# Tilted Tiger Stripe Challenge Soap



## Tienne (Mar 13, 2014)

On Seven's thread with pictures of her absolutely eye-poppingly beautiful Lemongrass tilted tiger stripe soap, I was joshing around and challenged another soaper to try the technique and unwittingly got caught in the glue trap myself. (That'll teach me. LOL)  The challenge was to make a tilted tiger stripe soap and post pictures as proof within 30 days, starting 02-22-2014. I'd never made a tilted tiger before, but a deal's a deal, so here it is, 

The base colour is lime green oxide mixed with a little bit of Sage Green mica to mellow it down a tad and the stripes are Sparkle Pearl mica mixed with a dash of TD and Starlight Green mica, all from The Conservatorie.  It's scented with Wildwood FO from Gracefruit. 

I haven't trimmed the tops and can't really decide if I want to because I kind of like the crooked contrast they add to the otherwise straight edged soaps, but then again, I also like things to be neat, so the jury is still out on what I am going to do about the tops.  Anyway, here's the soap. Thanks for looking!


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## FlybyStardancer (Mar 13, 2014)

Pretty!


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## seven (Mar 13, 2014)

yay! you did it! absolutely amazing colors.. muted and soft.. what is wildwood fo smells like? never heard that one before. something forest-y? 

i'm also having a hard time deciding whether to trim the top or not. at the end, i just leave it there. it's too squarish otherwise. this way, it still has a handmade feel to it, kwim?


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 13, 2014)

Those are lovely! Super work! I really like the green shade. Now I have something new to try...
Cheers!
Anna Marie


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## Tienne (Mar 13, 2014)

Thank you so much, Anna Marie!  The challenge doesn't end until the 22nd, so there's still plenty of time to join in, if you want to.   I wouldn't mind making another.

Seven, yes the scent is a forest-y, light sort of scent. Gracefruit says this about it;

_A green floral accord opening with top notes of orange and lime with  aloe, olive, fresh green leaves, basil, rosemary and lavender with  fruity touches of pineapple and peach.  Leading into a floral heart of  jasmine, geranium, rose, lily, gardenia and hawthorn on a base of  sandalwood, cedarwood, amber and musk._

I can't smell even half of those things and to me it just smells green. LOL I'm not very good at describing scents. I think I agree with you to leave the tops alone. The soaps would be too squarish and dare I say, boring, without just a little bit of "crudeness" about them. I'm a bit of a neat freak with my soaps usually, so leaving them uneven like that is to me a challenge all on its own and makes me feel like a reckless rebel! Haha! I really need to learn how to relax with my soaps. One day, I might even go so far as to making wildly textured tops! I think I'd need a soaping buddy before I do that though, or I'll be fiddling and fudging and re-doing the tops ad infinitum until they're one big blurry mess. I'd need a "Titch" to tell me to "Leave the top alone, Celine! They're fine now as they are!"


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 13, 2014)

You know, I'm expecting my order from BB with 6 or 7 new fragrance oils.  Maybe I'll try the challenge with a lime/spearmint blend....


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## Tienne (Mar 13, 2014)

Yay! Good on you, Anna Marie!    It's not really fair that you don't have a full thirty days though, so we can restart the stopwatch from today.  

How about you, FlybyStardancer. Are you game? The more, the merrier! And don't you have just one more tilted tiger up your sleeve, Seven?  Just one more?  Don't feel pressured, though! Nope. No pressure. None at all. Heh heh.


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## FlybyStardancer (Mar 13, 2014)

Hahaha, we'll see.  Tilted tiger stripes are on my to-try list, but I also have at least three other soaps to do first (two batches of easter soaps, and my egg breakfast soap).


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## newbie (Mar 13, 2014)

I love that look and think it's a great technique. It's interesting how the soap feels different based on the colors, even with more or less the same pattern. I may have to give it a go, although my upright mold is so skinny, I'm not sure it will look quite right. Well, never know until you try. 

