For your personal use only

Your free fillable Valentine’s correspondence set is here and ready for you to use immediately: a card, envelope round label (WL-350) seal and a wrap-around envelope label (WL-7000).

Specs: These Valentine cards and  labels in PDF are cross-platform and application independent. They will work on Mac OSX, Linux, Windows, Solaris and other operating systems. There can be compatibility issues among different PDF Readers. For optimum performance and full use of all functions, we recommend you download for free Adobe PDF Reader version 9.

Fonts: If you want to change the font type, size or color, (as well as bold, italics, etc.) select Control +E if you’re using a PC or Apple + E on a Mac. A toolbar will appear giving you additional text

Each type available in Autofill: Insert your text and hit tab, the template will automatically populate. Also add different information. The following links lead to .zip files, which you can download and unpack on your hard drive:

DOWNLOAD THE AUTOFILL

DOWNLOAD THE ORIGINALS

About the designer:

Green Originals Design is a multi-discipline design studio of surface and lifestyle designer, Kathy Green. Inspired by nature and its abundance of beautifully juxtaposed color combinations, Kathy has infused her love of color into all of her creations. Her work has a fun, chic and elegant modern style.

From labels and tags to paper and packaging, her unique creations are innovative in the rapidly-growing “printables” trend. Green Originals provides customers with the designs and the templates to create beautiful items using their home printer.

Along with custom design work, all designs are available for licensing on paper products, gift wrap, stationery and scrapbooking products as well as for product development in the areas of fashion, textiles, children’s and home décor.

Visit Worldlabel.com for all your labels

Joan Vieweger, Co-Founder of Choclatique…chocolates out of the box!, provided us with some beautiful images to show how she uses Worldlabel labels for her merchandise. After you take a look at this packaging, you might remember that Valentine’s Day is just SIX DAYS away! Before you get caught short, you might visit Choclatique. They were Voted “Most Gifted Chocolatier” by the International Chocolate Salon last year!

Joan uses gold labels to identify product types, varieties and weights, as you can see above in the nut front and side view of the assortment box. A close-up of the nutrition information on the assortment box is shown below:

Choclatique uses white labels as shown above to apply nutritional information and for bulk pack product identification. As you can see from the image below, Joan uses a wide variety of sizes in both the gold and white labels to supply the information she needs to apply to all her food packagings:

Joan states, “Due to the number of sku’s we have in our line, the flexibility of your labels is great. We can easily:

• Replenish supply when needed on the assortment labels and include a production date for each different production run
• Make changes on the fly to our nutritional labels when there are ingredient changes from suppliers
• Create new sizes of offerings when needed from 1# ballotins to 8-oz. bags to 3-oz. samples

“We also use the labels to help organize the bulk pack product inventory and for creating easy-to-read labels for use at trade shows.”

Thanks, Joan, for a wonderful recommendation, especially from such a wonderful company. Choclatique is a privately owned, super-premium chocolate company founded in 2003 by Ed Engoron and Joan Vieweger. Hand-crafted in their Southern California Chocolate Studios by professional artists and chocolatiers, Choclatique provides over 200 *Authentically American premium chocolate confections, from traditional to whimsical, to secretly savor or share with those you love. Choclatique assortments are available high-end boutiques, 5-star hotels and clubs and online at www.choclatique.com. Be sure to visit the blog, too, at http://www.choclatique.com/blog/!

*Choclatique’s procurement policy is to buy sustainable, American-made and sourced products. All of their confections are made in their Southern California Chocolate Studios. They are proud to support the United States economy.

by Marla Bosworth

Have you been dreaming about starting your own soap making business, but aren’t sure where to start? While launching your own company is not entirely difficult, it does take time and thoughtful preparation in order to create a successful business. This white paper is intended to provide you with a general overview of important steps required.

I started my soap business, Back Porch Soap Company, in 1998. Over the years and after much hard work, my company now sells to more than 200 wholesale accounts. I also sell retail via my website and upscale retail shows. In addition, I teach soap making, bath and body workshops, and business classes. I’ve made many costly mistakes along the way — especially in the beginning stages — which I will share with you in hopes of preventing them from happening to you.

At this point maybe you’ve considered making soap or perhaps you’ve been making soap for friends and family. That is how I started too. What kind of honest feedback are you getting about your product? Consider their ideas and inputs, but remember that the focus of your business is ultimately your own decision. One of the mistakes I made in the beginning was to take advice from too many people. It’s easy to say “Oh, I can create baby products for customer number one and pet products for customer number two.” Before you know it, you will have spread yourself too thin, lost your focus and racked up your credit cards. The best advice I can give for starting out is slow down, do your research, and plan your business. When you have your focus, then you can start buying more supplies and ingredients.

Let’s take a look at some essential guidelines.

Determining If This Business is Right For You
Are you the Entrepreneurial Type? Don’t Quit Your Day Job…Yet.

Building a part-time or full-time business takes time. It also takes money. So don’t quit your day job yet. Roll up your sleeves and be prepared to work on this new venture when you are not at your full-time job — evenings, weekends, whatever it takes. This is a great first indicator whether you have the passion and drive to be an entrepreneur.

Owning and running a soap business is not for the faint of heart. You will need a fire in your belly, resistance to failure (because it will come knocking at one point or another), undying enthusiasm for your products and business, and a driving passion. Again, you must be ready to dedicate most of your free time to this business to get it off the ground.

Some of the key qualities for a great entrepreneur are creativeness, a vision, confidence, can-do attitude, fearlessness, business savviness, and the ability to be a world-class multitasker. After all, you are going to be creative director, computer specialist, customer service rep, shipping agent extraordinaire, chief bottle-washer and janitor all wrapped into one (or at least until you have the funds to hire someone for these respective positions). You must be able to spot and seize opportunity and be open to changes in the marketplace.

