Want to easily add an extra touch to your soap? Try embossing your soap with a stamp. Right after the bars are cut, the smooth, even surfaces are in perfect condition for simple and beautiful ways to embellish your creations.

Half-and-Half Vanilla Deluxe
This rich, creamy soap is a luxurious delight. Special Edition Vanilla from Sweetcakes not only makes the soap smell incredibly delicious, it also colors the soap a warm vanilla-bean brown.

Ingredients | Yields approximately 24 ounces

• 10 ounces olive oil
• 6 ounces coconut oil
• 6 ounces half-and-half, frozen
• 2.25 ounces lye
• 2 teaspoons Sweetcakes Special Edition Vanilla fragrance oil or your favorite rich vanilla fragrance oil
• 1 tablespoon castor oil

1. Combine the olive oil and coconut oil in a glass, heatproof 4-cup measure. Melt in microwave or over boiling water. (Do not overheat, as it takes oils longer to cool than the lye solution. You will be combining the lye and oils at a very low temperature.)

2. Place the half-and-half in a wide, deep tempered glass or stainless steel mixing bowl. (The idea is to keep the mixture shallow.) Break up the frozen chunks so the half-and-half is slushy but not melted.

3. Sprinkle the lye very slowly and carefully over the slushy half-and-half, stirring constantly. (As you stir, the mixture will become bright, pale yellow. If you add the lye too fast or don't stir as you go, you could end up with an overheated brown curdled mess.)

4. Check the temperature of the half-and-half and lye solution. Let the oils cool to the same temperature. When the temperatures match, pour the lye solution in a thin stream into the oils. Stir constantly until the mixture traces — about 10 to 20 minutes. (If you use an immersion blender, take care not to whip air into the mixture.)

5. When the soap batter traces, add the fragrance oil. (It will not turn the soap brown immediately.) Add the castor oil. Pour the batter into the mold, taking care to scrape all the traced soap out of the cup. Cover the mold with plastic wrap. Place the mold on a towel and fold the extra over the mold to keep it warm. Cover this recipe very lightly, or not at all if the weather is warm. You want it to go through the gel phase, but you don't want it to get too hot.

6. Let sit for 2 days. And then unmold. Using a stainless steel knife, cut the soap log into bars. Place them on a brown paper bag to dry. Turn them daily to be sure they dry evenly. With milk soap, be sure to check for the smell of ammonia. It is normal to have a little bit of an ammonia smell, but if it doesn't go away in a week, it probably isn't going to.

7. In 4 weeks, your soap will be mild and quite firm and ready to use.

Mommy and Me
If you are nursing, you can make an incredible soap for your baby's skin. The lactic acid helps clear up rashes and helps keep skin soft. Making this soap for a nursing friend is a beautiful gift to her and her baby. Mommy and Daddy can use it too, of course.

Ingredients | Yields approximately 24 ounces

• 10 ounces olive oil
• 6 ounces coconut oil
• 6 ounces breast milk, frozen
• 2.25 ounces lye
• ¼ teaspoon lavender essential oil (optional)
• ¼ teaspoon Roman chamomile essential oil (optional)
• 1 tablespoon castor oil

1. Combine the olive oil and coconut oil in a glass, heatproof 4-cup measure. Melt in microwave or over boiling water. (Do not overheat, as it takes oils longer to cool than the lye solution. You will be combining the lye and oils at a very low temperature.)

2. Place the breast milk in a wide, deep tempered glass or stainless steel mixing bowl. (The idea is to keep the mixture shallow.) Break up the frozen chunks so the breast milk is slushy but not melted.

3. Sprinkle the lye very slowly and carefully over the slushy breast milk, stirring constantly. (As you stir, the mixture will become bright, very pale yellow. If you add the lye too fast or don't stir as you go, you could end up with an overheated brown curdled mess.)

4. Check the temperature of the breast milk and lye solution. Let the oils cool to the same temperature. When the temperatures match, pour the lye solution in a thin stream into the oils. Stir constantly until the mixture traces — about 10 to 20 minutes. (If you use an immersion blender, take care not to whip air into the mixture.)

5. When the soap batter traces, add the lavender essential oil and chamomile essential oil, if you have decided to use them. Add the castor oil and stir well. Pour into the mold, taking care to scrape all the traced soap out of the cup.

6. Cover the mold with plastic wrap. Place the mold on a towel and fold the extra over the mold to keep it warm. (Cover this recipe very lightly, or not at all if the weather is warm. You want it to go through the gel phase, but you don't want it to get too hot.) Let sit for 2 days and then unmold.

7. Using a stainless steel knife, cut the soap log into bars. Place them on a brown paper bag to dry. Turn them daily to be sure they dry evenly. With milk soap, be sure to check for the smell of ammonia. It is normal to have a little bit of an ammonia smell, but if it doesn't go away in a week, it probably isn't going to.

8. In 4 weeks, your soap will be mild and quite firm and ready to use.

Embossing

Even though we use tools called stamps when we leave an impression on a bar of soap, we are embossing it. To stamp would be to simply use the stamp to apply color.

You can add a design element with specially designed soap stamps, certain rubber stamps and leather stamps, or you can easily make your own, personalized stamp using polymer clays. You need to do this step soon after cutting, depending on the hardness of the bar.

Besides the stamp impression — the embossing — itself, you can further embellish your soap design by dipping the stamp in mica or soap paint before placing it on the surface of the soap. Besides being decorative, it is very helpful in getting the stamp to release from soft sticky soap. The design will wash away with use, but it doesn't take away from the initial impact of a further realization of your creativity.

