Georgia O'Keeffe Inspired Soap

 


     In February I went to NYC to go to the Westminster dog show, and while there went to some museums. We went to the Museum of Modern arts and the Whitney (where I took a ton of pictures) and while going through I found inspiration. It is a Georgia O'Keeffe oil on canvas painting at the Whitney but I cannot remember the name (If you know it comment below). It reminds me of an abstract river type thing.

     First decision was the scent, being a river painting I chose a water type fragrance, Aqua Spa (at .5oz ppo) from wholesale supplies plus. When I added it to the soap  it formed white spots in the batter which turned brown innthe cured bars. Then colors, I used the four main colors of the painting, off white, dark blue, light blue, and teal. Finally was how to pull off the design, it is hard to explain when I can upload the video and you can actually see what I did I the explanation confusing.

1. 1/4 tsp shimmering sea foam mica + 1/8 tsp cambridge blue mica (1 cup)
2. 1/4 tsp cambridge blue mica (1 cup)
3. 1/4 tsp peacock blue mica +1/8 tsp petunia mica + 1/816 tsp espresso black mica (2 cup)

    OK here it goes...
     First off is the soap was at a medium to thick trace but mor on the thicker side. First I tilted the mold and added the uncolored batter so it just came to the elevated end. Then came the colors, I added a touch of teal to the shallow end and then probably added an thick layer (1/8-1/4 inch) of  dark blue and the same amount of light blue on top. Then  while still tilted I added a thick white layer, but making sure a bit of the color was still showing on the shallow end. Then I  set my soap down on a level serface and repeated the colors making sure the two colored layers touch on one side. THEn I made sure to add white to one side (the side that was the shallow side) and then added some dark blue to the top of that and covered the whole thing with white. I piled the left over colors on top, which I eventually cut off. Hope this helps?!   and I will hopefully get the video up soon!

** video added on 5/14/14**

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Orange Sapphire Soap

     Recently I have been on a soaping spree but haven't gotten around to sharing with you because of videos... Where I live we have satellite internet (sooo close to fios but it stops a mile from my house) this means we have only get certain amount of data we can use a day. This means no uploading (or watching) youtube unless we don't want to use the internet for 24 hours. So since I can only upload when visiting my sister in town I have decided that I will just post the soaps and upload videos in mass. When I can and I will put them all into one post when they are up + add the videos to the proper post!

     Back to soap! Ever since I got the scent Orange Sapphire (from WSP) I have had the design in my head, orange balls surounded by a sapphire base (I am so creative...).  So when I made a bunch of embeds I including three different sized orange balls that was needed for this soap. Then in order to make it look more orange-like I dusted the embeds with orange mica, while this is a pretty technique it is SO messy I swear there was orange mica on me for days. The soap was super easy though, a one color soap at thick trace and putting some balls here and there, how much easier could it get?

     The final notes are that this fragrance soaped great at .5 oz per pound of oil, to achieve the blue I used 3/4 tsp sapphire mica, 1/4 tsp ultramarine blue, and 1/8 tsp espresso martini mica. And as a bonus with the added 20 or so ounces of soap oranges I was able to fill up both of my two pound loaf molds!

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

***UPDATED to add video!***

Lavender Crazy

     They say diamonds are a girl's best friend, but lavender is a close second! Lavender is on of my favorite things, I love the flower, the flavor (lavender lemon goat cheese *yum*), and of course the smell! It is a fresh, green, herbal, and floral, year round scent plus it comes as an all natural essential oil. There for it is only natural to put it into all different kinds of products.

    I finally made some lavender EO cold process soap which I haven't done in forever (since my first ever batch!). Knowing lavender goes fairly slow I wanted to do a fun design. I ended up going for layers with a picture of a lavender plant made with squeeze bottles... It did not go well the stems are to thick, the buds awkward looking. So out of 9 bars I have one pretty one but thats how it goes, not every batch goes perfectly.

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A few notes on the soap-

-.75 oz ppo of Lavender 40/42

colors used were....  

1. violet mica (both  flower buds and first layer of base)

2. golden jade mica (green portion of base)

3. shimmering sea foam mica (stems)

     Some key benefits of lavender essential oil (according to aromatherapy) include its relaxing and calming abilities. When I come home from a long day I get in my tub with a lavender bath bomb to take advantage of it relaxing effect, plus it also helps relieve some headaches that come from the fore mentioned crazy day!

A few notes on the bath bombs-

-5mL of Lavender 40/42 for 1lb of mix

-mixed into the base are calendula petals and lavender buds

-It is colored with lilac La Bomb (from Bramble Berry)

     Finally since both of these don't let the scent stick very well I make a lavender whipped body butter! Soon I will try to make lotion but preservitives and microbes scare me :O.  I use my whipped body butter every night on my hands, legs, and feet (feet followed by socks to keep all the moisture in).

     A few notes on body butter-

- colored with violet mica

-scented with 10 mL of lavender 40/42 for 22oz of base

- label made by me on word, stuck on with clear packing tape (it's water proof ;) )

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

PS visit my youtube channel for a mica haul!

Great Soap Seize of 2014: Soap Crafting Club Part III

    February  was the last instalment of the Soap crafting club and was for the first time I was one of the first people to make it. Well that wasn't the best idea.... in fact I almost didn't write this post about(one reason why it is so late).  I also have a video on making it so if you really want to see in comment below and I will upload the soapy disaster!

   I started out by dividing the batter (which was at a super thin trace) in to five containers. I then added  the colors and scent at the same time, and after I finished the 3rd or fourth color I noticed that the first could be mixed in better. When I went to stir it it was thick like worst e then your average floral thick. I tried to whisk them down and they only got grainy. As quickly as possible I plopped down the five different colors of batter just praying for minimal air bubbles. Finally I added glitter to the top instead of my instead of my beautifully swirled top.

     After around an hour or so I went to check on my soap and not only was it extremely hot but there was an oil slick on top of loaf. then after three hours I was able to unmold, and at 12 hours it was cuttable. When I cut the loaf it was full of air pockets, filled with oil, but not caustic so I am not sure what was seeping out but I think it is fragrance oil.

     I went to the soap crafting private message board and posted my results, which someone else also had the same issues. Every time I visited the board more and more people trickles in with the same results. Only a few people did not have a botched batch and the used a different FO then the club provided us. Bramble Berry soon swooped in and found out their manufacturer had a faulty batch of Black cherry FO. Ann-marie (CEO of bramble berry)  made a soap with the black cherry from the same batch as the ones we received and it also seized on her! She even noted that this batch had a more chemically aroma then the normal black cherry. BB promptly sent out an email telling every one who had not made the soap to not use the FO and offered every one either, a new black cherry(from a different well-behaved batch), a whole new replacement February kit for those who had made it, and a $25 gift certificate to BB. Even though I did make the soap I went for the $25 gift card since this design wasn't my favorite any why plus I didn't like the FO (even though it may smell different when mad right). All in all it was a learning experience for all who made it and since the FO was deemed still skin safe we are able to use our ugly bars!

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!


**UPDATED to add video**