Happy New Year 2014!

Hard to believe a new year is about to begin once again.  When I think back over this year, after having been away for two years, I am pleased with the direction my little soap business, on the side, is headed.  I have gained many new local customers, and online customers this past year, not to mention a very busy Holiday season.  The new soap designs are being thought out and executed in a manner that makes them eye catching and fun, but yet they are still functional and useful.  There has been a considerable amount of time and thought put into the packaging and presentation.  While some are great for local sales, they are not so great for shipping and still need more work, while others I am very happy with.

Strawberry Daiquiri Soap Cake Slice

One of my newest creations heading into 2014, Strawberry Daiquiri Soap Cake Slices.  Soap Cake Slices and Soap Cupcakes were extremely popular this past Christmas as they are unique and fun yet functional.  Many customers mentioned they would be delighted to be the recipient of one of these beauties, which is why they bought them for gifts.  These beautiful soap cake slices are perfect for Valentine's Day, and will be ready to ship out on January 15, 2014.  They are currently listed in our online shop on a Pre-Order basis, and will ship out and arrive to your domestic location in time for Valentine's Day.

Going forward into the new year I have many new designs, new fragrances, and packaging enhancements for many of these new soaps.  Additionally, I have companion products that will be making their debut this next year.  Keep watch both here and on our Facebook page, which is where I tend to post a bit more frequently.

Merry Soapy Christmas Cupcakes

Christmas Tree Cupcake Soap

Several weeks back I went a little bit crazy on the Christmas soap projects.  Finding the right tools to create the cutouts in the size I needed turned into another one of those "aha!" moments when I strolled down the clay aisle at the local craft store one day.  And those little cutout tools came in very handy for the Christmas soap projects.  Stockings, Christmas Trees, Snowmen, and Gingerbread men were quickly cutout of soap scraps begging to be put to good use.

Peppermint Cupcake Soap

I made cupcake soaps in a combination of chocolate and orange, peppermint and pumpkin spice, and then finally the Christmas Tree and cinnabun.

In the end I gained the awe and amazement of family and friends, with thoughts that they look good enough to eat.  I do not suggest that, however, as I am pretty sure they won't taste anything like they smell.  ;)

Chocolate Orange Cupcake Soap

Lightbox Challenged but Persistance Pays Off!

Before - First attempt with the Light box

Several months ago I bought a light box so I could take better photos of my soapy creations for my online store.  I proudly made my modestly priced purchase online and anxiously awaited it's arrival.  When it arrived, I was devastated to find that the unit came WITHOUT instructions, and I quickly discovered many other reviews complaining about no instructions included with the unit.  How hard can it be to figure out something as basic as that simple light box?  Ha!  Well, no instructions was the first clue that it wasn't going to be as easy as first thought and I should have returned it before I even got started.

My second clue should have been when one of my daughter's cats came flying through the room, slipped under the table and promptly pulled the cord for one of the lights and sent it airborne right in the middle of a photo shoot.  Needless to say, the force from hitting the floor was the end for the bulb in that light.  I was steaming mad, and my daughter promptly headed off to the store and bought not just one, but a three pack of replacement bulbs...after my husband spent a considerable amount of time trying to get the light bulb out so we could determine what size was needed because, remember...no instructions came with the unit!  I put the unit away for "a rainy day".

We had a lot of rainy days this past summer, in fact, most of the summer we were overloaded with it.  But I just didn't have the patience to even think about attempting the light box just yet.  A few weeks ago I saw a You Tube video of a "light box" where the person made a simple unit out of lights, a piece of poster board, and some clothes pins.  Really?  Why I didn't Google this sooner, I will never know!  I might have saved myself some green by playing with a more basic model.  Which leads me to today.

I hauled the unit out, replaced the bulb from the cat fiasco several months ago, and set it all up...on the floor and in a room where NO cats, dogs, people could mistakenly trip, fly, dance, or sit on any of the lights.  My third clue...Houston, we have a problem!  The new light bulb gave off better light than the original so it was producing too much shadow on one side.  No problem, I have two more bulbs!  Three of us struggled to release the bulb, each one of us cutting our fingers on the sharp edges of the bulb.  Finally, the bulb was out, and in went the new.  Success, the light was even on both sides.  Ha, ha...moving on to my fourth clue...

