# February 2017 SMF Soap Challenge- Ebru Soaps



## lionprincess00 (Feb 1, 2017)

Welcome to February's 2017 SMF Soap Challenge!

PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THIS FIRST (and ALL Rules)-

General Rules:
1. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry.

2. This months voting will be password locked. Passwords will be PM'ed to registered participants ONLY. So please check your PM's when the voting begins.

3. No posting your entry photos until the entry thread is made. Non enty photos are very welcome!

4. You are allowed to change your entry photo up until the entry thread closes. So if you decide after you post your entry you want another try, and you like the second better, you can change it up until the deadline.

NOW
This month’s challenge is ebru designs. 

If you are unfamiliar with ebru art and ebru soaps, please take the time to read my second post. There are great videos listed with ebru art showing the many different designs that can be accomplished.

SMF Challenge Specific Rules
· You must use a slab mold. If you do not have one, you may use a loaf mold as a slab by poring your batter only as thick as a typical soap and cutting as you would a slab pour. If you pour a pattern design, like a dna swirl, into a loaf all the way throughout the soap, and then you cut horizontally and then make bars, that is also acceptable. 
· You must use an ebru design. Drawing images like birds and scenery typical of ebru, or patterns: for example peacock and dna swirls, also flowers and sun bursts, and designs typical of ebru are all acceptable. Completely random designs are not acceptable. If you have a question whether or not your design will be accepted, please ask in advance.
· You must use only a skewer like tool to design your soap.
· You may pour a base that is solid or multicolored, you can even spin swirl the base, but the ebru designs on top must be the main attraction of the soap and predominantly cover any swirls that aren't ebru beneath (if a solid base or ebru patterns show through, however, that is ok).
· For your entry, you must show at least one picture of the soap in the mold along with the tool you used to design it. Other cut pictures are welcome but not a requirement.
· You may include information like colorants and fragrance used (though this isn't a requirement).


Challenge Entry Thread Opens February 13, 2017.
Challenge Entry Thread Closes February 21, 2017 (11:59pm CST)
Survey for choosing the winning choices opens immediately the 22nd.
Winners Announced February 28, 2017.

SMF Challenge General Rules
· To enter you must have a minimum of 50 posts and been a member for a month (sorry but no exceptions on this)
· Please add your name to the sign up list if you wish to participate (however, you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have produced)
· The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members.
· Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please try to keep your comments polite.
· Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date. The thread will open on February 13, 2017 (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter).
· After the closing date February 21, 2017 the winning entry will be chosen using survey monkey and the winner announced on February 28, 2017. There is no prize attached to this challenge.
· If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload your soap onto the thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We still love to see anything you have produced.
· Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfill the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible then your entry will not be included in the voting.
· Newbie, Saponista, Lionproncess00, Sonya-m and GalaxyMLP reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for voting.

VIDEO 1 Introduction [ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fi56gT4HldQ[/ame]

VIDEO 2 DNA Swirl, Ebru
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMtL4CHMQVY[/ame]

VIDEO 3 Peacock Swirl with Flowers, Ebru
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw7yjmaNDvc[/ame]

VIDEO 4 Cut Pictures
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpIwGhVaboI[/ame]


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 1, 2017)

Ebru, per Wikipedia-
Ebru is the contemporary Turkish word for what is called marbled paper in English.

It is a form of painting on liquid and transferring the images onto paper. With soap this can be accomplished when you have a fluid trace (word of warning, too thin a trace can cause your design to break through the top layer, thin trace can work well with a very delicate hand, and thin to medium trace works well, so long as it isn't accelerating and getting too thick too fast. Keep this in mind).

Ebru designs vary widely, from the standard patterns we see in a peacock swirl, to mantra and dna swirls; from making hearts or flowers to making sunbursts; from birds or dragons to an actual scenic picture.

This is all accomplished with only a skewer.  For this challenge we need to maintain a typically ebru design. Random swirl patterns that are not really cohesive can be beautiful but are not quite standard ebru. If you have a question as to whether or not your swirls qualify, pm me and I will discuss it with the other challenge hosts.

For those unfamiliar with ebru, check out this video. It focuses more on patterns seen with ebru art.
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Vyga8VMWXKg[/ame]

For more organic designs, check out this YouTube video. 
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NDgzr8Rj8gU[/ame]

For a wide variety of designs including a scenic picture, this is a great compilation video.
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ssCJBAZtWpY[/ame]

For a basic ebru soap design, see this YouTube video by Sergio Masala.
[ame]https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFuOjmqWgjQ[/ame]

Here are ebru soaps I have made in the past. The pink and green spin swirl with flowers is an acceptable technique, but I would require more of the ebru top design to cover up the spin swirl for my challenge.


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 1, 2017)

Sign up sheet-

1.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 1, 2017)

Sign up sheet-

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.


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## toxikon (Feb 1, 2017)

Sign up sheet-

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!


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## earlene (Feb 1, 2017)

Sign up sheet-

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this


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## newbie (Feb 1, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 1, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already


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## penelopejane (Feb 1, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!


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## BattleGnome (Feb 1, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month






Plus question- is there a minimum number of colors you would like. I have a two color idea but can rethink if needed


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 1, 2017)

BattleGnome said:


> Plus question- is there a minimum number of colors you would like. I have a two color idea but can rethink if needed



Nope! You would obviously need two colors to draw a design, or two colors to make a patten. Beyond that, as long as it is an ebru soap with an acceptable pattern or design, two colors would be a bare basic minimum.

For example if you did the peacock swirl you could do it in black and white only and it would work great. If you made a white base and drew only black starburst, flowers, or birds on top, it would still work.

So I suppose it would have to have a minimum of 2 colors. Beyond that the sky's the limit as long as you do ebru soap designs.


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## newbie (Feb 2, 2017)

I was looking for pattern inspirations and thought I'd post a couple of links to searches. Also wondering if anyone has ideas on how this pattern was made. 


https://www.pinterest.com/susanpogany/marbled-papers/

https://www.google.com/search?q=ebr...4MKHZCmBwwQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=paper+marbling


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## dibbles (Feb 2, 2017)

Hi guys! Can someone add me? I really hope I have time to try this when I get home. I'll only have a couple of days before the entry thread closes to get something done, but this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 2, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time


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## dibbles (Feb 2, 2017)

Thank you Soapprentise!


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## earlene (Feb 3, 2017)

That is gorgeous, *newbie*.  The artist is Susan Pogany and she has some videos on a Turkish Arts website.  Maybe this one might give a clue as to how she obtains that particular design.  Well, maybe not (after closer inspection.)  But it still might hold a clue, just not the exact same technique.

video


I had said I've been wanting to try this, then while watching one of the many videos out there, I thought, my granddaughter and I actually did this with nail polish on water when we were making the nail polish design on coffee mugs.  At the time, I didn't realize it was just like ebru.  I think this will be even more fun, though.

