Color Splash

Fresh, clean Eucalyptus

Yet another new color that I purchased recently, this one is an oxide. I'm really liking it, I think  a splash of color really makes an ordinary batch of  Eucalyptus extra special. I am having so much fun playing with color. Playing with the new colors gives me a good idea how they will respond and exactly what color they really are in terms of cp.

Hand Balm Making

I spent the day today filling a somewhat generous order of hand balms. I don't really make them often and I had forgotten how much I love making them. I adore, and am somewhat addicted to the smell of beeswax. I love how it smells even better as it's slowly melting on the stove. I also love how hand balms are simple with just pure lovely ingredients that soothe and nurture your skin. I love the process of filling each small mold with the perfect gold elixir, letting them set and then popping them carefully out of their  molds, placing them in each cute little tin, cleaning the edges with care before applying lids-carefully labeling and then the final step of shrink wrapping each lovingly made little package. Ahhhh, so satisfying. 

I have 5 extra from a custom batch of Lemon Honey that I listed over on Etsy. Get them while they are hot... they won't last long.

Orange? Part Two

Yes, I know this is NOT orange, but it is the loveliest pale yellow ever. I think I have a crush on it. lol! As you know, I 've been on a quest for the perfect "happy orange" for a particular soap I have in mind. This was the first experimental batch with my Annatto infusion. I used it at a rate of 1% and instead got this perfect yellow-I know it's far from orange,but my what a beautiful color. Sometimes not getting the color you're after is part of the journey. I know there are a few factors here-I clearly need to up my dilution, my base is an inexpensive single oil base that is VERY white. Next time I will up the Annatto-going more by sight instead of percentage to see what happens. What rate of dilution do YOU use to get to "orange?"

Just A Small Batch

I just got in some new micas,and I'm experimenting with rate of usage. I tested one batch and completely lost the color, it seems different micas have a different rate at which they perform best-it pays to experiment a bit. This particular one is a bit darker in real life, pretty intense. I think it's one I'd like more as an accent than as the "body" of a soap-I think I would like it better if it were more pastel like perhaps. I'm looking for an "ocean" type color and I don't think this is it.

I love this little silicone mold from Bramble Berry it holds 1# of soap and being silicone the soap pops right out. Great mold for experimenting with new techniques and colors or for a small personal batch.

Soap Play

Do you ever play with your soap? I spent yesterday playing with an inexpensive single oil batch. I wanted to see what I could do with it. I swirled, wiped it away(like an etch a sketch) and re-swirled. I can't say I've ever really taken the time to do that. It's a really good exercise to learn the limits of soap even though as we know formula + additives will cause soap to behave differently in an unexpected way on occasion. It kept me entertained for the better part of 45 minutes - this was not a fast moving batch and I'm easily entertained. I worked it until it finally was too stiff to work and put it to bed.

Breaking In The Test Mold

Well, I couldn't stand it, I had to break in my new tester mold. What better batch to break it in with than a Olive Oil and Goat's Milk batch? Easy,simple and always in demand.

Originally, I was going to wait until some new mica colorants came in, but in the end I was pretty much having withdrawals. Feels so good to have made a batch of soap today.

My New Tester Mold

Little tester mold

Behold-my new tester slab mold. This little gem will make bars the actual size that I want to start making,but it's for a smallish batch so that I can see if an idea is workable before I make a larger batch. I like to do test runs often since I am reacquainting myself with color. Working with color has new challenges that I am working out the kinks on-so small batches are perfect. The plan is that this mold will be lined with mylar so that I won't have to cut paper each time.

Orange?

Annatto Seed Infusion

Annatto Infusion 24 hours later-(after a good shake)much more orangeyb and less translucent

 I moved the infusion to a much smaller jar-don't you love this little mason jar-it's perfect!

I did a bit of asking around about the best way to get a nice happy orange. Orange is not an easy color to obtain if you don't use an artificial means. I have used Carrots in the past and gotten a very nice orange only to have it fade into a muddy darkish orange. I feel like most of the natural options will fade to some extent-that's just the nature of the beast I guess. Anyway, one of the examples I saw along my research journey was infused Annatto seed-it was a lovely happy orange, so I decided to give it whirl. Annatto Seed is often used in Mexican and Caribbean food to impart a rich yellow orange color-as a substitute for the pricey Saffron.