Photos taken with my cellphone, photos taken with my digital camera.  Why oh why is the light just not making the inside of the box bright enough?  Why is everything looking so dark, no matter where I move the lights?  So, I went straight to Google and typed in a search for my dilemma.  Should I be offended that at the top of the search engine was "Light box for Dummies"?  Yup, you guessed it...my fifth clue!

After reading several articles I finally found one that addressed my problem.  Um...clue number six...the lights needed to be shining from above the light box.  OK...the box stands approximately 15 inches tall, and the lights...um yeah, you could say they are vertically challenged and more suited for a unit that stand 3 inches tall, not 15 inches!  And darn it all, the legs were not telescoping legs so I was pretty much subjected to figure out another solution so it was time to elevate the lights.

Getting closer, but no cigar.  Everything was still coming out dark no matter what I did.  In looking at the piece that attaches to the back and drapes "nicely" to give a seamless background, I might have been better off with a piece of tissue paper.  Clue number seven.  Those clothespins and a piece of poster board was sounding pretty enticing by this point.

After a much needed break and some brainstorming I came up with an idea.  I have, in my possession, several white tablecloths...they are polyester, there are no wrinkles, and I could layer it just so through the back of the light box to achieve a thicker and cleaner background to play with.  Finally, we were starting to get somewhere!  Ha ha ha...moving right along to clue number eight!

In my haste to set the lights back into position after placing the tablecloth, I bumped one of the lights and tipped it over...a whole 6 inches to the carpeted floor, but now had another light to change.  Light bulb #3 was promptly installed, lights positioned and turned on, and camera in hand.  We were getting so much closer.  Camera, settings, remember you have to change the settings to adjust for the light on the camera?

And wah lah!  A beautiful photo with a pristine white background (by my standards). After a quick run through pic monkey for resizing and some other special photo editing touches, I can finally say that I have conquered the beast!

Success...Finally!!!

The challenge was frustrating, but I learned a lot about lighting, what works and what does not work.  I learned a lot about my digital camera and features I never even knew existed (after almost 7 years).  I made sure to take careful notes along the way so I would have a reference point for future photos.  I know today the sun was shining when I finally figured everything out.  Next time I go into a photo shoot it might be cloudy, raining, snowing, or it could be after the sun sets and then I will need to do more fine tuning and adjustments.  I feel accomplished for what I was able to achieve today and now have a starting reference point to work with, not to mention I am super delighted with the final result.

I have a long weekend coming up later this week so I plan to use that time to prepare for Holiday Craft Fairs and updating some more photos for my online shop.

September Soap Challenge

Citrus Sunrise & Sunset Dreams 

This month I am participating in another soap challenge hosted by Amy Warden of Great Cake Soapworks. This month the challenge presented was to create a soap using a gradient technique using three colors next to each other in the color wheel.

Citrus Sunrise

Citrus Sunrise was created with the use of neon pigments (pink, orange, and yellow) and I used too much pink and not enough orange to get the effect I was needing in the end result.   The colors didn't have a very defined gradient look in the end result, but it was fun working with the technique and basically tabled the challenge for this month because of time.  Between the extras with school starting up, I am pretty well spent the first couple weeks until all of the extra catering jobs and Open House is wrapped up.

This past weekend, however, I had a renewed and refreshed outlook and decided Citrus Sunrise really needed a companion and I created a custom scent blend that would suit a soap called Sunset Dreams.

Sunset Dreams

Sunset Dreams was created with the use of many different micas (blue, pink, orange).  I was so disappointed when the pink portion morphed into a darker shade of orange.  My daughter heard every minute of my frustration.  Even worse, when I mixed the larger portion of pink into the blue, it turned a horrible shade of blue (it wasn't even remotely pretty...I think my exact wording was...looks like ugly blue poop :/ ).  Plodding on, I continued the process and tucked the soap into bed for the night.

Tonight when I got home from work I was delighted to see the pink was no longer orange, and most of the blue wasn't as bad.  The horrible shade of blue is still just as ugly as it looked yesterday, but it is masked by the beauty of the other colors so my eyes aren't focusing solely on the appearance of that one layer of blue.