Every successful entrepreneur I know is passionately obsessed about their business. They are constantly brainstorming — at various times of the day – ideas about ways to improve their business whether it be marketing, new products development and possible joint ventures or leveraging with other businesses. Is this you? Then read on!

Finding Your Niche
There’s a lot of soap out there. How are you going be different?

Have you noticed that there is a lot of handmade soap on in the U.S. market? I mean a ton. Just go to Etsy’s website and search for handmade soap. At last check, there were 311 pages with 21 listings per page. That’s 6531 bars of soap for sale!

You’ve got to set yourself apart. The best way to find a niche? Put yourself in your customer’s seat. Do some online market research to track trends. Is your niche market on the upswing in terms of growth? Or has it peaked? These are all questions to ask before you hit the pavement with your product offerings.

You’ll want to study your niche market to analyze potential product offers. Visit or call your nearest city librarian for great research tips. Most libraries provide free access to valuable databases which will allow you to search for market forecasts on retail markets, including personal care.

Some current niche markets include wedding favors, monogrammed or personalized soaps, organic, baby, tweens, male, and novelty soaps. Once you determine your niche, you can begin to develop your specific soaps and source ingredients, packaging and labels. You’ll want to test your products before launching them. Then test market to your potential customers by participating in retail shows where your particular client shops. Get feedback and suggestions. Once you are getting rave reviews take your product to market on a larger scale.

Ingredients and Supplies
Shop and Compare: Price, Quality and Customer Service

I have several suggestions as to where to purchase your supplies, depending on the size of the company you are about to launch. If you are certain that you will sell $2000 a week ($104,000 annually), go directly to the manufacturer if possible, especially with essential oils and fragrance oils. One of my favorite places to find manufacturers is Thomas Register (www.thomasnet.com). If your company is smaller, reply on reputable online suppliers whose names come up on the first page of Google.

If you are a cold process soapmaker, two of my favorite places to purchase plant oils are www.bulknaturaloils.com and www.soaperschoice.com. Both companies sell high-quality products at very reasonable prices.

Melt and pour soapmakers should head over to www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com. I’ve been purchasing my glycerin base from Debbie May for 12 years. You will love the quality. She also carries a wide variety of products which makes her site one-stop shopping headquarters and in addition offers various shipping arrangements.

There are a number of places to buy molds on the internet. Check out www.milkywaymolds.com, www.moldmarket.com, www.soapequipment.com, as well as chocolate or candy mold websites. For cold process soapmakers, check out www.forcraftssake.com, www.southernsoapers.com, www.uplandsoapfactory.com. Be sure to buy a cutter as well, it will save you a lot of time trying to evenly cut your soap and having them the same size.

When it comes to packaging your soaps there are many solutions. Most melt and pour soaps are best wrapped tightly with plastic wrap or shrinkwrap to prevent moisture or “sweating”. Cold process soaps are beautiful sold “naked”, wrapped in fabric or paper, as well as boxed. Fabric and handmade paper sources are plentiful. Boxes can be found on most soap making supplier’s websites.

A good rule of thumb in your initial months of operation is to buy only what you are going to use for one or two months. Invest in an inventory program such as Quickbooks or Soapmaker Software (the latter is available at www.soapmaker.ca) to help in your production planning and to eliminate overstocked supply waste.

When purchasing molds, splurge for high-quality ones that meet your needs. When I first began soapmaking, I went through numerous cold process molds, unhappy with one after another. Many of them had 30-day money back guarantees and I took full advantage of shopping around and finding the molds that fit my needs.

The same holds true for melt and pour molds. You’ll want pliable and flexible molds that can withstand soap after soap being released from it. Test, test, test. There were many times when I invested in molds before testing them, and added the soaps to my wholesale catalog only to find out that mass production with them became a nightmare.

Plan ahead with your molds and visualize your production process. How many soaps can you pour at a time? If you are using melt and pour molds do they line up on the tables so that you can pour 50-100 at a time? If you are a cold process soapmaker, consider investing in several high-quality loaf molds with built-in cutters that hold 14 lbs. or more.

Remember, molds can be your best friend or your enemy! It is key to produce in quantity. Your time is equal to money. Become an efficiency machine. You’re going to need extra time between producing to dedicate to marketing and selling.

Pricing and Profit Margins
Don’t undersell yourself.

Price your products so that you are making a profit — and keep in mind what your market will bear. Many new soap makers sell themselves short and later close up shop because their goal is to be the cheapest on the market. “Surely someone will buy my soaps if they are inexpensive.” I thought this when I first started my company too. Do not make this mistake. You deserve to get paid for your time – and you MUST factor your time into cost.

While traveling, I recently paid $7.00 for a 4 oz. bar of cold process handmade goat’s milk soap in a Wyoming garden shop. Now that’s a decent markup.

There is a perceived value in soap that is higher priced. When I see a $3 or $4 retail bar of soap my mind immediately thinks that it must not be worth purchasing. But for the higher priced bar, like the one I bought in Wyoming, I thought, “Wow, this must be handmade with care and high quality.” It was incredibly moisturizing, simply yet lovingly packaged, and it was worth every penny!

Keep in mind that if you are going to be wholesaling your soaps, that price will be half of your retail cost. Don’t expect to sell your soaps at craft fairs for $4 a bar, and expect a retailer to wholesale from you for $3. I sell most of my bar soaps for $6 retail, $3 wholesale. At retail shows I might offer a special, say $6 each or four for $20. Three out of four customers will go for the deal, and I’m happier with a $20 in my hand!

