Spring has Sprung.... Easter Soap Time!

     Spring is officially here and finally feels like it too! Sadly not for long though we may have snow here Tuesday :(. So while in the springy mood I whipped up some Easter soap I have been planing for a while. Before the reveal just close your eyes and imagine a colorful easter egg resting on plush green grass, and you will see what I was going for.

     Now how to pull it off.... A while back I decided to decorate cakes anf got all the fancy piping tips and the whole mess of tools. Hidden in the pile of baking supplies was wilton tip #233 AKA the grass tip! Next up for this soap was an egg mold, after looking extensive I found the perfect mold at Joanne's (also made by Wilton) and also cute rabbit and flower molds to boot!

     I made some melt and pour eggs, bunnies, and flowers in multiple colors to put on to of my cold process soap. I dusted mica on some parts of the MP soaps for accents (don't pat attention to that awful orangey yellow bunny, he got trashed).

    The most important aspect of the soap is next, the colors, design, and scent. First off I scented the soap with cranberry fig, described as a fall scent but is bright, fruity, and springy to me, I may call it easter fig?  I colored with soap with micas, and did a simple ITPS (in the pot swirl) of yellow, pink, and purple as a base for my nice bright green grass. I will note that I used pink sparkle mica from Wholesale supplies plus and it faded so bad in my CP that after adding 2 more teaspoons of mica I finally added some neon pink to get a nice color.

1. Pink sparkle mica + tutti fruttie neon pink (neon pink no in the pink above) 
2. Purple rainbow mica
3. Yellow rainbow mica
4. Green rainbow mica

     I will also show you the colors mixed into un-soaponified soap to show you 1. how the green morphed in lye active soap(it did change to original color) and 2. how much the pink sparkle faded before I finally added the tutti frutti neon pink to brighten it back up.

     After I poured the swirled base into my slab mold I stick-blended the green to a thick trace anf put it into a piping bag with the grass tip. I piped the thick batter (should have waited longer though) over the whole surface, then added the M&P soaps on top.

Finally Rosie's dream Easter soap cut! ***insert dramatic drum roll***

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Moisturizing Avocado Bar: Winter Soap Crafting Cub Part II

     February's soap from the Soap crafting club (see posts on previous months' soaps here, here, and here) was a simple but fun design, what made this batch special is that it has pureed avocado to add some extra moisturizing power to this soap!

     Now onto my version of the soap, it was scented with wasabi fragrance oil (.7 oz per pound of oil). I did not expect to like it but when i opened the bottle I was pleasantly surprised, it is a very green, bright fragrance perfect for spring! A final note on this fragrance is it moved quickly as you will see in my video, but it is still workable for maybe an in the pot swirl, but I would suggest keeping it to either one color or some basic layers.

     Next up is my personal favourite part the colors! This was a simple layered batch with three colors, green, lime green, and yellow. while personally I do not like yellow oxide I think it is very fitting for an avocado bar since it is kind of like the color in the center of an avocado. Finally here are the colorants and how much I used for my 5 lb batch (each in 1 Tbs of a light oil).

complete with a puppy nose!

1. Yellow (two cups)-  1 tsp yellow oxide
2. lime green (four cups)- 1/2 tsp green chrome oxide + 1 tsp yellow oxide
3. Green (four cups)- 1 tsp green chrome oxide

     The reason we used only two cups of yellow is because that the layer doesn't go all the way across, instead it is dolloped right down the center like whipped cream, then texturized. If I do this soap again I might pipe the yellow down the center, wouldn't that be gorgeous?

     You will notice that these bars have crackles in them, these are called glycerin rivers and can be caused by many things such as over heating and sometimes when you use titanium dioxide, there are more thing that can cause it that i just cannot remember for the life of me. I am not sure what caused it in my soap but I am thinking it has something to do with the avocado and it overheating a bit from the sugars in it (if you think you know what caused it please comment below!!). I actually really like the look, it's like the crackled antique furniture.