ETA: I found Susan Pogany on FB, the face is the same person as on the website above.   Maybe you can ask her how to create design.  I know artists are usually pretty happy to share techniques with other artists.


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## earlene (Feb 3, 2017)

*Lionprincess00*, you said we can only use a skewer like tool for the design.  Does that preclude a comb-like tool such as the ebru artist use for paper marbling? Or something with fewer teeth?  For example, could I use a 5-finger type tool instead of drawing a skewer through 5 times?  Or an actual comb (like a nit-comb) for part of the design?


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## CaraBou (Feb 3, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!


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## Soapprentice (Feb 3, 2017)

dibbles said:


> Thank you Soapprentise!



You are most welcome...


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 3, 2017)

earlene said:


> *Lionprincess00*, you said we can only use a skewer like tool for the design.  Does that preclude a comb-like tool such as the ebru artist use for paper marbling? Or something with fewer teeth?  For example, could I use a 5-finger type tool instead of drawing a skewer through 5 times?  Or an actual comb (like a nit-comb) for part of the design?



Yes, since combing designs are very much ebru, comb tools are ok instead a lone skewer. I know places like Brambleberry sell them, but you can make your own which I have done in the past. You can also use a long toothed hair pick or comb to drag your design. Just be sure to include it in your entry photo. Good question!


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## newbie (Feb 3, 2017)

Actually, I think the pattern I put up requires a larger surface that my slab would provide, but I still like to try to unwind how something was done. Susan Pogeny has many wonderful patterns; I love her stuff.

I've seen many videos of nail polish art that are indeed ebru done with polish and they are a great resource for patterns, how to do then and color combos. I love watching them.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7sxj0w5R24[/ame]

I love this one with the matte and glossy black. I wonder if that is at all achievable in soap?

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z7nkx71iP7E[/ame]


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## Millie (Feb 3, 2017)

newbie said:


> I love this one with the matte and glossy black. I wonder if that is at all achievable in soap?



A black ghost swirl would be awesome!

All this time I've been thinking of soap swirls as ebru in 3D. Limiting the pattern to the top feels kind of intimidating, maybe because it is visible in the process so I expect more from myself.


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## leilaninoel (Feb 3, 2017)

Generally I'm most comfortable as a lurker, but I actually have enough minimum posts to be eligible to participate this time! I would love to give it a _"s-whirl"_!


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## newbie (Feb 3, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!

This is the current list, Leilaninoel. You just copy and paste it into your post and then add yourself to the bottom. I'd do it for you, but I couldn't tell if you were still considering or not.


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## earlene (Feb 3, 2017)

Shoot, somehow I lost my post.  I really like that shiny black on matte black look, too. So pretty.  And in soap it would be much less messy than when doing nails.  I've done the marbling technique with my nails and found the mess involved and the clean-up to be a big pain.  So after a couple of times quit bothering with it.  But since we can wear gloves and don't have to put Scotch tape on our fingers when soaping, the mess won't be anywhere near as cumbersome.  At least that's what I am expecting.  

*newbie*, I think you might be able to get that sparkly effect a couple of ways.  I don't have a lot of experience using sparkly micas, but that was my first thought, alternating a sparkly mica with a matte oxide for a couple of the colors.  Then while browsing ebru soaps on the web, I found mention of mixing sparkles with glycerin and it leaving a sparkle in the end product.  See Shenanigan Soap's description of how she did her entry for the Turkish Ebru Design Challenge in 2015.  It looks like a possibility.


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## leilaninoel (Feb 3, 2017)

newbie said:


> This is the current list, Leilaninoel. You just copy and paste it into your post and then add yourself to the bottom. I'd do it for you, but I couldn't tell if you were still considering or not.



Thanks, Newbie! I'm definitely the newb in this scenario - I appreciate your guidance.  


1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!
10. LeilaniNoel - Finally eligible to participate! Sounds like fun!


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## KristaY (Feb 4, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!
10. LeilaniNoel - Finally eligible to participate! Sounds like fun!
11. KristaY - I hope I can find my ebru artsy side!


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## BattleGnome (Feb 4, 2017)

I have a practice attempt in the mold right now but I have another question. Are cavity molds considered too small to display the design or are cavity molds allowed? (no picture just in case these turn out to be eligible/my best attempt)


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 5, 2017)

First attempt settled for the night. Maybe I shouldn't have tried new colors, cuz wow! that's bright!! We'll see how other ones go.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 5, 2017)

I am trying my 1st attempt today... waiting for the lye to cool down


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## CaraBou (Feb 5, 2017)

I finally broke down and ordered a slab mold today. A few times I've done a shallow design in a small loaf mold but so far I've never used a true slab, not even homemade. 

Well, it's time to start living!

I bought the 6" square silicone from BB because it was the smallest I could find. Or did I miss something?  I consider every design a risk so really prefer an itty bitty. It would be wonderful to have a bigger easel but oil is money and I sure don't need more ugly soap 

newbie, as for the design in post 12 - could they be undulating both horizontaly and vertically? I am probably way off but I do see patterns horizontally as well as in the more obvious vertical direction.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 5, 2017)

I saved the box we get the ipad in ( may be for this day  ).. lined it.... and used it as a mould...it is just perfect for 500 g soap.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 5, 2017)

I used a small flat rate usps box. I'll use it again for my next try. The first 2 attempts are soaps for each of my 2 youngest kids. They will be cut small for their little hands, so I will get 6 bars from each batch. If I need to try a 3rd, I'll use a larger mold and use dragon's blood, because even if its ugly, it smells so good, I'll use it up anyway!


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## Soapprentice (Feb 6, 2017)

My 1st attempt was an epic fail... it looked decent when wet and in mould... today, when I removed it, the soap didn't gel completely, the parts that gelled looked fine but the ones that didn't, look horrendous.. a colour bled ..  I will give the challenge another try in a week and see.. how is everyone doing?


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## Saponista (Feb 6, 2017)

I love Susan pogany's work - there is a lot of it on Pinterest and I have pinned some in the past. I can't work out how she creates some of the beautiful designs!!!!


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## mommycarlson (Feb 6, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!
10. LeilaniNoel - Finally eligible to participate! Sounds like fun!
11. KristaY - I hope I can find my ebru artsy side!
12. Mommycarlson - can't believe I'm going to try this!!!


