Out to Sea - Reconstructed

The Out to Sea saga continues... OK, so I made some soap called Out to Sea. Those of you who follow closely might remember it.

The salt melted (disaster). I decided that I liked the good part too much to give up. I thought about it...and thought about it...and I thought of a solution. I still wanted it to look like a day out to sea. So I decided to scrape off the salt the best I could. There was still a little salt where it went down in the soap, but most of the surface on the top was scraped down to the soap. I had to do this gently because the salt literally disintegrated into a fine powder. This picture was kind of dark because I took it with only my kitchen light on, so although the soap looks like it is solid aqua, it still has that nice variation of color.

I piped on some soap, let it sit a bit and used a skewer to fashion some wavelike peaks of soap. This is what I ended up with. I think I might be happier with this than the original soap!

So moral of the story (which I have learned many times in my life): when it seems like things are hopeless, never give up! :) Ok, it probably wasn't quite as dramatic as all that, but I'm happy anyway.

I also made this one this weekend.  This FO decided to accelerate on me big time.  I wasn't sure about the turnout until I cut it this morning., but the soap fairies decided to help me out a bit I think.

Moonlight Pomegranate

Musical inspiration

I'm not ashamed...I like to dance around while I'm soaping (OK, not during the crucial parts). My kids think that I am a little weird, and I often will hear one or more of them say, "MOM!!" when I get particularly into it (hey, I didn't say I dance well, just that I like to dance ;)). These are a couple bands that I have been in love with lately.

I had the absolute pleasure of seeing The Head and the Heart perform in Las Vegas when I went to see Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds.  They blew me away, and I have been hooked ever since.




My other favorite right now is Mumford and Sons. There is nothing about this band I don't like. They are intense, their lyrics are phenomenal, and the instrumentals are unworldly. Heaven...



Music like this inspires my creativity.  It is like food for my brain.  It motivates me.

What have you been listening to lately that inspires you?

Cherry Blossom, oh how I love you!

Just a quick post with some pictures of my Cherry Blossom soap.  I love this FO.  If you remember, this is one of the Bramble Berry fragrances I tested as part of the S.O.A.P. panel.  It is fresh, powdery, yet not overpowering.  It is a dream to soap with too.  I could go on and on. Anyway, here are a few of my product pictures.  I listed this soap today along with Rose Petal and Meyer Lemon.

Cherry Blossom

Find this soap here

Cherry Blossom Soap Square

Frustrations, New colors, and Photos

I have to start by saying that I am seriously bummed.  Remember the Out to Sea soap that I posted last time? It definitely took a turn for the worse.  I have started spraying my soap with alcohol right after I pour it and while it is setting up to prevent soda ash.  I did it to this soap as well not thinking anything of it, and it made the dead sea salt on top melt right off! I guess I should have thought about this ahead of time. So, I am going to have to do some creative thinking and hopefully come up with an idea that will save the tops of my soap (luckily the soap part is fine).  I haven't come up with anything yet, but I am going to have to let go of my original vision first. :(  I am really sad because I really loved how it turned out.  Well, live and learn!

Bye, bye salt!! :(

In the meantime, I have been working of a couple other soaps.  I just got some neon colorants from Bramble Berry, and I couldn't wait to experiment!  For the first soap, I decided to go all out and use almost all of them.  It was just too hard to resist.  This was a really fun one.  I am thinking of a good name for it.  It has to be something fun.

Neon Soap (No name yet) 

I also made a new gardenia soap. I wanted it to have a bit of interest (I like to do something other than just white), so I held back some soap (I knew this FO was an accelerator) to do a cool design on top.  This was coconut milk soap, I added a little TD to the white so it would be really white, and for some reason it was a little crumbly when I tried to cut it.  I think it might be the TD that caused this, but I'm not sure.  I left part of it to cut later.  Maybe a little more time to set up (fingers crossed)?  It is still fine, just a little rustic on the bottom. Oh well (sigh)...

Gardenia

I am listing these two soaps this week. Rose Petal and Meyer Lemon.  Meyer Lemon has been popular already and I have sold quite a bit already.  I do have to say that this is the best lemon scent I have ever smelled in a bath product.  It is sweet, yet still lemony, without any of that Pledge scent that I like to stay away from. The Rose Petal is such a delicate, fresh rose.  It really is very lovely. I had fun photographing these soaps this week, and I have been having a bit of fun editing my pictures as well.

Meyer Lemon

Rose Petal

Look for these last two soaps in my Etsy shop later in the week. :)

What's New

I feel like I am being a bit redundant by posting here and my Facebook page, but I won't pass up any chance to talk about soap, so here I am.  I have been making a lot of soap lately in anticipation of the markets and craft/art shows of the summer, but I've been having a bit of trouble finding places that are the right fit for my products, that don't require $20 in gas to drive there, etc., so I'm a bit disappointed in the season so far.  I will definitely put out the word when I end up somewhere though.

Over the weekend, I made the "Out to Sea" Soap and Orange Grove.  They both smell incredible.  I so often wish that there was a way to transmit scent over the internet.  Ah, maybe someday...

Out to Sea

Orange Grove

I also took pictures of and listed the Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake Soaps in my Etsy shop.  Again, these smell so delicious.  I think I see an actual lemon cake in my immediate future.  I am partial to anything lemon, and I am so happy to have found a lemon scent that doesn't smell like wood cleaner.  They make me smile.  Since I have been getting more orders for mini cupcakes for wedding and baby showers, I need to come up with some new flavors, so I'll be making more soon.

Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcake

Mini Lemon Poppy Seed Cupcakes

I also just received my neon colorant sample pack (and some green and pink glitter!) in my Bramble Berry order this week, so stay tuned for some bright and crazy soap.  I am doing some serious planning for this one. However it turns out, it's going to be fun! :)

Yea! Soap for me!

Last week I entered a contest by Soapy Joes and won!  She sent me some very lovely soap and a lip balm.  I feel that making soap is kind of like cooking food.  It's nice to make your own, but it is even nicer when someone else makes it!  Although the contest was last week, I had to wait to open my soapy goodness because we had a nasty flu going around my house.  I didn't want to smell anything.  I am so glad I waited because when I opened up this soap, it smelled divine!  The first soap is called "Greek Isle Soap."  It is such a clean and fresh scent, which I really enjoy.  The second is "Mandarin Myrrh Soap."  If I had to pick a favorite out of the two, this would be it.  The scent is herbal yet very clean smelling with an underlying citrus note.  Love, love, love.  I really cannot wait to try these soaps. The lip balm, "Chocolate Orange Truffle," smells and tastes just as it sounds.  All the yummy chocolate taste with zero calories.  Yum!

A big thank you to Amber from Soapy Joes!

On a different note, I have put up a new listing in my Etsy shop for a pound of soap.  I find that I always have several bars of soap with each batch that are a little under weight, so I decided to create a listing for a "grab bag" of these soaps.  I choose the type of soap, but each one will have 5 different soaps and equal at least 16 oz. (but likely more).  They are all wrapped up and labeled just like my regular soaps.  Find this listing here.

Pound of Soap

I will be making more soap tomorrow.  Pictures to follow.