(I also notices that Amy from Great Cakes Soapworks' version is also crackled, you can see hers here)

Viva La Juicy Drop Swirl

     The first perfume I ever got was on my first trip to New York City, we were at Bloomingdales and my grandmother bought me a bottle of Viva La Juicy that I was drooling over. So on my last FO buying spree at Wholesale Supplies Plus (15% off, who could resist?!?) I was pleasantly surprised to see a Viva La Juicy dupe! When I got my box in the mail this was the first bottle to sniff, along side the real thing of course... They smelt 95% identical!!! Obviously this was the first of that order to soap!

  

Viva La Juicy in the bottle

     

      After much thought I decided I would do a drop swirl with a twist. My colors were inspired by the perfume bottle, gold for the insignia, hot pink for the bow, and beige for the actual color of perfume. The twist was two mica veins, pink and gold, that I planned for the drop swirl to break through (it didn't). While it didn't work this time due to the batter being to thick I think I will try it again.

1.            1/4 tsp pink rainbow mica + 1/8 tsp tutti frutti neon pink

2.            1/2 tsp merlot gold mica

3.            1/4 tsp oriental beige

4.            1/2 tsp titanium dioxide

     Before the cut pics I present to you my first ever YouTube video!!! I still have some improvement on my video making skills AND need to say the right things (if you watch it you will notice I said in the pot swirl and not drop swirl on many an occasion)

    Finally I give to you the cut pictures of the Viva La Juicy drop swirl! It is not how I imagined but I will try again.

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!

Blackberry Sage Funnel Pour: Winter Soap Crafting Club Part I

  
      If you are a frequent visiter to my blog you might remember I participated in the Fall Soap Crafting Club(if you haven't you can see the posts here and here). I loved it! for the full down low on the club go to this post, but there are a few differences in this session then the last one 1. instead of the 2 pound wooden mold (with silicone liner) we received Bramble Berry's 5 lb sliding bottom wood mold (also with silicone liner), and 2. instead of being sent lye flakes and mixing the solution yourself, they sent us the pre-measured, premixed lye solution.

     January's soap was the Funnel pour method (page 79) in Soap Crafting. This was two firsts for me, my first 5lb batch and my first funnel pour! It is scented in Blackberry berry sage, which is amazing by the way, it has a fruity top note with a base note of sage that really anchors the fragrance. Its colors are grey, purple, green, brown and pink.
 
    After reaching a thin trace I seperating the unscented batter into 5 equal containers (2 cups each) I scented each container with .8 oz each of FO and colored with the following.

1. 1/4 tsp brown oxide + 1tsp titanium dioxide (mixed with 2 tsp sweet almond oil)
2. 1/8 tsp black Luster mica +1 tsp titanium dioxide (mixed with 2 tsp sweet almond oil)
3. 4 mL diluted Fuchsia LabColor
4. 6 mL diluted Easter Purple LabColor
5. 8 mL diluted Sage Mist LabColor

     Then after deciding the color order (I choose grey, purple, green, brown, then pink) you are going to pour each color (for 3-5 seconds each) into the funnel that is set up in the center of the mold, held in place by either a disposable cup or bowl with a hole cut in it. After pour alternating colors, until all the soap is gone, I swirled the top with a wooden skewer.

Thanks for stopping by and happy soaping!!!

   

I'm a Versatile Blogger Nominee!

I was so honored and surprised when I spotted my blog's name on Cee's blog (Oil & Butter) as one of her 15 nominees of the versatile blogger award that she also received. I am so grateful since Cee is the one who inspired me to start this little blog with her amazing posts! Cee also was one of the first bloggers to put me on their blog roll opening me up to even more visitors and followers.

Now down to business! The rules of being nominated are as follows:

VBA RULES: 

(Copied from versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com)

If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.

•               Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.

•               Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.

•               Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)

•               Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.

•                Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself.

Well of course I thanks Cee times a million not only for nominating me but for also the previously mentioned kicking off my blog by adding me to her blog roll (seriously I had like 40 views before she opened the door for me). I have already liked her blog but I will again, it is Oil & Butter and if you don’t already FOLLOW HER!!!! Her blog is one of the best you will come across. Now are my 15 nominees...

