# First Attempt at the Mantra Swirl



## Guest (May 8, 2009)

My first attempt at the mantra swirl .My black went almost solid on me , but I am trying it again soon. Scented with Bamboo and Teak.I really like this  unisex scent , it is a very light fresh clean scent.











Front and back of Mantra Swirl

Thanks for looking.  

Kitn


----------



## LJA (May 8, 2009)

It still looks great, Kitn!  It reminds me of flash photography where the "blur" trail is behind the moving object.  Very arty-farty.  Do you do that in a loaf or a slab mold?


----------



## Guest (May 8, 2009)

You do it in a log mold , you just pour to the bar height depth , cut the log in half and then in bars.  
  Artsy Fartsy , YES  !!! that is the look I was going for when my black turned into cement. You are very observant to have caught that :wink: :wink:

Kitn


----------



## heyjude (May 8, 2009)

That is way cool. The colors look really nice together!     

Jude


----------



## LJA (May 8, 2009)

Kitn said:
			
		

> You do it in a log mold , you just pour to the bar height depth , cut the log in half and then in bars.
> Artsy Fartsy , YES  !!! that is the look I was going for when my black turned into cement. You are very observant to have caught that :wink: :wink:
> 
> Kitn



See why I'm a visual learner?  I'm totally not grasping that....lol


----------



## eucalypta (May 9, 2009)

Cool  back to the sixties - Popart
Nice colours too.


----------



## heartsong (May 9, 2009)

*x*

:shock:  that is soooo pretty!  :shock: 

i'll be so dam happy when i get home! we just got dsl thru our local provider so i can sign up for my saponifier emag!!!

can't do it with the truckstop net i'm on right now-no way to download or save files!  

fantastic job there, kitn!  you should be proud of yourself!  looking forward to you next challenge!


----------



## topcat (May 9, 2009)

Wow!!!  Beautiful!

Tanya


----------



## Guest (May 9, 2009)

Thank you all ,
 I always look forward to the next challenge lol. In 5 days that will be moving  :shock: .The hardest part will not being able to make soap for awhile .I shall survive ..
Kitn


----------



## zeoplum (May 9, 2009)

Kitn,

That is very impressive.  AND inspiring!  Thank you for sharing.

zeo


----------



## studioalamode (May 10, 2009)

Wow, those are great looking!  I wish I could smell them, too!


----------



## vivcarm (May 10, 2009)

Very very nice! They look complicated!


----------



## MsDee (May 10, 2009)

Oh yeah that is pretty.


----------



## Lindy (May 10, 2009)

Love It!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## rupertspal42 (May 10, 2009)

I like those, they are very crafty.  I was trying to picture what you mean by pour to height... i'm a visual person as well


----------



## LJA (May 10, 2009)

I've never done that kind of swirl before and while I get the gist of it, no one ever explains if it's a _slow_ drag of the skewer through the soap or more of a fast wrist flick to get the pull of color.  Any thoughts?


----------



## eucalypta (May 10, 2009)

A tutorial of the mantra swirl is published in "The saponifier"  http://saponifier.com/?p=912 special swirl edition.
All the winners published tuts of their swirls in that edition.
that is why it is not available on the fora - it's copyrighted.


----------



## MsBien (May 10, 2009)

I love them!


----------



## Guest (May 10, 2009)

Hey LJA and rupertspal , 
  I will try to explain the swirl thing.When they say pour it from a height , they mean hold your color pitcher as high as you can ,I guess you could stand on a chair and aim for the spot in the mold that you want the color to go.The higher you pour the swirl color  from ,the lower it should sink into your mold. 
For this swirl you start in a corner and do a figure 8 all the way down the mold. I just use a semi slow steady hand when swirling .Try different tools for swirling , skewers, bamboo knitting needles work , I have some pottery tools that work , a chocolate holder for dipping handmade chocolates works ,it has an oval at the end , so you get a different effect , a thin dowel , coat hanger etc.

Kitn


----------



## LJA (May 10, 2009)

You rock, Kitn.  I bought the digi issue with the tut in it yesterday.  It looks doable but I just wasn't sure how fast or slow to pull the swirling tool through the soap.  I appreciate you explaining it.  If I try to cut that loaf on a horizontal with the meager cutting tools I have (drywall knife anyone?) it won't be pretty so maybe I'll just pour one bar height and make like 5 soaps.


----------



## Guest (May 10, 2009)

Anytime LJA , You should have seen how I butchered mine cutting it , it was not pretty . I don't have a putty knife , had to do it in bits with my 5 inch long cutter ha..One bar depth would be a  very good thing.Oh and read the whole thing , I missed the part about depth. :wink:

Kitn


----------



## eucalypta (May 11, 2009)

LJA said:
			
		

> You rock, Kitn.  I bought the digi issue with the tut in it yesterday.  It looks doable but I just wasn't sure how fast or slow to pull the swirling tool through the soap.  I appreciate you explaining it.  If I try to cut that loaf on a horizontal with the meager cutting tools I have (drywall knife anyone?) it won't be pretty so maybe I'll just pour one bar height and make like 5 soaps.



Hiya 

What I do is the following (see my post in the gallery with the 6 col swirl)
First you divide your soap vertically in bars _ those are still double in height.
Then you cut them horizontally   easy peasy.

For the swirling I used a knitting needle size 10 

edited for typo


----------



## LJA (May 11, 2009)

Duh....
Why didn't I think of that?!  LOL!


----------



## eucalypta (May 11, 2009)

Because it is too obvious  you are thinking of somehting difficult, so you expect a dificult answer


----------



## Guest (May 11, 2009)

I think the reason is LJA , like you said , you just needed it explained. It doesn't matter if something is difficult or easy , the written word is many times better than a picture in some cases. 
Speaking of pictures  :wink:  I would sure like to see one of your soap when you are done. :wink: 

Kitn


----------

