artemis
Mostly Harmless
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It's the app, I think. On the app, I just see links, but when I go to the website I can see them.
February SMF Challenge- Soap dough
- Thread starter newbie
- Start date
Help Support Soapmaking Forum:
It's the app, I think. On the app, I just see links, but when I go to the website I can see them.
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OMG, pepperoni with nipples. Totally made me laugh.
Okay, I'm changing it so you have to enter only pics of your finished soap if you did not do embeds, or pics of the embeds and finished soap. Forget the process pictures. You can add them if you'd like of course but they are no longer required. I can't bear to DQ about half the entries already who forgot to take them and dang, I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing what people made.
If you don't like the rule change, go cry into your pillow, or make a newbie soap dough doll and poke it with pins.
Okay, I'm changing it so you have to enter only pics of your finished soap if you did not do embeds, or pics of the embeds and finished soap. Forget the process pictures. You can add them if you'd like of course but they are no longer required. I can't bear to DQ about half the entries already who forgot to take them and dang, I'm thoroughly enjoying seeing what people made.
If you don't like the rule change, go cry into your pillow, or make a newbie soap dough doll and poke it with pins.
dxw
Well-Known Member
Serence, you got canes to work! I am so jealous. I tried canes for my eyeballs and ended up with a potential turd-ball entry. In the end I layered, rolled, cut, and swore a lot ... fingers crossed. I did make some very simple canes today for my 'confetti', but I simply could not get the texture for them to work like yours. Well done, they're excellent.
dxw
Well-Known Member
Well, well, well, it's kinda falling into place. Maybe the dateline will save me and I'll have something presentable finished by deadline.
Today:
- My eyeballs grew eyes, those eyes found sockets, and the sockets a face.
- My main 'sculpture' element is nearly finished and spending the night in the fridge. I'd like to somehow texture the surfaces but don't yet know how.
- I love Glad Wrap and Baking Paper. All my working would have been virtually impossible without these two kitchen sheet-products.
- I am a bad creator. I gouged my creation's eye. I was wiping a tool on a cloth and returning to the work-piece when I scraped a fingernail across one eye and the eyelid. Thankfully the eyelid took the brunt of the damage and the pupil (solid black) was the only bit of the eye itself that I attacked. Repaired.
- Black dough is like blood, a small amount can stain and cover a large area. I'd used black dough for my sculpture's 'scaffolding' and found myself forever rescuing pieces when a tiny piece of black dough somehow found its way over.
Without giving anything much away, here's a few in-progress pictures ...
When first bagged the dough looked and felt delicious - like a hot caramel custard. Yummm!
It mellowed towards white pretty quickly. This is the next day.
Trying out some colours. I ended up with ten or so colours, but the bulk was black, white, and the two greens in this picture. The golden yellow was a glorious colour, but that dough was the worst to work with.
Eyeballs. I made three, trying to roll them to a uniform size, and chose the two that looked to be closest in size. I'd already made 20 or 30 black balls of different sizes, for CP inserts, so was heartily sick of hand-rolling black dough by this time.
My 'leaf' canes, about to spend a spell in the fridge before cutting and initial forming. They have now been cut and are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tiny little 'leaves'.
Today:
- My eyeballs grew eyes, those eyes found sockets, and the sockets a face.
- My main 'sculpture' element is nearly finished and spending the night in the fridge. I'd like to somehow texture the surfaces but don't yet know how.
- The CP-with-inserts has been poured, and is spending the night in the mould in the fridge.
- My many small green canes are now many more tiny tiny leaves , some beautifully opalescent. They're covered and hopefully hardening-up a little overnight.
- I've read up a little about M&P but am wondering lots whether I can manage that element.
- Some of my dough has adopted quite a nice temperament, working a bit like plasticine, while some is still decidedly evil. Thankfully the black and my main two greens are the best behaved, as they're the most used.
- Symmetry is hard! I've never sculpted anything before and I am amazed at how just a tiny mismatch stands out. Oh well.- My many small green canes are now many more tiny tiny leaves , some beautifully opalescent. They're covered and hopefully hardening-up a little overnight.
- I've read up a little about M&P but am wondering lots whether I can manage that element.