Let’s take a look at your markup or profit margins. This is what I take into account to determine my prices. Cost of goods include your ingredients, whether it’s plant oils, melt and pour base, essential or fragrance oils, additives and packaging. Remember to calculate the shipping you’ve paid on your cost of goods into the equation as well. Then add labor (even if you aren’t paying someone initially, you need to plan for this and also pay yourself). You may also want to add your overhead (rent, insurance, electricity, equipment, etc.).

Cost of Goods + Shipping + Labor + Overhead x 2 = Wholesale Price

• Example: $0.70 per bar COG + $0.10 Shipping + Labor/bar $0.50 + Overhead $0.15 = $2.90/bar. So wholesale for $3.00/bar.

Wholesale Price x 2 = Retail Price

This is when it gets profitable! So you’re already making money by selling your soaps wholesale, but when you sell retail the profits add up even more.

It is important to know your market and know your competition. Determine what your market will bear. Then take a look at your competitors. What are they missing in their offering, if anything? Is it something you can capitalize on? If you decide to be target the higher end of your market, be ready to defend your prices to your retail and wholesale customers. This can be as simple as educating them on the benefits of your soap or special ingredients or visually convincing (via knock-out packaging) your potential customers that your product is upscale and worth the price difference.

Naming Your Company
Make It Memorable

It’s your brand. And you’re going to live with it day in and day out. You’re going to say it over and over again in person and on the phone. Make sure you really love it.

Is it available? Check out the trademark website to ensure that the company name has not been taken by someone else. Go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark office at www.uspto.gov. Complete a new search to confirm that your name is available. This is crucial in your planning process for two reasons. First, you do not want to be slapped with a Cease and Desist or lawsuit for using someone else’s trademarked company name.

Second, it is a complete waste of marketing money to put time and effort into a name to lose it years down the road.

Once you determine that your business name is available through the U.S. Patent and Trademark office, check to see if the website address has been taken. This can easily be checked through a site such as GoDaddy.com. I recommend sites that end in .com instead of .net or .us.

Your name should reflect your line of products. It should be catchy, memorable and marketable. Your name does not have to include the word “soap”. You can always add “soap” to your tagline or slogan.

Sales Channels
Where Oh Where Will You Sell?

There are several sales channels for selling your soaps. If you are just beginning, start with your family and friends. When I first started I gave away a lot of soaps. I held a spring open house at invited my friends and neighbors over to test my products. I wanted clear and honest feedback on my recipes. Were the soaps moisturizing? Were they long-lasting? Did they like the fragrances? What didn’t they like and what would they recommend?

Retail Sales

Potential retail channels include art and craft shows, farmer’s markets, home parties, and the internet just to name a few. Corporate and hospital venues can be great exposure for your products. I travelled around the New England area for eight years selling at such locations. At least here in New England there is very little competition selling in this channel. Most businesses and hospitals ask for 20 percent of your daily sales or charge a flat daily fee. I found this to be an effective way to build my brand by educating customers, making sales, networking and referring business over time to web sales.

You must have attractive displays, set prices, business cards or fliers to spread your information, Be ready to educate your customers. Do not assume they know the benefits of using handmade soap.

One of the best tips for successful retail sales where you have the pleasure of meeting your customers one-on-one is to stand and sell with passion. Take sincere interest in your customers and keep your focus on them and their skincare needs. Tell and show them how your products will benefit them.

Offer quantity pricing such as $6 each or four soaps for $20 to increase your sales. Remember to cross-sale with lip balms, scrubs and lotions. Suggestive selling works!

I highly recommend accepting credit cards. At least 20 percent of my retail show sales were credit card sales and most of them averaged $80. There are many reputable credit card processors, just ask other business owners you may know for a personal referral.

Remember to collect sales and use tax for your respective state.

Wholesale

When it comes to wholesaling, I could write a book! There is so much to say, but much of what you will learn will come from experience.

There are a few key points that I do want to touch upon to guide you into successful wholesaling. You must do your homework and be prepared. As a previous store owner, it can be painful to see a new artist enter your store and try to sell you wholesale for the first time without having done their research. Visit your potential wholesale account first and see if you can envision your soap on their shelves. Call ahead and arrange a time to meet with the store buyer. Be gracious and understand that oftentimes these store owners work long, hard hours and deal with many people on a daily basis trying to sell them something. Don’t drop in on a store owner unannounced and expect them to meet with you.

Understand wholesale pricing and terms. Then design and print out copies to hand out to potentially interested parties. Information on wholesaling should include minimum opening order (the minimum amount a retailer must spend to write an order with you). Currently my minimum is $300. For me, this immediately weeds out serious buyers. Also, consider that you’ll want retailers to carry a good selection of your products otherwise they will become “lost” in the store. For me, a $300 minimum assures the store owner that my line will have a strong and visible presence and will have a better chance of being sold. If you sell a store a few bars they will linger in the store and then the owner may turn around and tell you that they never sold. And perhaps they didn’t sell, but it was due to low visibility. Good retailers understand this concept. Set your wholesale opening order for at least $100.

Your wholesale sell sheet should include some quality pictures of your products, with wholesale pricing next to each one. Remember, wholesale is half of the retail price. If you are selling your retail soaps at $6, then you will be wholesaling them for $3. Each of your products should also have a minimum. Most companies sell in dozens. This is a good idea for several reasons. What you don’t want is stores ordering two lemongrass soaps, three lavender, and so on. This is a time killer and you’ll be spinning your wheels for the desperate act of selling a few bars. Raise your minimums and you’ll raise your bottom line!

