Oppositional!

To any of my fiber friends who still cruise by here wondering what has happened to me- yes, this is another soaping post.  However- don't despair- I have actually been doing a fair amount of fiber work the past month or so- I just haven't gotten around to posting it.  And, it will not be too long before all the soaping stuff will be migrated to another site.  Bear with me!

I entered another Soap Challenge Club in July.  This time we were to create a soap depicting opposites.  It could be color opposites, or opposite 'things' like night and day, or thick and thin.  I chose to work with color opposites- violet and yellow, to be specific.

And I'm posting this not because I believe my soaps are worthy of any kind of recognition, but more as part of my ongoing learning experience with soap making.  

I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do.  I knew I had to use a vertical divider, so that eliminated some design ideas I had.  I toyed around with using two vertical dividers, but ultimately decided to stick with one.  I've never used a vertical divider before, and I figured that getting three colors of soap in without some kind of mishap would be more of a challenge than I wanted to undertake.  I finally decided I wanted my two sections to be violet and yellow, with the added design element of a 'Holly swirl', or an in-the-pot drop swirl in each side.  I'd use white for the base color of the swirl, with the yellow and violet for the accent colors.

So, I got my mold ready with my home-made cardboard divider. . . 

I made my batter and divided out the colors, and added my scents- pomegranate fragrance oil in the violet, champagne fragrance oil in the yellow.  

I then poured two two complementary colors into the mold.

Once they were in, I removed the divider.  So far, so good!!

Then I worked on the in-th-pot swirl.  After mixing in titanium dioxide, I poured two spots of yellow, and two of violet.

I was happy, everything seemed to be staying fluid, and the colors dropped into the white soap.  I swirled the colors once with a skinny skewer.

Then I poured this into the violet and yellow soap, holding the cup high to help it break into the violet and yellow soap.  From what I could tell, it all seemed just fine.  I scraped the last of the soap onto the top, and decided to leave it as it was- a Jackson Pollack top!

I had high hopes when I cut the soap the next day.  Alas, it was not to be!!

These three bars had a nice swirl on the violent side, but the swirl barely broke the top on the yellow side.  The other bars had a tiny swirl close to the top on both sides.

I like the top, and the swirl on the violet side on these bars looks pretty much as I'd hoped it would.  Why the swirl didn't drop lower is a mystery, one that I will be trying to solve with future batches.

Soap Challenge: Spinning Swirls (or, A Tale of Two Soaps)

First- yes, I have been absent from the blog for some time.  That is a story for another post, however.

 I wasn't able to participate in the last two soap challenges- too much other activity on the home front.  I was able to get to this one, however- in fact, I made two batches!

The challenge was spinning swirls, something I had never seen before, but it looked like fun- and very doable.  Marly (DIL) had been asking for a citrus scented soap, so that helped determine my colors.  My one big problem was my lack of a slab mold.  I did manage to cobble one together with some heavy duty corrugated cardboard I cut out of a box.

I needed my slow tracing recipe- I was going for three colors plus white.

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I wanted citrus colors, so I used Apple Green, Sunshine Yellow, Vibrance Orange, and titanium dioxide all from Nurture Soap Supply.  I love their micas!!

Here it is, all poured into my improvised slab mold.  As you can see, I don't have the best control with my pitchers.  Oh, well.

 Spun once. . .

Spun twice.  I liked the movement I got, but the colors blended more around the edges than I wanted.

However, when I cut the bars, I was surprised- that blending did not extend all the way through the soap.  So, here is my entry for the challenge!

I scented these with a combination of lime, lemongrass, and litsea cubeba essential oils.  They smell like citrus heaven!

I had time, so I wanted to test a theory- would using squeeze bottles give me better control of my pouring with a technique like this?  I also wanted a more permanent slab mold- cardboard was good for one batch, but not more!  So, my son and I spent a couple of hours making two molds- one small, one larger.  

I made the same recipe, using the same colors and scents.  I wondered if a slightly thicker trace would help with the color blending, so I got the batter to just a hair beyond emulsified, then poured into my bottles which already had the colorant in them.  I definitely felt I had more control over the pour.  No white blobs over my circles!

Two spins later, and we had. . . 

And here are the finished bars--

There is nothing wrong with them, they look good- but the narrower color bands I got on the first batch had lots more movement.  Maybe next time I won't blend past emulsification, and see what happens.  

My daughter-in-law now has plenty of citrus scented soaps to look forward to, and I now have two slab molds!

Thanks for hosting this challenge, Amy.  I love this technique and will be using it again!

Soap Challenge: Butterfly Swirl

I knew from the outset I would not make more than one attempt to get this one. I've not done a lot of hanger swirls, although I like the look.  Zahida of Handmade in Florida has done some amazing soaps using the hanger.

