER your stamp is the MORE money you will spend. Small stamps are truly the spawn of Satan. They are extremely difficult to generate code for because of the teeny tiny spaces that the bit has to maneuver through and the smaller stamps do NOT translate well at all in a soap impression. ESPECIALLY if the image has a lot of detail in it. Sad, but true. Less (as in smaller) is definitely not more when it comes to stamp image. Less actually costs you more money.

6b) These stamps DO take time to create. It DOES take hours to

-work through the image you provide,

-make needed changes in Photoshop and communicate said changes with you,

-provide a proof,

-wait for response from you,

-generate code for our CNC machine,

-set aside the hour(s) time slot to mill the stamp

-mill said stamp

-have Anhoki test the plate

-provide a proof for you to approve and wait for your approval to block and finish

-block and finish the stamp

7) We will not go more than 11 letters across the face of your bar. This includes spaces. MOST fonts need to be beefed up in order to "shine" on your soap bar. On SOME rare occasions this can be allowed. This does not mean you should send us an image with 20 letters across and ask us to put it on a bar of soap that is 2X3. The letters will be microscopically small and you will not be happy with it. Allow us the room (if needed) to thicken the letters and add spacing where required.

8) Be REASONABLE with the image AND text you want for your stamp. The more detailed images may look great in a rubber stamp OR on paper but not so great in a soap stamp. If you have an image that is highly detailed and requires a lot of impressing, chances are, it will not work. For example....if you wish to have a stamp of a daisy it is often better to do an outline and minimal lines and then color the inside with mica or soap paints. The fewer lines and impressions you have the better the outcome.

9) Mr John does have an 8 to 5 job where he is not working on stamps or soap molds. This is what we call "paying the mortgage and providing food for the chillen's". :~)) Anhoki works 24/7 on everything. She always has her laptop close by. Anhoki is the one who checks ALL emails and irons out the details before John even looks at the image. Anhoki also works out ALL of the details about custom molds and does pricing on everything. John makes the molds, stamps, cutters and whatever else is requested in his off hours. We will do our very best to be up front and honest with you regarding the turn-around of your item. There are times when we must put our family life before your soap stamp, custom mold etc. We will communicate fully with you should this happen and appreciate your patience and understanding.

10) As always...communication is key.

>>We will send you a price quote.

>>You approve the quote and pay for your stamp and THEN we will work on your stamp proof.

>>Your stamp proof will almost always come to you in backward format. This is as it will be when it is milled. This is how it will look on your stamp when you look at it. When you ask yourself "why is my stamp backward".... simply answer the question by stamping a bar of soap or placing your stamp on a piece of paper. Even easier would be to view it in a mirror or look at a rubber stamp if you have one. It too is backwards.

>>You MUST approve the proof which means you do need to reply to the messages we send you regarding the images.

>>Once we have milled the stamp we will send you a test stamp picture to approve. Your stamp will be blocked and finished only after you have approved the stamped imaged.
****** We do request a two week turnaround for our soap stamps and we require all of it. Life happens and sometimes things come up. If we are waiting for a return email or payment from you and have not heard from you in a timely manner we will put your project on hold and move to another one. Likewise...if something happens in our lives that might prevent us from meeting a deadline we will let you know.

....And finally....PLEASE please understand that it does not always mean an image will translate properly into a stamp because it looks awesome on paper or in your photo editing software. Changes are sometimes required in order to create a workable stamp. An exact replica of the image you have provided is not always possible.

*•-:¦:-•:*''*:•-:¦:-* *•-:¦:-•:*''*

I do apologize but at this time we do not offer wholesale pricing for our products.

*•-:¦:-•:*''*:•-:¦:-* *•-:¦:-•:*''*

Perfume perfume perfume.....This is a "two-parter"

2010-08-20T09:13:00.000-05:00

OK...I made an awesome treasury with NOTHING but perfume. Awesome awesome awesome. I love perfume. Smelling it, wearing it, creating it. I love to smell those who wear it. I love the chemistry of it. It smells beautiful on one person and absolutely stinks on someone else. WILD. what kind of perfume do you prefer? Do you like a solid perfume made of oils and butters or do you like a perfume oil with no alcohol to speak of? Do you like a strong perfume with lasting power? Tell me what you think. Vote in my poll and then leave a comment.

XOXO

Hey Sexy! You Smell Good.

2010-08-20T08:57:00.002-05:00

Anhoki's Finds On Etsy V4 8/20/10

Oh how I love perfume. I love making it, wearing it, smelling it. I love smelling other people who wear it. I dream about blend combinations. I often wonder what kind of trouble I can get into before I began composing my blend. Some work. Others...not so much. This is fascinating to me. Here are a few of my favorites. Enjoy.

Row One

Speakeasy Vanilla Perfume Oil 5ml
wiggleperfume
About this perfume
"This fragrance opens up with a bright, intoxicating bourbon vanilla scent then mellows into a softer, creamy vanilla. To balance the sweetness, I've added sultry amber and smokey frankincense. On the very bottom is a delicately floral white musk, and if you're very sharp you may catch the tiny hint of bay rum lurking in the mix."

Moon Dog - Perfume Oil - 5ml
gloilocksandbody
About this perfume
*This blend contains Vanuatu sandalwood, which is sustainably grown and harvested!
Gloi creates highly concentrated perfume oils, crafted from essential oils, resins, absolutes and high quality fragrance oils. Presented in a 5ml amber glass bottle with a leak proof cap."

PERFUME SAMPLER FIVE PACK - Astral Temple, Scrying Smoke, Amber, Dragons Blood, Nag Champa - UNISEX
solsticescents
About this perfume
"ASTRAL TEMPLE ~ Sensual Amber, Ginger, Orange and Clove will have you soaring to view your Akashic Records
SCRYING SMOKE ~ A wonderful meditative blend of Frankincense and Myrrh Fragrance with Frankincense Essential Oil
AMBER ~ Warm, Rich, Golden Labdanum
DRAGON'S BLOOD ~ An Exotic, Spicy, Incensey, Musky Blend
NAG CHAMPA ~ An Exotic Incensey Blend of Champa Flowers, Vanilla, Jasmine, Spices and more."

PAISLEY TOO tm Perfume Roll On Theme Fragrance Patchouli and Ambered Chocolate
themefragrance
About this perfume
"I was inspired by watching a story about the Beatles, and just fell in love with all the sixties mods.
Chocolate, chocolate...who cannot resist the fragrance.
Mouthwatering, enticing, divine...mix it with some patchouli
and you get one amazing fragrance...
(chocolate is my main food group)"

Row Two
GA Essence Summer Love Natural Parfum Oil with Magnolia, Jasmine, Orange Blossom SAMPLE VEGAN
gabrielsaunt
About this perfume
""Summer Love": A gorgeous blend of Magnolia, Orange Blossom and Jasmine with Citrus and a sparkling effervescent top note . Gorgeously floral and sweet, but with a light top note to make it perfect for Spring and Summer."

Denim Perfume - PURE BOTANICAL Eau de Parfum - 1 oz
ToccarePerfume
About this perfume
"Hip and modern! This unique fragrance uses lots of Jasmine in a way that's bright and green. It reminds me of dark denim, silver jewelery and high heels."

Your Choice Of 3 Samples Of Any Lulu Beauty Fragrances...Gigi, Starlet, Marlena, Dame and Lulamae
lulubeauty
About this perfume
"By popular demand!
You will receive a very generous 1ml sample vial of your choice of any of the 5 incredible fragrances that we offer...Gigi, Starlet, Marlena, Dame and Lulamae."

Honey Jasmine Natural Perfume - As Mentioned in ReadyMade Magazine and Etsy Finds
SpaGoddess'
About this perfume
"Honey Jasmine Crème Perfume
Inspired by sun-warmed Jasmine & Honey.
Exotic, Earthy & Dramatic.
Smoldering & Dusky
Brightened with hints of Fruit & Citrus.
Rich & sensual.
A Languid, Peaceful & Loving Scent."

Row Three
Amber Sambaca Essential Oil Perfume Sample No synthetics or alcohol Vegan
AromaArtisan
About this perfume
"Our Amber Sambaca perfume is not for the weak at heart. It is a complex, heady exotic perfume said to inspire provocative thoughts of romance and sensuality. Opening with a medley of lush ambers and intoxicating Arabian jasmine sambac absolute, fresh ginger, folded orange and rose absolute into a deep rich array vanilla bean oleoresins, vetiver, sandalwood, lavender seville absolute and tuberose absolute. Finally grounded nicely by myrrh and patchouli in a base of fractionated coconut oil and jojoba oil."

Desire perfume collectible atomizer bottle citrus geranium jasmine lily of the valley amber vanilla vetiver musk ylang ylang
BonnynClyde
About this perfume
"Desire perfume by BnC
A blend of citrus, geranium, jasmine, lily of the valley, amber, vanilla, vetiver, musk and ylang ylang.
Note: Our musk is synthetic not animal derived."

Page 47 Natural Solid Perfume Mini
IlluminatedPerfume
About this perfume
"Page 47 was fashioned to christen my birthday. The composition begins with finely woven details of fresh ginger, cilantro and mouth watering blood orange. In rhythmic flow the fragrance unfurls a rich, nectarous jasmine bouquet laced with underpinnings of golden amber."

NEW RELEASE Musk Nouveau Natural Perfume Spray 1 ounce exotic oud, angelica, champaca, coffee
ProvidencePerfume
About this perfume
"Inspired by the roaring 20's--think flappers, prohibition, and speakeasies--Musk Nouveau is a nostalgic blend of aged patchouli, angelica, and exotic oud made new with the introduction of champaca, night blooming jasmine and a dash of coffee. Kissed with a boozy sherry top note and spicy black pepper it's sure to please dames and gents alike."

Row Four
Firelight Botanical Fragrance for Men
bodiso
About this perfume
"Firelight is an intriguing fragrance designed for men who like to linger on the mysterious side. Reminicent of dry precious woods, it's scent focuses on smokey Haitian Amyris, Indian Vetiver, Clary Sage, exotic Jasmine Absolute, and just a touch of Italian Clementine."