In regards to consignment (placing your soaps in a store under contract and being paid as they sell) I do not recommend it. There is low incentive for store owners to sell consignment products (they haven’t paid for them upfront as they do in wholesale) and in my experience it often results in low sales, as well as over-handled and damaged products. I my earlier years I attempted consigning, but it was never worth the hassle to me.

Writing Your Business Plan
Put Your Ideas on Paper. Get It Out of Your Head. It Doesn’t Have to Be Perfect.

Detailed strategic planning is essential to a successful business. This is often challenging for creative entrepreneurs. I know that it is for me. If it helps, find a mentor. This can be through the Small Business Association, or a successful business owner who is willing to take you under their wings to meet on a monthly basis for feedback and guidance.

It may help you to take a business plan writing class. This is what I did and I found it very helpful. Most classes give you deadlines in various stages throughout the planning and writing process. This enables you to get your business plan finished in segments. You’ll want to pay close attention to your business market analysis, competitive analysis and strategy in particular.

Once you’ve completed your plan, review it every three months and see if your business needs to be redirected in any way.

The Legal Grunt Work
Business Insurance, City and State Business License, Trademarking

Business product liability insurance is a must if you are selling your soaps. Check out insurance offered through HSMG www.hsmg.org and Indie Beauty www.indiebeauty.com (see Resources below).

Each city and state requirements are different. Check with your local town office for business license requirements. They will have information or be able to point you in the right direction to acquire your state business license.

As mentioned under establishing your business name, you’ll want to confirm that the trademark for your company is available, and purchase it immediately. I’ve heard many stories of business owners who “saved” money by putting off buying a $325 trademark, investing thousands in marketing and sales of their business name, only to turn around a few years later and spend thousands of dollars in a lawsuit to save their name from someone trying to purchase the trademark.

Lastly, open a business checking account. Keep your income and expenses separate from personal spending. Use Quickbooks weekly to see where you are with income.

Setting Up Shop: Studio/Work Space vs. Renting
Creating Your Own Workspace. Basement, Studio or Spare Room?

Keep your overhead low and don’t rent if you can avoid it — at least not initially. I worked out of my home for several years before an opportunity to open a retail store presented itself to me. Working from outside your home has its advantages and disadvantages. For advantages, it’s wonderful to get the clutter, paperwork, etc. out of the house. When you close the door to your store, you can call it a day. A disadvantage to a retail store, besides the overhead, is that it requires your constant attention from 9 to 5. Ask yourself if you are in love with the idea of owning a store or if the day-in, day-out demands are something you really want to do.

Working from a home studio as its advantages and disadvantages too. If you have children, working at home is a great way to have a flexible lifestyle. I can take an hour or two break in the middle of the day to see my daughter’s soccer game, then make up those two hours at night or the next day. This won’t be the case if you have a retail store and are your company’s only employee. I liken a retail store to having another small child: someone always has to be tending to it. Working from home also gives you the advantage of taking home writeoffs such as home office and other partial deductions including heat, electricity, home repairs and such. Talk with your accountant for more tax information.

Wherever you set up shop, you’ll need plenty of table space, a large sink, shelves or baker’s racks and soap making equipment. A used restaurant supply store can be a gold mine when it comes to finding baker’s racks and stainless steel tables. The racks are a great place to let your cold process soaps cure, or to simply store your glycerin soaps. They free up your table space (which I find I can never have too much!). One of my favorite pieces of soap equipment is a double jacketed wax melter that holds 200 lbs. of melt and pour base. If you are looking at making large quantities of melt and pour soap, this is the way to go. I make cold process soap in 15 lb. batches, and a deep stainless steel pot that you can find at a discount store works fine. As you increase the size of your batches, consider some of the equipment sold at www.soapequipment.com or www.candlewic.com.

Labelling and the FDA
What You Need to Know

There are two ways to label your soaps: you can create your own or have someone create them for you. I have been printing my own labels for 12 years. My customers comment that they like the handmade look. It’s easy for me to make changes and there is very little up-front investment. Many label companies require runs of 500 and up per SKU (stockkeeping unit) or fragrance.

A reliable resource for labels is Worldlabel (www.worldlabel.com). I use standard white recycled address labels for the front and back of my bar soaps. There are many other varieties available for inkjet and laser printers in kraft, clear, waterproof, pastels and more (found here: http://www.worldlabel.com/Pages/wl-ol875.htm). There are many more sizes besides the address label ones that I use including full sheet labels, circles, ovals, rectangles and more.

When labeling, it is essential to employ FDA label requirements. Legally you must list the quantity of contents, in terms of weight. An identity statement indicating the nature and use of the product, a common name, an illustration or a descriptive name must be used. It is important not to make any medical or promising claims on your labels.

The following information must appear on an information label: name and place of business (or “manufactured for…”, warning and caution statements if necessary, and ingredients.)

Marketing & Sales
Just as Important as Making Soap

Your marketing and sales initiatives rank just as high as your soapmaking efforts. They work hand-in-hand. Successful marketing and sales results allow you to make more soap and around and around it goes.

Business cards are a must and can be custom designed rather inexpensively at www.printmadeeasy.com This is my favorite place for printing promotional postcards as well as business cards.

If your website launch is a few months or years away, at least grab an account on Twitter under your business name as well as a Facebook fan page and a blog. Go to your local library and find a book on internet marketing or hire someone to do it for you if it fits in your budget.

A good website with a shopping cart and credit card processing will run you anywhere from $1200-3000. If you’re going to do it, do it right and hire a professional marketer that is will give you honest feedback and great designs. Try a site like www.guru.com or www.99designs.com to find a reasonably priced web designer. Read up on the importance of keywords and Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and see if they will do this as part of your web design. It is crucial to getting traffic to your site. Remember, just because you launch a website doesn’t mean that people are going to find it online.