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## HowieRoll (Feb 6, 2017)

1. Soapprentice- it's never too early to try.
2. toxikon - first challenge, woo!
3. earlene - I've been wanting to try this
4. Newbie- infinite options lead to soap overload and much fun.
5. Mx6inpenn - have 2 ideas in mind already
6. PenelopeJane - I'll give it a swirl, maybe. It looks tough!
7. BattleGnome - maybe I'll find time this month
8. Dibbles - this has been on my 'to try' list for a very long time
9. CaraBou - time to get elegantly artsy!
10. LeilaniNoel - Finally eligible to participate! Sounds like fun!
11. KristaY - I hope I can find my ebru artsy side!
12. Mommycarlson - can't believe I'm going to try this!!!
13. HowieRoll - so many options here, my head may spin off its axis.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 9, 2017)

Now that I've done my second attempt and know I prefer it to the first, I'll share my reallllly bright Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice. It's a not good fluer de lis swirl (didn't get enough mixing of pink and green in the swirl itself) with flowers on top, 1 for each bar. I couldn't get a great pic with lighting at that time either. Scented with NG Cinnabon. My 4 yo daughter loves it and since its for her I guess that's what counts.


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## Saponista (Feb 9, 2017)

I find the hardest part is that the whole batter moves when you draw a tool through it rather than just the one area you want to work on so it's hard not to ruin things.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 9, 2017)

Saponista said:


> I find the hardest part is that the whole batter moves when you draw a tool through it rather than just the one area you want to work on so it's hard not to ruin things.



Completely agreed.  I would also like to add that another difficult part is when you are up close and personal with the slab, 100% focused on the design and agonizing over every move, and don't notice when your sleeve goes into the top as you work.  Twice.  That has been a challenge, too.


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## mommycarlson (Feb 9, 2017)

My three attempts (and I keep saying after each one I'm not doing it again)    are attached.  I am having a hard time doing the swirl before the batter sets up, then I get stressed because the batter is setting up, then my scatterbrain sets in and I suddenly can't remember how to do the swirl, although I've air swirled it several times and watched 79 videos on how to do it!  I started out on the slab molds and messed up the first side every time after the initial swirl.  Then I decided to do it in the loaf mold because that is the mold I use all the time.  Still messed up.  Oh well, here are my 3 tries.  If I decide to do it again, then I may have an entry afterall.


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## newbie (Feb 9, 2017)

mx6- I love your flowers. They look just like petunias to me!

Mom- the nice thing about this challenge is that your swirls look great even if you didn't get your pattern done like you wanted. It's difficult to gauge batter but something like this sure gives you practice on timing it. 

Sleeve in design- done just last night.

I have a slew of patterns up and am trying to unwind them to figure out how they are done. Some are fairly easy to see but there are a number of them that are really difficult to figure out. Love Susan's work as well but there are some really marvelous paper marblers out there.


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## earlene (Feb 9, 2017)

I gathered materials/supplies today, chose the colors & plan to make my first attempt in the morning.


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## CaraBou (Feb 10, 2017)

My mold is coming on Saturday. Why couldn't it come Friday instead?? Well at least I got my swap box.

I realized since my last post I actually have used a slab mold a few times, but before I got crazy with colorants I think. I think I'm going to like all the extra room.  Thanks for the tip on rolling up my sleeves!


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## earlene (Feb 11, 2017)

I finally got my first attempt done!  I suppose it can qualify for 3 because I used 3 different molds, as little slab molds and tried a slightly different color combo & design in each.  

I think the soaps will be fine, but I let the batter thicken too much before I started pouring.  I left the room to check email and didn't return as soon as I should have.  

So I'll probably be doing at least one or more repeats.  I'll see what they look like in the morning.


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## newbie (Feb 11, 2017)

Well, this was nicely patterned until the last step. This is what you get when you try a very unnatural and awkward hand movement, resulting in swirls but a completely crap "pattern." It looks like I was beset with severe Charley horses or something.


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## Millie (Feb 11, 2017)

Wow Newbie that is gorgeous!


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## Soapprentice (Feb 11, 2017)

Love the colours newbie!!


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## newbie (Feb 12, 2017)

Well, thank you. It is a fine soap as general swirls go but for ebru and pattern, it is unquestionably a fail. That's okay. I am pouring another layer on the top and on the bottom so this will be the middle of the soap sandwich, and the last part of the soap as someone uses it.


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## earlene (Feb 12, 2017)

newbie said:


> Well, thank you. It is a fine soap as general swirls go but for ebru and pattern, it is unquestionably a fail. That's okay. I am pouring another layer on the top and on the bottom so this will be the middle of the soap sandwich, and the last part of the soap as someone uses it.



I wasn't happy with mine either and actually plan to do the same thing by making them into soap sandwiches.  I do hope I have better luck next time.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 12, 2017)

So this is... not Ebru.    Originally the plan was to make a honeycomb pattern using the light yellow/gray/white strips but the definition just wasn't there.  So I ended up darkening some batter and dipping my skewer into it (like paint) and, in effect, drawing the pattern on.  Once all was said and done I began to question whether or not it qualified as an Ebru soap, so I reached out to lionprincess for clarification.  She _very _graciously reached out to the other hosts for a verdict and it was determined that it wasn't technically an Ebru pattern.  I agree with that decision, and want to thank all the hosts very much for their time and input on the matter!!!  

The good news is I didn't think I would have time to get another one made, but just today a few hours opened up and I was able to whip something up - yay!  The other good news is I only stuck my sleeve into it once this time.  Oy.


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## newbie (Feb 12, 2017)

That is an incredibly cute soap. 

I just wanted to clarify why I thought this was not an ebru soap, for you and for others. To me, an ebru soap, whether doing a picture type or a pattern, requires that you pull, push, stretch or somehow manipulate lines or dots of color into a new form. To apply a color onto the soap in the shape you want it is a different thing; it can lead to beautiful soap for sure, but ebru requires the manipulation part to get your ultimate design. 

We were an undecided group and Lionprincess ultimately had to make the call, which I say not to "blame" her but to let you know there were mixed thoughts on it. My thoughts were as above. I love your soap though. If you or anyone has any questions, please do ask.


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## mommycarlson (Feb 12, 2017)

HowieRoll, the bee soap. gorgeous!  Newbie, yours is just beautiful!  I love the swirls!


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## HowieRoll (Feb 13, 2017)

Hi newbie,  I am _totally_ fine with the final verdict, especially as I had the same concerns which is why I reached out for clarification.  The concept of Ebru was confusing me (doesn't take much!) and I had suspicions my first soap didn't adhere to the rules.  Lionprincess kept it confidential from me who she reached out to (so I have no idea, nor do I want/need to know!).  

I posted the photo on this thread so I could 1) put a thank you out into the universe to everyone who weighed in and say how much I really appreciate the time and energy spent on this (and also say that due to the input, I feel I have a much firmer grasp on the Ebru concept!), 2) put up an example of what not to do   and 3) I did work hard on it and wanted to share a photo, warts and all!  There are many things I'd do differently next time, but that's par for the course, I suppose!

As for the new soap, well, after looking at it this morning it would appear sticking my sleeve into the batter was the least of all the problems!  haha...