Jasmine Rose Natural Perfume, Vegan, Aromatherapy, Essential Oils
BazilEssentials
About this perfume
"The timeless blend of jasmine and rose mellowed with a splash of sandalwood will leave you feeling relaxed, sexy, and euphoric. A beautiful and romantic blend of summer flowers. 1/2 oz glass vial with glass applicator."

Sweet Androgyny - natural perfume oil
ForStrangeWomen
About this perfume
"The base of this blend is that of an orange tree- Neroli (orange blooms), Petitgrain (orange tree leaves), and Mandarin. The citrus is countered by earthy, exotic Patchouli. I know some people are afraid of patchouli, because by itself it is very strong. However, in this blend it gently comes through the other layers just enough to add its amazing spice without overpowering."

Faerie Made Natural Perfumes (3 for 45) vegan
faeriemadesoaps
About this perfume
"Chandan Rose
Sandalwood essential oil and pure rose absolute are paired together in this blend that has grounding indonesian patchouli, green lavender absolute, and a smidge of vanilla to soften. This perfume has a bit of a honey undertone to it. The beauty of this blend really comes out as it settles on the skin.
Wild Bergamot
Monarda (bee balm) and bergamot essential oils are enhanced with fresh lime and soft vanilla. The scent is a fresh powdery green, that has been described as "uplifting". This perfume is a great summer time blend and we have receved comments about how people are getting stopped by strangers commenting on how good they smell.
Sandalwood Amber
This perfume, which is a combination of heady sandalwoods and a mixture of various amber resins is our top selling perfume spray loved by men and women. The scent lingers mysteriously on the skin. This is our top selling perfume."

Rainy Days Are Here Again

2010-08-18T22:29:00.000-05:00

Anhoki's Finds On Etsy V4 8/18/10

It's been a few days since I did an Anhoki's Finds on Etsy. It's been raining A LOT lately. I'm sure a lot of those who live in Nashville and surrounding areas have flashbacks of the flood in May. I know I do. This treasury comes with the hopes that we can all remember just how beautiful rain can be and what beauty comes from the rains. Enjoy.

row one
Misty Mountain Redbud 5x7 Nature Photography
CountryDreaming is from Cleveland. A self-taught photographer with a love of landscapes and nature in Ohio, Amish Country and others she loves to play with effects in Photoshop. With artwork in galleries, published in magazines and in the Trail Guide Cuyhoga Valler National Park this Etsian definitely has tallent.

Morning In The Rain Forest Fine Art Photo Print 16x20
Britt8682, originally from Rochester, is based in Dallas. She is a photographer who fosters homeless animals and also writes for the Northern Dallas Examiner as a cat "expert". She likes to photograph outside of the box and her art is definitely worth looking at. You can read her articles here... http://www.examiner.com/x-60660-North-Dallas-Cats-Examiner

The blue hour - Fine art photograph - Venice
irenesuchocki is from Montreal. She likes to play with different styles and techniques. Her art has graced many book covers and have found their way into many homes around the world. Find out more through these links...
http://www.irenesuchocki.com
http://is-theblog.blogspot.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/irenesuchocki/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/IreneSuchockiPhotography

Paris cafe in the rain 12x12 photograph on canvas
rebeccaplotnick is a passionate photographer from Chicago. She captures moments which might seem less important to or go unnoticed by most people.

row two
Japanese Mapel - 8x10 Fine Art Print
chasingthelight is Jennifer. Totally in love with photography Jennifer wants the world to enjoy her perspective on the world. She can be found here....
FLICKR:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/annapolitangrl/
BLOG:
http://thesparklediaries.blogspot.com/
FACEBOOK:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chasing-The-Light-Photography/283240009679?ref=ts

Goldberry's Washing Day 5x7 Fine Art Photograph
CountryDreaming
See above. :~)

Bird Rain Dark Art Feathers Glisten
gothicrow in from New York. Growing up with a photographer dad, dark room in the basement and studio in the living room helped guide her to photography. She has sold her work at art fairs and stores and supports the humane treatment of feral cats.

Rain at 5 o'clock 8 x 12
ronniebruce is from Woodbury, NJ and has a beautiful Etsy shop.

row three
Can I Come In Now Fine Art Photo Print 4x6
Britt8682
See above. :~)

Raindrops in Ljubljana-Original Signed Fine Art Photograph
liamparkinson is an artist from Chicago.

Rain trickling off a Day Lily
TonyVitale is also from Chicago. To see more of Tony's work check out his blog at tonyvitale.blogspot.com/

Stormy Relationship
YdnarImaging is Randall Nyhof from Grand Rapids. He has been involved with photography for over 40 years and has done everything from taking phographs of school children , weddings, family portraits and yearbooks to painting.

row four
SEA, CITY AND SKY - VANCOUVER - 8x8 8x10 or 8x12
shanekelley is from Montreal. An award winning photographer, Shane's work has appeared in Newsweek, Variety, Time, Town & Country, The New York Times and many others. She's passion for photography began when she was 8.

Dark rain , Original Signed Fine Art photograph 8.50x11 inches
dahliahousestudios is a professional artist & photographer from Michigan. Her work is also sold on art.com, allposters.com and fineartamerican.com under Gina Singapore.

Vietnam, Monsoon Season
stephenthurston Born is Chicago and now in Savannah Steve won his first national award as an artist at the age of 8. This sparked his commitment to the creative process. His resume is quite impressive and you can read all about him by visiting www.stephenthurstondesignstudios.com and www.coroflot.com/stevethurston
for more information.

Paris when it rains - (Promotional 8x11 Limited Edition Print)
turine is from Paris. She enjoys telling stories, painting, drawing, and creating from her own observations and dreams. Inspired by nature her medium ranges from hand drawings to watercolor, acrylic, and digital paintings.

Remember...It can't rain all the time.

A Hard, But Simple Life

2010-08-17T10:19:00.000-05:00

Anhoki's Finds On Etsy V3 8/15/10

I think this treasury means more to me than any I have ever been in or created. My Pa, Winnell, died on the 4th of July. He was born on a Sunday and died on a Sunday. My dad said he planned it that way. He planned it this way so he could be at Sunday services and listen to his older brother who was a preacher who preached at the church our family built from the ground up. My Pa was a simple man. A farmer, tough as nails when needed, tender-hearted ALL the time, strong willed, extremely honest and one of the coolest people anyone could ever have the privilege of meeting. He was the best. This treasury includes many things that remind me of him and are all about his life and the family he created. Those who loved him and had the honor of receiving his love lost a great human being on July 4th. Here's a small peak into his world.

For The Love Of Coffee

2010-08-14T22:02:00.002-05:00

Anhoki's Finds On Etsy V2. 8/14/10

This treasury was SO much fun to create.

Row One
Coffee Cup Cozy, Tea Mug Sleeve, Barley Brown Chocolate Acorn Wood, Knitted Cabled Birthday Wedding Party Favor
natalya1905...Based in Vegas she classifies herself as a perfectionist who was touched by the knitting bug in kindergarten. She said her dream is to have a roomy attic full of gorgeous handmade and vintage items as her studio. With this tallent of hers I can totally see this happening for her.

Brainscan Coffee SUMATRA Organic Fair Trade 16 OZ (1 pound)
Brainscan... Based in Portland, Alex is a woman of many talents. Magazines, roasting coffee, brewing beer...you name it and I bet she's either done it or thought about doing it. I have had the awesome pleasure of drinking her wonderful coffee. Alex is a doll.

Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Fair Trade Organic Coffee in Collectible Jar
AproposRoasters is out of Virginia. Their gourmet coffee is roasted to order.

ARABICA COFFEE BEAN ORIGINAL HANDCRAFTED BURLAP ALL NATURAL CURTAINS
CindirusArtShop is Cindy. Cindy is a professional Muralist who married her HS sweetheart. Awe. :~) She named her shop after the town in which she lives and is inspired by all things Nature related. I love her shop.

Row Two
Coffee Zombie 15 ounce Ceramic Mug
mindlesspursuits is Keith. Keith and his family lives in Coon Rapids. I love Keith's philosophy. "Life is a mindless pursuit... Don't overthink it!" Keith's quirky shop is one of my faves on Etsy and the Coffee Zombie is an object of my silliest coffee desires.

Mocha Latte Facial Mask - all natural
tgurleybathandbody is Tracey. She and her lovely family live in South Caroline. Tracey began making bath and body products when her daughter was a baby. Tracey is also an artist. Her beautiful artwork is part of the inspiration for her phantabulous bath and body products.

Biscotti Dark Chocolate Almond Cookies, 1/2 lb
YummyAffair is sinful. Flat out sinful. Also based in Vegas they have several coffee sidekicks from which to choose. Biscotti, cookie spirals, bread sticks, oh my!!! These are the perfect "accessories" for any cup of Joe.

SALE Coffee You can Sleep When You're Field Bag
rainbowswirlz is Mendy. She is wonderful. I've bought messenger bag "baclpacks" two years in a row from Mendy. My girls love them and so do I. They are fun, durable (they stand up to my kids!!) and wash VERY well. You can't go wrong here.

Row Three
4 COFFEE CAFE WALL PLAQUES Pictures SIGNS. Kitchen or Restaurant Wall decor. SHIPS WITHIN 24 HRS.
SundayTreasures is Lynda. Lynda loves to turn tossed aside "trash" into unique and one-of-a-kind treasures. Do you have a beach house? I bet you can find almost everything you need right here.

Mugs 16 0z - Funky Hand Carved Design - For the Unique Friend - Glazed in Rich Brown with Accent Color
TwistedRiverClay is THE place to go for awesome coffee cups and mugs. Ron and Char have been potters for almost 30 years and made several very AWESOME custom pieces for me. Eclectic experimenters who have embraced the freedom of their craft Ron and Char, in my opinon, are experts in their craft.

Maui Coconut Beer Soap
Poshwashsoap is Christine. Like most of us, Christine started making bath and body products out of necessity. Christine's b&b products are vegetable based. Her mineral makeup is chemical free. You should check out her shop.