- Some of my dough has adopted quite a nice temperament, working a bit like plasticine, while some is still decidedly evil. Thankfully the black and my main two greens are the best behaved, as they're the most used.
- I love Glad Wrap and Baking Paper. All my working would have been virtually impossible without these two kitchen sheet-products.
- I am a bad creator. I gouged my creation's eye. I was wiping a tool on a cloth and returning to the work-piece when I scraped a fingernail across one eye and the eyelid. Thankfully the eyelid took the brunt of the damage and the pupil (solid black) was the only bit of the eye itself that I attacked. Repaired.
- Black dough is like blood, a small amount can stain and cover a large area. I'd used black dough for my sculpture's 'scaffolding' and found myself forever rescuing pieces when a tiny piece of black dough somehow found its way over.
Without giving anything much away, here's a few in-progress pictures ...
It mellowed towards white pretty quickly. This is the next day.
Trying out some colours. I ended up with ten or so colours, but the bulk was black, white, and the two greens in this picture. The golden yellow was a glorious colour, but that dough was the worst to work with.
Eyeballs. I made three, trying to roll them to a uniform size, and chose the two that looked to be closest in size. I'd already made 20 or 30 black balls of different sizes, for CP inserts, so was heartily sick of hand-rolling black dough by this time.
My 'leaf' canes, about to spend a spell in the fridge before cutting and initial forming. They have now been cut and are somewhere between 500 and 1,000 tiny little 'leaves'.
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dxw,
I am currently working on my own soap dough so I can keep trying to get it to REALLY work. I came in late into the challenge and had to use someone else's recipe for it. I sort of have an idea of what I am looking for now . I just have to find the time to test it. Let me tell you, it was a feat to get that simple spiral cane to behave. Here is a list of a couple of things worth mentioning for those of you that want to keep experimenting with canes
I think that if the few of us that like this keep at it we can get something running. I also had difficulty rolling it. Freezer paper did not work for me, wax paper did not work, etc. At the end I found that two silicone baking mats were perfect, paired with a couple of Popsicle sticks to guide the thickness. I have now created different thickness guides by stacking the popsicle sticks and taping them. I said at the end because my time was limited. Family in town and needed to finish it.
I hope this helps a few of you that gave up, or are still trying.
Sere
Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be the end all be all authority in this. This is just my personal experience and what worked for me. Thank you for reading. I heart you all.
I am currently working on my own soap dough so I can keep trying to get it to REALLY work. I came in late into the challenge and had to use someone else's recipe for it. I sort of have an idea of what I am looking for now . I just have to find the time to test it. Let me tell you, it was a feat to get that simple spiral cane to behave. Here is a list of a couple of things worth mentioning for those of you that want to keep experimenting with canes
- Wait on cutting your cane. Make it, let it sit wrapped in plastic for at least an hour then cut your slices. The longer you let it rest the easier it will be. Cut as many slices as you can and let it rest and come back and cut as you need.
- Create your canes as close as possible to the size you want to use. Soap dough has the tendency to mix if you try to reduce it too much. Like in Polymer, the outside tends to move ahead of the center of the cane, so you end up with a big blob.
- Clean your blade after each cut.
- Alcohol is your friend, and I dont mean a shot of tequila or two which I needed after dealing with this challenge. Wet your blade liberally with it. It will allow you to cut slices without distorting the image.
- While you are learning how to apply it after you cut it, use melt and pour as your base. Let it sweat and it will help the dough stick without the mess of water, alcohol, etc. It eliminates one more factor that can frustrate you. I will change it once I have my own dough and my own recipes to work with. Create for the results you want. Working with someone else recipe sometimes creates more frustrations than needed.
- The blade you use to cut is important. I use what we call a tissue blade. (picture included in post) These are extremely sharp and go for about $5 a piece. I use these exclusively to slice my Polymer clay canes only. If you plan to continue this madness, I suggest you get one or two of these. Google Tissue blade and a number of places that sell it will pop up.
I think that if the few of us that like this keep at it we can get something running. I also had difficulty rolling it. Freezer paper did not work for me, wax paper did not work, etc. At the end I found that two silicone baking mats were perfect, paired with a couple of Popsicle sticks to guide the thickness. I have now created different thickness guides by stacking the popsicle sticks and taping them. I said at the end because my time was limited. Family in town and needed to finish it.