Some stamps allow you to leave just mica on the surface, with no embossed indentation. You can also use stamps to enhance your soap-casting creations, making them even more beautiful. Trial and error is your best teacher, like so much of soapmaking.

Soap Stamps

Catherine Failor provides outstanding tools for the soapmaker. Accompanying her range of molds are her soap stamps — small designs affixed to a wooden block handle. As with her molds, Failor sculpts the original design, which is then mass-produced. Designs include botanicals, shells, and symbols. Depending on the firmness of your soap, you can press the stamps in by hand or use a mallet to put the design into the surface of the soap.

It is very possible to find rubber stamps and leather stamps that will work for embossing soap. You want to look for designs that are simple and have bold lines. The depth of the stamp is important, too. It needs to be able to penetrate the surface of the soap enough to leave an impression. When using metal stamps, the soap must be neutral of course, and as with all stamps, you need to clean the stamp of soap residue as it may eventually decay the stamp and shorten its useful life.

It is a violation of copyright to use another artists' work without permission. If you have a beautiful ring or pendant from an artist, it is illegal and unkind to reproduce it. It is particularly bad to sell something you've made in that way.

You can get customized stamps in a number of ways. Soap Impressions is a small company that will create a soap stamp from your own art. They also have premade letter sets and a few designs.

Making Stamps with Polymer Clay

Making your own custom stamp is easier than you probably think. You make a “negative” mold and use that to make the stamp from hard-baking polymer clay. You can create a built-in handle or glue the stamp shape onto a wooden handle. You take that shape and use it to stamp your soap. If you've worked with polymer clay, you have probably used molds called “push molds,” and this is a custom version of that kind of mold.

Making the negative is essentially the same as making soap molds. The main difference between making a mold for soap and making a mold to make a stamp is that with a stamp you want the impression to be shallow, whereas for a mold you want the impression to be deep. For your stamp, choose an object that is shallow and of a size that will fit well on the surface of your soap bars. Here's what you need to make the stamp:

• Flexible mold-making polymer clay

• Water spray

• Small decorative object to make into a mold, such as an earring, pendant, shell, or stone

• Foil

• Baking sheet

• Polymer clay

• Rubber stamps

• Medium grit sandpaper

• Epoxy

• Small block of wood

There are many specialty tools for working with polymer clay, and some are specifically oriented for the appearance of the final object. As you are making a tool rather than a decorative object, you don't need to be concerned with the aesthetics of your finished stamp in the same way you would be if the final project were jewelry. However, if you are the kind of artisan who likes her tools to be as exquisite as her products, go ahead and make the most aesthetically pleasing soap stamps in the world! The caution is to not spend all your creative juice on making the stamp and never use it on soap.

Each brand of polymer clay is different. Where directions differ between these directions and those that came with the clay, follow directions for the variety of polymer clay you choose.

Decide on the image you want to stamp onto your soap. As with so many things in soapmaking your choices are virtually endless. For a place to start, think in terms of themes. Seasons, events, holidays, and hobbies hold many ideas for images.

Objects with a shallow depth — approximately ⅛ inch — are ideal. If you use objects that make too deep an imprint, the stamp will displace too much soap and distort the bar and the image.

Before you start, prepare your workspace, gather all materials, and preheat the oven to the temperature designated in the instructions for the clay you are using.

1. Work the flexible polymer clay with your hands to make it pliable. Make a tablet shape: flat on the bottom and on the top with a large enough surface area for the design and deep enough to take the full impression.

2. Lightly spritz the surface of the object with water and wipe off drips. (The fine coating of water will help release the object from the clay.)

3. Push the object into the clay and remove it quickly. If the impression is good, use it. If the impression is unclear, re-form the tablet and try again. The clay will get softer and warmer the more you work it with your hands, so let it cool for better results. You can use one tablet for a few small impressions if you like. When using multiple items on one tablet, be sure to allow room for the clay to move and spread between images without distortion.

4. Place the foil on the baking sheet, then put the mold on the foil. Bake the flexible mold clay as directed on the package (generally, at 275°F for ten minutes per quarter inch of thickness). When baked, cool on a heatproof-surface.

5. Once the master mold is cool, you can make your stamp. Work the regular polymer clay to condition it. Spray the mold with a fine mist of water — the film of water and the flexible nature of the mold making polymer clay will make it quite easy to remove the shape. Push it into the mold, making sure to get the clay into each detail. You can make a handle for the stamp by pushing more clay into the mold than is needed to fill it. Work the extra into a little handle shape.

6. Flex the mold and gently work it out of the shape.

7. Bake the shapes as directed (generally, at 275°F for ten minutes per quarter inch of thickness).

8. After baking, remove the shapes and let cool. If needed, smooth rough edges and smooth the flat back with medium grit sandpaper if you're going to attach it to a wooden handle. You may have better success in stamping soft soap if you make a handle as part of the shape.

9. Use epoxy to affix the stamp shape to a small piece of wood to use as a handle. If you stamp soap when it's hard, you may need to be able to hit it with a mallet, so make sure the handle you choose will stand up to it.

For a beautiful decorative touch, before you use the stamp on your soap, dip the stamp in mica, tap off any excess, and press the stamp into the soap. It will leave both the impression and a sparkle.

Polymer clay stamps will adhere to or release from your soap depending on the formula, the age of the soap, and other factors including humidity and temperature in the workspace. If your stamp isn't releasing easily, you may need to brush the stamp with oil, nonstick cooking spray, or a silicone release agent such as cyclomethicone. Do what works.

Be sure to clean your stamps after use. And don't be shy about displaying them; they are beautiful works of art.