Lovely choice of colors and scent, Tienne!


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## neeners (Mar 13, 2014)

*drool*  I tried a tilted tiger swirl a while back, but it ended up looking almost like a dandelion swirl (not sure how that happened), but the colours didn't pop.  now....I feel like I need to try it again.  

 *getting itchy feeling*


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## Tienne (Mar 14, 2014)

newbie said:


> It's interesting how the soap feels different  based on the colors, even with more or less the same pattern.
> *****
> Lovely choice of colors and scent, Tienne!



Thank you so  much, Newbie! Yes, it's odd how colours have a feel to them, isn't it?  I'm in a green/brown/bronze earthy phase at the moment when I really  should be making soaps with Spring and Summer colours, so I'm going to make another tilted tiger that's more appropriate for the  season. It's a fun technique.



neeners said:


> I feel like I need to try it again.
> *****
> *getting itchy feeling*



Itchy is good, Neeners! Run with that!  

All round, I would love it if there were more challenges on the forum. I would love to do a challenge that said "Replicate this!" and then post a picture of a pretty soap found online somewhere and then see how folks would back-engineer or re-interpret it and then see what they come up with. That would be awesome!


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## Ellacho (Mar 14, 2014)

Wow! Love it!


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## osso (Mar 14, 2014)

Love these soaps! The design looks really great in taller bars.


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## Tienne (Mar 14, 2014)

Thanks, guys! I really love the tall moulds and use them a lot. They're really good for drop swirls and hanger swirls, too.


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## newbie (Mar 14, 2014)

Tienne, I love that challenge idea so I just stole it and posted a soap I love and want to figure out how to make. I did give you credit, and I own up to swiping it. I hope you don't hate me.


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## kikajess (Mar 14, 2014)

Waaaaaoooow! That is so pretty. Leave the tops as are. The organic nature of the tilted tops compliments the striping very well.


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## Hazel (Mar 14, 2014)

Beautiful!


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## Tienne (Mar 14, 2014)

newbie said:


> Tienne, I love that challenge idea so I just stole it and posted a soap I love and want to figure out how to make. I did give you credit, and I own up to swiping it. I hope you don't hate me.



You swiped my idea? I'm absolutely devastated, Newbie! How could you?? Hahaha, just kidding. That's exactly what I wished for! I'm totally stoked and thrilled that someone else thinks it's a fun idea, too! Now, I'm off to find your thread. Oooh, so exciting!


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## newbie (Mar 14, 2014)

I know! I'm such a b**ch! At least I owned up to it.


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## neeners (Mar 14, 2014)

Tienne said:


> Itchy is good, Neeners! Run with that!




 *twitch twitch, itch itch*

 dang......fine!  I will try again!  I wish I had a tall mold though......  it's not nearly as dramatic in the short mold.....


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## Tienne (Mar 14, 2014)

Good on you, Neeners! Yay! 



newbie said:


> I know! I'm such a b**ch! At least I owned up to it.



Well, that makes two of us then, coz I just had to tease you. 

And there's nothing to "own up to", you silly goose. LOL  It's all good and as it should be, so don't you worry your pretty little head over it one more second, ya hear me? 

I found your post btw and I am lovin' it!! :clap:  I tried to put in my two cents and I can't wait to see what happens next as people add new posts and expand or modify earlier ideas and more and more ideas and lightbulbs moments go off and what it all will end with! It's a great post! 

Ha! That reminds me of a one-liner I read not long ago that goes something like this:

_"I know the voices in my head aren't real, but they come up with some great ideas sometimes!"_ LOL


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 14, 2014)

I got my order from BB and I am dreaming of color combos right now....


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## neeners (Mar 14, 2014)

ya....I'm formulating what colours and scents I want to do with my tilted tiger swirl.  my selection is limited, which could be why I'm having a hard time deciding.....