Midnight Sun Espresso Blend Roasted Coffee Beans 1lb
TGCBC is The Green Bean Coffee Company is Steve. Steve is the main roaster & owner. Brittany is the brains behind their online presence. Crystal is the barista and roasting assistant. I've bought their coffee as gifts for others but never for myself. Does anyone else see anything wrong with that??

Row Four
Coffee Scoop and Bag Clip--Simplicity with Red
LeahDeCapio is an artist with emphasis in Ceramics. She is based out of beautiful Colorado where her work is inspired by Nature's beauty, friends and family. She and her mom also have a coffee shop/gallery in Glen Haven.

Coffee Words Typography Word Art Sign
WallBling is out of Concord, Ca. She enjoys creating personalized items and loves home decor. After being introduced to vinyl there was no stopping her. She decided to turn the personalized signs she created for friends and family into a business and is now offering them to the public. Very kewl.

Chocolate Espresso Cake Truffles
lollidreams is Tammy. Tammy is in her element when she is creating and loves scapbooking, altered art, painting, jewelry making, and baking....of course. Her shop and the items in it are not for those who are trying to maintain a slim waistline. A person could gain 40# just by licking the computer screen. OK...I'm kidding. And I wouldn't lick the screen either. You might get a look something like this....((@@))

Have a Coffee with Me ring- a great gift
soradesigns is based in San Francisco. Wen has art running through her veins.... is that even possible? She began making jewelry while in grad school. The Etsy bug bit her and the rest, as they say, is history. Her creations are both whymsical and beautiful.

Anhoki's Place's Finds on Etsy

2010-08-14T12:08:00.002-05:00

I'm starting something new with this little space I occupy on the internet.

I LOVE making soap and I love talking about it but "I" can only do that for so long. I start to get bored...then I get uninspired. THAT is a bad thing.

I love making treasuries. None of them EVER get picked for Etsy's front page. HOWEVER...they are NO less beautiful or creatively concocted than those that do.

SO, starting today, I will create a treasury each day and talk about it here. I will have links to each shop featured so you can go and admire their creations first hand.

I have been inspired to create after seeing something on Etsy's FP and or in a forgotten treasury or even Regretsy. I love Regretsy too. Who knows. I may even fabricate my own Anhoki's Regretsy Treasuries here. Anything to be inspired and bring to life shops who house beautiful and interesting items.

SO, with that I give you the first

Anhoki's Place's Finds on Etsy for 8/14/10

Massive Citrine Crystal Specimen in Textured Silver Ring
elseetee2 is from Vancouver, BC. An art teacher who has obviously found her calling and embraced it.

Silent Creature - 5x7 Photograph
zoeylee is in love with her craft and currently lives in Nashville.

UPCycled Art Handbag Orange You Happy Flower Mixed Media One of a Kind Purse
loreliekaydesigns is a "one-of-a-kind original who believes you have to be the change you want to see in the world."

Brown and Orange Satin Dress With Black Satin Tie
janet5643 is handmade, upcycled & vintage creations based out of Grand Rapids.

Row Two
Serenity Angel 8 x 10 original oil
oui2reveille is a grandmother of 9 who shows her work in various places and sells world wide.

freebird - - double dutch bright floral baby wall hanging quilt
olivetreetextiles is in KY and has been quilting and crafting for most of her life.

Neon Cyclone 36 x 24 x 1 inch
RiverRed has a Fine Arts degree. He says "True art, the kind that gives you goosebumps when you see it, rarely comes out of careful planning and thoughtful design." I completely agree.

autumn orange and branch brown coasters
blackgingham is a fiber artist out of Long Beach, Ca. You can find her teaching people of all ages with special needs at Hope University. Very cool.

Row Three
SALE FREE SHIPPIING Set of TWO Designer Pillow Covers Michael Miller Pretty Bird
soSarahsews is a NJ Grammy who loves to sew. She, very proudly, calls her style "shabby chic".

SALE - ORIGINAL Fall Colors Earth Tone Abstract Paintings with Modern Contemporary Design by Laura Barbosa - Unique 3 Piece Triptych, 4 FEET x 3 FEET
barbosaart is Laura Barbosa. A published artist with public collections her work has been featured on HGTV and several magazines. She has clients all around the globe.

Geometric Cocoa Brown with Orange Slices Accent Lamp
BullCrabStudio is Kurt & Jeannette. These two create all the time. They make teeth at Dental Lab techs by day, which is pretty kewl all by itself. They say they love to share their "babies" with the world.

The Stack Dishcloth Set In Fall Colors
MyissaG crochets and well too. She crochets dishcloths, afghans, sweaters. She's crocheted for Carol Alexander and Janie Herrin and more....

Row Four

Delightful Frolic Toddler Bed Quilt and/or Lap Quilt
Quiltville is Carly aka Carlene Westberg Designs in Wisconsin. Her mission is to not sell anything I would not be proud to own myself. I don't know about the rest of you but her quilts are stunning and I would be honored to have them in my home.

Boris the Spider - A Halloween Necklace without Black
spiffingjewelry is based in San Diego. Being "crafty" she made charm bracelets for all the girls in her wedding, grandmothers, mom, mother-inlaw, all the men in the wedding and her own wedding jewelry. I'd say spiffingjewelry IS pretty crafty.

Autumn Dream - hand painted silk crepe de chine luxury scarf
MuseSilkPaintings aka Angel claims to be completely obsessed with patterns. Everything from glowing street lights to butterfly wings and rock structures inspires her.

Gabriella Ring Bearer Pillow - Pick Your Own Color - Buy One Gabriella Pillow, Get 2nd For 1/2 Price
Romeo loves to design with color. Her mother, a gifted seamstress, taught her to sew. Her mohter's talent was the inspiration she needed to persue a fashion degree. Her items are fresh and made to order and seem very much worth the wait.

I hope you've enjoyed taking a small peak into the world of those I've chosen for today's Finds on Etsy and will come back for more.

I've been working on new perfumes lately.

2010-08-07T23:19:00.003-05:00

While I do strive to make an as close to natural perfume all of the time it doesn't always happen. I do use a perfumers alcohol as a base for my perfume. I use essential oils, waxes, absolutes and resins as much as possible in my formulations. There are some times where a wonderful phthalate free fragrance oil is in order.

Aurora

When I created this blend it was a blend I did not plan to keep long term. Made of black pepper fragrance, sweet orange, rosemary, lemon, lavender, and patchouli essential oils it is earthy, sensual and extremely sexy. I changed the name from Native Skies because Aurora seemed to be a better fit.

Fanciulla Terrena

Earthly Maiden is a truly special blend. I used sweet orange and patchouli essential oils and a beautiful sandalwood fragrance oil. I love the way the oils blend together so seamlessly. Very comforting....in my opinion.

Sogni de Velluto

Velvet Dreams is a intriguing blend of amber, patchouli and vanilla. Not intended to be a unisex blend....I think it very much is.

Risveglio

Awakenings is my favorite of all. Lavender, sweet orange and patchouli essential oils came together as if they were made to be together. Orange is the dominant one here. The lavender and patchouli sort of dance around it. A very nice blend.

Anhoki #3

Anhoki #3 is a blend I've had for about 7 years now. I have to admit that very little of the oils that went in to this blend are essential oils. When I created this blend I was working on a tropical type of blend for a swap I had agreed to participate in. I had so many different samples of these wonderful oils and I just started playing and mixing and playing and mixing. The end result was a wonderfully tropical, slightly floral and very soft blend. I love it.

Here's where you guys come in. I'm working on a couple of new blends. They've been in my head for a very long time. I woke up this morning grabbed my laptop and got to work. I like to blend against the grain. I like to go where some might fear.

To a beautiful amber fragrance oil I added jasmine sambac, rose absolute, rosewood, and black pepper. The jasmine is very bold in this but seems to be mellowing as time passes. I'm name challenged with this one and would love to have your thoughts and ideas.

The second one is a blend of this killer ginger, jasmine sambac, rose absolute, rosewood, amyris, and petitgrain essential oils and waxes. I'm stuck with this one too.

I would love to know what you think. ♥

Oppose HR 5786: Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 - The Petition Site

2010-08-07T21:43:00.000-05:00

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/oppose-hr-5786-safe-cosmetics-act-of-2010

SoapQueen Included Our Soap In Her Post

2010-08-03T21:16:00.000-05:00

Anne-Marie likes Life's Beachy too. :~)

Stamps stamps stamps...

2010-07-31T21:51:00.001-05:00

XOXOXO

Do you have questions about our custom stamps??? Check the search feature to your right. Do a search for soap stamps. EVERY blog post we've done will come up and all your answers should be right there for you. :~)

XO

Getting The Best Impression With Mr John's Stamps

2010-07-21T15:13:00.003-05:00

XOXOXO

I know it's been a while since we had a post with new content and hopefully this will make everyone happy. :~)

I get, literally, hundreds of emails asking how to get a good impression with Mr John's Stamps. To be honest...I can't give you a blanket answer. It has everything to do with the ~soap formula (all encompassing)
~weather conditions inside the "studio" (yes, really)
~amount of pressure applied to the stamp
~is the soap still too soft or is it rock hard

As anyone can see there are countless variables. Here's what I like to do.

Make soap on a Friday night. I CPOP MOST of my soap so it is ready to cut the next morning. LOVE this method of soaping. :~)))

Cut soap the next day. It might be soon after my feet hit the floor but NOT before the coffee is brewing and it might be later that evening.

Because of the way my molds are made I always have a 1/2 inch thick sliver of soap I can use as a tester. I make sure my stamp is well lubricated. I talk about this in
this blog post.
I test the firmness of the sliver and then prep my stamp for the impression. SOMETIMES the soap is still too soft for the impression to take properly and we do have pull out. It HAPPENS. You'll just need to learn your soap formula in different weather conditions and either make mental or actual notes for next time.

I've had people ask about salt bars. I've had actual arguments where people tell me I'm a crackhead and salt bars can't be stamped. While I CAN agree with the crackhead part....the other.....Well...here's proof that it CAN be done.

Both of the above bars ARE in fact salt bars and both were stamped within 24 hours of being removed from the oven. :~)

I have been asked about Castile soap. I don't make it so this is only my opinion. I would strongly advice anyone who is using our stamps for Castile to use the above checklist. Make sure the soap is not too soft, the weather is "normal" for your environment, check the pressure used when you make the impression....and always check the formula.