From what I understand the Annatto powder will give you speckles, so if you want to avoid those you need to infuse. I had a small sample of Annatto Seed from Bramble Berry so I'm going to check this whole thing out. I just started this infusion not even an hour ago at the time of this photograph and already I'm seeing results. My research turned up a 1% rate of usage if you are wanting to give this a try. Let me know how it works for you if you do, and I'll be reporting my results too.

Pink

 little pink ribbon

Pink-creamy beautiful deliciousness

Pink-soft,sweet,enveloping-there's something so sweetly comforting about it. Pink is always beautiful pale or hot. I've been playing a lot with texture I love how even with the tumultuous texture on the top of these soaps the pink is somehow creamy smooth and inviting.

Road Trip 2013 (Part 2)

The first thing that greets you upon exiting your vehicle is that unmistakable smell of the ocean, salty, somehow a bit sandy. It's funny how a familiar smell can take you right back to a specific memory-even one from many years ago. I love that smell-I wish I could bottle it up so that I could take it out whenever I wanted to visit those memories.

Watching Gulls is high on the list of entertainment while taking in the sights and sounds of the ocean.

Such a beautiful place-serene, yet an awesome reminder of natures power.

Man of Wars were far to abundant for our comfort-we never got in the ocean on this day-these will ruin your day fast.

Just a sampling of the abundant creatures that were washing ashore at a steady pace on one of the days we were there.Pictured above are the Man of War the very obvious blue creature in the front(check out that heap of tentacles up under that guy), the baby Man of War is on the left and just behind the large Man of War is a Sea Nettle.

South Padre is just right down the road(from Corpus Christi)-South Padre Island Drive to be exact, so we spent a bit of them there (seeing as how we are so land locked here in Lubbock-the beach is a definite must when we are down this way.) 

I'm always struck by how the smell of the ocean can take me right back to being 3 and 4 years old playing along the shores of the California coast. That salty,sandy aroma is unmistakable and one I wish I could bottle up strictly for visiting memory lane.

Just a few days before we were there Mexico experienced tropical storms + it was only days after the Super Moon, we think this may have contributed to the abundance of sea life washed up on the shore and lurking in the surf. 

We always like for our trips to be an educational opportunity for our daughter as well, so we set out to learn a bit about the creatures we were amongst. We learned they were mainly Moon Jellies, Sea Nettles and Man of Wars. Did you know that Man of Wars are also called "blue bottles?" Note the baby Man of War to the left-doesn't it look just like a blue bottle? I've always thought that Man of Wars were jelly fish-the fact is they are not. Man of  Wars are actually a conglomerate of 4 different organisms that create a symbiotic creature-each one serves an important function and one can not survive without the others.

Road Trip 2013 (Part 1)

Corpus Christi Skyline

Shrimp Boats

We spent and evening watching the Tug Boats bring in huge cargo ships

 The regal U.S. Coast Guard

Each insignia symbolizes a drug interdiction either for Marijuana or Cocaine

Taking the Colors down at sundown (U.S. Coast Guard)

Old Glory blowing in the breeze as the sun lowers in the sky

Because we always need to keep our road trips budget friendly we look for "free" things to do, or things at which we pay a one time entrance fee and try to visit several times ie; the beach.  The nice thing about Corpus Christi is that there ARE many things to do that are "free." For instance watching the Tug Boats steer the massive cargo ships in-(we don't see that here every day,) or a walk along the Bay, or a walk along the pier to check out the shrimp boats and yachts. 

We spent one evening walking along the piers (we did allow a snow cone in the budget-it was rather hot) and watching tug boats-a bonus was the U.S. Coast Guard ship that was moored close by-very cool. We were there right before sundown-so we also watched the Colors saluted, lowered and carefully folded. Makes your heart proud, as we approach the July Fourth Holiday I'm reminded of how lucky I am to be living in the "Home of the Free and the Brave" and what that means for all of us.