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## suburbanrancher (Feb 13, 2017)

Howieroll, as a beekeeper I absolutely ADORE your soap!


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## newbie (Feb 13, 2017)

I hope you didn't mean to take my explanation as getting defensive, Howie, or that I didn't understand why you were posting your soap. I wanted to make sure to explain to anyone/everyone what we are looking for. If you were somewhat confused, it's entirely possible someone else is/was. I posted my reasoning in case there were people wondering what exactly wasn't ebru about your soap. LP has been extra busy recently so I took it upon myself to put the info out there.

I knew you were totally fine with the verdict as well, understood it and accepted it because you weren't certain either. I didn't mean to somehow imply that you were complaining or some such thing in your post. I was seriously just going for clarity. 

I'm glad you posted it because it's a great soap. No need to explain why you'd want to put it out there!


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## Soapprentice (Feb 13, 2017)

Such a cute soap Howie...


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## redhead1226 (Feb 14, 2017)

Howie - I love that! Very creative.


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## Saponista (Feb 14, 2017)

Howie, you mentioned that you struggle to get the design done before your soap sets up. Have you tried really low water? Lots of us have found that with 40% lye concentration and a fragrance that doesn't accelerate, then you have a much longer time to work before the soap sets.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 14, 2017)

I thought more water gives more time... will give this a try next time...


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## newbie (Feb 14, 2017)

If you try low water, make certain you use the best behaving FO you have. 

In spite of my own advice, I recently tried low water with Moroccan Fig FO (a notorious accelerator) both added later and then mixed in with oils. It was frustratingly slow and in fact, I had to stick blend it a bunch. I didn't use a full 1 ounce ppo but still... In one batch, I kept adding more to try to get the soap to trace and it took forever. I don't know if I will ever get away with that again. More mysteries of the soap.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 14, 2017)

Saponista and newbie, thanks for bringing up low water because it perplexes me.  Back in November I did an Auntie Clara Ghost Swirl soap using 45% and 30% lye concentrations.  What astounded me was that the 45% low water portion took forever to reach trace and it stayed fluid for quite some time.  It flew in the face of what I *thought* would happen and also contradicted advice I often see to use more water in a recipe for fluidity.  Since then, I've played around quite a bit with water amounts and find I now soap in the 36%-40% lye concentration range for the very reason that soap batter seems to stay more fluid longer.  My only explanation is that the batter is, well, "oilier."  I know, not particularly scientific...

After the Ghost Swirl soap I started digging around here on SMF and came across a thread that discussed it.  If I recall correctly, there was some discussion about how it might work better with some recipe formulations over others.  My recipes are generally high in soft oils (60%+).  

However.  Along the vein of the mysteries of soaping (ala newbie's Moroccan Fig FO), for the soap I just made for the Ebru challenge I used the _exact_ same recipe with 40% lye concentration as the bee soap.  The bee soap was extremely fluid, almost too much so.  I thought the idea for the new soap would work well with such fluidity, but...  wouldn't you know, the batter started to thicken on me MUCH faster!  I was, however, using a different farmer's beef fat this time.  Aaaaah, mysteries of the soap is right!


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## newbie (Feb 14, 2017)

I have had similar experiences. Same recipe, same FO and low water. One time it was fluid and the next time, it thickened quickly. I am wondering if the temperature of the oils and lye plays a fair role. I go by the feel by hand so it could be that the difference in temperature from batch to batch plays a role bigger than I would have guessed. 

The low water phenomenon seems counterintuitive in many ways but boy, can batter stay open to work with for a loooooooong time. I also think the colors are more defined in relation to one another as well and the distinction between them is crisper. It takes a lot of patience to wait for trace though.


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## penelopejane (Feb 15, 2017)

Newby
Your soap is beautiful!


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 15, 2017)

I just love the bee soap! It is adorable! I appreciate your understanding HowieRoll. Like I told you, and I want everyone else to know, we try our best to keep in the confines of the rules we put forth. We, personally, have been in situations where rules are not enforced, and it was extremely frustrating. It was especially frustrating to us that were new soapers wanting to participate in something bigger and who wanted to be envolved in a soapy community.


That is why we hosts sometimes end up picking apart our rules to make sure everything fits within them. It is also why we scrutinize our rules down to the letter, and we always appreciate it when participants come to us concerned whether or not their soap qualifies.

As I told you before, I sincerely appreciate your understanding, I appreciate you coming to me immediately, and I hope the rest of the community that participates understands as well.

NOW
Onto the idea of low water...


Both of my challenge soaps were made with 40% lye concentration. I rarely, and I mean rarely, use higher water. I have grown to loathe higher water, in fact.

In lieu of the aforementioned fragrances that work in low water, I did a search for an old thread newbie and I posted on with good low water fragrances. I found the thread and copied our responses. Here are some good low water fragrances we recommended (for those interested).

For those unfamiliar with company acronyms, bb is brambleberry, wsp wholesale supplies plus, mo mad oils, fb fragrance buddy, ot Oregon trail soap supplies, ng natures garden etc...

Lionprincess quote-*


I like bb neroli Shea blossom, kumquat, lychee red tea I think it is, Summer fling A on me in low water, fresh snow behaves very well (if you like it, newbie can't stand it...love hate thing), BlackBerry sage went well, moonlight pomegranate clumps a little (ricing) and A, but smells good, champagne behaves, tobacco bay leaf though I don't think I used low water on it, i was able to do a butterfly swirl so behaves enough for that. Lavender forest is perfect.


OT fragrances in low water that behave, green Irish tweed, silver mountain water, but not made to measure, it says on the site it's a pale cream, no, it's a D to rich milk chocolate and A. Mysore sandalwood is supurb in low water.*


Fragrance buddy black cedarwood and juniper behaved well in low water, patchouli passion too.

Looking at my notes from previous soaps, here are more suggestions...
Almond from rustic escentuals worked in 40% lye, toffee sugar crunch from daystar, pomegranate black currant (from bb i think, can NOT remember, newbie would probably know) blended with earl grey from mad oils, black amber musk from wsp, oakmoss sandalwood did ok from wsp, be delicious blossom wsp, the perfect man from ng...

Several of those did happened to discolor unfortunately, but they did work in low water.

NEWBIES QUOTE (from the old thread)
I can tell you that Champagne, Blackberry Sage, Lemongrass, and Kumquat work well. Most Sandalwoods and straight Patchoulis work well. I think Espresso works well in low water.


(I *think* these are predominantly bb fos, but I am not certain.)


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## mommycarlson (Feb 15, 2017)

Newbie, that soap is gorgeous!!!  wow!  I love the colors and the heart shapes.


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## newbie (Feb 15, 2017)

Thanks for the nice words!