I had so much fun creating these soaps and learned a lot.  Thankfully neither batter accelerated on me, and if nothing else, I accomplished what I started out to do and I didn't give up after the first try.

The Holly Swirl Challenge

Bayberry Soap

This month I had the time to participate in the monthly soap challenge hosted by Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks.  When I started making soap years back, we were limited to books and online tutorials with photos.  Now we have You Tube to learn new techniques and the creativity is mind boggling.  This month's challenge was to use the technique called The Holly Swirl, or a swirl within a swirl. 

My first attempt was the only one that I took pictures of the entire process, and fortunately that is the one that I liked the best.  My second and third attempts are posted here.  I had done something similar to the Holly Swirl prior to the challenge and included the resulting soap along with the second and third attempt. 

As this was The Holly Swirl, I was thinking along the lines of Holly Jolly Christmas and chose to make a soap scented with Bayberry.  I used oxides for colorants, and after the addition of the fragrance the batter started moving along into a thicker trace than I would have wanted but I liked the results, none the less.  (My second attempt was more fluid and poured at a light trace, and the third attempt was poured at medium/light trace.)  For the Bayberry soap, the contrast between the red and white swirl against the green really made the colors pop. 

 The process to the end result:


Red and white swirl in the pot

Red and white swirl poured into the green soap base

 

All finished and ready to tuck the soap into bed for the night

Someone recently posted in one of the soap groups that I particpate in to take thumb tacks and poke them into the top of the mold before tucking textured top soaps into a blanket for the night.  Great tip, no more botched textured tops on soaps!   

Soap log ready for cutting

I don't have one of those fancy cutters (still a dream for me), just my trusty old Cutco chef's knife and a wooden cutting guide.  Seeing as no one was home when I made or cut the soap, I have no photos of the cutting process to show you. 

Close up of one of the cut bars of soap

I really enjoyed participating in this month's challenge and have some amazing soaps to show for it.  One of these days I might get brave enough to produce some You Tube videos of my soapmaking adventures.   

The Hibernator

The Hibernator Soap

There is nothing more comforting on those cold winter days than to sit in a cozy chair with a steaming cup of hot cocoa all nestled in with nice warm blanket by a roaring fire. 

The Hibernator Soap is our second in a series of soaps made with beer from the Long Trail Brewing Company.  Smoky and mysterious, this scent has notes of cherrywood, raspberry, vanilla and tobacco.

The creamy tan color was achieved by a combination of the beer and fragrance oil used, and was muted a touch with the use of Titanium Dioxide (white).  The blue was achieved with the use of Indigo Powder and Titanium Dioxide. 

Tha natural sugar content in the beer helps to boost the lather, and soap made with beer has become a favorite in the shower around our house. 

The Hibernator Soap will be available in our online shop later this month. 

Ode to Autumn

I came to realize the other day that I have been away from my blog for over a month now and need to get back into the blogging groove. 

To catch you up to speed...I am still struggling with back issues and the healing process has been extremely slow going.  I think I tend to forget/ignore that I am supposed to not be lifting heavy items, and that doesn't help.  For one who is very independent let's just say it isn't always easy changing habits to become dependent on others and to ask for help.  I've learned a valuable lesson in patience so to not annoy my family with nagging when I need something done.  I've had to adapt my day to day chores to fit within the lifting limitations and wait for help to tackle the ones that are beyond those limitations. 

Fortunately, making soap has not been affected with these limitations, so long as I get someone to lift the heavy buckets where I have been extremely creative in masterbatching the oils into a 5 gallon bucket that I keep warm with the use of a heating pad so all I have to do is scoop out what I need to make a batch of soap without having to move things around all the time. 

Rustic Pumpkin Soap

I have made so many new soap designs over the summer, but the one that has quickly become my favorite is the Rustic Pumpkin soap.  It was a very hot day when I made the soap and I was really bummed out when I noticed the color sort of "crackled" on me during the saponification process.  However, that disappointment was extremely shortlived as the crackled appearance actually enhanced the look of the soap and by the time I finished cutting the log of soap into bars I was in love!   This soap is made with pumpkin, and the scent is like taking a walk through the pumpkin patch on a crisp autumn day combined with a hint of spice from a freshly baked pumpkin pie. 