Attend local business networking events. You never know who you are going to meet. Networking is about being friendly and promoting your business simultaneously and genuinely. It’s no fun meeting someone who is “all business.”

Another way to network is with other soapmakers. I’ve made a lot of new friends through industry associations. In addition to the new friendships, I’ve received a lot of referral business from colleagues who pass along a customer who is looking for a product that I carry. Check out www.indiebeauty.com and www.hsmg.org for support and networking.

Lastly, create a customer list. Keep them updated on your company news, events, specials, and more through an email marketing campaign such as www.mailchimp.com or www.constantcontact.com

Conclusion
Go Ahead, Take Your First Step.

As fun as it is to make soaps, building a business takes research and calculated planning. You can launch a business with as little as a few hundred dollars. It is important to find your niche — you must sell more than just a bar of soap.

Set your prices accordingly. Don’t be the cheapest soap in town.Remember to avoid impulsive spending online. Only buy what you need and in small quantities initially.

Then get a few craft fairs or home shows under your belt and test market your niche to your target customers. Don’t undersell yourself — there is a perceived higher quality for higher priced goods.

Ask yourself how distinctive your products are to your customers. And frequently put yourself in your customers shoes. Would you buy your own products if someone else were selling them? How do your customers tell the difference between you and your competition? Promote the benefits of your products. Set weekly, monthly and annual income and sales goals.

There are many other details to setting up a soap making business, but this is a a good start. My hope is that I answered some of your questions and gave you guidelines and confidence to get your business started.

Recommended Resource List

Small Business Resources

• Small Business Association http://www.sba.gov/
• SCORE http://www.score.org/index.html

Soap Labels

• World Label www.worldlabel.com

Soap Molds

• Milky Way Molds www.milkywaymolds.com
• Mold Market www.moldmarket.com
• Soap Equipment www.soapequipment.com
• Scott Crew Enterprises www.scottcrewcandlesupply.com

Glycerin Soap Base and Many Other Supplies

• Wholesale Supplies Plus www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com
• From Nature With Love www.fromnaturewithlove.com

Plant Oils

• Columbus Foods www.soaperschoice.com
• Jedwards International www.bulknaturaloils.com

Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils

• Essential Oil University www.essentialoils.org
• Southern Soapers www.southernsoapers.com
• Brambleberry www.brambleberry.com
• Sweetcakes www.sweetcakes.com
• Bittercreek Candles www.bittercreekcandle.com

Soap Making Classes, One-on-One Soap Business Consulting

• Marla BosworthBack Porch Soap Company www.backporchsoap.com or follow me at www.twitter.com/backporchsoap

Soap Equipment/Melters

• www.candlewic.com
• www.soapequipment.com

Industry Associations (networking and business insurance)

• HSMG ($480/yr. includes 1M liability insurance and membership)www.hsmg.org
• Indie Beauty ($545/yr. includes 1M liability insurance and membership) www.indiebeauty.com

Other resources:

• Soap and Candle Making at About.com
• Saponifier Magazine
• The Soap Guild
• History of Soap

If you want to print this article, you can do so by downloading the PDF file.

by Marla Bosworth
Founder & Owner
www.backporchsoap.com
781.934.8100

Visit Worldlabel.com for all your labels

Alan Jackson’s PostScript::MailLabels is a Perl utility to automate production of high-quality label layouts. it is designed to be useful to Perl scripters, who can easily incorporate high-quality PostScript output into their scripts, but the scripts included in the base package are, themselves, an easy-to-use set of command-line tools for label printing. Best of all, the package provides printer calibration and alignment tools.

INSTALLATION

PostScript::MailLabels is available through two routes — you can download the package as a bundle from Jackson’s site, or you can have Perl automatically fetch it for you from the Comprehensive Perl Archive Network (CPAN).

The latest version on Jackson’s site is 2.30 (CPAN’s may be slightly behind, but is from the same major release version and incorporates the same features). To install, download and unpack the .tar.gz archive on your system. From a command line, switch to the unpacked directory and type perl Makefile.PL, followed by make to build the installable package.

At this point, you can optionally run make test, which will have PostScript::MailLabels generate some test pages — useful the first time you install, but not required. Finally, sudo make install will install the package system-wide.

“PostScript::MailLabels can produce two calibration aids, one that allows you to measure the printable area of the page (left), and one that lets you test X- and Y-alignment (right).”

To fetch PostScript::MailLabels from CPAN, just type perl -MCPAN -e 'install PostScript::MailLabels', and Perl will take care of the rest. CPAN support is common to the vast majority of Linux distributions, but you should check to see if your distro’s package is installed, just to be sure.

HOW IT WORKS

Because PostScript::MailLabels is a Perl module, not a standalone script, it can only be used inside of other Perl scripts. Fortunately, Jackson provides a few demonstration scripts that will let even the complete Perl novice get started easily printing labels.

In practical usage, PostScript::MailLabels lets you define a label set by the dimensions of the paper and label sheet (including the standard Avery and Dymo product codes), the address format you wish to use (which is completely flexible, suitable for home and business use, in any country, and supports postal bar codes), and font. In addition, you can specify adjustments to account for the printable area and alignment of your printer.