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## Khanjari (Mar 16, 2014)

A....MA......ZING! I'm absolutely in love with that soap!!!!!! I don't know if I will be so talented ever!!!!! Or even if I will have the patience to make a soap like that. ...... AWESOME JOB!!!!!!!!


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## seven (Mar 16, 2014)

i forgot to mentions, the surface looks really really smooth! i love it! did you cotton polish them, Tienne?


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## Tienne (Mar 16, 2014)

Khanjari said:


> A....MA......ZING! I'm absolutely in love with  that soap!!!!!! I don't know if I will be so talented ever!!!!! Or even  if I will have the patience to make a soap like that. ...... AWESOME  JOB!!!!!!!!



Aww, thank you so much, Khanjari! That was so sweet of you to say. This is my first try at making a tilted tiger and in all honesty, the technique really doesn't require much talent at all. It's really easy to do. I am more than certain that you can do it, too. Give it a try!  



seven said:


> i forgot to mentions, the surface looks really really smooth! i love it! did you cotton polish them, Tienne?



Oh yeah, you betcha!   I wipe down all my soaps as a rule. I love the way it cleans up the edges and smooths things down. I had cut this soap after maybe 10 hours (way too soon as usual LOL) so it was mega soft and got riddled with DDMs, but a wipe down pretty much took care of those, too. My trusty little t-shirt rag is my most favourite soaping tool *ever*!


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## Tienne (Mar 16, 2014)

Oh, there was something else about this soap I forgot to tell y'all. (Just in case someone uses the same micas.)  Right after cutting, the Starlight Green mica stripes were a very light grey, barely distinguishable from the white, but the next day the stripes had darkened up to what is shown in the pics and now the stripes have matured even more, so now the green is just what I hoped it would be. I just wanted to throw that out there in case someone else uses that mica one day and gets disappointed in the colour. It will darken up and become the luscious olive green it's supposed to be after a few days.  

Speaking of which, I was just on the The Conservatorie yesterday and they have removed any and all mention of whether or not the micas are colour stable in soap or not from the descriptions! I kid you not! Totally aghast, I wrote to them and asked them about it and they replied that someone had complained that some micas were not stable when they were supposed to be and so, as a consequence, they have decided to remove all that info from the site. So, that's why I just wanted to mention that about the Starlight Green. Our own experiences with their micas and the sharing with each other of how they act is pretty much all we have to go on now! The Conservatorie was my favourite mica pusher and I totally feel like I am shopping blind when I go there to get a mica fix now. So sad.


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## MzMolly65 (Mar 16, 2014)

Tienne said:


> You swiped my idea? I'm absolutely devastated, Newbie! How could you?? Hahaha, just kidding. That's exactly what I wished for! I'm totally stoked and thrilled that someone else thinks it's a fun idea, too! Now, I'm off to find your thread. Oooh, so exciting!



You realize if you see the thread you have to make the soap .. wasn't that YOUR rule Tienne???


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## Tienne (Mar 16, 2014)

Nope!   The rule is, that if you ask to have a soaping secret revealed unto you, then, as a rite of passage for thereby having become a newly initiated and informed keeper of that ancient soaping knowledge, which could include wisdom passed down from the Elders or from previously initiated and enlightened keepers of the Soapy Grail... (or maybe just a link to a youtube tutorial LOL) *THEN* you are obliged to honour the gift that was given unto you and the trust that was placed in you by practicing, making and mastering the technique in question, so that you can preserve it and pass it on safely to future generations! (Just bookmark the link to the youtube and you're good. LOL)  Okay then! Since it's Newbie who's seeking the secret to the soap in question on that thread, then it is Newbie who is obliged to make it, if and when the secret is revealed unto her!! Seeing that that indeed _is_ Newbie's intention, then Newbie is fully honouring her obligations! .... and God in His Heaven, smiles. 

