Soap Carving Can Be Complex - Or Not !

This is a guest post by Dr.Mani. Do read on as he shares his experience on soap carving.

For years, I never could imagine myself as a crafter, writer or artist.

Why?

Because I believed that to be good at it, one needed to have "tools of the trade".  Kits.  Guides.  Paraphernalia.  The works.

Only many years later, on a whim, I decided to try out soap carving - and discovered how wrong I was.  You don't need all the accessories - though they may make things easier.  What you DO need is interest/passion, and the drive to make do with what you have.

So, if soap carving is your thing, here's a simple 'how to' tutorial.

1. Choose Your Project

Soap carving comes with a built in constraint - the size of your bar of soap.

Deciding what to carve comes with the caveat that it must fit your 'canvas'.  Choosing the right project is often tricky.  Seeing what others have done can help spark some ideas. 

I remembered a college friend of mine who carved a hand trying to grasp something.  So I first decided to try carving a hand, too.

2. Find The Right Bar of Soap

Soap varies in color, texture and smell.  If you're like me, you'll hate working for an hour or longer on heavily scented soaps! 

And some colors will match your project better.  Pink Lux makes for prettier roses.  Red Lifebuoy is great to carve a heart.  And translucent Pears is wonderful for idols of a favorite God or Goddess.

3. Assemble Your (Simple) Toolkit

That shouldn't be scary or daunting.  I started with a simple kitchen knife and a screwdriver (with one extra attachment, a pointed needle-like end). 

The knife I used for grossly shaping the soap cake.  The screwdriver is employed in gouging out areas that must be chipped off.  The pointy-end attachment is for fine work.

A real soap carving artist, fellow Chennai Crafter Chitra Mandanna (you ought to look at her portfolio of soap carvings, it's awesome! ) uses a surgical scalpel for soap carving.  You can buy one from any surgical store, and blades aren't expensive at all.

4. Get Started

It's often tempting to hold back, hesitate and wait until you're sure things will work.  Art or craft rarely works that way. 

You start.  Try something.  End up unhappy with the result.  (See this picture of my first few ventures and you'll agree!)

Get ideas to improve it.  Repeat the process.  Become better.

And after a few attempts, you just might end up with something magical, cool and (dare I say it?) even popular, appealing and worth selling.

Regardless of reaching that point, the act of putting your vision and dream into more tangible form is fulfilling and soul-warming... so give soap carving a try.  You can get started with what's in your home right now!

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This is a guest post by Dr.Mani, a pediatric heat surgeon, writer and a hobbyist crafter. He blogs at Moneypowerwisdom.com . You can reach him at saydrmani@gmail.com and on his Facebook Page.

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