Fresh Fallen Leaves Soap

Autumn is spectacular in Vermont with a beautiful display of foliage that is jaw dropping.  It has already been feeling like September weather and there are visible signs of foliage changing over to color popping up on the trees.  We've captured the fall foliage hues and scents in a single bar of of soap that offers many showers of bubble lathering goodness ~ Fresh Fallen Leaves. 

I am currently working on soaps with a Christmas theme so keep watch for soapy updates. 

New Yummy Soap

Yummy soap freshly made

Friday was a good day for me..very little back pain and no arthritis flare ups.  The weather cooperated and we didn't get the predicted rain in our otherwise waterlogged region, at least where I live.  The day started off in the low 60's so I was ready to start working on at least one batch of soap and concluded the day with 5 new soaps. 

Earlier today I posted a picture of the cut bars from this log to our Facebook page and asked if anyone could guess what fragrance was used in this soap. 

Freshly cut bars of new soap

What fragrance do you think it is? You can certainly leave a guess in the comments on this post but be sure to  Find us on Facebook to see the answer and to participate in future guessing contests and soap giveaways. 

Making Boxes is Fun!

Two Bar Gift Box

Lately I've been turning to my scrapbook supplies to create packaging for soaps that will showcase the personality of each one while  making them gift ready.  I've come up with packaging for the soap cupcakes, single bars, and one that will fit two bars of soap. 


I'll be introducing some special limited edition gift boxes of soaps featuring autumn and holiday scents later this summer. 

Single Bar Box



Soap Cupcake Boxes

Speaking of soap cupcakes...see the the little ladybugs on top of the soap cupcake to the left?  They smell amazing and will be ready to list in our online shop very soon! 

Soap made with Beer?



Soap made with IPA from Long Trail

So what have I been making lately?  First up is a great new soap made with IPA (India Pale Ale) by Long Trail Brewing Company, a local Vermont brewery.  For those? not so sure about bathing with soap that contains beer let me just say...why not?  The natural sugars in the beer aids in boosting the lather, and after testing in the shower I can honestly say that this one holds a close contention to the emollient feel of goat milk soaps.  And no, you don't smell like beer afterwards because I passed the "you don't smell like beer" test at the school where I work. 

Five adults in my house agree, and this soap disappeared rapidly with a unanimous request that I give up more bars for further quality testing "just to be sure".  Even my picky husband had to tell me that the good bar of soap was gone and I should put more like it in the shower. 

Vermont Beer Artisan Soap is now available in our online shop.

For those who may not know...The soap momentum has been a bit slow the past couple months due in great part to the fact that my lower back and hip have been giving me problems. Problems that are a result of multiple trauma to the same area over the course of several years where I have neglected/put off treatment until I could barely move. I am on the mend, but ever so slowly. For the past few months I have had good days, bad days, and some just plain awful days with the pain levels. I have a high tolerance to pain, but this is wiping me out. My husband and family have really pulled it together to help keep the house running, and for that I am extremely thankful. Most of my energy has been expended at work, leaving little time in the evenings and on the weekends to blog and create so to lend enough time for healing.   Now that summer is here my energies can shift into the soapy fun without over-doing it. 

National Blueberry Pie Day

Blueberry Themed Soaps

I can remember going blueberry picking with family and friends. I still say they needed to weigh everyone going in and out, because the blueberries became a meal as we were picking. LOL Who couldn't resist those round, plump, delicious berries? Afterwards we would dine on fresh blueberries and make some awesome blueberry pies before freezing the rest for "later". I can remember one time my BFF didn't have enough blueberries left to make a full pie, so she combined peaches to make up the amount needed and called it a Pooberry Pie. Anyway you serve them, blueberries are the best!

In honor of this national celebration, I have the perfect blueberry treats minus the calories. All of these soapy masterpieces have been made using the cold processed method of soap making. Each blueberry hand rolled and the "cream" hand piped to give that realistic look and smell of a delectable treat.