And besides.... I don't have any franky-myhrr FO


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## Be Love (Mar 16, 2014)

I think this idea of regular challenges is great! I would definitely participate and it's a great way to expand our creative and technical repertoire. Any way we could make it it's own board or sticky?


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## newbie (Mar 16, 2014)

Dear god, I have no idea I had stumbled into such an ancient rite! I can't say the gods have smiled on me yet, though, nor that I have been blessed with any knowledge of exquisite techniques. That's a bummer!

The Conservatorie has to get a backbone! To take off the information instead of just correcting it or making adjustments is cruel.


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## neeners (Mar 16, 2014)

I'd love a challenge.  I don't need to win anything, just to have someone push me into trying something new (and free participation is always good)


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 16, 2014)

Okay Tienne, I'm going to attempt my tilted tiger swirl tomorrow. In honor of St. Patrick's Day I'm going to use this color palate from Design Seeds and use a lime/spearmint eo blend. Wish me luck


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 16, 2014)

AnnaMarie said:


> Okay Tienne, I'm going to attempt my tilted tiger swirl tomorrow. In honor of St. Patrick's Day I'm going to use this color palate from Design Seeds and use a lime/spearmint eo blend. Wish me luck




Ohh, that will be so pretty! Good luck!


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## Khanjari (Mar 16, 2014)

Wish you GOOD LUCK AnnaMarie!!! Please post pictures, I loved this soap..... I love never tried CP but I appreciate this one soooooo much


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## Tienne (Mar 17, 2014)

What wonderful colours, Anna Marie! I am particularly partial to those greens and I when I do soaps, I struggle to NOT use greens every chance I get. LOL  I'm so excited to see what you create! I'm going to try to make more of a Spring/Summer version today. GOOD LUCK and rock on, Sister!


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## seven (Mar 17, 2014)

neeners said:


> I'd love a challenge.  I don't need to win anything, just to have someone push me into trying something new (and free participation is always good)



i sent a pm to 2 mods but havent got a reply yet. i dont see why they should mind though. nyways, since we already got something going here we should continue. it'll become a regular at the end


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## neeners (Mar 17, 2014)

yay!  I'm still figuring out colours and scent blends for mine.  I have such limited availabilities on what I can do with colour and scents.....  anyway, keep the ideas coming, and i'll keep wracking my brain!


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## Tienne (Mar 17, 2014)

Seven, it's of course best to make sure the mods don't disapprove, but seeing that no money is changing hands, and no harm is being done to the reputation of the forum, I don't see why there should be a problem with challenging each other to make more wonderful soaps. Besides honing our skills and broadening our horizons, another side effect is that we get to see many, many more pictures of soap!! No true soaper in their right mind can ever disapprove of THAT!!


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## neeners (Mar 17, 2014)

I made my attempt....but my batter got thick.    let's hope it looks ok when it's unmolded and cut tmr.  aahhh....the wait is always torture!!!  :-x


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## Tienne (Mar 17, 2014)

Oooh Neeners, this is getting exciting! Soon the forum will be flooded with pics of all these wonderful soaps!

Another thing I thought of that makes challenges a great idea is, that we can share tips and tricks about the different techniques we try and learn even more from each other than we already do. 

My base batter had gotten fairly thick too, by the time I was finished with the striping, but luckily I didn't add any fragrance to the stripe batters, so they remained nice and liquid the whole time so I could get the thin, whispy stripes that I like. By the time the striping was done, I had to spoon the top base into the mould. The fragrance I chose is supposedly a light accelerator, but from the very beginning, my base batter was more custardy, than fluid. Oxides do also tend to thicken the batter more than micas do, IMO. Next time I'm going to pick a non-accelerating FO and use only micas , if for no other reason than to reduce the stress of wondering if I can get it all poured in the mould in time. When trying something new, I'd like to have all the time I can get.