People have asked about melt and pour soaps and our stamps. We do not use M&P soap but I do know of people who have purchased our stamps specifically for this type of soap.

Hot process, cold process, CPOP soap... our stamps work with these methods very well.

I can stamp MOST of my soapies without issue. However... there are some soaps that I simply can not stamp.

My Irish Ale soap....

It is a beer bar. It is made with the same formula as

Colin

I can not stamp Irish Ale to save my life. Each and EVERY time I make an attempt....this happens.

I wish I had an answer. I don't. :~( It could very well be the fragrance blend I use for this bar. I know it's not the soap formula itself because it is the same one I use for all of my beer bars except Dude 2dot0 which has added cocoa butter. There are other soapies I have not been able to stamp. The soap formula is the same, water discount is the same. The only difference is the scent blend.

What do WE do to get the best impression in our soapies??? READ and learn. :~)

Aside from knowing our recipe well and when it is good to stamp the bar we also have these VERY sophisticated tools . These are only for the hardcore soapers. :~)

As in previous posts we ALWAYS have a cuppa Joe. We also have a mallet (which can be found at your local home improvement store) , a can of cooking spray, a brush, a wood block (we're not kewl enough for blocked stamps), a basket to house our unblocked stampies, a bar of soap (well, duh!), a paper towel. We always have a paper towel underneath our soapie bar when we make an impression. Why? Because we like to. No other reason than that. :~)

We make sure the soap bar is clean and free of any soapie pieces and has a nice and clean surface. You CAN stamp textured and "bumpy" soap bars but the impression will also be bumpy.

Place the cleaned soapie on the paper towel like this. Center, or whatever, the stamp on the face of the soap bar. Your stamp will be blocked so you won't have to work around a block like we do. Take the mallet and stamp the soap bar. A good, clean impression looks like this

We have several soap formula/recipes that we use. For every soap formula there could be a zillion different fragrance combinations used. An all fragrance oil soap recipe could stamp perfectly while an all essential oil soap recipe could fail miserably. A combination of the two might work....depending on what oils you used in the blend. Like Rum DMC says....It's Tricky.

The best advice I can offer is to test test test. Make notes and pay attention to what your sap bar is telling you. If the bar is too soft the stamp will not work properly. If the soap is too hard....same thing. Whatever you do always REMEMBER to have fun with it. That's the most important piece of advice.

If you want to see some of the soap stamps we've done in the past

feel free to look here.

If you do not see your stamp featured in our Flickr folder and would like it to be.....send me an email to info@soaptattoos.com

Once we have mailed the soap stamp to you it is our right to add the image to our Flickr folder so future customers can see our work.

Did you forget???? Here's where you can learn about getting your own custom soap stamp made by Mr. John.
Pretty pretty please read the entire blog post before asking questions about soap stamps. We can't provide a quote until we have all requirements met.

♥

Anhoki

Help Save The Gulf Coast

2010-06-21T13:40:00.000-05:00

The oil spill in the Gulf Coast has changed our lives forever. Let's help make a difference by supporting the Etsy shops who are donating 100% of their proceeds to the Help Save The Gulf Coast cause.

XO

I Like Citrus

2010-06-09T17:52:00.000-05:00

SAFETeam are awesome! I made this for them.

Stamps ala John .....JUST the Facts, Ma'am. :~)

2010-06-05T22:08:00.012-05:00

WE DO offer cust

XOXOXO

om soap stamps but we can not design the image for you. The image MUST come from you.

PLEASE READ all of the information below. We would not ask for this information if it was not needed.

PLEASE EMAIL me at info@soaptattoos.com for more information. Do not add a comment...it will get lost.

Please understand and respect that we also have a family and will get to your email as soon as we see it in our inbox but will not be checking email 24/7. "Normal" business hours are 8-5 for most people....this also includes us. Like everyone else...we also take time away from our computers. :~)

We will not give pricing until the image has been sent and we see how much work is required. Please remember that we will not design your custom soap stamp for you. ALL artwork..be it an image with not text or simply text IS an image and must come from you in order for the job to move forward. Thanks!
Please allow us up to two weeks to complete and ship your custom soap stamp once the image has been approved by you and paid for.

Custom soap stamps START at $35.95 but may be more depending on the amount of work Anhoki and John have to do to it.

The quoted price does NOT include shipping. Most soap stamps will ship for about $3 in the US. Multiple stamps will obviously be more.
If you are in dier need of a rush job we can do that but it will cost you. Rush jobs cost $50 ABOVE the cost of the stamp. We will do whatever we can to move as fast as possible on your rush job. HOWEVER... if you do not reply to our emails and pay for your stamp right away it WILL delay your rush order.

We currently have shipping set to a flat $8 for outside of the US. We will refund anything above $1.50 more than what it costs us to mail the stamp. If you are charged fees upon receiving the package it IS your responsibility to pay them...not ours.

The price of your stamp will go up if, after you have approved your artwork and it is milled, you decide changes need to be made. The first remill is an additional $25 and each additional milling will be in increments of $40. This MUST be paid before we will remill. If you have paid for your stamp, require a remill and refuse to pay and also desire a refund of payments already made we WILL charge a 20% restock fee for our time and materials. Please understand this before agreeing to purchase your custom soap stamp.

PLEASE communicate fully with us and understand the stamp design process before we mill it for you. This will save our time, our supplies and your funds. Payment IS expected in FULL before we will do any design modification changes OR milling. We only accept Paypal so keep that in mind when requesting a custom stamp.

One of the best thing you can do for us is tell us APPROXIMATELY what size you would wish your soap stamp to be. Exact isn't always possible. Approximately is the best way to go.

And remember we DO allow for a 1/4 inch border all the way around the design. This helps prevent bulging when the image is impressed into the soap. We do not make allowances for beveling If you require this please make a note to yourself and also let us know you wish to have a little extra "shaving" room.

Giving us an image the EXACT size of the requested end result is of no use to us.

Also... If you give us an image that is TOTALLY square and want it to be made into a RECTANGLE stamp ((@@))... We need to work within the constraints of the original image in order to keep it as close to the original as possible. Please keep this in mind.

1) PLEASE provide me with a name. I'd like to know with whom I am exchanging emails.

2) Length and Width of your soap bar (this is very important). Without a bar size we can NOT move forward. Don't be shy about this. It IS information we must have. If you wish to have a stamp that works with many bar sizes give us the smaller bar size but PLEASE give us something so we have something to work with.

3) H-U-G-E JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF, BMP, TIF file of your image. We prefer a size of 5X7 or larger to avoid pixelation. Please be sure to not take a very small image and BLOW it up at this does not prevent pixelation but enhance it. Sending us an image the size of a postage stamp is not helpful. We will re-size it to the stamp size as we go.

4) Along with the above please do NOT send us an image the size you PREFER your END PRODUCT to be. That is of no use to us. Communication is key. Give us an image we can work with and then talk to us through the email process. Makes life MUCH easier for everyone involved.

5) Tell us what the EXACT name of the font is and where we can find it for FREE IF we might need it to rework your image for any reason. We use Open Office on ALL of our computers. We do not have Microsoft anything so letting us know it is in Word...doesn't help.

6) Give us an idea of how much space you wish your stamp to cover. Often times images are not well represented in a smaller stamp but an idea of what you have in mind is most helpful.
Larger is better. SERIOUSLY..SIZE DOES MATTER! The larger your stamp image the better it will look on your soap bar. However, we don't want to have it so large that is buldges out the sides of the soap bar so please be reasonable.

6 a) Believe it or not smaller is NOT the better way to go. The SMALLER your stamp is the MORE money you will spend. Small stamps are truly the spawn of Satan. They are extremely difficult to generate code for because of the teeny tiny spaces that the bit has to maneuver through and the smaller stamps do NOT translate well at all in a soap impression. ESPECIALLY if the image has a lot of detail in it. Sad, but true. Less (as in smaller) is definitely not more when it comes to stamp image. Less actually costs you more money.

7) We will not go more than 11 letters across the face of your bar. This includes spaces. MOST fonts need to be beefed up in order to "shine" on your soap bar. Allow us the room (if needed) to thicken the letters and add spacing where needed.

8) Be REASONABLE with the image AND text you want for your stamp. The more detailed images may look great in a rubber stamp OR on paper but not so great in a soap stamp. If you have an image that is highly detailed and requires a lot of impressing, chances are, it will not work. For instance....if you wish to have a stamp of a daisy it is often better to do an outline and minimal lines and then color the inside with mica or soap paints. The fewer lines and impressions you have the better the outcome.

9) On 8 to 5 job where he is not working on stamps or soap molds. This is what we call "paying the mortgage and providing food for the chillen's". :~)) He makes the molds, stamps, cutters and whatever else is requested in his off hours. We will do our very best to be up front and honest with you regarding the turn-around of your item but life does happen and sometimes things ne thing we would like everyone to remember is my DH does have aare delayed a bit.

10) As always...communication is key. We will send you a price quote. You approve the quote and THEN we will work on your stamp proof. Your stamp proof will almost always come to you in backward format. This is as it will be when it is milled. This is how it will look on your stamp when you look at it. When you ask yourself "why is my stamp backward".... simply answer the question by stamping a bar of soap or placing your stamp on a piece of paper. Even easier would be to view it in a mirror or look at a rubber stamp if you have one. It too is backwards. You MUST approve the proof which means you do need to reply to the messages we send you regarding the images. Once you have approved the proof it goes to mill. Once we have milled the stamp we will send you a test stamp picture to approve. Your stamp will be blocked and finished only after you have approved the stamped imaged.

****** We do request a two week turnaround for our soap stamps and we require all of it. Life happens and sometimes things come up. If we are waiting for a return email or payment from you and have not heard from you in a timely manner we will put your project on hold and move to another one. Likewise...if something happens in our lives that might prevent us from meeting a deadline we will let you know.

