Pretty little Cupcakes

#Riverlea Soap

We are now selling at Ruby Orchard

Ruby Orchard is the most amazingly beautiful shop in a little town called Howick in the Natal Midlands. They sell a wide range of goodies from tables to ceramics and soap of course.

Pop in some time. You will not be sorry.

I recently met with Hannah, the owner of Ruby Orchard to discuss a range of soaps for the store.

See what they had to say here about the soaps

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Secret Feather Swirl

I have long admired this technique so I thought I would try it out. I clearly need to practice more at it.

This is definitely not as easy as it looks.

You can see my attempt at the Secret Feather Swirl on YouTube.

I used Aqua Pearl Mica, Blue Mica and Titanium Di Oxide

 

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Soap Cutters - a comparison between Rose and Mega Rose Cutter

      

Today I am comparing the two soap cutters I got from Rose.

You can see both posts about the cutters here and here.

	Rose Cutter	Mega Rose Cutter
Made from:	Wood	Wood
Size:LxHxB	47x11x35	28x23x24 + extension but this is removable
Strings used:	Plastic coated beading string, but wire can be used	Guitar or fishing wire
How easy is it to use?	Attached to a table top - very easy to use	Very easy to use
Changing wires:	If you use the beading string - very easy. The wire takes a bit of practise to get right so might be frustrating at first	Very easy
Log length you can cut:	26cm	Indefinite length
Rating out of 5	5	5

Here's what I had to say about both cutters: The Rose cutter works phenomenally well and I think if I had a dedicated space for it and it was anchored to a table it would be the best cutter around and not require too much energy. I love the fact that it is so compact and you can just slide it into a small space and it packs away neatly. It is restrictive, however, due to the fact that it can only cut a certain size log (but you can cut the log up into the correct size first which is what I do). This may put people off. All the same I love it.

The Mega Rose allows for flexibility and you can cut any size log as you can see in a video on YouTube. That log is 60cm x 9cm high.

I like the wire on the Mega rose. It works REALLY well. As for using wire on the Rose cutter, I am still on the fence. I do think that the bead string cuts VERY well and is easy to tie, the knots have very little slippage and the strings are easy to change. The wire knots are hard to tie (if you can tie wire) and there is a lot of slippage. You land up tightening it A LOT after every cut. But once the knot has stopped slipping the wire stays tight. I think that maybe my wire knots are too loose and I should be twisting the wire tighter. I will keep practising and see what I come up with.

If I had to choose one it would be a very difficult decision. They both work equally well. The Mega Rose may take up more space on your work area but I think this one allows more flexibility as you do not have to cut up your logs first to fit the 26cm limitation of the Rose cutter.

Rose you are a genius and a Master wood crafter. Rose has VERY generously decided to send me plans for the Rose cutter which will be on my website soon. These will be free to everyone. If you decide to make it please take the time to send Rose 2 bars of soap. I will post her email address on the website. Please be kind enough to send her the soap as she has given her time willingly, it is the least you can do to show your thanks.

If you do not want to make the cutter yourself you can contact Rose and she will quote you to make and ship it to you. Find her email address here.

#Riverlea Soap