I like using low water as well but don't use it exclusively in part for Fo reasons and in part because I don't always have the time to wait for it to come to trace. i need to refine how much you can SB before separating for coloring so I'm closer to trace by that time. It rocks for swirling though, I must say.


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## dibbles (Feb 15, 2017)

Another home run newbie! Your entry is outstanding.

I am still hoping to have a try at this. We just returned from traveling. I got sick while we were gone, and am still. And then there is all the life stuff that needs to be caught up on, so I guess we'll see if I can squeak out a try.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 15, 2017)

Wow, newbie, that soap is spectacular!  The colors are very rich looking and the level of detail in the close-up is amazing.  Just wow!


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## newbie (Feb 15, 2017)

Thank you! Where are all the other entries, though?? I'm lonely sitting there all by myself.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 16, 2017)

Well, I am waiting for my oils to arrive... will do another one and decide which one I like the most..


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 16, 2017)

I am dying to see more entries as well. 

All who signed up, feel free to post more pictures of your non entry soaps on this thread


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 16, 2017)

I'D LIKE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT- 

For your entry photos, I do need one picture with the swirl tool you used, however, I will upload your _best_ picture to the survey. So if you want one close up along with the pic showing your tool (like newbie did), I will use the best and clearest picture for the actual survey.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 16, 2017)

lionprincess00 said:


> I'D LIKE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT-
> 
> For your entry photos, I do need one picture with the swirl tool you used, however, I will upload your _best_ picture to the survey. So if you want one close up along with the pic showing your tool (like newbie did), I will use the best and clearest picture for the actual survey.



Thank you! The picture with the tool is not a great one for mine, but one of the close-ups shows it nicely. I'll be posting them tonight.


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## earlene (Feb 16, 2017)

Working on my next batch today.  Lined a boot box to use as the slab mold.  The smaller 'slab' substitute didn't give me enough room for design, IMO.  But I don't want a lot of extra soap, either.  So the bottom layer is going to be confetti, then layer of plain batter so confetti doesn't show through to the top, then the ebru.  Hope it works out.


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## toxikon (Feb 16, 2017)

Just waiting for my micas to arrive! I'm feeling very indecisive on what kind of design I want to try. I much prefer the look of the straight patterns as opposed to the birds and flowers and such. But I'm worried that just a pattern won't turn out ebru-y enough... hmmmmm.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 16, 2017)

newbie said:


> Thank you! Where are all the other entries, though?? I'm lonely sitting there all by myself.



But your soap is so beautiful to look at!  I'm in a quandary, because I really like the _concept_ of the soap I made, but the _execution_ needs a lot more practice and the one I made is a bit of an abomination.  So either I carve out time to try again or everyone will just have to view the one that didn't quite work out right.  And squint.  That seems to help.


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## BattleGnome (Feb 16, 2017)

I'm waiting to see if I have time to make another batch. I like my first batch but it's in individual molds and I'd get a different swirl with a different mold


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## newbie (Feb 16, 2017)

Howie, how about one of those soft romantic type filters? Or you can post a huge note: PLEASE DO NOT VIEW WITHOUT SQUINTING.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 16, 2017)

newbie said:


> mx6- I love your flowers. They look just like petunias to me!



Sorry Newbie, I just saw this!  Thanks so much  I was actually happy with the flowers, but the also ebru pattern under them just didn't turn out as I wanted. That just gave me extra incentive for the 2nd attempt tho!


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## CaraBou (Feb 17, 2017)

Great soaps so far! You've set the bar! I better get moving; just got my mold this week and didn't realize the close date had snuck up so fast. 

I've made just one batch and it threw up on itself. I've never had a soap separate like that before and I'm not exactly sure why. Well the soap wasn't enterable anyway (too random) but it was kind of pretty. It ended up saponifying ok so I'll plane it eventually to see if I can salvage something underneath.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 17, 2017)

newbie said:


> Howie, how about one of those soft romantic type filters? Or you can post a huge note: PLEASE DO NOT VIEW WITHOUT SQUINTING.



Haha - so, so funny!!  And I like where you're going with that...  hmmm...  

My other option was to try to borrow a sleeping kitten to pose with the soap in the hopes people would say, "ohhhhh, look how cute that sleeping kitten is!" and not notice there was soap in the photo, too.

Thanks for the laugh!

ETA: CaraBou, your soap colors strike me in a (good) Mardi Gras kind of way and the swirls are so graceful.  A shame it gave you trouble!


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## earlene (Feb 17, 2017)

Without thinking, without even considering possible acceleration, I added an accelerating FO to my second batch.  Needless to say, it didn't work for ebru.

I'll do a top lay on that soap which is in my shoebox slab.  Since I already have fragrance, I'll just do to the top layer fragrance free and hopefully have some success.


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## newbie (Feb 17, 2017)

Love your french curls, mx6! 

Carabou, that is so sad!! However, I can still see the pattern underneath the oil layer so I'm thinking you may still save it. Love the colors and the swirl.

Howie, kittens and cats are a shoe-in! However, I'm sure your soap can hold its own.


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## earlene (Feb 19, 2017)

I finally have one that I am satisfied with and will enter.  Mine is not as beautiful as *newbie*'s or *mx6inpenn*'s entries, or even *CaraBou*'s reject above, but after 3 attempts, I am happy with it.  If I try again, maybe I might come up with something even nicer, but I think this will be it, at least for now.

 I still have to upload my photos to my computer and then to photobucket.


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## earlene (Feb 19, 2017)

These are my rejects.  The first one on Feb. 10, I left the room and got distracted and when I returned my slow-moving batter had gone from emulsion to medium trace.  So it's more like ebru-style and not really ebru because it just was not fluid enough.  I used 3 different small molds and different color schemes, but all done from the same original batter.





I discovered that with thick batter, a nit comb does nothing more than drag the soap around.  I never did try it again, because I concluded the teeth are just too close together.

This one would make good Chicago Bears soap.






The one I did on the 17th was so non-representative of ebru, I'm not even including it here, partly because it's ugly and partly because it won't fit in the 4 photos limit.

I kind of wish I had kept this design instead of the one I entered.  I really liked the design, but I still had more batter to pour, and this one was really only to practice and make sure my batter was going to hold together.  Maybe I'll do this again in the future for fun because it appeals to me more due to the more abstract look.






Again, this was practice working with the batter, but before pouring the rest for the final design.  






As it happens, this might be underneath, although I doubt it.  I poured more batter to cover it up and made the design I entered.  In the process of pouring for the new design, I'm pretty sure this one was altered.


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## newbie (Feb 19, 2017)

Earlene, I think you may be able to enter your last design above if you want instead of your top layer. The entry rules are for soap in the mold with the tool, not for cut bars. Just because this is an inside layer doesn't mean it can't be entered, as I read the rules, although we will see if LP agrees.


