Something Old, Something New

A new take on an old soap from a few years ago. Tree Hugger- an arborial delight scented with the fresh, clean scent of Fir Needle. 

Breaking in the new log splitter on a small tester slab. A big ol piece of equipment that does an amazing job of splitting up a slab. Love! I wrangled the Mr. into splitting the logs so I could snap a pic. lol!

The end results of the new and improved Tree Hugger.I'm experimenting a bit with a new bar size too.  I used the hanger swirl technique from Erin's book "Soapmaking Made Easy," and I'm pretty darn happy with the results.  Thanks Erin!

I finally got around to breaking in the new log splitter. I've had it for about a month and haven't gotten a real chance to use it  yet. I will still be offering rounds, but have decided to move over to a slab because I feel it offers so much more opportunity for textures and color work. I am experimenting with bar size and think that the bars above are just about where I want them. 

I also tried a technique from Erin's new ebook "Soapmaking Made Easy" and I think it came out really well. While I've been making soap for several years, I  haven't done a lot of color work until just lately. I did use clays and herbs, but I didn't so much attempt techniques really. Her book makes it very easy to try a few new things. I'm already rarin' to try the next technique on my list.