SMF January 2022 Entry Thread

[Primrose]

This is the entry thread for the January 2022 challenge - There’s No Place Like Home.

-Please enter a singe picture of at least 2 bars of soap you have created for the challenge. Please also explain your inspiration and how the soap you made embodies home for you. You can also add a photo of your home/inspiration if you choose

After the closing date on Friday 28th January at 11:59 PM GMT the winning entry will be chosen using Survey Monkey. Voting will be open from January 29-30 and the winner will be announced on January 31st. There is no prize attached to this challenge.

Good luck, I can’t wait to see what you’ve created!

 

[violets2217]

Sooo…I’m originally from West Virginia & have been wanting to try a landscape with a plan in mind. So I was thinking mountains behind a grassy field with wild flowers.
This is kinda what I was thinking:

And this is what I came up with:

Pretty cool for first attempt! Next time less grassy fields and more sky! But what a fun creative endeavor!

 

[linne1gi]

I live in South Florida - land of alligators. We have a retention pond nearby and I frequently see Animal Control hauling out a small alligator. Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was driving by and they

were hauling out a really large gator - probably 8 feet or so. We don't often see them at that size. So here is my alligator soap.

 

[AliOop]

The beach... pretty much any beach... has always been home to me. From 2006 through 2013, I was blessed to live less than a ¼ mile from a gorgeous beach on the Central Coast of California. I could see it from my windows. I could hear the waves crashing day and night, and seagulls calling. The pink paint on my beach house corroded annually from the salty air, contributing to the beach vibe. I could walk less than six minutes down my street and have my toes in the water, with the beach stretching in each direction for walking, running, and kayaking.

I no longer live near any beach, but it will always be home to me.

There was quite a grand plan for this soap. The bottom layer of sand would use an accelerating fragrance to set up fast. The next few layers were going to be various shades of blue, green, and white, representing the foamy waves, with a blue sky above. The complimentary decelerating fragrance would give me time to swirl them a bit. I even poured a golden sun for the sky, using a column mold and some M&P.

Best laid plans. The accelerating fragrance did not accelerate. No problem, I stick-blended to trace, poured it in, and pounded it down. But then the decelerating fragrance was almost soap on a stick. There was no time to do anything but glop it all in, pound it down hard, and swirl the top to represent choppy waves. The sun never made its appearance; it is still wrapped up and waiting for another day. The sand looks orange in the photo, but is really the perfect sandy tan with some brown speckles.

Ah well. I still smile when I look at this soap, because it does remind me of home. Home is where it's ok when things don't go as planned. Because it's still beautiful, and still home.

 

[Heather McClain]

I live in Bradley County Arkansas. We are famous for our tomatoes!! Everything is all about tomatoes here. We even have the Pink Tomato Festival every year downtown

There is a giant tomato painted on the brick street in front of the courthouse

We have tomato eating contests and tomato packing contests.

So I decided to make “Bradley County Tomato Fields” soap for this challenge. It started by making a big batch just so I could shred it all up.

This is the final product. Our good river bottom dirt represented on the bottom, abundant tomato fields in the middle and a beautiful summer sky on the top! Edited to add: I used crafters choice Farmers Market Vine Ripe Tomato fragrance oil. It smells exactly like tomato vines!
(I’m so sorry I couldn’t figure out how to turn this picture upright!)

 

[Vicki C]

I’ve lived in the same house in the woods in New Hampshire for thirty years, and the view out of my bedroom window is always beautiful, especially sunrises in the winter. This view is dear to me - I even made it part of my company logo. So of course, I thought HEY! I can replicate that view in soap!
To make my life more difficult I used plant colorants - for the trees, woad infused lye with morninga infused oil (and some charcoal); madder infused lye and turmeric infused oil for the pink clouds; and indigo infused oil for the sky. It’s still a little soft, I’d have cleaned it up better, but we gave a storm coming and I could (probably will) lose power and internet.
Oh - and the fragrance is “Woodland Themes” from New Directions Aromatics.