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## dibbles (Feb 19, 2017)

I am still not well enough to trust myself to make any soap, especially for the amount of time this technique should take if all goes well. So I will have to content myself with ogling all the creations everyone else does, and putting Ebru back on the to try list. Good luck everyone. And thank you LionPrincess, wish I could have played along.


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 19, 2017)

newbie said:


> Earlene, I think you may be able to enter your last design above if you want instead of your top layer. The entry rules are for soap in the mold with the tool, not for cut bars. Just because this is an inside layer doesn't mean it can't be entered, as I read the rules, although we will see if LP agrees.



I agree. You may enter it if you so choose.


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 19, 2017)

dibbles said:


> I am still not well enough to trust myself to make any soap, especially for the amount of time this technique should take if all goes well. So I will have to content myself with ogling all the creations everyone else does, and putting Ebru back on the to try list. Good luck everyone. And thank you LionPrincess, wish I could have played along.



I hope you feel better! Thx for the effort. I totally understand!!!


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## earlene (Feb 19, 2017)

And the ugly one I wouldn't show you.  It's now the back side of two of the cut bars, as I sliced off a bit to see what kind of design it might end up being.  Rather a drastic difference from front side to back side, wouldn't you say?


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## artemis (Feb 20, 2017)

earlene said:


> And the ugly one I wouldn't show you....



I love it. It's like an impressionist oil painting.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 20, 2017)

earlene, I love your "ugly" soap and totally agree with artemis that it looks like an impressionist painting.  It's just so different, vibrant, and interesting!  I also think your colors for the official Challenge entry are soothing and so complimentary.  There's something aquatic about it that I find very peaceful.

newbie, again, I can't stop staring at the detail of your entry soap (and we both had hearts on the mind!), as it's so exquisite.  

mx6inpenn, your swirls are super cool and I think that would make for such an interesting design on an individual bar when cut.  The little wisps of black in the close-up photo add to the incredible definition.

toxikon, that is your first swirl attempt ever?!  Wow, I wish my first swirl had been so photo-worthy!  I can completely relate (as I'm sure we all can) to the fast-tracing soap, but you handled it well and beat it into beautiful swirl submission.


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## newbie (Feb 20, 2017)

THanks, Howie. Believe it or not, I  did not need to squint to see exactly what you did. Very very cool and well-done!

This was one of my other soaps and you are right, hearts on the brain! The others are some of the other patterns I tried.


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## toxikon (Feb 20, 2017)

HowieRoll said:


> toxikon, that is your first swirl attempt ever?!  Wow, I wish my first swirl had been so photo-worthy!  I can completely relate (as I'm sure we all can) to the fast-tracing soap, but you handled it well and beat it into beautiful swirl submission.



Thank you so much, that's so kind of you! Your pixel hearts are amazing, you must have some serious patience to pull that off!

Newbie, all your attempts are blowing me away! The colours are gorgeous!


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## earlene (Feb 20, 2017)

Thank you, *HowieRoll* and *artemis*.  It actually turns out I have 4 bars with a similar design, because of the cut.  I forgot to check the rest before I posted that photo.

I love the design of that last one, *newbie*.  Wow, you made a lot of soap!  I tried to keep it down, but even though I put the old soap in with the new soap, thus layering it, I still ended up with 18 bars of soap weighing roughly 7.5  to 9 ounces each!  Plus enough end slices for a few more travel size bars.  So basically around 10 pounds of soap. 

These challenges are really fun, but when I am so challenged to get a technique down, I end up with a lot of soap.   Good thing I'm going out West soon.  Lots of gifts for the family!



newbie said:


> I tried a number of patterns but I found this pattern and the colors the most cheerful.


  It is cheerful and absolutely gorgeous.



mx6inpenn said:


> The whole soap including the tools used.  The  Taiwan swirl was done with the wooden spoon, the French curls with the  toothpick.



I had not thought of using a toothpick.  What a great idea.  I tried the nit comb, but the teeth are so close together, it didn't work very well.



toxikon said:


> My first attempt at swirling ANYTHING! I should've  stopped SBing a few minutes earlier because it went from light to heavy  trace super fast..



That's a fabulous very first swirl ever!  I am super impressed.



HowieRoll said:


> The idea behind this soap is pixelation.  There  are small individual hearts as "pixels," then two adjacent small heart  tails come together to (loosely) form another heart, and then several of  the small individual hearts come together to form a larger dark pink  heart pattern.



I love your hearts.  So much patience and precision was involved to create that design.  Great job!

*Lionprincess00*, thank you for the challenge.  This technique reminds me so much of the fancy designs baristas and wait staff and chefs put into fancy coffee drinks and onto fancy desert dishes.  I know there is a lot more to it than that, but that was my first thought when I first started watching ebru design videos.  Even though I owned a restaurant for a while, I never spent much time creating those fancy designs on the desert plates.  But we had some staff who really excelled at it.


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## newbie (Feb 20, 2017)

I do layered soaps for this kind of thing so I don't end up drowning in bars. Each layer is made with about 9 ounces of oils, so I get 4 tries resulting in 9 bars that are 4-5 ounces each. If one layer is a bust, then it doesn't feel like a tragedy. The last one was one of a two layer soap, so it was made with about 18 ounces of oils. I was so happy how it turned out! Once it's cut, the bars have nice swirls but you can't really get a feel for the pattern, which is a shame. I tried it again with a  smaller scale and it didn't turn out as well. 

It is really fun seeing what people are entering! I loved this challenge because the possibilities are endless. I was having a field day trying some different swirl combos.


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## penelopejane (Feb 20, 2017)

earlene said:


> And the ugly one I wouldn't show you.  It's now the back side of two of the cut bars, as I sliced off a bit to see what kind of design it might end up being.  Rather a drastic difference from front side to back side, wouldn't you say?



I really like the colours in these and I also like the greeny blue ones in the background that these are propped up on!  Great colours.

One way that might save you a bit of batter is to use 1/3 your normal mix and put it in the bottom of a normal log mold instead of a slab mold.  This gives you one layer (thickness) of soap in the bottom - about 4 bars.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 20, 2017)

Ok, newbie, so that is all kinds of genius to do layers for challenges like this!  And honestly, how do you get such fine, colorful swirls?!  

Below is the other attempt I'd made, where the batter got too thick and everything was too close together.  In this iteration, there were 9 "hearts" vertically and 7 across, but that was scaled back to 7x7 due to spacial concerns (and 84 less dots to put down).  The entry soap is also layers like this, although I also scaled that back to 3 instead of 4.  I just didn't have time for soaping shenanigans and waiting for things to set.  haha...


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## dibbles (Feb 20, 2017)

Oh such great entries everyone. I love them all. Newbie, all your tries are gorgeous, but I can't even begin to tell you how much I love that last one in the post above. Absolutely gobsmacked by that one.


