The 2012 HSMG Conference is almost upon us. Those of you attending are probably already thinking about what you need to pack to bring with you. Be sure one of those items is a bar of soap!

The Guild has partnered with a wonderful charitable organization, Rose Haven. This worthy organization is dedicated to helping homeless women and their children, assisting these women with housing, providing them with professional help such as lawyers, educating them, and with other needs until they are on their feet and can support themselves. We want to join with Rose Haven by providing them beautiful, healthy, nice-smelling soap to use.

Just think: if each of us brings just one bar of soap, we will have nearly 300 bars to donate to this worthy organization. Of course, you are welcome to bring more if you like, and other hygiene items such as lotion and lip balm are gratefully accepted, as well, but even one bar makes a difference.

Please work with the Guild and Bring a Bar!

They began selling their soap and soon found themselves outgrowing their kitchen and moving to the barn. Ron and Debi knew that they needed to find easier, more efficient ways to manufacture their soap, so they developed quicker and more productive methods. Of course, this led to their inventing a soap cutter and a mold that allowed them to offer the best quality soap using the most effective ways.

Ron and Debi developed their Air Cutter in 1996, and once they cut their first batch with it, they knew they had something that other soapmakers would love to use, and thus began their expansion into equipment for soapmakers.

If you peruse their website(www.soapequipment.com), you will find everything you need to make soap, from beginner kits to professional equipment that make it possible to manufacture many thousands of bars each month. Moreover, they have, over time, expanded into equipment for many other body products.

Their love and pride in both their business and the industry shows by their constant dedication to quality and to the individual soapmaker. In fact, they played a part in starting the HSMG and are vendor members of the Guild. What’s more, they also support every soap gathering they find.

Ron says, “. . . we would not be who we are today, without the help of people who work in the company. We have an amazing team, scattered in several towns, states and of varied talents and interests. We are truly a modern company, using all the latest technologies, but with time-honored values.”

Keep up the good work, Soap Equipment!

One of our recently unveiled  member benefits  might be just what you are looking for.  You can find information on our webpage about  Craftmaster News and Art & Craft show yellow pages at:  http://www.soapguild.org/member/benefits/craftmaster.php

Sr. Cathleen Timberlake

HSMG Vice President

Programs &  Services Chair

l to r: Susan Moore, Teresa Gregory and Lynn Elko

We hope that they write lots of orders and that the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild will be more widely known.    A big thank you goes out to Wholesalecrafts.com for their gifting our members with this booth.

Julie Koenig of Kraftwerks participated last year in ACRE Orlando and decided to take advantage of the “Emerging Artist” package discount  and is again a vendor at ACRE Orlando with her own booth!   The show runs through Monday.

Kraftwerks Booth at ACRE Orlando

Lynn Elko demonstrating products

The folks at Renaissance are also nonprofit and so they too share a passion in increasing the entrepreneurial capacities of you the members of the HSMG.   They even have scholarship opportunities available.   Dream big!  Consider honing your business skills  through the coming months with one on one classes and consultation with Renaissance.

• Alison Cripps (www.terradolcespa.com) of Ft. Meyers, FL
• Susan Moore (www.beachorganicsskincare.com) of Cocoa, FL
• Lynn Elko (www.emmasfriends.com) of Tamaqua, PA
• and alternate:  Teresa Gregory  (www.dailyblessingsfarm.com) from Hernando, MS
  

  Deb, Candy and Julie at the 2011 Orlando Show

This is a wonderful opportunity for the selected members to exhibit products in a major gift show without taking on the booth fee themselves.   Thank you ACRE!

The HSMG will be ably represented in Orlando and also in Las Vegas by:

• Barb LeLosSantos (www.barbshomemadesoaps.com) from Adrian, MI
• Tami Thornton (www.beehivesoaps.com) from South Jordan, UT
• Sharon Czekala (www.michigansoap.com) of Canton, MI
• Alternate:  Julie Weghorn (www.trustjust.com) of Menomonie, WI

This years participants wrote a fair amount of orders during the course of the Show and additionally as reported by Julie:  ”We are so thankful to the Guild for this opportunity.  Three strangers are now friends and have been sharing many business ideas, experiences, etc.  We have realized we have much more than just soap in common.”

Sr. Cathleen, HSMG Vice President

Membership in the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild definitely has its benefits! Some of our newest benefits are some of the BEST we offer! How many of you use some kind of software to help you in your soapmaking business? How many use a pre-made software that was made for Cooks (like CookMaster) or an accounting software like PeachTree or QuickBooks for accounting, that also track inventory or just an Excel Spreadsheet you created on your own or perhaps borrowed from someone else to help you keep track of your recipes, raw materials, and inventory?

How many of you are using the “customized” SoapMaker software that was actually created FOR Soapmakers? I, for one, do! I have been using the SoapMaker Software for several years.