 

[Primrose]

Thanks to everyone for your patience, the entry thread is closed and you will receive a voting link shortly

 

[KayMay]

I know it is to late for an entry but I just wanted to post what I finally got to do. I am in the North East of Victoria Australia. The Australian bush is where I feel most at home and of course as an Aussie beer had to be involved. This is my Bush Beer Soap. The colours are of our ghost gums, and the fragrance is eucalyptus, tea tree and rosemary. Unfortunately at the moment we are dealing with unseasonable high humidity, and with only evaporated cooling, everything just stays wet. I have had to mop under my salt bars as they are crying in this weather. I am glad I got to post something even if it is past due date.

 

[Misschief]

Thanks to everyone for your patience, the entry thread is closed and you will receive a voting link shortly

I voted. Well done everyone who entered.

 

[Ladka]

I am aware that the challenge has been closed but would like to post what I managed to do post-date. My family used to live in a small house (my English friend called it a bungallow) on the outskirts of a town, surrounded by fields, meadows and forests - and a garden of course. So I thought I would try to represent it in a bar of soap.
This is what I managed to make:

Now I realise it represents my mum's home much more than mine. She lived in a smallish farm house in the hills in another region of my country Slovenia.
I also realise that the eye of the camera is sort of treacherous: it shows all the tiny pieces that were not properly cleaned off - and I thought I did a good cleaning
Besides, the format of the bar is totally unpractical to be used as soap. If I cut it in half the house is lost And I hate soap bars to be just watched and not used.

 

[Misschief]

I didn't make my soap on time but thought I'd share anyway. Many of you know that I live in British Columbia, Canada, the westernmost province in the country. My husband I love to travel to Vancouver Island and, in particular, the very western coast of our country, the Pacific Rim National Park, and Long Beach in particular. We've been there several times and both love it. The sound of the waves on the beach feels primal, calling us. The entire area just feels so welcoming, so HOME. We don't live there but it is a part of us.

Last summer, we had the opportunity to take my 12 y.o. (now 13) grandson to this magical place. The weather wasn't the greatest but we shared an amazing couple of days with this young man. The soap reflects our time there with him. The red of his shirt, the blue of the sky, the green of the sea grasses, adorned with little soap sea shells, and decorated with coarse sea salt. Even the glitter reminds us of the sun glinting on the water. The recipe, Zany's No Slime Castile, is made, not with faux sea water, but with ocean water from the Pacific Ocean. (See what I mean, @Mobjack Bay?

 

[Primrose]

I am loving these "late entries" being added to the thread - great to see people still participating and making beautiful soaps!

Still waiting for a couple of people to vote, I will close the voting survey in 6-8hrs when I get home from work today and will announce the winners then

 

[Primrose]

Our winners of this months challenge are:

First place: @Vicki C
Second place: @AliOop
Third place: @violets2217

congratulations to our winners and everyone who submitted a soap!

 

[Mobjack Bay]

Congratulations to @Vicki C @AliOop and @violets2217 and the other inspired makers this month, for creating soaps that let me travel to new places even though I mostly stayed home!

 

[AliOop]

Oh wow, thanks so much everyone, and congrats to @Vicki C and @violets2217, too!!

edit: just saw February’s challenge. Looks like I have chance to retry my original plan for the January soap, or some variation thereof.

 

[violets2217]

Congrats everyone! Again a fun and exciting challenge and excuse to make soap! Well Done!!!

 

[Vicki C]

Wow! I’m honored and humbled. Congrats to all! The soaps are all lovely - including the late entries. And @linne1gi I just love the gator soap, my mom is in FL and would get such a kick out of it.

 

[dibbles]

Congratulations @Vicki C @AliOop and @violets2217, and also to everyone that made a soap for this challenge. I enjoyed seeing and reading about each one.

 

[Heather McClain]

Congratulations everyone!! I love all the entires and stories that went with them

 

[Ladka]

This is the best I could do with this disproportionate bar of soap. It will be usable - perhaps not for little boys but with adults.