You will find these awesome blueberry treats in our online shop ~ Blueberry Artisan Soap, Lemon Blueberry Cupcake Soaps, and Lemon Blueberry Pie Artisan Soap...just remember that while these look and smell real, it is not recommended that they be eaten. ;)

New Soap Designs Require New Packaging



The unveiling of our new packaging for some of the new soap designs

This week I have been on Spring Break and not making much soap because I have so much packaging to finish up and get ready for our Open House for local customers this weekend.  (The house needed a good spring cleaning, too)  With the new soap designs that have more eye appeal than the simple looking bars of the past, there was still this itch to take the look up a notch further.  I am happy to say that I am 100% happy with the new eye appeal of both the soaps and the packaging.   Gift ready for any occasion ~ Mother's Day, Birthday, Anniversary, and more. 

Labeling is the last feat to accomplish before Saturday, and I might just have to buy a new printer because I don't have another minute to waste on ink streaks with labels.   I think the problem requires the assistance of a professional cleaning above and beyond the capabilities of the features on the printer and time is not in my favor at this stage of the game. 

Last week I started listing items in our online shop and have already shipped the first order out.  From now until May 5, 2013 we are offering a free bar of our Kitchen Soap with orders of $20 or more (before shipping). 

Taking A Walk on the Wild Side

Wild!

I've been a bad blogger again and finally made the time to sit down and write an update.  I've been busy creating and finally had to stop to clear out another room to accommodate the drying racks and packing station.  Additional shelving needed to be purchased and set up and now the original soap room is for production only. 

I rarely go extreme with my soap production, but this past weekend I decided to work outside my comfort zone and allow the creativity to take a walk on the wild side. 

Black, electric blue, and hot pink were the colors of choice all swirled together in the mold.  To top it off, I took some mica mixed with oil and drizzled on top, then swish, swish, swished with a chopstick to swirl the top and then I stood back and admired with absolute amazement.  And guess what?  "Wild thing, you make my heart sing...You make everything groovy, wild thing...Wild thing, I think I love you!"

Cut bars look amazing!

I was extremely anxious for this one to come out of the mold so it could be cut into bars.  After anticipation, and impatient waiting, the time had finally come to cut and reveal. 

What do you think?

36 Bars of Beautiful Soap!

Swirling action taking place in the mold

We love our new soap mold from Bramble Berry!  What to make first,?  Energy?  Chocolate?  Blackberry Sage?  Oh my, decisions, decisions!  And the final decision?  Razz Nilla was the first batch of beatiful color swirling action to land in the mold. 

Dividers in place

The inserts were a bit of a learning curve for me the first time I used them, despite the advice to be patient.  To be honest,  I was ready to heave those inserts out on the lawn. I persisted and breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was finally resting in the soap.  Although, I was seriously thinking the next time I'll cut the bars by hand. Hubby encouraged that before long I'll be slipping them in and out of soap mold like yesterday's news. 


1 of 36 bars

With much anticipation, and a lot of peeking under the lid to admire the masterpiece, it was finally time to unmold the beauty and admire it some more before removing the inserts.  The wishing, waiting, and anticipation of owning one of these amazing molds was well worth the wait, and happy to report that the bars are gorgeous! 
   

Getting all patriotic

The second batch to land in this gorgeous soap mold was a brainstorm idea I've been itching to create for months.  I've seen it in my mind,  had the game plan all mapped out, and this past weekend it all finally came together.  The mold inserts behaved for me just as hubby predicted.  Once again it was hard to resist sneaking in a peek or two, you know I've gotta babysit the soap, it's a soapers life.  ;) 

Shop Re-Opening update... we are still working on the labeling, packaging, and more so the re-opening of our online shop has been slightly delayed. Quite a few batches are fully cured, but very soon we will have a much nicer variety of soap fully cured and ready. 

My son tells me he has a growing list of co-workers and friends eager to do some Mother's Day shopping.   For local folks we'll be holding an open house on April 27.  For those who have been eager to see the soapmaking process, I will be giving some soapmaking demos during the open house. 

Fun With Blueberries...Soap, That Is!

Freshly poured Blueberry Soap

If you remember, the other day I made all of the blueberries for another fun soapy project.  Ok, more than one project, but I can't spoil all of my secrets just yet. 

On Tuesday I made one of the blueberry soapy projects rolling through my head.  With a snow day callled I had cellphone in hand and a pot of soap in the other and it was of to the soap room for some fun. 

Setting the larger half spheres in place

What I didn't show you the other day was the larger larger half sphere embeds I made to go along with this project.  To start off with, I poured a small amount of soap into the bottom of the mold and then set the larger half spheres in place. 