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## newbie (Feb 20, 2017)

I like that one too, Howie! The layering idea makes for more interesting use of the bar as well, don't you think? Oh, your patience in pouring so many dots so precisely is something I admire.

I am very heavy handed with micas and I think I used 8 or 9 colors across a range, which makes it pretty colorful. Not everyone likes that much going on in a bar, but that's a style thing. I pour thin lines of each color twice (so 16-18 lines) across the slab, then zig zag across the lines from side to side, but not super close, then zig zag across those lines from top to bottom. (You can pour the first lines of soap across the short length of the mold and then zig zag from top to bottom and then side to side depending on which way you want your thin lines to run.) You get very very fine lines of color that way. From that Taiwan look, you can finish with another swirl to get your final pattern. The trick is doing it all with your soap still pretty fluid.


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## suburbanrancher (Feb 20, 2017)

newbie, that last one I just cannot stop looking at it. It is SO PRETTY and so fascinating to look at.


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## BattleGnome (Feb 20, 2017)

Posting my only attempt here. While I did follow the process for peacock and DNA swirls there isn't enough space in single cavity molds to truest count as ebru in my opinion. I definitely won't get a chance to soap in the next 24 hours to make an actual entry. 

My highly experimental 75% lard, 25% olive with green tea scented green and honey scented white. First pic was right after pour. Second pic, after CPOP and three days before it was firm enough to unmold. The third pic was from a few days ago with a hefty dose of ash to separate the colors. I was hoping to play with black tea and maple for my next attempt but that might have to wait for March's challenge.


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## earlene (Feb 20, 2017)

*BattleGnome*, I really like the one on the bottom left in the second picture.  The colors fit so well with the scents your chose.  I'll bet they will be fabulous bars.


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## leilaninoel (Feb 21, 2017)

Things definitely did not go as planned for me. A combination of trembling hands (hyperthyroid) and natural born clumsiness did not work well. 

First attempt was waves. The lines were too heavy, I wasn't methodical enough with the swirling with the chopstick, combined with trembling hands. It was mostly meant as a warm up though. 







The day-lily attempt was going to be the nicest until I dropped a beaker in it and ruined the pattern. I tried scooping out the spoiled pattern and leaving the rest, then redoing that section, but it wound up discolored and it just wasn't quite the same. Still, it is soap. 






I had a couple others, but they at least are in decent enough shape where I might submit one if I don't have time for one more attempt before submission deadline. I know my soaps do not compare to the fantastic ones submitted, but I want to at least say I participated.


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## earlene (Feb 21, 2017)

Your daylily soap is beautiful, *leilaninoel*.  All that's lacking in your photo of it is the tool you used.  Perhaps if you include a separte photo of the tool, you could still submit it.  I wonder what *lionprincess *says.



leilaninoel said:


> The day-lily attempt was going to be the nicest until I dropped a beaker in it and ruined the pattern. I tried scooping out the spoiled pattern and leaving the rest, then redoing that section, but it wound up discolored and it just wasn't quite the same. Still, it is soap.


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 21, 2017)

Yes, ebru flowers with the leaves qualifies in my opinion!
Edit to add, we will need a pic of the swirl tool used as well and as was mentioned if you do decide to submit your soap. 

ANNOUNCEMENT:
The thread closes at midnight tonight. In the case of last minute submissions, I will open the survey as soon as I can check and add any last minute submissions Wednesday morning. I will PM ALL who signed up the password for the survey shortly.


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## penelopejane (Feb 21, 2017)

leilaninoel said:


> Things definitely did not go as planned for me. A combination of trembling hands (hyperthyroid) and natural born clumsiness did not work well.
> 
> The day-lily attempt was going to be the nicest until I dropped a beaker in it and ruined the pattern.



Gosh we are hard on ourselves. I love the day lily. Great idea and execution. No one would know it wasn't exactly as you intended if you hadn't said so. :mrgreen:


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## penelopejane (Feb 21, 2017)

HowieRoll said:


> But your soap is so beautiful to look at!  I'm in a quandary, because I really like the _concept_ of the soap I made, but the _execution_ needs a lot more practice and the one I made is a bit of an abomination.  So either I carve out time to try again or everyone will just have to view the one that didn't quite work out right.  And squint.  That seems to help.



I can see the larger hearts! 

The little hearts are perfect though because when you cut it into cakes you won't see the larger hearts anyway. Unless you did a smaller red heart group in the middle of each soap? Anyway it is a wonderful idea.


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## penelopejane (Feb 21, 2017)

BattleGnome said:


> Posting my only attempt here. While I did follow the process for peacock and DNA swirls there isn't enough space in single cavity molds to truest count as ebru in my opinion. I definitely won't get a chance to soap in the next 24 hours to make an actual entry.
> 
> My highly experimental 75% lard, 25% olive with green tea scented green and honey scented white. First pic was right after pour. Second pic, after CPOP and three days before it was firm enough to unmold. The third pic was from a few days ago with a hefty dose of ash to separate the colors. I was hoping to play with black tea and maple for my next attempt but that might have to wait for March's challenge.



These should have been submitted. Just lovely.
Quickly do it now!


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## toxikon (Feb 21, 2017)

Just cut up my bars! I'm amazed at how strong the FO is. It's been lingering quite strongly all over the house since I made the soap a few days ago.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 21, 2017)

BattleGnome, you managed to get some beautiful swirl patterns into individual soaps!  Whenever I have leftover batter and pour it into my little yogurt cups I will try to swirl something together but it usually becomes a muddled mess.  I love that shade of green, too.

leilaninoel, that day lily is gorgeous!  I do not see where the beaker was dropped, and think the swirling of the leaves and flowers themselves are outstanding.  

penelopejane, thanks for your kind words!  I did put a "big" heart in the center of each bar, but mostly because I love symmetry and couldn't bear the thought of having heart fragments scattered about after I cut it.


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## CaraBou (Feb 21, 2017)

Eek! I have less than 6 hours! I spent the weekend in a nearby town attending a major film festival, with no spare time for soaping.  I will try to get in a batch after dinner tonight though I'm not real optimistic I'll get anything I can enter.  I have a repeating pattern in mind and need to stick with the plan so it doesn't come out random!

Loving the pics so far -- both in the entry thread and here. Nice job guys.


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## leilaninoel (Feb 21, 2017)

Reattempt at day-lilies. Didn't drop the beaker, but I tried to fix some mistakes and it made things worse. Oh well! Still soap.  





Used up some leftover batter, and instead of doing a DNA swirl I decided to try something different. It turned to mud. Whoops!


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 22, 2017)

Your welcome earlene. Ebru has such a wide range of choices, I find making a decision the hardest part of ebru soaps lol!