For example, a label setup in your script could be as simple as

$labels -> labelsetup(
            Avery       => $labels->averycode(5160),
            PaperSize   => 'letter',
            Font        => 'Helvetica',
            );

You set up the address layout line-by-line, such as

$labels->definelabel(0,'attentionline',);
$labels->definelabel(1,'firmname',);
$labels->definelabel(2,'deliveryaddress',);
$labels->definelabel(3,'city','state','zip',);
$labels->definelabel(4,'country',);

Each of the fields requires a simple definition including its name, the component “type” (name, road, place, or bar), whether the field can be trimmed for length to fit onto the label, the field’s index number in the input array, and the font to use (possibly overriding the default). For example,

$labels->editcomponent('attentionline','name','no', 0, 'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('firmname','name','no', 1, 'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('deliveryaddress','road','yes',2,'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('city','name', 'no',  3, 'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('state','name','no', 4, 'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('zip','place', 'yes', 5, 'Helvetica');
$labels->editcomponent('country','name','no', 6, 'Helvetica');

Note in these two examples that the city, state, and zip fields appear on different lines in the input array, but that PostScript::MailLabels lets us place them all on the same line of the address label layout. The component “type” is important because PostScript::MailLabels attempts to automatically trim extra-long lines to fit, and uses different strategies depending on the data type. ‘name’ fields get their first name abbreviated to initials first, while ‘road’ fields get suffixes like “Road” and “Street” excised first.

“PostScript::MailLabels’s demo output, showcasing the tool’s ability to produce postal barcodes, as well as to save paper by starting in the middle of a previously-used sheet of labels.”

Adjustments to the printing settings border widths for the printable area of the page (Printable_Left, Printable_Right, Printable_Top, and Printable_Bot), specifications for where the labels begin on the page (Output_Left, Output_Top, etc), and shifts that can be applied to the entire generated output (X_Adjust and Y_Adjust).

Finally, $output = $labels->makelabels(\@addrs); produces the output. By default, the file is named labelsheet.ps, and you can print it directly on any PostScript printer.

TAKING  PostScript::MailLabels FOR A TEST SPIN

If you are not a Perl hacker, assembling a script from scratch might sound a bit daunting. Jackson has complete documentation of PostScript::MailLabels on his site, including the full options for layout and font handling, working with Avery and Dymo codes, postal barcodes, and more. Just as good is that he provides code for a test program that both explains the options and produces helpful reference output.

You can copy-and-save the code posted under the example heading as example.pl, and run it from the command line. In addition to the PostScript sample defined in the script, it will write several output lines to the terminal. These include a list of the defined address components, a sample of the defined layout, a list of the fonts available on the system, a list of the acceptable paper sizes, a list of the known Avery template types, and the widths of various test strings (including zip codes and bar codes, because fitting them to the label is so critical to proper delivery).

For a simpler, more straightforward usage scenario, look at the demonstration scripts in the package’s /demo/ directory. Even if you are new to Perl, these demo scripts will let you get started with easy modifications to learn the ropes.

In particular, take a look at std_business.pl, which prints addresses on standard letter-sized paper. The __DATA__ section at the end of the script holds a “virtual” data file of sample addresses, including a mix of different name and addressing options, in the United States and abroad. Running perl std_business.pl will produce a PostScript output file called labeltest.ps based on this data. You can run the script as-is to get a feel for what it does, after which modifying it for your own data, label definitions, and layout may be an easier path to customization than writing a script from scratch.

As you make your own modifications, though, don’t overlook two very important options: starting in the middle of a label sheet, and running the test output to calibrate your layout.

The FirstLabel directive tells PostScript:MailLabels where on the grid of labels you have defined to print the first entry (starting from the top left); you use this to begin printing on a sheet where some of the labels have already been printed. Just add the line FirstLabel => 4 (or whichever the appropriate number) to your labelsetup parameters.

You run the test output by calling $output = $labels->labelcalibration; and $output = $labels->labeltest; instead of $labels->makelabels. The first will create a PostScript page of the appropriate side with a set of calibrated X and Y axes at the center and extending to the edges of the page — you can use it to precisely measure the printable dimensions of your page. The second will generate a blank “template” page with outlines marking where the labels should be; you can hold this up next to a sheet of real labels to test for proper alignment before printing.

If you like Perl, you’ll want to dig into PostScript::MailLabels to uncover even more of what it can do. But even if you’re new to Perl, the easy to use syntax and support options make it a breeze to pick up.

BY NATHAN WILLIS

Other Resource:

• glabels
• LabelNation
• GimpLabels
• Kbarcode
• Openoffice.org Label Templates for Writer

Visit Worldlabel.com for all your labels

Yumitea takes advantages of labels by applying a well-designed label on a tin container or brown paper Kraft bag. This  label is designed with an area for another label to be applied to it. This  label describes the contents and is made out of a clear label material.

Did you know that relaxing with a few cups of green tea each day will make you healthier? Highly antioxidant, green tea promotes variety of health benefits. Yumitea offers a selection of quality Japanese green teas that are aromatic and rich in flavor.

Yumitea using a Clear Label to describe package content

Worldlabel offers all sizes of labels in many colors and transparent as well as in inkjet and laser printables. You might try using Yumitea’s idea and print your own labels with a transparent one on top for a variety of uses. While Yumitea uses this idea for products, you can use this idea for cards, for place settings or for invitations.

Inkscape 0.47 by Nathan Willis – Totally solid release with lots of new cool tools and functions

The free open source vector graphics editor Inkscape has released an update packing several new features, new tools, effects, and improved SVG compliance. Version 0.47 is available for Mac OS X, Linux, and Windows, as well as source code. Ubuntu users can also add the Inkscape Testers package archive to automatically upgrade.

Insckape ScreenShot

TOOLS

Inkscape users will immediately notice one new tool added to the toolbox: an eraser. The eraser can do two things: delete entire objects (paths, shapes, etc.), or erase parts of objects by cutting through them with a Boolean “subtract” operation, slicing the paths it encounters.

The Pen and Pencil tools have gained some new features, including a polyline mode to draw multiple line segments together, a paraxial mode to draw lines restricted to the coordinate axes, a sketch mode that averages multiple strokes together, and support for vector-based “stroke shapes” to enable the user to draw tapered, natural-looking lines.