A sprinkle of mica on top

After I was satisfied with the way everything looked, I poured the rest of the soap overtop then sprinkled a bit of the blue mica mixture down the center that I had come up with for this project. 



Not happy with how the mica looked, I changed my mind about what I wanted to do on the top, and carefully folded the soap over the mica line with a spoon and added the blueberries to the top, as seen above. 

Cut bars of Blueberry Soap

Today was cutting day, and I was anxious to see what mysteries were hidden inside the bars.  Did all of the larger blue pieces stay down?  I didn't spoon the soap over the larger embeds, so it was likely some didn't stay at the bottom.  Did some of the embeds float up?  It didn't matter to me, because each bar has its own personality and I love each and every one of them!

I still have a ton of blueberries leftover for another project or perhaps two?  We shall see what happens this weekend!

Almost a Doozy Snowstorm Day

At least that is what our weather man says.  He has a Doozometer and we are between Bamboozy and Doozy...not quite worthy of a REAL Doozy, but we have a Snow Day from school out of the deal, so that means another soaping day for me!  We are expecting 12-18 inches of snow with this storm, and hubby is excited as this means the snowmobile season got a little boost and isn't quite over just yet. 

Hyacinth Soap

Last night I cut up the logs of soap I made on Saturday, and am delighted with the outcome of each one.  I have to say that the Hyacinth soap was a fun one to make, and I loved how it looked in the mold.  The bottom of the soap was created by swirling three colors in the pot then I created a textured top with the hyacinth blue and spring green colors, and garnished the top with iridescent glitter.  It smells heavenly.

Strawberries & Champagne Soap

Strawberries and Champagne was created with the same in the pot swirl method using two colors, and garnished with iridescent glitter and sugar pearls to give the appearance of champagne bubbles dancing on the top. 

Bay Rum Soap

Bay Rum!  I am most excited with the way this batch turned out.  The photo gives the appearance of the color brown, but it is really the color of a dried bay leaf.  I made this one by dividing the soap and coloring half the batch.  Alternating the bay leaf color and white, I poured a strip of soap down the middle of the mold over top of each other.  It took quite a bit of time to finish the pour, but it was well worth the effort as the end result is amazing! 

Pale Ale Soap

Pale Ale about killed me with the fragrance when I was working with it.  It has mellowed out in the soap now that it is cut and drying out a bit, much to my relief.  I wanted to give this one the appearance of foam on top, so I tinted the top white, and used cocoa to make the pencil line.  I will go a bit easier on the cocoa next time, as the line is sort of heavy looking to me.  Regardless, it is still and eye catcher.

Today I am going to be working with my brain idea for the blueberry embeds made over the weekend, and the rootbeer soap idea floating in my head.  A new slab mold with dividers arrived yesterday and I'm twitching to break it in.  I bought the additional dividers to make guest/favor size soaps so this will most definitely be a well used mold and with all of the ideas rolling around in my head, I may need more than one of these molds to satisfy that creativity. 

Blueberries and More!

Blueberries!

These blueberries are part of another soapy project I am working on, and is phase two of the project.  Yesterday I made the soap for the blueberries, today is turning that soap into blueberries.  The third phase of the project will make its debut soon and photos will most definitely follow. 

Strawberries & Champagne Soap

Yesterday was a full day in the Soap Room.  Aside from the blueberry soap, I made some embeds for the Rootbeer soap idea I am working over in my head.  Pale Ale, Bay Rum, Strawberries & Champagne, and Hyacinth logs of soap were made. 

Lemon cupcake, anyone? 

The last project of the day was lemon cupcake soaps.  It ended up being a very productive day for me, and I was delighted with how everything turned out.  However, the lemon cupcakes managed to work their way through the gel phase, even though I soaped at very low temps.  Needless to say I was disappointed that the "frosting" had flattened out when I looked at them this morning.  They still look nice, just not as impressive as when they were freshly made, as shown in the photo. 

Greening Up Bit by Bit

I see some green!

It doesn't take much to get me excited except when I am anxious for winter to finish melting away and discover a small patch of green slowly making its appearance. 

I have been itching all winter to go sit on the bench under the pergola we built last summer and this afternoon I trudged my way through the snow to enjoy a moment of tranquility when I discovered a small patch of green grass poking its way around the snow melting away. 