Orchids

 I love how this one looks like it's had ink dropped on it's petals

 My favorite

 They are just as pretty from underneath

 The white one's are so clean and bright

 In real life these are very tiny and have such beautiful contrast

Some Orchids have very specialized means to ensuring pollination buy luring insects into the cupped petals located at the bottom of the bloom.

One of my favorite places I visited while on my road trip was the local botanical garden. This expansive botanical garden had an Orchid room. While many of the Orchids were not in bloom, it was so worth being able to see the ones that were. In the past, I haven't been a big fan of Orchids-I've always thought they were a bit fussy actually, but I have to say that now I think that if I had a place for them I might turn into the "kooky orchid lady" with an expansive epiphyte collection. They are so varied in their color and sizes, and all so exquisite in form-some plants have more singular blooms and some have dramatic sprays of colorful blooms. 

Just A Quick Snippet

Just a quick snippet from my recent road trip. We just got in and it seemed like we drove forever. More road trip goodness as I am able to edit images, for now there is laundry to do and a hot shower with my name on it.

Better Late Than Never-Silicone Mold Making Re-Cap-Amanda Griffin

I originally wrote this post back in May upon returning from the 2013 Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild  Conference for the Soap Queen blog-somehow I believe it got lost in the post conference/new Bramble Baby shuffle on the Bramble Berry end,so while it's not exactly timely it's still great information and was very well presented. I don't give you the "full" instructions for making the molds, but merely an overview as Amanda Griffin does have a nice PDF for download on her website Lovin Soap.

Saturday was a day full of interesting sessions, one of which was a session by Amanda Griffin on how to make single cavity silicone molds. Amanda lives in Dallas, Texas and teaches soapmaking classes that include the basics of formulation as well as more advanced soapmaking techniques that include working with color, swirling and she’ll even teach you how to make your very own silicone molds.

Have you ever found a little ornament you thought would be the cutest soap, or wished you could make your soap into something more personal? Learning to make your own single cavity silicone molds offers you a wide range of new and interesting shapes for your soaps. Think about unique shapes such as -Buddhas, pine cones, cupcakes, fake food, grandma’s figurines, thrift store finds, and holiday themed items-the possibilities are endless.

Within the session Amanda explained the types of materials that were best suited for the use of making silicone molds. Pretty much anything goes, however your surface needs to be non-porous, if you find the item you’ve selected is porous be sure to seal it before making your mold.

You will also need to give thought as to how pliable you would want your mold to be for example; if you are making a slab or log mold you might want the walls to be more sturdy to hold in the larger amount of soap. Small single cavity molds will need to be more pliable to release your small irregular shaped item.

Amanda gave several examples of household items that can be used to make a mold box-the mold box holds the item you want to cast (and will ultimately become your mold); such as a pine cone, fake food item, nail polish, etc. She also explained that in order to make the proper amount of silicone you need to figure up the cubic inches within your mold box minus the space your item will take away-don’t be afraid there’s a calculator for that.

Amanda shows us how to make an easy mold box out of a cup and paper plate

 Pouring silicone from up high reduces bubbles

One great option for pourable silicone is an all inclusive kit  from Bramble Berry that includes Part A and Part B with complete e- book  instructions written by Amanda Griffin. This kit is perfect for making fun single cavity molds.

Silicone slab/log molds make soapmaking so much easier as they solve the huge problem of getting your soap to release without the headache of all that pushing, tugging and destruction of your soap-saving you time and money. Making your own mold is a great solution to the costly expense of purchasing a ready made mold and if you want a very specific size it is the best option. Amanda showed us how she made her very own slab mold from just a few pieces of melamine (as her mold box) from the local hardware store and pourable silicone. Yes, a new slab/log mold is really just a DIY project away.

 For a more complete re-cap of Conference sessions check out the Soap Queen Archives here.

I've Got The Blues

,an

Originally I was shooting for a deep purple, and in the beginning things looked promising

After the gel-while the pic looks very blue-irl there is a tint of purple

but still it's more blue, and still it's very pretty too...