The thread is closed. The link to the survey is posted on the challenge thread. If you signed up, you can vote. I pm'd everyone who signed up the survey password yesterday. If for some reason you didn't receive the password, or it isn't working, let me know and I will fix the problem. 

Thanks again everyone!


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 22, 2017)

Thanks for the challenge lionprincess!  

As usual, voting is difficult! With only 6 to choose from (I don't count my own) I thought it would be easier, but nooooo!


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## penelopejane (Feb 22, 2017)

Voted. Sorry I didn't get around to making an entry. I spent the month procrastinating about a new mold size. :headbanging:


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## earlene (Feb 22, 2017)

penelopejane said:


> Voted. Sorry I didn't get around to making an entry. I spent the month procrastinating about a new mold size. :headbanging:



I've been using a boot box for a slab mold for quite a while now and am really considering buying and actual slab mold now, so I totally get that.  It's in my shopping cart, where it will probably stay for several days or longer while I continue to think about if I want to spend the money or not.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 22, 2017)

Sorry for the delay guys, I thought I would do a second attempt but baby girl got sick and didn't upload any. Here is my 1st attempt that I am not so happy about.. may be next time.


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## penelopejane (Feb 23, 2017)

earlene said:


> I've been using a boot box for a slab mold for quite a while now and am really considering buying and actual slab mold now, so I totally get that.  It's in my shopping cart, where it will probably stay for several days or longer while I continue to think about if I want to spend the money or not.



Earlene, 
It has been MONTHS of procrastination for me.  I have a B&B log and t&s mold and I have been canvassing everyone about which is better.  I have about 50/50 results which is absolutely no help. I made a slab of soap in the bottom of my log and cut it into soaps allowing for shrinkage of the molds I've been considering.  I have 5 soaps on the kitchen bench.  DH is looking at me strangely.  I have an order due in Nov for Castile that I have to make now!

I bought a mold from the internet two days ago (could take 4 weeks to arrive) that I am hopeful about.  :headbanging:


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## redhead1226 (Feb 23, 2017)

Everyone your Ebru soaps are all beautiful. I didn't enter as its a little beyond my skill level, having never done it. So Im so envious of all  of you. I might try to make one when I have time just to see how it goes. But all of you did a great job!


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## leilaninoel (Feb 23, 2017)

redhead1226 said:


> Everyone your Ebru soaps are all beautiful. I didn't enter as its a little beyond my skill level, having never done it. So Im so envious of all  of you. I might try to make one when I have time just to see how it goes. But all of you did a great job!



I had never done anything like it before either - but the video tutorials that were included in the initial posting were EXTREMELY helpful. The DNA swirl, while looking super complicated, was actually one of the easiest swirls I've tried so far!  Even though the competition is over, I would definitely suggest giving the video a watch and then giving it a try.


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## toxikon (Feb 23, 2017)

leilaninoel said:


> I had never done anything like it before either - but the video tutorials that were included in the initial posting were EXTREMELY helpful. The DNA swirl, while looking super complicated, was actually one of the easiest swirls I've tried so far!  Even though the competition is over, I would definitely suggest giving the video a watch and then giving it a try.



I agree, the DNA swirl was surprisingly easy. It was my first time trying any kind of swirl at all and I was pleasantly surprised.


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 23, 2017)

French curls are pretty darn easy too! It looks intimidating for many of the slab type swirls, but I've decided a skewer or similar is much easier to get a good result with than a hanger.


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## kchaystack (Feb 23, 2017)

I threw this together the other weekend, inspired by several of the entries.  The color pallet was for Mardi Gras, since this was my first year living in Louisiana.  I've discovered I really dislike challenges, so don't want to enter but I liked how this turned out.   I scented it with WSP's coconut lime verbena.  I cut it into 12 1.5" x 3" bars and will pass it out to ladies at work once it is cured.

https://goo.gl/photos/Y5N354uiNLakKuAc6


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## CaraBou (Feb 23, 2017)

KC that's one awesome soap! Your coworkers will love it!


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 24, 2017)

I'D LIKE TO MAKE AN ANNOUNCEMENT 

12 out of 13 who signed up already voted! If you haven't voted yet, please take a second to do so. The link is in the submission thread.

Once the final person votes, I will announce the winners.

Thank you all again for your participation in this challenge!


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## KristaY (Feb 25, 2017)

I'm SO sorry LP! I was the tardy one.  Life got in my way and I wasn't able to get an ebru soap made but boy did everyone do some beautiful work! You guys really made voting difficult but since I finally got it done, let's hear who the winners are!


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## lionprincess00 (Feb 25, 2017)

Life gets in everyone's way, including mine lol! I am here with the winners, sorry for the delay!

1st Newbie 
2nd leilaninoel 
3rd HowieRoll

Thank you all who signed up, participated, and who even lurked and may have learned something. This is for all who want to try OR learn. Participation isn't required, though it is appreciated, of course. Thank you to all!


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## penelopejane (Feb 25, 2017)

lionprincess00 said:


> Life gets in everyone's way, including mine lol! I am here with the winners, sorry for the delay!
> 
> 1st Newbie
> 2nd leilaninoel
> ...



Congratulations Newbie, leilaninoel and Howieroll on you stunning soaps. Congratulations to all who submitted an entry and to all those who made soap but it didn't come up to their highly (too highly set?) standards. 

You've produced some beautiful soaps while I've been sitting on the couch procrastinating!


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## dibbles (Feb 25, 2017)

Looks like I get to be the first to congratulate the winners. Well done, all of you. Everyone that entered did a great job with this challenge. Thanks to LP for this one.

ETA PJ types faster than me. Second to offer congratulations.


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## Soapprentice (Feb 26, 2017)

Congratulations guys!!! Love all the soaps!! And a great challenge...  like PJ said, I am one of those with too highly set standards, considering this is my 2 nd soap and 1st ever with color, I should have entered it.. well, lesson learnt and will not be repeated  but hey, I made an ebru soap!!!


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## earlene (Feb 26, 2017)

Congratulations, *Newbie*, *Leilaninoel* & *HowieRoll*.  You each did a fabulous design with your ebru soaps!

Thank you, *Lionprincess00*, for the challenge.  It was a lot of fun.


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## HowieRoll (Feb 26, 2017)

Congrats to newbie and leilaninoel, both such beautiful soaps!  And thank you to everyone, especially lionprincess, for all of the soap eye candy and hosting duties!!


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## mx5inpenn (Feb 26, 2017)

Congrats newbie, leilaninoel and HowieRoll!


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## newbie (Feb 26, 2017)

Thank you! And congrats to Howie and Leilaninoel, as well! Everyone had beautiful soaps to share.

Thank you, LP. That was probably my favorite challenge so far. So much to do and learn.


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## CaraBou (Mar 1, 2017)

Congrats on your wins and those beautiful soaps! Very creative indeed!


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