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## neeners (Mar 17, 2014)

I think I just took too long organizing everything, and over-mixed things.  I used cedarwood, rosemary and lavender EOs, which shouldn't accelerate trace.....  then the top is not as nice as I would have liked it to be (just plain).  ah...hopefully the swirl comes out the way I want.....


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## Hazel (Mar 17, 2014)

I don't know if anyone has replied to your PMs about challenges but there used to be monthly challenges. No one has suggested anything for a long time. I think the last one was the Simon & Garfunkel challenge. Here are some links to previous ones so everyone can see how they kind of worked.

http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=31695
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=31775
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=32547
http://www.soapmakingforum.com/showthread.php?t=33569

There are more if you want to search for them.


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## MzMolly65 (Mar 17, 2014)

neeners said:


> I made my attempt....but my batter got thick.    let's hope it looks ok when it's unmolded and cut tmr.  aahhh....the wait is always torture!!!  :-x



Geez Neeners .. you need to be more careful about posting finished soap comment before you have pics ready to share.  There's an angry mob around SMF shouting for pics .. just ask Gent!


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## Tienne (Mar 18, 2014)

I agree with MsMolly. You're walking on thin ice there, Neeners! You'd better post pics real quick if you want to avoid the angry hoards. 

@Hazel
Thank you so much for those links. Wow, those challenges were hard! I have NO idea how I would go about making a Simon and Garfunkel soap or a TV Show soap. I totally lack imagination to make themed soap like that. Techniques, yes. Anything even remotely artful. No.


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## seven (Mar 18, 2014)

@Hazel

thanks for the links. so basically it's okay to have monthly challenges, right? alrighty then, we'll carry on


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## neeners (Mar 18, 2014)

I know, I KNOW!!! I was part of the angry mob. it hasn't been cut yet. it's just staring at me at the moment. I'd post an in the mold pic, but it's really boring. I'm cutting it later and will post pics ASAP! (trying not to cut now b/c it's still quite soft....it's just sitting there...taunting me though)

 I agree with those old challenges.  I was a newbie, but still, they seemed really REALLY hard......  these technique ones I can grasp though.....


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## neeners (Mar 18, 2014)

the curiosity was killing me, and i feel the need to appease the angry mob, so here are cut pics! it was supposed to be green and white stripes, but the French green clay looks grey, and the base colour was supposed to be more brown but it's orangy.... hopefully colours will turn the way i want during cure. smells devine though (lavender, rosemary and cedarwood).

 I'm pleasantly surprised there weren't as many air bubbles as i expected due to the thickness of the batter.  but....i feel as though i need to try this technique out at least a few more times, so i can get something that looks like everyone else's pretty tilted tiger swirl.....


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## Tienne (Mar 18, 2014)

Wow, it looks great!! It looks like birds! I really like the base colour as it is. Nice neat top you got going on there too. Love that. Loooovely soap!!


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## neeners (Mar 18, 2014)

thanks! I was hoping for some sort of swirl, but the batter got too thick so I just smeared everything and smoothed it out. lol.  *ahem* I mean....that was exactly what I was going for....  :think:


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## Tienne (Mar 18, 2014)

^^^    Soap has a mind of it's own!


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## Khanjari (Mar 18, 2014)

Woooowwwww! I love that soap! Looking at the pictures of the soap, the first thing that came to my mind was also BIRDS!! 

GREAT TALENT guys! I'm loving this tiger stripes


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 18, 2014)

Awesome job, Neeners!


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## neeners (Mar 18, 2014)

Thanks everyone for the kind words!


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## Hazel (Mar 18, 2014)

Tienne said:


> Wow, those challenges were hard! I have NO idea how I would go about making a Simon and Garfunkel soap or a TV Show soap. I totally lack imagination to make themed soap like that. Techniques, yes. Anything even remotely artful. No.