On Thursday, I got some new pigments from Bramble Berry   ,and yesterday I had to play. Yay! for new colors. I set out originally to do a deep purple that was suggested on the Bramble Berry website-by mixing Ultramarine Blue with the Ultramarine Violet-at first I thought I might have gotten close,but as the gel progressed I could see there was NOT going to be a deep purple at all however, it is a blue with a tint of purple(the purple is a bit more apparent irl.) I'm guessing I underestimated the potency of Ultramarine Blue. I still love the outcome, but apparently I could use a crash course in remedial color theory 101. Oh well! it was fun trying. ;-))

Grinning From Ear To Ear

Recently, a customer  purchased a shave brush like the one above for her husband along with a few shave soaps and a couple of soaps for herself. Today, she sent this lovely feedback and I'm grinning from ear to ear.

"Hi There~ Your package of loveliness arrived yesterday!! My husband got the mail and said "WOW, the mailbox smells amazing"!! He absolutely loves the shave brush and soaps. We found an old bowl that belonged to his parents and will work perfectly for the soap. He is very talented in metal/wood working and has already designed a stand to hold the brush and bowl as a wall mount. I will send you a picture of it once it's in place. I wouldn't be surprised if it's by next week. He is VERY excited about his new toys. As an added note, the soaps I purchased for myself smell heavenly!! The box the products were shipped in smells so nice that I put it in my guest room closet. Thank you so much for such a wonderful, quality product!!!!"

For Today's Momunemtal Mess...

 My thrown together practice slab, does the job! If you're new to soapmaking-don't be put off by thinking you need a fancy mold, just throw one together and get after it, and yes, you can line with plastic.

Lavender-Anise

So, the Mister threw me together a rough practice slab. Can you believe I have been soaping since 2008 and have never owned a proper slab, or any slab for that matter? I wanted to see what I could do with one. I have some ideas that require a different shape bar plus lots of texture.

Anyway, on to the part about the monumental mess-well, I made one today-a big one. I'm not sure how one can use so many utensils, buckets, colorants, essential oils etc,but I manage to do it. I actually really like order,but you wouldn't know it if you could see my kitchen right now. Yikes!

This batch is a creamy white top with a black underlay (and perhaps some movement in between-unless is was obliterated by the fact I had a hard time wielding a bucket and pouring in a precise manner-this could have helped or hindered the situation-we'll see.)Scented with a blend of Lavender and Anise, and sprinkled with a few crushed lavender buds. A bit of purple would have been nice-but no purple. ( I do have some on the way though-so maybe soon.)

Oh well,I've put off kitchen clean up for as long as I could-for some reason people think they need to eat-off to clean up the monumental mess-stay tuned to see what mess I make tomorrow. lol!

Vintage Tart Tin Love!

 Sweet vintage tart tins-love!

Vintage tart tin with sweet rose buds...

So, I ordered this set of 15 vintage tart tins on Thus. and by Sat. they were in my possession-thanks to warp speed shipping of the Etsy vendor. They are so perfect in every way-they are 3" across at the top(not as ginormous as the pic looks-lol!), they have a slight patina and they even came in the original box!!! Love them!! I have a purpose in mind for them,and they will be just perfect!!

Doesn't Everyone Make Soap On Friday Night?

Ambrosia

Sometimes I get an idea in my head and well, I have to see it through?  So, last night at 9:00 I was digging out the soaping paraphernalia so that I could make a batch I had a vision for. My husband just rolled his eyes wondering why it was so urgent at 9:00p.m. on Friday evening-gee, you'd think he'd be used to it by now. lol!

Ambrosia-noun: something extremely pleasing to taste or smell 

Ambrosia-a blend of exotic Blood Orange with a gentle lashing of Dark Patchouli to help it stick- a beautiful exotic yet mellow blend.

Sunflower

"Sunflower"

For today's batch, I was inspired by one of my favorite flowers... the Sunflower. Not far from my house in the late of summer the Sunflower fields are majestic-as far as the eye can see the Sunflowers hang their heavy heads while bees busily buzz from flower to flower.

Beautiful mossy green stems and leaves, cheerful gold petals,and a deep brown center.  I always thought that if a Sunflower had a pleasing scent it might smell like Lemongrass with a hint of Dark Patchouli...

I think I'll probably do some tweaking with things,but the idea is there and I'm liking the Sunflower "rough draft." They smell fantabulous too!