....And finally....PLEASE please understand that just because an image looks good on paper it does not always mean that it will translate properly into a stamp. Changes are sometimes required in order to create a workable stamp. An exact replica of the image you have provided is not always possible.
>>I do apologize but at this time we do not offer wholesale pricing for our products.
*•-:¦:-•:*''*:•-:¦:-* *•-:¦:-•:*''*:•-:¦:-**•-:¦:-•:*''*:•-:¦:-**•-:¦:-•:*''*:•

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

2010-06-05T16:17:00.002-05:00

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.

Indestructible for HIM

2010-06-01T10:32:00.002-05:00

Indestructible for him is FINALLY here.....

Indestructible For Him

The inspiration

Meet Gellie. Cute, isn't she? With her pink piggtails and fashionable wardrobe she is definitely easy on the eyes. Gellie is a gnome. She is a magician who dabbles in Alchemy and Herbalism. WHAT does this mean, anyway??? Well....She is a magician which means she is very very intelligent, wise and spiritual. Gellie loves to cast spells, make healing potions and witches brew. After receiving request after request for an Indestructible spell she traveled far and wide in search of such an item. Alas, no luck.
One day Gellie, very perplexed, was setting in her favorite brew pub when along came Oddjob and Targalf. VERY "interesting" and friendly dudes, indeed.
Oddjob is one who is standoffish, shy and seemingly insignificant at first. Oddjob is all that and a bag of gems all wraped up in a tiny little package. Targalf is the outdoorsey type. He is one who has been everywhere and seen everything. If you are lost, in need of directions, or want to know the name of that dude who makes those awesome enchanted rings he is the go to dude.
Gellie, down on her luck, explained her situation to the two with little hope of positive outcome.
Targalf flashed a sly grin and encouraged the other two to join him on a mission of discovery.
Off they went, traveling the countryside in search of the herbs, spices and elements to make the ever so desired Indestructible Potion. Word quickly spread throughout the land. Folks from near and far traveled with the hopes of getting even a vial of the Indestructible potion. This is the good stuff. The stuff that makes you invinsible to dragons, monsters, wizards, magicians, you name it. NOTHING can touch you once you've drank the magic potion.
Along the way Gellie, Oddjob and Targalf opened up about themselves and came to know many interesting things about eachother.
Gellie, an orphan has always wanted to find her parents.
Oddjob, a loner, has always wanted to find someone who "gets him". Targalf...well, he's old enough (but not "too" old) that he just doesn't care. He wants to get things done and not really mess around with too much drama.
After comparing notes Gellie found out that Targalf IS her father. Gellie was kidnapped by an evil Tauren as an infant never to be heard from again. Gellie and Targalf were pleased to have found each other. An instant bond took place. Targalf became VERY protective of Gellie and let everyone know...you DON'T mess with Gellie...his little girl. :~)
Throughout their journey all three could feel a force that was pulling Gellie and Oddjob closer together. After 5 months of traveling through dragon guarded kingdoms and serpent filled waters the Ingredients were finally gathered and Gellie could make the magical Indestructible potion. Oddjob made his feelings known to Targalf and received approval of the "marriage". Unbeknownst to Gellie and Oddjob it had been foretold that Gellie would come across, fall in love with and marry a gnome called Oddjob. In the end they married and had two little Druids....Babbles and Hoppy.... forever to torment Targalf and have him flash that sly little grin.

As you can tell Anhoki's dad (Targalf) and Mr John (Oddjob) LOVE to play WOW (World Of Warcraft) every chance they get. It is not uncommon for them to play for hours and hours and stay up until both are holding their eyes open with toothpicks. Anhoki (Gellie) doesn't play WOW but they are trying ever-so-hard to get her involved.

Whilst it may not be possible for a Dwarf to father a Gnome I CAN tell you this soap is wrapped around an actual potion found in the WOW game. The Indestructible Potion will increase your armor by 3500 for 2 minutes therefore making you Indestructible. Pretty awesome.

The Indestructible SOAP is pretty awesome too. Made with olive, coconut, palm, canola and shea it is scented a VERY magical blend of black pepper, amber and cedar. Usage of Indestructible SOAP will make one feel and act Indestructible but we do not recommend leaping over buildings or attempting to hault speeding trains or planes.
Happy Fathers Day.
May yours also be magical and enchanting.

Anhoki's Beer Utopia

2010-05-17T10:18:00.000-05:00

At Anhoki's Place we love beer. We do traditional things with it like cook and drink it but what we love to do with it the most is SOAP. Yes, we love to make soap with beer. It's amazing. Beer soap has been around forever......But we do understand that NOT everyone has heard of beer soap. This is why we are reintroducing our beer soap collection to you and offering them two different ways. You can buy them individually OR all together.

Irish Ale

Irish Ale was made for St Patrick's Day a few years ago. It's a beautiful and masculine blend

of Sandalwood and Green Tweed.

Dude 2dot0

Dude 2dot0 is awesome. We added Cocoa butter to this bar and scented it with an essential and fragrance oil blend of Grapefruit, Patchouli, Sandalwood and Vanilla. It's masculine yet neutral

enough to be unisex.

Reminisce beer for HER

Reminisce is one of our newest beer bars specifically for HER. With Lavender, Orange and

Patchouli essential oils it has HER written all over it.

lamour oublie beer for HER

Lavender, Lemongrass and Peppermint essential oils come together for a romantic beer soap for HER.

Colin

Colin is a sexy blend of patchouli, cedar wood and clove essential oils an oakmoss fragrance.

Brazz Munkee

Brazz Munkee...born out of our love of all things Beastie Boys Brazz Munkee is a killer essential

oil blend of orange, lemon, grapefruit and cedar wood.

And the Holy Grail

Anhoki's Beer Utopia

Happy Fathers Day, Mothers Day, Birthday, Anniversary, Cinco De Mayo, Forth of July, Easter, Thanksgiving, Veteran's Day, Memorial Day. ANY day is a great day for beer. Wouldn't you agree!?

To All The Dudes We've Loved Before.....

2010-03-11T17:41:00.008-06:00

OK OK...So I'm no Julio Iglesias or Willie Nelson. I AM one who loves the Dudes and I am one who knows a good thing when I smell it...erm...see it. :~)

A bunch of us Safies have been talking about the beer lately. We love a good beer from time to time. But not in the way one might think. While most like to drink or cook with it we Safies like to soap with it. Oh YES... we do! And some even soap AND drink. It's a most beautimous thing indeed. When I grab the bottle opener and crack open the stout a wonderful chain of events begins to take place.

~The kids go running.....
~The animals hide....
~Dr John shakes his head and mutters "a shameful waste of a good beer" under his breath and walks off holding his nose.
It really is quite amusing to watch. Into the pot it goes and off to simmer land. MAN....does it smell bad!? Open a window or three and let the fresh air in. After half an hour or so it goes into the fridge. Then we have the kiddos wanting to know what the phunk is in the fridge. "Oh yeah....mom's making beer soap".

Once the beer soap is made, cut and curing we see Dr John or (insert significant others' name here) grabbing a bar or two and sniffing...."Mmmmm...Smells great, hon. I think I'll take one to the shower with me". And as I begin to float from all the bigheadedness I must remember....it takes a while for others to catch on.

Since I am not alone in my love of the beer I thought I would share with you a few fantabulous beer soap listings from my SAFEteam family and hope you too will join the underground movement of beer soap lovers.

Colin
Anhoki's Place

Colin is a mess. With his dashing good looks, fiery red hair and gawgous green eyes he is a site to behold. Truly. One of the most romantic guys, in a guy's guy sort of way, that you will ever have the pleasure of...hmmmmmmmm......
ANYWAY... Colin is a pretty spiffy kind of guy. This is why I made a soap in his honor. The Colin SOAP is made with a very manly blend of patchouli, cedar wood and clove essential oils an oakmoss fragrance. OH...And it's BEER SOAP too! We make all of our beer soap with Guinness beer. Too bad we don't have a deal going with them. That would be awesome. Colin would definitely agree.

Beautiful Beer Soap..Olive Oil and Shea Butter luxurious Handmade Soap...Green Tweed Scent

Thistledelight

What better, Fantastic Beer Soap that also has Olive Oil, AND Shea Butter. Not to mention the Gorgeous scent of Green Tweed. OH YUM... This is the ultimate bar of soap, huge benefits from the beer in our usual olive oil and shea soap.
Can't go wrong with this one for sure.

Oktoberfest Beer Soap

SudsNSuch

This soap has been made using Sam Adams Octoberfest beer in place of water giving it a slightly sweet, nutty scent. No scent or color has been added.
This soap has been handmade using the cold process method of soapmaking. Each bar has cured for a minimum of 4 weeks.

Pale Ale Beer Soap - Wash Responsibly

theskinyourein

Back by popular demand is another beer soap that will surely please all of your senses. The fragrance of this soap is sandalwood and vanilla, manly yes, but women like it too.
Pale Ale Beer Soap contains Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Castor Oil. A pale blond micro-brew beer was used, along with ground oats.
This has quickly become a favorite of all of the men in my life because, hey, who wouldn't like a nice beer in the shower! Just kidding! The lather is rich and dense while the aroma is captivating and fresh. Be sure to "wash responsibly".

Indigenous Pale Ale Cold Process Beer Soap

NativeSproutSoap

A pale ale beer soap that smells like an evergreen forest. This bar is full of skin loving oils and has an incredible bubbly lather. Scented with cedarwood and fir needle pure essential oils, this is an ideal gift for the men in your life. This is an exciting new addition to our cold process soap line! Each bar is hand cut and weighs 3.5 oz/98 g.

Guinness Stout Soap

BellaLunaCrafts

Who would have thought that soap made with Guinness Stout could smell SO GOOD!!! Warm and very slightly sweet. This soap is my best seller at craft fairs.

The Stout replaces the water in this cold process soap and it is also made from good-for-your-skin olive oil, coconut oil to create a fluffy lather, and palm oil to create a hard bar. Shea butter has also been added for additional moisturizing. It has been made using the cold process method which makes an incredibly smooth texture.

Big Butt Beer Shea and Cocoa Butter Cold Process Soap

KBShimmer

After a hard days work in the hot sun, a cold beer is the best taste in the world, and when you wash up, the creamy lather of a beer soap is the perfect way to get clean. Made with Leinenkugel's Big Butt Doppelbock, no scent or color has been added to this soap. Hops and wheat gives this natural soap a faint nutty smell. This soap has been aged for months for a long lasting bar, and with a limited number of left, put away that lawnmower, set aside the beer, and get your soap before they are gone!

