March 2020 Challenge: inlaid soap design

[dibbles]

My soap to carve is in the mold. I think I have figured out a design that my ability and patience can hopefully accomplish.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I haven’t had a chance to start my challenge soap yet. I do have a plan, but I’m not quite in the right state of mind to do detailed carving. I also ended up making much needed lotion yesterday and made a big mess that I need to clean up before I can start. Maybe I should go do that now instead of lazying around reading SMF

 

[dibbles]

I haven’t had a chance to start my challenge soap yet. I do have a plan, but I’m not quite in the right state of mind to do detailed carving. I also ended up making much needed lotion yesterday and made a big mess that I need to clean up before I can start. Maybe I should go do that now instead of lazying around reading SMF

I am not doing anything very detailed. I want to at least get something made. Then, if it goes well I might try again with something more detailed. I'm being quite lazy today myself, and it feels good.

 

[atiz]

I have done the carving, but it was more like drawing with a skewer, not too much patience or ability required...

 

[Serene]

My soap is carved. I have a somewhat ok soap but, as per my usual crazy tendencies, I have decided that I want something on the back too. Each design different, because I need more complications when it calls for something simple. Waiting on the soap to set a bit to keep working on it. I hope everyone is getting awesome results.

 

[szaza]

My soap is carved. I have a somewhat ok soap but, as per my usual crazy tendencies, I have decided that I want something on the back too. Each design different, because I need more complication when it calls for something simple. Waiting on the soap to set a bit to keep working on it. I hope everyone is getting awesome results.

Sounds very promising! I can't wait to see the results!
If you decide to do the back too, please remember to take a picture of how the soap looks before carving so we can see the awesome transformation your soaps went through (I put that down in the rules as a requirement for the entry, which I kind of regret because it's been causing quite a bit of confusion, but I guess I'll have to stick to it now)

 

[bookreader451]

My backs are full of ooops won’t be pretty but still blank-ish.

 

[szaza]

My backs are full of ooops won’t be pretty but still blank-ish.

Hahaha that'll be fine
I only made the rule because I wanted to allow all other techniques in function of making a pretty soap, but I was afraid someone would enter a stunning seascape with just a few birds carved out or something. So to avoid that -and because it's awesome to see a before and after with this technique because it can really transform a plain jane soap into a stunning one- I added the rule about including a front and back or before and after picture in the entry.

 

[amd]

I took my one stab at this over the weekend. Finally finished carving (I did two end pieces and 9 bars so it took awhile). I found the carving to be semi-therapeutic, surprisingly... but maybe it helped that I kept a simple design that would only need one carving and one pour process. The saran wrap did a fantastic job keeping my soap at a nice carveable consistency over the week that it took me to make the soap and get everything carved. I did not try filling with MP as I had planned, so I just went for it with CP soap. I made a small (16oz) batch using the Royalty Soap recipe - not my favorite but it is slow tracing at low temps and without FO so I knew I would have enough time and the right consistency to use a pipette for filling my carvings. The unused soap had fragrance added and was poured into a mold, so I will also have four bars of another soap ... that I'm kind of thinking about carving too... am I addicted? Maybe. We'll see how time looks this week, I have three brewery soaps to make plus my regular stock to catch up on.

 

[bookreader451]

It took me hours to do my carving. I had to wait until each section set before I could carve the next. I did use MP because I had so many colors.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

A little therapeutic soap carving is exactly what I need this weekend, but I don’t think I’m ready for a complicated design.

 

[dibbles]

I carved yesterday, filled today. I'm sure it will need to be planed, so we shall see.

 

[Lin19687]

I know I am not suppose to post on here since I am not playing but I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU ALL DO !!!!!

 

[dibbles]

@Lin19687 I don't see any reason you can't post on here even if you aren't playing. I can't wait either. I am in awe of those that can actually do detailed designs.

 

[Serene]

I may start posting my failures, which were many. I cant seem to concentrate on anything. Made a soap today and forgot to add the hard oils. The soap was already in the molds, but I could not figure out why I did not have enough for the various molds. Once I started cleaning and lifted the hard oil bucket you should have seen my face. So tomorrow I have a date with rebatching... sigh

 

[dibbles]

I may start posting my failures, which were many. I cant seem to concentrate on anything. Made a soap today and forgot to add the hard oils. The soap was already in the molds, but I could not figure out why I did not have enough for the various molds. Once I started cleaning and lifted the hard oil bucket you should have seen my face. So tomorrow I have a date with rebatching... sigh

 

[bookreader451]

I planed mine and guess I didn't carve deep enough in two small spots. I am entering it anyway.

 

[Mobjack Bay]

I made base soap today in a couple of different colors to give myself a design option. There’s not much time left for a learning curve, so I hope the basic idea I settled on works out. I also don’t have any carving tools, but rounded up various things from around the house that have potential. I guess I’m as ready as I’m going to be.

 

[szaza]

The entry thread for this month's challenge is now open:
https://www.soapmakingforum.com/thr...arch-2020-challenge-inlaid-soap-design.78635/
I'm so excited to see what you all came up with!

 

[szaza]

@Serene I'm so sorry things haven't worked out the way you hoped and having to rebatch is never really fun.. but I've seen your entries in other challenges and you can do amazing things, so I'm curious to see what 'failure' means to you..
@Mobjack Bay let us know how the unofficial carving tools work out! I think there are a lot of options out there and I'm curious to see what you came up with
@bookreader451 I'm sure it'll still be a pretty soap. Can't wait to see it!
@Lin19687 of course you're allowed to post on here. I'm just as curious and excited as you are