The driveway and yard is rapidly turning into a lake and mud bog.  For the first time this winter I had to lug out my boots so I can get in and out of the car without ending up with water logged feet and/or shoes being sucked off my feet by the mud.

Lilac soap cut into bars

I was so thrilled with the results of the soap I made last weekend and wanted to share how the Lilac soap turned out.   The swirls look like whispers of purple in the base of the bar and the piping adds a fancy touch befitting of the delicate lilac fragrance.  I can't wait until it warms up enough for my lilac bush to bloom.  Until then, I will be enjoying the fragrance of this soap as it finishes curing. 

Hailley and Christina saying "cheese and macaroni"

Last Sunday my oldest Grand Girlie turned four.  Seems like just yesterday that she was born, the time has flown by so quickly.  We took a road trip to celebrate the occasion, and went from needing jackets to no jackets back to needing jackets in the time we were there.  We played in the snow and mud, blew bubbles, dumped some bubble water on accident (actually a lot), and took a nice walk on the muddy back roads.  One thing for certain, I was glad I wasn't the one having to wash the multiple jackets, boots, and clothes the girls got covered in mud. 

Shimmering and Glittery Lilac Soap

Swirled Lilac soap base

The sun is shining today (yeah!!!!) and the air warming up (yippee!!).  We're getting closer to my kind of weather, come on summer!  But first, we have to get through all of the snow melt down and mud before everything dries out again.  I envision a lake of water and mud ruts in the driveway very soon, particularly with the weather predictions for the next several days.  You haven't experienced excitement until you've made it through mud season in Vermont.  It is that time of year I am so glad we live in town and on a paved road.  Dirt roads during mud season definitely tests the limits on your vehicles and nerves, to say the least. 

Hubby hit the snowy trails first thing this morning to get one last ride in and out from our yard for the year.  Any further riding for this year most likely will require trailering to other areas where the snow is a bit more plentiful in supply. 

Soap piped on top

I wanted to play around in the Soap Room this morning and practice some swirling and piping techniques.  Since Lilac is one of my favorite flowers of spring, and it feels like a nice springy kinda day, it seemed appropriate to soap in Lilac first.  I took photos of the swirled base first, then waited for the rest of the soap batter to thicken up more before I tackled the piping technique. 

Waiting ever so patiently (or maybe not LOL) for the soap to thicken up further, I decided to try a two toned piping.  Had I waited a bit longer, the two colors would have been more pronounced.  Only a few of the twirls came out white and purple, but overall I was still extremely pleased with the end result.  A sprinkle of some iridescent glitter and now we wait to see how everything looks once it finishes hardening up and I can release it from the mold. 



Today's Soapy Creations

I was inspired and went on to create two more batches of soap before cleaning up and tackling other projects that need my attention around the house. 

It's Thursday Already?

Lavender Goat Milk Soap

This week has flown by.  But of course, it is a short work week for me after being on vacation for a week, plus.  :)  I have more soapy plans for this weekend, of course. 

If you remember a few weeks ago I ended up with botched batch of Lavender soap so last week I made another batch and I am pleased to report this one turned out fabulous!  This batch has some layering of lavender throughout the base of the bar, and a textured top with lavender and green.  I was delighted with the results, and the bars smell absolutely heavenly.

My new photo light box arrived yesterday but my camera was MIA.  Ashley's camera was in my camera bag, and turns out she had mistakenly placed my camera in her bag.  Now that my camera is safely back home I have plans to play around with my new toy this weekend.   After all, I have all of these new soaps that are begging to be photographed.  :)

Not so good news about the homemade dish soap I made the other day.  It just wasn't up to my standards, so I will be reformulating and testing further. 

I have used the dish detergent a couple times and it needs to be tweaked a bit more to be comparable to what I have been using before I send it out to my testers for additional feedback.  It is close, but I'm not quite happy with the results just yet. 

However, I am happy with the laundry soap I've been testing, and I've enlisted the assistance of others to test and report back to me on how it performs for them.  I have folks that use HE machines and others that use standard washing machines so I will have a pretty good idea on how the formula performs and if any further adjustments might be necessary for optimal cleaning performance.