And one more from Anhoki..... just because.

Irish Ale

Anhoki's Place

I always ask people what they think of when they think of Ireland. I get answers all over the board. Green grass, rock walls, the Blarney Stone, Guinness beer, friendship, music, leprechauns, soda bread.. you name it.
Irish Ale is a masculine blend of lemon verbena, iris & violets with bottom notes of Mysore sandalwood & amber. All of this and a beer soap too. What could be better?

As you can see the SAFEteam are extremely creative and VERY fond of beer. Beer soap is wonderful. Bubbles galore. Nice hard bars. Did I mention the beer? If we haven't convinced you by now then you're just going to have to buy a bar or 8 and try them for yourself.

Remember.....SAFETEAM!

Alice In Chains

2010-03-05T17:35:00.007-06:00

f you know anything at all about me you know that Alice in Chains has been my favorite band since....F-O-R-E-V-E-R. The planets were never quite aligned for me to see them when Layne was alive...Well I'll take that back....I had the chance to see them in '94 while living in SoCal and chose to do something else instead. ((@@)) What the HELL was I thinking? I can tell you what I was thinking...I WASN'T. I was in love with a GI and wanted to spend time with him. We chose to go to Magic Mountain and other things instead. DUMB dumb dumb. The relationship didn't last and I missed out on an AWESOME concert. Ugh....

Life happens and we move on. They didn't really tour after that and then Layne died in 2002. SO very sad. Even worse that he died on 4/5 which was also the day Curt Cobain died AND the birthday of said GI. ((@@))

Fast forward to sometime in January of this year. John and I were chatting about something we saw on TV. Then he mentioned that one of the bands I love love love was coming to town and I should see when. Well...I checked and it was Alice. AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! I was SO excited! Of course I knew John wouldn't go with me because he doesn't do concerts. SO I went with my cousin. I have to say...I've been to my fair share of concerts in my day (I'm not a groupie or anything) and AIC in Nashville was the BEST concert of my life. Yeah... you can say it was because of WHO we saw live but I would still argue that the concert itself was top notch. I've been humming various songs all week and I am still walking on air.

THEN I got a call that they were coming BACK. AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Can you see how excited I am!?!??! I looked for tickets ALL week. Tickets went on sale this morning. THEN...I looked at StubHub, TicketMaster and EVERY place I could think of and NOTHING. I was SO very sad. I Googled until I couldn't Google anymore and then it happened. I found tickets. OMG! I checked out the place and found primo tickets for HALF the price we paid for the one in Nashville. AWESOME! SO now I get to see them twice in as many months. It just doesn't get any better than that! REALLY...it doesn't.

For your viewing pleasure.....
Alice in Chains

A Timeless Voodoo Love Affair

2010-02-17T15:53:00.015-06:00

This story is about a girl who just wants a little amore. Although misguided her heart has always been in the right place.

In the beginning Love met a boy. Charming, sweet, romantic (in his own way) but not what Love was looking for. With time Love grew quite fond of the boy but moved away to expand her horizons. Throughout her travels Love always had fond memories of the time they shared.

Timeless

While traveling new and exotic places Love met many interesting people. Suave and debonair men who knew how to spoil her. Sassy and chic ladies she would befriend and confide in. Throughout her travels Love had experienced it all.

On one of her travels Love met Franco. Franco was older than Love and knew how to push her buttons. Scooter rides through Rome, romantic picnics in Florence, gondola rides through Venice, dancing in the rain filled streets of Milan... they did it all. Then they went to Paris. Big mistake.
Love woke up one morning and was craving an espresso. She went to a little bistro on the bottom floor of the apartment building where she lived. She had a lovely time. After several espressos, a scone and a lovely chat with the bartender Love decided to go home. As she opened the door to her flat she heard voices...giggling voices. She walked ever so quietly into the apartment and down the hall. The voices grew louder. She sneaked a peak into the bedroom and noticed Franco feeding strawberries and whipped cream to CAMILLA! Camilla was her "BEST friend". Love left quietly and returned home when she knew Franco would be gone. She packed her things and left...without even so much as a note.

The Affair...

Love had many many friends. She called upon her good friend Sasha and asked if she could crash with her until she found a place of her own. Sasha obliged and Love was on her way to mending her broken heart.

London is where Love would be when she met Colin. Colin the Irishman. Colin was a strapping young lad with fire red hair, sparkling green eyes and a smile that would pierce right through your very soul. Colin was an artist. He painted, sculpted, blew glass....he seemed to do it all. Their love affair was powerful and passionate. Colin was in the workshop one day when Love paid him a surprise visit. She startled Colin who sharply asked her to leave. Stunned she left and went to her favorite pub. Many hours and pints later in strolled Colin. Long faced and tired he sat alongside Love and tossed something on the bar counter. Love chugged the last of her ale and picked up the scrap. In her hand was the most exquisite piece of sterling beauty she had ever seen. An Irish wedding band Colin had been making during the hours they were apart. Love was speechless. As they looked into each other's eyes Colin said those magical words. Love, filled with so many emotions, said.......no. She explained she loved Colin but her heart belonged to another.

Love decided Europe was in her past. As she packed everything that meant anything to her she realized she had very little. All of Love's belongings fit into a medium moving box. She headed to the airport and boarded a plane for Rio. Rio was a place she had never been and was hoping for a fresh and clean start. She was well on her way.

Voodoo Love

Rio found Love in a new apartment overlooking the water. Breathtaking views and beautiful weather inspired Love to venture into the art of glass blowing. It is a hot and dirty job but one she loses herself in. Love, while in the workshop, was joined by an extraordinarily quiet man who was watching her every move. He said he was interested in buying some of her art. Intriguing because she had never sold her works before. He said she should start and knew the perfect place to showcase them. He insisted they "talk shop" over dinner. He knew the perfect place and told her to be ready by 8. With a bit of uncertainty Love agreed. Cautiously she told her new friend she would meet him at the restaurant at 8. Love, always being fashionably late, arrived right on time.... at 8:04 PM. She, in a beautiful sundress, met her new friend who....looked different. He, cleanly shaven, hair trimmed and combed into place, stood in the light with a glow she had not seen for quite some time. He was now familiar to her. An old soul. It took a minute to register but she remembered. As she looked into his eyes she saw that charming, sweet, romantic (in his own way) boy she knew all those years ago is the one who has shown interest in her art. They embraced and sat down to the most romantic and entertaining dinner. Laughter, tears, anger..... every emotion was shared that night. He never asked why or how. He didn't have to. She didn't feel obligated to explain. She wanted to. They talked for hours. Before they knew it the restaurant owner gently interrupted. Not to ask them to leave but to let them know the doors were locked and he was going to his home (which was upstairs). He offered another bottle of wine and bid them good evening. As the sun came up and the espresso was filling the room they acknowledged they should probably "call it a night" and get some sleep. Instead of going their separate ways they went to Love's apartment. He, a perfect gentleman, took the couch and she crashed into bed. When she awoke she wasn't sure what to expect. There he was, napping almost angelic like, on her couch. All she could do was stand in the doorway and stare at him. An overwhelming sense of calm rushed over her and she was finally at peace.

40 years later they are still together and in love more than ever before. Love had found her little amore. Love truly is a beautiful thing.

A Timeless Voodoo Love Affair...

Soapies and such

2010-02-14T19:57:00.004-06:00

Green With Envy. I LOVE this soap... A blend of lavender, orange, eucalyptus, peppermint, spanish sage and amyris essential oils.

Plush Pumpkin...Nom Yummy.

Muspotwitharsan...

Love Story Pt Deux
She's a tramp....But sooooooooooo worth it.

Lip Smoothie Ala Anhoki

Fleur Naturelle.....

Dude!

Creme de Sheer Awesomeness...Oh yeah!

Buttermint. Luscious!

Green With Envy. 'Nuff said.

Celestial Nights was on the FP today

2010-02-11T02:12:00.002-06:00

A Whole Lot Of Dude

2010-01-13T00:15:00.002-06:00

A Whole Lot Of Dude was on the FP at 1AM this morning and I missed it.

Stamps Ala John version 2010

2010-01-07T13:22:00.032-06:00

XOXOXO

Stamps ala John Additional Policies and FAQs >>>

WE DO offer custom soap stamps.
HOWEVER...We can not design your stamp for you.

PLEASE EMAIL me at info@soaptattoos.com for more information. Do not send me an Etsy convo or add a comment...it will get lost. I will not give pricing until the image has been sent and we see how much work is required. Thanks!

CUSTOM stamps are so so fun.

Please allow us up to two weeks to complete and ship your custom soap stamp once the image has been approved and paid for.

They START at $29.95 but may be more depending on the amount of work we have to do to it. The price of your stamp will go up if after you have approved your artwork and it is milled you decide changes need to be made. The first remill is an additional $15 and each additional milling will be in increments of $20. PLEASE communicate fully with us and understand the stamp design process before we mill it for you. This will save our time, our supplies and your funds. Payment IS expected in FULL before we will do any milling. We only accept Paypal so keep that in mind when requesting a custom stamp.

The ABSOLUTE best thing you can do for us is TELL us APPROXIMATELY what size you would wish your soap stamp to be. Giving us an image the EXACT size of the requested end result is of no use to us. Also. If you give us an image that is TOTALLY square and want it to be made into a RECTANGLE stamp ((@@))... We need to work within the constraints of the original image in order to keep it as close to the original as possible. Please keep this in mind.

1) PLEASE provide me with a name. I'd like to know with whom I am emailing.

2) Length and Width of your soap bar (this is very important). Without a stamp size we can NOT move forward. Don't be shy about this. It IS information we must have. If you wish to have a stamp that works with many bar sizes give us the smaller bar size but PLEASE give us something so we have something to work with.

3) H-U-G-E JPEG, GIF, PNG, PDF, BMP, TIF file of your image. We prefer a size of 5X7 or larger to avoid pixelation. Please be sure to not take a very small image and BLOW it up at this does not prevent pixelation but enhance it. We will re-size it to the stamp size as we go.