I also wanted to try something different for me- using a color for a background rather than white.  I decided to go with a gold background, and white, black, and deep red for the swirls.

I don't have a lot of process pictures, since I was both soap maker and photographer this time.  No way I was going to risk stopping the process and having the batter go thick on me!  I used one of my recipes that has proven to be a slow mover in the past- coconut oil, olive oil, shea butter, avocado oil, sunflower oil, and castor oil.  I scented it with Brambleberry's Champagne fragrance oil- love how that smells!

Here's my batter, divided out.  I used a bit of yellow oxide and a lot of Shimmer Gold mica (from Nurture Soap Supplies) for the main batter.  I used activated charcoal, TD, and Brambleberry's Merlot Sparkle mica for the accent colors.

I poured about half the gold batter in my mold, then drop swirled the colors, trying to stay on one side.  After all the batter was in the mold, I did some swirls on the top.

So far, the colors look good, just what I was hoping for. We'll see how they look in 24 hours. . . 

I realized the next day that I'd forgotten my sodium lactate, so the loaf was soft.  This one will need a nice long cure.  However, after 36 hours, I couldn't wait any longer, so I VERY carefully unmolded the soap.

So far, so good- but I want to see the inside!  So I made one cut- it looks good, I think I may get some butterflies!!

I waited another twelve hours before cutting the entire loaf.  I played around with different combinations, and decided this is the one that was most successful.  (The differences in the colors are because I used two different cameras- the top pics are from my iPhone, the last is with my Pentax DSLR.  The last photo is the most accurate color representation.)

To say I am thrilled would be an understatement!  Thanks to Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks for hosting the challenge!

Third Time's the Charm- Spoon Swirl with the Soap Club Challenge

  

Artic Waters, by Beverly Hart

I made a third batch of soap Sunday morning, hoping to finally get it all right and end up with a bar of soap I'd be happy to enter in the challenge.

My first decision was to use a different recipe- I wanted one that I knew would get to a thicker trace.  I used a recipe I'd developed and used previously- one that definitely thickened more quickly than the recipe I'd used in the previous two batches.

I got everything together- checking twice to make sure I didn't forget ANYTHING.  My son was kind enough to take pictures of the process, after I'd made the batter.

I added my colorants, using Blue Vibrance and Turquoise micas from Nurture Soap Supplies, and titanium dioxide in the main batter.  I also added kaolin clay for whiteness, and a combination of Fresh and Clean fragrance oil and peppermint essential oil.

I poured most of my main white batter into the mold.  It's already at a medium trace, should be great for a spoon swirl.

Then I started pouring the colors in.  One of the disadvantages of a heavier trace is that the colors are more apt to sit on top, rather than drop to the bottom of the soap.  Even pouring from higher up didn't change that much.

 

Time to get busy with the spoon.  I was definitely dealing with a thicker batter than in the previous two tries.

 

 

And, since this was a spoon swirl challenge, I decided to texture the top with the spoon rather than do swirls with my skewer.  I like the way it turned out.

I did not cover or insulate this- since I was using a wood mold instead of silicone, I did not want to take a chance on glycerin rivers.  I waited until late Monday afternoon to unmold and cut.  Here's the other side of the bar.

One little air bubble, but I like the way the colors move and combine.

So, there you have it- the third time was the charm with this challenge.  I had fun with the process, and certainly learned along the journey!

A Soapy Challenge

I'd noted some time ago that there seem to be a lot of similarities between quilters and soapers.  One of their commonalities is a liking for challenges.  They seem to be a means to learn and stretch creative muscles in both camps.  I finally decided to take the plunge and join Amy Warden's challenge this month.  (A note to my fiber art friends- if soap making bores you silly, better skip this one!)

The technique for this challenge is a spoon swirl, which is fairly simple and lends itself to thicker batter, which I've had no problems achieving.  I'd just gotten a sample pack of micas, and was itching to use them.  I knew I wanted to do something cold and wintry- after all, it is December!

I had my recipe, then got all my ingredients ready to go.  My oils and lye solution. . . 

 

My two micas, dispersed in a little oil.  I also used titanium dioxide in the main batter.

My fragrance and additive- I really wanted white soap, so I used some kaolin clay.

I blended my batter- so far, so good.  It really stayed fluid- in fact, too fluid for a spoon swirl.  But I pressed on- when has a batter not thickened for me?  The micas mixed beautifully, and I love the metallic sheen they lend.

I poured my main batter into the mold.

Then I added the colors.  First the blue. . . 

then the teal.   Mmmm, that batter is still really fluid, not thickening quickly at all.  Where was this batter when I needed it for my Christmas tree swirl?
 