 
  What do you think you’re creating with the technique and color combinations? Looks artistic to me. 



seven said:


> thanks for the links. so basically it's okay to have monthly challenges, right? alrighty then, we'll carry on


 


neeners said:


> I agree with those old challenges. I was a newbie, but still, they seemed really REALLY hard...... these technique ones I can grasp though.....


 
  Once you got involved with one, they weren’t hard; at least, I didn’t think so. The hardest part was just deciding on one idea to make.

  Sure, monthly challenges are fine. They’re not like swaps where someone can get your address or take the shipping money and disappear. Challenges only needed one person to suggest something. No one seemed interested anymore so they just stopped.


_*@ neeners *_- 

The soap looks great! I also thought of birds when I saw them.


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## seven (Mar 18, 2014)

@Hazel, thanks for clarifying that 

@neeners, awesome! i love how this technique can bring so many different effects!


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## Sinful7 (Mar 18, 2014)

Well to decided to try a tilted tiger stripe and it looked beautiful in the mold at first.. But then it started to crack. It is in the freezer now chilling. We'll see how it turns out. Don't know what caused it to heat and crack, I've used this same recipe many times. Thinking the FO must be the culprit. It was Waterlily and fresh mint.


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## Sinful7 (Mar 18, 2014)

Here it was before the dreaded crack


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## Sinful7 (Mar 18, 2014)

This was after. I'm hoping its not too bad inside. Won't know until tomorrow though


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## Tienne (Mar 18, 2014)

Oh, your colours look beautiful, sinful7! What a shame with the crack, but it's so small, it might not be all that noticeable at all once the soap is cut. 

Neeners and Sinful7, I feel a bit bad about your soaps being way down here on this thread, because they really deserve to be seen by all and unless people have subscribed to this thread, they won't ever see them! You should make new threads for them and let them be showcased properly as they and you and your hard work rightly deserves. Bring them up into the light and let them shine! :clap:


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 18, 2014)

Here is my "attempt". Better luck next time I guess. Scented with NG Lotus Blossom which smells fantastic and soap like a dream  this was the best one. The other stripes were really thin. I think I took the mold of the angle to quickly and too soon.


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## AnnaMarie (Mar 19, 2014)

I like the abstract look of your soap! I also like those colors!

Cheers!
Anna Marie


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

Well the freezer helped.. It calmed it down. And I repaired the crack a bit. We will see what unmolding brings before I go posting it elsewhere. Lol


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

I also worked on a teal purple and white tiger stripe. We'll see how it goes as well. Can't wait until tomorrow!


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

Neeners I love your soap! Its like little birds!


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## Tienne (Mar 19, 2014)

I'm absolutely loving all the different colours, variations and outcomes this challenge is giving us! Nice job on the repair of that crack, sinful7!! You can't even see it anymore. I can't wait to see cut pics of both those soaps, especially the one with the teal colour in it. I really like that colour, it's one of my favourites.

@lpStephy
Your soap looks simply brilliant and you beat the deadline! LOL  I can see you have a nice neat flat top too! I wish I could get my flat tops so nice and even. I have top envy and that goes for both the wildly textured tops as well as the flat ones. Mine always end up wonky and neither/nor. LOL  If you don't mind me asking, how did you make that lovely peachy-pink colour that's in your soap? I really like the softness of that colour.


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 19, 2014)

@Tienne thanks! I used TKB Glitter Bordeaux. I only used a little so it didn't end up being red.  http://www.tkbtrading.com/item.php?item_id=471&category_id=27


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

Not the best picture, and not exactly what I had planned. But still pretty


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## lpstephy85 (Mar 19, 2014)

Sinful7 said:


> Not the best picture, and not exactly what I had planned. But still pretty




Ohhh me like!


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

Thanks! I had used my giant mold so these aren't exactly the size I care for. I so need to modify that mold.. They look like cakes! The purple one is not at all what I wanted


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## Sinful7 (Mar 19, 2014)

I think I need to be more careful about evenly dividing batter. And pouring thinner lines. The purple got overwhelming


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