I hope this helps a few of you that gave up, or are still trying.
Sere
Disclaimer: I am not claiming to be the end all be all authority in this. This is just my personal experience and what worked for me. Thank you for reading. I heart you all.
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Newbie, just for the sake of clarification, what did you mean by process pictures?
Thank you for this - I had so much trouble trying to work with canes and gave up - for now. It is something I would like to revisit though.
dxw
Well-Known Member
Thanks for that. I did try to find a tissue-blade on Friday, at local art supply stores, with no luck. I'd been watching a heap of polyclay technique videos, prepping for this project, and that seemed such an important tool. Using a sharp kitchen knife I found I pinched as much as cut those tiny canes. Still, I have to squish, flattened, and shape the results anyway.
Clearly I have to apply more alcohol
A razor blade or scalpel will also do the job, if you've got one.
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Those will work depending on the size of your cane. Also the amount of canes you have since you have to cut thicker.
Yeah, it's not going to be as good as a tissue blade, for a bunch of reasons (small cutting area is one, and it can't be used to cut through larger pieces in one go either), but for the tiny canes that dxw has (and maybe there being a razor in the house), I am thinking it should get him by for the challenge/until a tissue blade is sourced. I tend to stick to a scalpel for the handle mostly.
Nice write-up, I'm still getting used to the temperature difference (I think dibbles wrote about that as well, I hadn't paid that much attention to it before, but it makes sense to have a dedicated rest time).
Nice write-up, I'm still getting used to the temperature difference (I think dibbles wrote about that as well, I hadn't paid that much attention to it before, but it makes sense to have a dedicated rest time).
scard
Well-Known Member
Would refrigerating the canes help? When I slice polymer canes sometimes it helps to roll the cane under the blade and saw down with gentle pressure, sometimes not. I use a 4 inch wall paper scraper blade from home depot on my polymer, it's not as good as a tissue blade but a lot cheaper. Has anyone come up with a dough that is not too sticky. I think I followed the directions from the Sorcery Soap recipe and although it looked great and colored well it was so sticky that it was really difficult to work with. Any help would be appreciated, I'd really like to do more of this but with my dough ugh!
I use a 4 inch wall paper scraper blade from home depot on my polymer, it's not as good as a tissue blade but a lot cheaper. Has anyone come up with a dough that is not too sticky. I think I followed the directions from the Sorcery Soap recipe and although it looked great and colored well it was so sticky that it was really difficult to work with. Any help would be appreciated, I'd really like to do more of this but with my dough ugh!
- Joined
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- Messages
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- Reaction score
- 625
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2015
- Messages
- 346
- Reaction score
- 625
Refrigerator did not work for me. This is why it was so frustrating.
I used the Sorcery Soap recipe and it isn't sticky at all. Well, not sticky when I am working with it just with my hands. When I tried rolling it, I did need to use a bit of corn starch - but really just a dusting. I made the dough sometime in January, so it had a good two weeks to rest before I used it. If your dough is newly made, maybe try letting it sit a little longer and try again. How are you coloring it? If you added mica mixed in oil or glycerin that would probably affect it as well.
dxw
Well-Known Member
I found that refrigeration helped. I think it was because with working my warmed-up dough became squishier and stickier, so cooling it made just that little bit firmer. Overall, though, my caning attempts were fails. My initial eyeball plan was going to use caning techniques but that was a complete flop, so I pursued that idea with a different approach - a black globe and flat, thin, worked, and rolled, iris strips moulded into place.
dxw
Well-Known Member
My dough is just a week old now and some of it is losing its stickiness and becoming quite nice to work with, but some is still quite difficult - sticky and fragile - with the main difference appearing to be the colourant I used.
My soap dough that I made in January had no colorants at all. The plain white is easy for me to work with. I made Bee's recipe and my own...both were great. I couldn't get the color saturation that I wanted by trying to mix micas with the white dough, so I made another batch and colored it before pouring. That was 3 weeks ago and I really struggled to work with the colored dough. It is still so sticky. Methinks that soap dough is just not in my cards. However, I still have about 3 lbs of it so will think of something to do with it. Ugh!
I have no words of wisdom. Maybe I was just a lucky soap dough newbie. I colored my brown and black dough before pouring and they are fine, as is the white.