Inkscape’s new Eraser tool slices through paths with a boolean subtract operation

The Tweak tool has been expanded, so that it can now “sculpt” whole objects in addition to nodes on a path — pushing them around like a brush, attracting or repelling them around the mouse cursor, and applying jitter, rotation, and blur.

The Text tool sports several editing improvements. The first is a built-in spell checker, sure to be a lifesaver to many. The second is support for common text-editor keystrokes like page-up and page-down, which will make editing text-heavy documents easier.

Finally, the Node tool can now be used to edit masks and clipping paths, in addition to regular paths. A new type of node, “auto-smooth” allows you to create shapes that automatically smooth out as they are edited.

EFFECTS

Several new path effects add more creative options. “Sketch” transforms an object into the appearance of hand-drawn lines. “Hatches” simulates shading with hatching marks. “Von Kotch” creates fractals. “Knot” turns a simple curve into simulated knotwork by hiding curve intersections. “Construct Grid” creates a grid system based on three nodes (origin point, x- and y-axis markers). “Envelope Deformation” allows you to deform an object by directly manipulating the sides of its bounding box. “Ruler” draws regular, ruler-like marks onto a path. “Interpolate Subpaths” automatically creates a series of paths morphing between a start shape and an end shape.

Demonstration of Inkscape’s new “sketch” and “hatches” path effects; both are highly configurable: the settings for “hatches” are shown

The most talked-about new effect, though is Spiro Splines. Based on mathematical work by Raph Levien, splines are a new type of path that behave like springy metal rods, automatically smoothing to minimum curvature between their nodes. There are no control point “handles” as with Bezier curves. Spiro Splines can be created with a path effect, or with a new spiro spline mode for the Pen and Pencil tools.

Also, an important change system-wide is that all path effects can now be applied to groups, not just to individual paths, and to individual faces in 3-D boxes. Multiple path effects can be assigned to objects, and path effects now work with the Pen and Pencil tools (i.e., the effect is still applied as you continue to add to the drawing).

EXTENTIONS

“Extensions” is a new menu item holding Inkscape plug-ins written in Python — in previous releases, these extensions resided in the “Effects” menu, which provided some confusion with path effects.

New extensions include utilities to generate 3D polyhedra, Cartesian and Polar Coordinate grids, horizontal and vertical guides dividing the canvas into segments, blank calendar pages, and even paper-box foldouts.

Some other interesting additions include the “Alphabet soup” extension, which creates randomized letter-like glyphs resembling unusual alphabets, “Convert to Braille,” which generates dot patterns (2D images only; not raised Braille) from text, and “Draw from Triangle,” which creates geometric objects and performs geometry calculations based on triangles.

Some of Inkscape’s new extensions and drawing modes, including “Alphabet Soup,” “Convert to Braille,” “Polar Coordinates,” and “Foldable Box.” On the left are paths created with the Pen tool’s paraxial mode and spiro spline mode

Other extension utilities add path extrusion, path scattering, interpolation of object attributes, and complex re-stacking. A JavaScript extension allows you to embed JavaScript attributes in a drawing, which will be useful for SVGs exported to the Web. Inkscape does not contain a JavaScript interpreting engine, however; it only preserves the JavaScript for export.

SVG SUPPORT

Several improvements were made to Inkscape’s ongoing implementation of the full SVG specification. First is file-size reduction by optimizing the CSS properties and path data written to file — for example, if an object has the “stroke:none” property specified, Inkscape can skip the inclusion of numerous stroke property settings that would take up needless space.

Inkscape also preserves the (script) tag, although as with JavaScript, the application itself does not yet implement SVG scripting. Inkscape also supports the W3C’s official SVG Test Suite, so you can run compliance checks for any SVG features you are curious about.

This release also adds support for reading and rendering SVG Fonts, so that font designers can use Inkscape as a font design tool. This feature was added by a student working with Inkscape as part of Google’s Summer Of Code internship program.

EDITING

Many new changes involve the user interface and enhancements to the editing behavior — starting with a new timed auto-save feature that prevents work loss by automatically saving documents in the background.

Improvements to working with grouped objects include changes to the “Combine” and “Convert Text to Path” operations. Combine now works on groups of paths as well as on individuals. “Convert Text to Path” now generates a group of paths (one created from each letter), instead of the previous behavior — a single path composed of all of the letters. Cloning objects is also improved; it is now possible to re-link clones that had previously been de-linked from their originals. A new visualization highlights cloned objects when the original is selected.

Snapping behavior has seen a major overhaul. The UI displays a small “cross” visualization when a snap is about to occur (giving the user warning), there is an option delay setting to require a hover time before snapping (to avert accidental snaps), and Inkscape can be configured to only snap at the node nearest to the mouse pointer (to simplify snapping drawings that include a large number of nodes). Snapping can also take place not just to path nodes and guides, but to masks, clipping paths, intersections, page borders, midpoints, handle points, and other locations. The new snapping behavior is configurable through a new snapping toolbar.

Inkscape’s rewritten snapping feature includes visual indicators, adjustable delay, and a snapping toolbar from which individual snap points can be activated or deactivated

In addition to those changes, there are numerous small enhancements for general editing, such as use of the system-wide clipboard, a shell mode that enables Inkscape to be called from scripts, more configurable guide-lines, the ability to edit linked-in bitmap images in an external editor, and completely themable icons, thanks to the adoption of the freedesktop.org icon theme standard.

All in all, 0.47 marks yet another solid release from the cross-platform, free vector editor.