I did the spoon swirling- hoping that it would look good even though it seemed too fluid.

I had more white and colored batter left than I'd anticipated, so I did another layer on top and spoon swirled that.  Then I plopped the little bits of leftover batter onto the top.

I couldn't leave it like that, so I swirled the top with a chopstick.

Isn't it gorgeous!  The colors were just what I wanted!  It sat overnight, and then all day Saturday while we did some holiday activities.  I came home late Saturday afternoon, grabbed the knife I use to cut, and headed to the studio.  It looked great, no glycerine rivers, awesome colors and swirls- but it crumbled!  Almost every slice had crumbling.  I googled to try to find out what the issue could be, and then it hit me- I'd left out the shea butter.  A quick check with pH strips confirmed that my gorgeous soap was lye heavy.  Arrrrgh!!

However, I knew exactly what I had done wrong, so I decided to rebatch that night.  Marly was kind enough to grate all the soap, then we threw in the shea butter I'd omitted with a little water.  I turned the crock pot on to high, and we started stirring and watching.  It took a couple of hours, but it melted down so I could get it in the mold.  It wasn't the gorgeous soap I'd planned, but for a rebatch, it wasn't bad at all.  I unmolded it late this morning, and checked it again with the pH strips.  Success!!  It registered right where it needed to.  It cut beautifully, still smells great, and has pretty color.  It kind of reminds me of the formica countertops in homes in the 1960's.

  

I also made a four bar batch Saturday night, determined to have a soap worthy of entering the challenge.  The swirls may look good, but I managed to forget the fragrance oil in that one.  Good grief!!  I'm waiting til tomorrow to cut that one, it is still on the soft side.

So this morning I made my third batch of soap, hoping to finally get it right.  But that will be another post. . .

I love long weekends!!

I've had five days to play in the studio- doing both fiber and soap- oh, and a new addiction that goes hand in glove with the soaping.  But first to fiber.

I got Reclamation (or whatever it ends up being named, I'm not sure yet) faced.  I still have a sleeve and label to add, but those are no-brainer tasks I can do during the week after work.  I am happy with it- but it is still talking, and telling me it needs more!  I keep seeing metal on it, so I think I will have to walk the aisles at Home Depot to see if any inspiration strikes.  Do they make copper washers?  I doubt it, but what I keep seeing are copper circles.

I loved doing the hand embroidery.  I have a smaller piece of this fabric left that has more gray in it- I'm thinking of doing something similar, but doing the quilting in gray instead of the gold, and seeing what it does.  I think I have some gray fabric I auditioned for a border, also.  Something to play with this winter.

I also worked on my Tangled Textiles piece- but if you want to see that, you'll need to head over to the TT blog.

I got the last of my Christmas soaping done this weekend.  The Christmas colored soaps turned out well, just need a little cleaning up after they've cured a month or so.  I am getting better at this swirling business!!

 The Christmas soaps are scented with a blend of Champagne and pomegranate fragrance oils, and the bottom one with Champagne and ginger fragrance oils.  They smell heavenly!
 

The lavender swirl soap is scented with lavender, coriander and eucalyptus essential oils.  I'd used the coriander blended with other essential oils before, and not been happy with the result.  With the lavender, it is fantastic.

And, I felted some of my older soaps that were still perfectly usable but had lost most of their scent.  I finally got the hang of using the really nice Merino wool to felt after a couple of failures.  The trick is to lay down lots of very thin layers of fiber- I think I did about six.  With a coarser wool, I was only doing three layers, and it worked. With the Merino wool, not so much. The top one is done with a variegated roving I got in Grand Junction this summer- it made some lovely soaps, all very different!

And, this weekend I used my tall and skinny mold I made last weekend for the first time.  I made another rendition of my Rose Clay and Charcoal soap, this time with a dandelion zebra swirl.  I will be trying this again!

The soap at the top of the picture is upside-down- but I like the way the swirl looks from that perspective.  It reminds me of a mountain with the moon rising behind it.  I think I'm going to play with that technique again, and see what I can do with that image.  And, I am very happy with my tall and skinny mold!
 
I worked on my labels and packaging- I do have some orders for soap for Christmas!  If you can't tell, I really am enjoying this.

Saturday Marly and I tried something new- we made lotion.  I only needed to get a couple of ingredients, since I already had the oils from soaping.  It was so easy- it took longer to measure and heat the ingredients than it did to make.  And the lotion is fantastic!  We scented it with lavender and coriander, like the soap.  I will be doing more of this, and never buying commercial lotion again!

But tomorrow it's back to work, at least for a couple of days. Then I'll be back in the studio, quilting my TT piece.  Hopefully I can get that done next weekend!