NOW HSMG Members can get this incredible software at a DISCOUNT! Login to the HSMG Member Area on our website to take advantage of this special exclusive member pricing .

http://www.soapguild.org

It is available to you through Soapequipment at: http://www.soapequipment.com. If you have a computer that you use for your business, this software is fantastic and should help you

• keep excellent records of all your vendors
• the purchase price of your raw materials
• your inventory for re-ordering
• customer information
• and even the physical properties of your soap bars for each recipe you create within the software.
• It also will track your cost per item and profit margins!

This software is incredible! However it will require a fair amount of your time as you key in the   various bits of information that makes your business what it is:

• Vendor Names and Addresses
• Customer Names and Addresses – perhaps even a note about their favorite products or scents so you make sure to notify them when you are having a special on those products.
• Once you get all your raw materials into the system including your labels and costs, you can create your recipes and the system will tell you exactly how much it cost you to make the entire batch as well as the cost “per unit” so you can better price your soaps.

Another HUGE benefit of this system is that it not only tracks inventory and recipes for soapmaking, but several other products as well, and you can also use it to make Liquid Soap and Cream Soap recipes with their Pop-Up Lye Calculator. With the economy the way it has been the last several years, many of us have had to increase our product offering to more than just soap. You can also add ingredients, bottle/container costs for other products like Lip Balm, Lotion, Bath Fizzies, Sugar Scrubs, and more!

The SoapMaker Software can convert to Metric Units, you can print reports like Purchase History, Shopping List for replenishing supplies, Production, Taxes, Sales History, and you can even get a list of all the recipes you have that use a particular ingredient (in case you get a custom order from someone who wants every product you make that has Olive Oil).

There is also something called a “Benchmark” recipe in the system for a “perfect” bar, or a soap bar that has a perfect balance of properties; Hardness, Fluffy Lather, Stable Lather, and Moisturizing are the qualities that you can use as a benchmark for all of the recipes you add into the system. I LOVE this feature!! You can create your own recipes for soap bars and then check the final soap bar properties against the benchmark recipe to determine if you want to make any changes to the ingredients in your recipe before you even make a batch. This way you can better determine the final outcome of your batches before you even use one drop of your raw materials. Batches can easily be re-sized with little thought or effort and the calculations will be correct, the SAP Values of many base oils, and so much more!

For those of you who already use this incredible software, you know how amazing it is. If you haven’t upgraded to their newest software, I highly recommend it, there are many more additions to the functionality of this software that will help you be more efficient in your business. For those of you who have not yet used this software or really have heard much about it, here is a link to their SoapMaker 3 Guided Tour to help you see all the incredible things it can do for you  http://www.soapmaker.ca/TourFiles/Tour.htm

The HSMG has been actively involved in advocacy for the handcrafted soap and cosmetics industry for the past several years.  We have made tremendous progress during the past year in introducing and familiarizing our industry to Capital Hill with the assistance of our DC advocates Mary Anne Walsh and Rick Limardo. HSMG  leaders have met with Members of Congress to educate them on our industry’s businesses as well as the diverse products they produce.  Most encouraging is Congress listened and took our concerns to heart.

When the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010 was introduced last year, the handcrafted soap and cosmetics industry was unknown in Washington, DC.  Many provisions in the 2010 bill would have negatively impacted thousands of small businesses throughout the United States.  Through our meetings with the staff of the bill sponsors, Representatives Jan Schakowsky, Edward Markey and Tammy Baldwin, we learned that the legislation was not aimed at the handcrafted soap industry.

Now, a year later, we have attended several meetings with the sponsors of the bill and many other Members of Congress.  They have listened to and heard our concerns.  There have been many positive changes, and we are very encouraged that we have such an open line of communication to see our way forward.

On June 24, 2011, a new bill, the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011 (HR 2359), was introduced. After a detailed review of the new legislation, we  held another meeting with the bill sponsors to get clarification on some areas of concern with HR 2359 . At that meeting, held July 13th, the staff was very gracious and willing to answer our questions and, more importantly, to help us understand their intention in drafting the legislation.  We were very  encouraged to find out that many of the worries that we had were due to misinterpreting the language in the bill or not understanding the intent behind certain portions.

Based on the information provided to us and our current understanding of the bill, we support the intent of The Safe Cosmetics Act of 2011.

During the week of July 24th, we will be placing a detailed summary of the bill on our website which will include the clarifications on issues of concern we have received from the sponsors. Until then, should you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact us.

This is far from over; the legislative process is long and includes committee hearings, amendments, mark-ups  and hearings all before the bill moves to the House floor for any vote.  The HSMG is very confident that with the relationships we have forged and with the guidance and advice of our legislative advocates, we are well positioned to have our voice heard throughout the process.  It is very important to stay involved, stay informed and above all, stay calm.  We have a seat at the table and we will continue our dialogue with the bill sponsors, committee members and others as the legislation moves forward.

Leigh O’Donnell

HSMG President