BY NATHAN WILLIS

Other Resources:

Inkscape Tutorials

Plugins, Scripts and templates

Inkscape Wiki – documentation, about and more.

Planet Inkscape - what the Inkscape community is blogging about

Inkscape Wikipedia Page

Openclipart.org excellent free Clip Art in SVG. (Worldlabel sponsors Clip art of the Month)

Our Worldlabel howto on designing  Business cards with Inkscape

Pixel2Life Inkscape Tutorials

35 Great Inkscape Howtos

Specs: These full page sheet templates are downloaded as cross-platform PDF files, which are application independent. They will work on Mac OSX, Linux, Windows, Solaris and other operating systems. There can be compatibility issues among different PDF Readers. For optimum performance and full use of all functions, we recommend you download for free Adobe PDF Reader version 9.

Fonts: If you want to change the font type, size or color, (as well as bold, italics, etc.) select Control +E if you’re using a PC or Apple + E on a Mac. A toolbar will appear giving you additional text properties. Select “More” in the font properties toolbar for paragraph alignment and more.

Autofill | Different Info

Autofill | Different Info

Autofill | Different Info

Autofill | Different Info

Autofill | Different Info

From Suzee Que Flickr photostream taged labels “Free to Use only, For your Art only, For your personal use only, not for Sale on a CD or Collage Sheet”.

Label with form field Highlighted

Label with text added > ready for printing

A very special thanks to  Suzee Que for making these great vintage labels designs available.  Please visit her photosteam at Flickr and check out some of her great artwork.

Specs: These full page sheet templates are downloaded as cross-platform PDF files, which are application independent. They will work on Mac OSX, Linux, Windows, Solaris and other operating systems. There can be compatibility issues among different PDF Readers. For optimum performance and full use of all functions, we recommend you download for free Adobe PDF Reader version 9.

Fonts: If you want to change the font type, size or color, (as well as bold, italics, etc.) select Control +E if you’re using a PC or Apple + E on a Mac. A toolbar will appear giving you additional text properties. Select “More” in the font properties toolbar for paragraph alignment and more.

Tips: Printer settings vary from user to user. To test your label layout, first print the labels on plain paper and trace over the label sheet to test for alignment. One solution to alignment problems: select “More” in the font properties toolbar > then paragraph. Also, please make sure the highlight tab is on.

Sizes: Our WL-125, same size as Avery® 5162 or our  WL-150, same size as Avery® 5164

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-150, 4 x 3.33″, 6 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-150, 4 x 3.33″, 6 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-150, 4 x 3.33″, 6 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-150, 4 x 3.33″, 6 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

Download Different Info | Download Autofill (Use WL-125, 4 x 2″ label, 10 labels per sheet)

“Free to Use”, For your Art only, For your personal use only,  not for Sale on a CD or Collage Sheet”

Once again, a very special thanks to  Suzee Que for making these great vintage labels designs available.  Please visit her photosteam at Flickr and check out some of here great art work.

Visit Worldlabel.com for all your labels

Specs: This full page sheet template in PDF is cross-platform and application independent. They will work on Mac OSX, Linux, Windows, Solaris and other operating systems. There can be compatibility issues among different PDF Readers. For optimum performance and full use of all functions, we recommend you download for free Adobe PDF Reader version 9.

Fonts: If you want to change the font type, size or color, (as well as bold, italics, etc.) select Control +E if you’re using a PC or Apple + E on a Mac. A toolbar will appear giving you additional text properties. Select “More” in the font properties toolbar for paragraph alignment and more.

DOWNLOAD THE FULL SHEET LABEL TEMPLATE / NOTEPAD

FOR USE AS A NOTEPAD

For all types of functions including a typewriter, sticky notes and more go to Tools > comments and markups. for typewriter > Tools > Typewriter > show typewriter toolbar.

FOR USE AS A TEMPLATE FOR FULL SHEET LABELS

Full sheet labels is one of the most popular size labels. There uses are widespread from drum labels, shipping labels to book covers, warning signs and any thing else one can think of or need. They are usually sold in a matte white paper with a permanent adhesive. Full sheet labels are also available with a removable adhesive, in colors, clear, waterproof for laser and inkjet printing, silver and gold foils, glossy materials and more. Our pricing for 100 sheets of full sheet labels in white matt is $10.45. As the quantity increases the price keeps getting lower and lower.

Our name badge labels (same size as Avery® 5395) in Matt White Paper is designed to be run through laser printers, inkjet printers and copy machines. Name badge labels are  white uncoated labels that utilize a premium face stock and provides a striking foundation for a clearer, sharper image. We use a specialized acrylic adhesive that is formulated not leave residue. But even better, we have glossy, clear, color and even gold and silver foil materials to help you enhance the beauty of your name badge. Maybe the event is outside, and if that is the case, we have weatherproof / Waterproof materials also.

Of course there is always a moment you in a hurry to make your own name badge labels. The simplest way is by using our fillable PDF templates, either in Autofill with same information, or inserting different information.

How to use PDF Fillable Label Templates:

Specs: These labels in PDF are cross-platform and application independent. They will work on Mac OSX, Linux, Windows, Solaris and other operating systems. There can be compatibility issues among different PDF Readers. For optimum performance and full use of all functions, we recommend you download for free Adobe PDF Reader version 9.

Fonts: If you want to change the font type, size or color, (as well as bold, italics, etc.) select Control +E if you’re using a PC or Apple + E on a Mac. A toolbar will appear giving you additional text properties. Select “More” in the font properties toolbar for paragraph alignment and more.

DOWNLOAD AUTOFILL | DOWNLOAD DIFFERENT INFO

Other Templates for name badges:

Openoffice.org name badge template

• MS Word Template
• PDF Template
• EPS Template