4) Along with the above please do NOT send us an image the size you PREFER your END PRODUCT to be. That is of no use to us. Communication is key. Give us an image we can work with and then talk to us through the email process. Make life MUCH easier for everyone involved.

5) Tell us what the EXACT name of the font is and where we can find it for FREE IF we might need it to rework your image for any reason.

6) Give us an idea of how much space you wish your stamp to cover. Often times images are not well represented in a smaller stamp but an idea of what you have in mind is most helpful.
Larger is better. SERIOUSLY..SIZE DOES MATTER! The larger your stamp image the better it will look on your soap bar. However, we don't want to have it so large that is buldges out the sides of the soap bar so please be reasonable.

6 a) Believe it or not smaller is NOT the better way to go. The SMALLER your stamp is the MORE money you will spend. Small stamps are truly the spawn of Satan. They are extremely difficult to generate code for because of the teeny tiny spaces that the bit has to maneuver through and the smaller stamps do NOT translate well at all in a soap impression. Sad, but true. Less (as in smaller) is definitely not more when it comes to stamp image. Less actually costs you more money.

7) We will not go more than 11 letters across the face of your bar. This includes spaces. MOST fonts need to be beefed up in order to "shine" on your soap bar. Allow us the room (if needed) to thicken the letters and add spacing where needed.

8) Be REASONABLE with the image AND text you want for your stamp. The more detailed images may look great in a rubber stamp OR on paper but not so great in a soap stamp. If you have an image that is highly detailed and requires a lot of impressing, chances are, it will not work. For instance....if you wish to have a stamp of a daisy it is often better to do an outline and minimal lines and then color the inside with mica or soap paints. The fewer lines and impressions you have the better the outcome.

9) One thing we would like everyone to remember is my DH does have an 8 to 5 job where he is not working on stamps or soap molds. This is what we call "paying the mortgage and providing food for the chillen's".:)) He makes the molds, stamps, cutters and whatever else is requested in his off hours. We will do our very best to be up front and honest with you regarding the turn-around of your item but life does happen and sometimes things are delayed a bit.
****** We do require a two week turnaround for our soap stamps. Life happens and sometimes you (the customer) have things come up. If we are waiting for a return email from you and have not heard from you in a timely manner we will put your project on hold and move to another one.

....And finally....PLEASE please understand that just because an image looks good on paper it does not always mean that it will translate properly into a stamp. Changes are sometimes required in order to create a workable stamp. An exact replica of the image you have provided is not always possible.
>>I do apologize but at this time we do not offer wholesale pricing for our products.

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SO..now that you know what you need to do in order to get a custom stamp and want one REALLY bad...Here is a post I did earlier last year. Grab a cuppa Joe, put your feet up and have a read. It might take a while but....get over it.

This post will explain how WE MAKE our stamps and how we use them with 0ur soapies. It will show you success stories...booboos and ((@@)). Enjoy!

What we use to make the custom stamps.

Gray box in upper left is generating the code to run the CNC...

John's little CNC Machine in action...

right there she is...

The pictures are blurry because he was actually milling this stamp as I was taking the pictures...

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So if you're like me you make soap. Well...if you're "like" me you make LOTS of things...soap being one of the MANY things. :)
AND...If you're "like" me you like toys. Lots of shiny and fun toys. hehe....I am forever shopping for new and useful toys to be creative with.
Let's see this is 2009 (oooohh... it's 2010) now....so.... it's been 6 years since I asked my dad to make my first soap mold. I had purchased many a mold before I asked him to make one. It was a log. My dad made about 15 molds for me in between the molds he made for customers and friends. Then John took over. hehehehe....SUCKER! Depending on how one looks at it I suppose. John took over making the soap molds in early '08 and hasn't stopped. It's quite impressive to watch him work. I keep throwing him curve balls and he is right there throwing the product back in my face. Just last night, as we were getting covered in splinters from the plywood sheets we were ripping down, I saw a leftover piece and it clicked in my wee pea brain....DING! I have this awesome, little log that he made for me a couple of months ago. It's kewl. A pain in the arse to line but so fun to use. This "extra" piece of plywood would double the size of said mold and make it MUCH easier to line and work with. YEAH me....When time permits I shall have a new double row log. 8o))) Last night we also cut down a 10 ft PVC pipe for some round molds. I have a new batch of shaving soap curing now. 8o))))) So why am I chatting about soap molds if the topic is stamps??? Well....erm...'cause I can! That's why. Geeez....can't a girl get off track once in a while!? So John is a creative sort of guy and is always thinking of new ideas. A few years ago he thought of a product that required the use of a cnc machine. Well....anyone who knows anything about them knows they are NOT cheap (even the CHEAP ones aren't cheap). John did his thing and bought one. It's adorable.... in a geeky sort of way. He got really kewl software and played with it. Made mockups of the product he wanted to make and then started looking at soap stamps. Hehehehehehehehe......SCORE! He knew I wasn't happy with the stamps I had purchased and wanted to make me smile. Not to mention make some money to pay for the new shop we loaded our basement with. We have spent, literally, HUNDREDS if not thousands of hours working on stamp ideas and concepts. I really don't feel bad for asking him to make a stamp because........I love to see the twinkle in his eye when he has come up with an easier way to produce something magical. It's fun to watch him get frustrated with the software. To see him get irritated and then run the program and have the stamp come out better than expected is really kewl. I'll be browsing, chatting, making soap or whatever and hear his big ol' feet come up the stairs and he'll have this little plate in his hand and say "wanna see"!? Well DUH! We learned, not soon enough, to have a batch of soap just for him. Of course it looks like it has some sort of disease or something with being rebatched and all. It REALLY is ugly. I'll watch him go through the motions of stamping and then see the image on the bar and a smile fills the room. It's so fun. Of course I better have the camera close by because he loves loves loves to get pics of his art. I have hundreds of pics of stamped soap. I made a folder on flickr just for his stamps. When time permits we WILL be adding new stamps to Etsy. But....custom stamps always come first and those take up a lot of our "free" time....what little there is. Folks always ask me about using our stamps and the best way to go about it. This is when I type....there is no set in stone method for stamping soap. Some use presses in order to get consistant pressure all around the stamp for the ideal impression. I say......NOT! To me..the whole idea is to stamp it old school style with a mallet and have complete control of it all. I have a few choice tools in my "bag o' tricks" that I absolutely can not live without.

Here is a small sampling of my "necessities". We have....... a "fresh" cup o' joe with a touch too much creamer
a mallet (can be found at your local Lowes or Home Depot) a wood block (I'm not kewl enough to have my stamps mounted on finishd oak blocks so I use these instead) a brush of sorts....

Again you see the important things. My stamps are not blocked. Well the wirly curly is but that's all.
Tooth picks help to get the stuck soap from around the smaller crevices of the stamps.
The block is used on top of the stamp for stamping.
The brush....I use it to coat the stamps with cooking spray. You would NOT believe how much easier it is to stamp with a lubed stamp. DON'T LAUGH...TRY IT!
Check it.....A can of OFF BRAND cooking spray, tooth picks, a brush (this is a highlights brush from Sallys ONLY because we had it on hand), you can use ANY type of brush. My "not playing around" mallet, COFFEE (always have coffee) and a selection of stamps. The basket is used to house my stamps, brush, toothpicks and block. And I have had to permanently mark the block with the word MINE on all sides. When folks stamp soaps these block go missing. Grrrrr.....

The Smiley was originally made to go with the beer soap I make. Then we got into beer with a backward R. I LOVE this stamp. It's definitely one of my favorite stamps. I use this one a lot.

My anhoki stamp is simple but I love it.

The Kissing Hand? My Camryn's kindergarten teacher read it to the class on the first day and it was so very sweet. I had been wanting to make a kissing hand stamp for a while and never got around to it. As luck would have it I had a person come to me with a custom stamp request. One of the stamps she wanted had a kissing hand as part of the image. YEAH! That got the ball rolling for the idea of this stamp and the rest as they say........
The I love U stamp is an original by me. I made it because I thought it would be kewl for wedding soap, Valentines Day, Mothers Day, whatever. Simple and to the point.
No matter how many times a person tells you that you CAN NOT stamp salt bars....I am here to prove them WRONG! You CAN stamp salt bars and I do it all the time. You have to do it pretty soon after cutting them and they DO still need to be on the softer side. HOWEVER... you CAN do it too SOON. It comes with practice and you have to know your recipe too.
This DSM stamp is another fave. I love the Georgia font and how "phosisticated" it makes soap look. "Phosisticated is a vocabulary word that can be found under sophisticated in the dictionary. 8O) I cut this batch and let it set for about 6 hours and then stamped.
This is a HARD batch so it worked out pretty well.

My BIG Kahuna salt bar stamped with the whurly curly. Gotta be quick with salt bars or they will crumble and crack.

What man doesn't think he is a "stud"? EXACTLY. Between this and beer....what could be better?!

This stamp was made for a challenge I did not long ago. Being a military brat we traveled a lot. We lived in Italy from '83 to '86. AWESOME!!!! I designed this stamp to reflect one of my favorite countried.

Well since you've seen the CORRECT ways to stamp soap let's now look at WRONG ways to stamp soap. This can happen to ANYONE at any time. Don't go thinking you are immune to mis-stamping. NO one is immune to a mis-stamp. You waited too long and the bar got too hard. You stamped too soon and the soft soap came out when the stamp did......Anything is possible. Get used to the idea that it can and will happen to you. This can ALSO happen if your stamp is too detailed and delicate.

This soap was too soft. It was only about a day after if was cut....this is a cpop batch with a 40% water discount.

