This month, the Great Cakes Soap Challenge (hosted by Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks) involved creating a rimmed soap. Our instructor was Tatsiana Serko of Creative Soaps by Steso. Not only does Tatsiana create amazing rimmed soaps, but all of her soaps are so artistic and beautiful. She provided us with a wonderful tutorial. All of the tips and help provided by both she and Amy Warden made this daunting technique seem a bit easier to tackle. I chose to make a charcoal and kaolin clay rim, then fill it with white soap using more kaolin clay. :) Continue reading
homemade soap
Reverse Feather Swirl Video – Lavender Mint
My goal was to create a stem of lavender in each bar of soap using the reverse feather swirl. I used herb infused olive oil for the colors and a gear tie for the swirling tool. Keep reading if you’d like to see the video. :) Continue reading
Winter Landscape Soap
The Great Cakes Soap Challenge this month involved creating a winter wonderland themed soap that had to include an element of snow. The first thing that came to mind was to attempt a snowy landscape of some kind. Having never done a landscape soap of any kind, I spent quite a bit of time planning it all out. I really had no idea if it would work, but the whole process was a lot of fun. Given the amount of time it took, I’m glad the first try was a success. In the end, it took a combined 3 recipes of soap layered over 3 days and finally cut on the 4th day. :) Continue reading
Testing New Herbs, Spices, & Clays in Cold Process Soap
I decided to try out some new herbs, spices, and clays. It seems that with every swirl I want to try or every soap challenge I enter, I’m stuck using the same natural colors I’ve always used – indigo, charcoal, paprika, cocoa, walnut hull, and a variety of clays. But after so many orange and blue or black and white soaps, I’m beginning to get a bit bored. Lots of people already have great blogs and information on most of these, but it’s always a good idea to test and figure out how they work in your own soap. I ended up with some great new ideas and one soap with a cool looking alien spider swirl. :) Continue reading
Indigo & Paprika Lotus Flower Soap
The Great Cakes Soap Challenge for January 2016 involved a technique called the Circling Taiwan Swirl that produces a lotus flower when the soap is cut horizontally. I went with natural colorants and tried out a new blend of essential oils. I ended up making 3 attempts at this swirl technique. The best part is cutting the soap and having absolutely no idea what you’re going to see. :) Continue reading
Kápia Méra 