1. Point of Interest (best blog if you are learning to make lotion or are interested in it)
2. Jennifer's Handmade Soap
3. New England Handmade Artisan Soap
4. Midlife Farmwife
5. Soap and the Restless
6. Winberg Bathworks
7. Missouri River Soaps
8. I am Handmade
9. Berry Town Soaps
10. Modern Soap Making
11. Jenora Soaps
12. Soap up Your Life (written in dutch)
13. Petals Bath Boutique
14. I'd Lather be Soaping
15. Claudia's Welt

Now seven things you may not know about me

1.  I am the proud owner of an incontinent, tail-less puppy (long story....)
2. I suffer from chronic daily headaches
3. I live to sew and cook
4. I love making soap! (bet you didn't see that one coming?)
5. I am the youngest of three children
6. I am a third generation  'Rose'
7.  My family owns pigeons

Thanks for nominating me and thanks everyone for stopping by and happy soaping!!!!

Karma Soap

     Last month was my birthday and my mother got me a big Bramble Berry box filled with goodies! included in the box was a 9 bar unfinished birchwood mold and tons of new FO's including karma (type). Of course the first thing I wanted to do with my new slab mold was the Peacock swirl using Karma. I was so excited I even had plans for my first tutorial but alas it wasn't meant to be, Karma moves FAST!(as you can see in Westminster and Karma Soap Preview)

    Now onto the the soap. After scenting my 2 pound batch with 1oz of Karma I split it into 4 equal batches(this is the point I realized the peacock swirl was not happening). I colored these containers with the following colorants going clockwise starting with the orange;

•  1/4 tsp of mango madness neon orange + 5 drops of premixed ultramarine blue(to darken the neon orange)
• 1/4 tsp of hydrated green oxide
• 1/8 tsp of brown oxide
• 1/8 tsp of yellow oxide

(all mixed with 2 teaspoons of sweet almond oil)

Instead of the peacock swirl I did a simple layers with gold pencil line in between. I actually really like how it turned out!  It kind of reminds me of a sunset over the ocean! What does it reming you of? Comment below. 

Thanks for stopping by and happy Valentines Day!!!

Westminster and Karma Soap Preview

      Sorry I haven't posted in a while(for the 100th time in the blogs short history), but I have a little schedule for soaping and blogging. Hopefully in the next few weeks I should get blogging about once a week, but let's face it and say a week and a half to two weeks, but hoping for the former.

     The schedule will start after I get back from New York City (YAY!!). We are here for the famous Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show, and have been here since Friday. The reason the family is going is because my grandmother, Ellen Charles, owns and is very involved in the dog show world which lead her to be inducted into the AKC's hall of fame this year! Sadly this year none of her dogs won breed so you won't see any of her dogs in this years groups. Last year not only did two of her dogs win their respective breeds but also their groups! If you watched last years show and remember some of the dogs her's were the american foxhound, Jewel (Pandora's box),who is now retired and expecting pups, and the bichon, Honor, who is also now retired were in the Best is Show ring. To end my little brag on my grandmother I hope y'all watch Best in Show tomorrow and maybe you will see me in the stands ;).
  P.S. I will post doggie pics when I get home and edit them!

     Now moving on to soaps I will give you a little preview of the karma soap's colours. plus I have a hint on the design, it is NOT the beautiful peacock swirl I planned as you can see in the pictures of the batter and how thick it got.

Tune in to find out the design, pigments used, and the final result of the colours in the soaponified soap!

Thanks for Stopping by and happy soaping!!!!!!

    

Snowy South

     As you may have heard the east coast has been very snowy lately and of course as a soaper it gave me some inspiration. Just like my first ever batch of cold process it is made with snow, making me realize that my one-year soaping anniversary is just around the corner!!!!!! 

   

     This batch is scented with wholesale supplies plus's fresh snow (I wonder why?). I colored it with micas, and oxides which for the life of me I cannot remember the blends (which is why it is important to take notes!). As I said in a previous post Soaping up a Winter Wonderland this FO moves fast! I was going to do a drop swirl with the white to look like snow but it was already the consistency of a thick pudding and even plopping it in from a foot above it would not go down. I quickly pulled out my hanger to try to mix the white in a bit more and the rest is history...

Finally which version of Fresh Snow do you like best? Pin or comment your fave version.

Thanks for stoping by and watch out for a Karma dupe soap coming soon!