Same exact thing with this one. Although I have since learned that this particular batch just doesn't like to be stamped. Period. It is a beer batch with a Sandalwood fragrance oil blend. This unfortunate mishap has happened twice. I won't be stamping this soap.
Hahahaha...OK....This is a double layer batch. Hard as a rock too. I ended up stamping this batch two days after it came out of the oven. It was good and hard and the problem was with the STAMPER and not the stamp or the soap. I tried to go back and stamp once it had set for a bit and misaligned it. NOT pretty. TRICKS we have learned to make the stamping process go smoothly are.....
1) ALWAYS have a clean stamp. If you have soap crumbs on your stamp take a scrub brush and scrub them off or lightly wash the stamp. When I say LIGHT I mean LIGHT. -Turn the water to a drizzle and barely get it wet. -Use a scrub brush to lightly remove the soap from the stamp. -IF you can't get the soap from the crevisses then you grab a tooth pick and pick it out. -Don't get aggressive with your stamp because it could get aggressive with you and break. We don't want that. Once it is clean take a towel and pat dry....yes..all the way.

2) Now you want to take that lovely brush of yours and spray a tiny bit of spray on both sides. THIS is what you use to get the oil on the stamp. You do NOT want to spray directly on the stamp. Brush the spray on evenly. Spraying directly on the stamp will result in a buildup of grossness and make the stamp too slippery to acutally stamp the soap. It could also damage the block.

3) Place the stamp in the desired location and grab your mallet.

4) Tap lightly and see what you've done. If you need to stamp more you can. You can't remove the impression once it's done but you can always restamp. It's like measure twice and cut once.....kinda.

5) I always have a toothpick close by. If you have impressed the soap and you have soap "boogers" left behind you can use the toothpick to remove them. This is also good for the more delicate stamps. You can carefully make the impression larger. IF you are brave enough.

6) Once my soap impression is to my liking I always take a paper towel and brush across the top to get whatever might be floating around off of it. Now stamp away. These are steps we have found that work for us. These steps won't work for everyone. And we have found the more delicate a stamp is in its design the more likely you are to have soap pullout. One thing I had to remember is while it looks good on paper or on a rubber stamp it may not and probably won't look good as a soap stamp. Delicate design and soap stamps do not go hand in hand. I've found that out the hard way. Soap stamps are very much like tattoos.... in my experiece...the bigger the better. Simple really is best. Take a look at John's "portfolio" of soap stamps if you'd like to challenge that theory. Stamps Ala John

*****I edited below as most of it was repeat information from the original blog post.
If you REALLY want to read it you can go here.....

My fingers are tired..my brain and eyes hurt...I'm done.

Ciao.

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!!

2010-01-01T00:46:00.005-06:00

You have NO idea how good it feels to ring in a new year. I don't remember much about New Years '09. I do know I was awake for it but other than that......2009 was NOT good to my family. So much drama, heartbreak heartache, so much sickness.
Happy 2009
Cass Puppy.
What a Month

Between all of my surgeries, my dad's open heart surgery in August, my mom and her scare in early December and now the drama with the extended family...I'm hoping ALL of 2010 will be rosie. SO much sadness.
I have promised myself there will be no more surgeries...
my dad will be fine...
my mom will get better (or as better as her body will allow), my children will be happy, my husband will be well and happy and my extended family will find their way back to each other and be happy for the first time in years.
I say all of this with a VERY good buzz. But seriously...If I didn't have you guys to vent to and my true and dear friends to cry to I would be lost. There is only so much you can say to family when they themselves are also living the hell we bitch about. We had a "moment" on Christmas day. I missed Christmas of '08 so '09 was rather special. I told everyone 2009 was not my year to die. 2009 tested my physical body, my spiritual body and my overall sanity. 2009 was NOT my year to die and 2010 wont be either. I want everyone to know how special you ALL are to me. I want you ALL to know how much I love and value your friendship. Without you...I would have been lost in 2009.
Let's welcome 2010 with open arms and make it the best year we can.

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!

Merry Merry Christmas

2009-11-22T10:54:00.010-06:00

Check these out. I had SO much fun making them. Creme de Sheer Awesomeness is awesome. The GINORMOUS lip smoothie RAWKS! The Dude trio is a VERY good idea for those who love beer soap. They've been a great seller for me so I thought I would pair them together. :) I LOVE the candles this year. The threesome is a blast. And the Cranberry Peppermint is dreamy. Check it out. GREAT gift ideas. :)

Yummy Anise

Delicious Cranberry Peppermint

Mandarino Melograno

Dude Trio

Anhoki's Candle Threesome. :P

Mediterranean Fig

Cranberry Peppermint

Apple Jack and Peel

Peace and Love steriling silver bracelet. I LOVE it!
Peppermint soap. I'll be listing this one VERY soon.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours!

Anhoki's Hillbillie Christmas

2009-11-01T10:25:00.003-06:00

I have been having SO much fun with candles lately. I used to make them ALL the time. Since they don't sell as well on Etsy I kinda lost the passion for making them. BUT....

anhoki's hillbillie Christmas is an amazing blend. I love it. You should check it out.

New Project & Items

2009-10-11T16:23:00.010-05:00

~♥ ♥ ~♥ ♥ ~♥ ♥ ~ Etsy Project Embrace ~♥ ♥ ~♥ ♥ ~♥ ♥ ~

So I was browsing Etsy the other day and happened upon a shop with EPE all over it. WHAT is EPE??? Etsy Project Embrace is awesome.

loveartworks says: "We are a Universal Coalition of Artists whose main purpose is to create awareness and support for people who have been diagnosed with Cancer, whatever kind it may be. The project began as a way to help our friend and wonderful Etsian, Laura Slocum, who has been diagnosed with ovarian cancer and is currently having chemotherapy. You can read more about Laura and her incredible uplifting journey here: http://www.etsy.com/profile.php?user_id=6760712"

I read about Etsy Project Embrace and then convo'd her with a few questions. She is super nice and made my decision to join VERY easy. BEFORE I even convo'd her I had an idea for a Lavender Chamomile set with a soapy and a Creme de Sheer Awesomeness. I'm working on a lip balm idea too. :)

I ordered light pink organza bags from Jen at JensEnchantedGarden.etsy.com. She is super sweet. THEN I ordered these awesome tags from GreenPost.etsy.com. I thought it would make a nice set and would be a good "support item". When I get the bags and tags and list this item I will be donating 30% of the proceeds to cancer research.

Also..

Speziato Mele is a spicy and earthy blend of lemon, litsea, black vanilla, cinnamon, clove, petitgrain, ginger and nutmeg essential and fragrance oils.

Speziato Mele perfume is blended with a base of perfumers alcohol and is in a 15 ml bottle. If you are pregnant check with a doctor before using. Speziato Mele will come in an organza bag ready for gift giving.

20% of the proceeds from this purchase (excluding shipping) with be donated to the American Cancer Society in honor of Etsy Project Embrace Team member Laura Slocum of creativelytangled.etsy.com. Laura is currently undergoing treatment for Ovarian Cancer. More about Laura may be found here http://lauraslocumpainted.etsy.com. XOXO

After the year I've had this is a breath of fresh air for me. Being in and out of the hospital and then my dad's heart surgery and regular family stuff is stressful. Being able to focus my energy on the positive is always a plus. It's absolutely amazing to see and watch all of these shops come together for the greater good. I'm proud and honored to be a part of it.

As we stroll through the cemetery an owl, making his home in an old Oak, says hello. Leaves blow in the gentle breeze as he pulls me close. Walking past long lost loved ones we've reached the Mausoleum. With a gentle kiss and embrace we fade into the wind.

Fleur Naturelle is Amber Patchouli...warm, sensual inviting. Full bodied yet subtle, Amber Patchouli is hauntingly beautiful.

Plush Pumpkin reminds me of a lavish day at the spa. Pampering your senses with the wonderful aromas of fresh lavender, vanilla blossoms and spicy pumpkin is an absolute dream. It is romantic, spicy....exotic. This is not a soap for the beginning pamperer. It is definitely for one who knows what she wants and goes for it.

Muspotwitharsan You have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how much you would be missing out on if you didn't add this to your collection. OMG! An amazing blend of Tuberose, Sandalwood and Musk. Sensual, soft and incredibly sexy. A bar for both men and woman it was named by the infamous Dr John and is a family favorite.

Goat's Milk Brown Sugar & Fig. OMG! Delicious. I can't wait to list this one.

Anhoki's Place

Second Chandelier......IS FINISHED

I Can't Help Myself

My Chandelier Project Is Finished

Custom Stamps Ala John & Anhoki Version 2012

Merry Christmas....Happy Holidays

Wind Chimes

Wind Chimes, Candles, Incense....Oh My!

It's time to spill the beans....

Will OR Why Won't My Image Work For A Soap Stamp?

We've been busy at Anoki's Place

Helping Joplin, MO

Anhoki's Place Spring Madness Sale

It's Spring And We've Been Playing

share The Love.....Support The Troops

Things That Smell Good

Custom Stamps 2011

We're Making Incense

Custom Stamps 2010..... with revised changes

Perfume perfume perfume.....This is a "two-parter"

Hey Sexy! You Smell Good.

Rainy Days Are Here Again

A Hard, But Simple Life

For The Love Of Coffee

SALE Coffee You can Sleep When You're Field Bagrainbowswirlz is Mendy. She is wonderful. I've bought messenger bag "baclpacks" two years in a row from Mendy. My girls love them and so do I. They are fun, durable (they stand up to my kids!!) and wash VERY well. You can't go wrong here.

Anhoki's Place's Finds on Etsy

I've been working on new perfumes lately.

Oppose HR 5786: Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 - The Petition Site

SoapQueen Included Our Soap In Her Post

Stamps stamps stamps...

Getting The Best Impression With Mr John's Stamps

Help Save The Gulf Coast

I Like Citrus

Stamps ala John .....JUST the Facts, Ma'am. :~)

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

Indestructible for HIM

Anhoki's Beer Utopia

To All The Dudes We've Loved Before.....

Alice In Chains

A Timeless Voodoo Love Affair

Soapies and such

Celestial Nights was on the FP today

A Whole Lot Of Dude

Stamps Ala John version 2010

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010!!!!

Merry Merry Christmas

Anhoki's Hillbillie Christmas

New Project & Items

SALE Coffee You can Sleep When You're Field Bag
rainbowswirlz is Mendy. She is wonderful. I've bought messenger bag "baclpacks" two years in a row from Mendy. My girls love them and so do I. They are fun, durable (they stand up to my kids!!) and wash VERY well. You can't go wrong here.