SMF May 2021 Challenge - One Pot Wonder

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This is Interesting, just my 2 cents, when I did this for the Soap challenge club last year, only the last color poured was visible from the top, and what was important then, was to have the colors layered from the side view. But I suppose this sample picture is more of a pour on a mold rather than of the pouring vessel? Either way I look forward to seeing all the entries.
That is exactly why I took my photo the way I did. Because my pitcher is semi clear and you could see my layers. From the top you could only see the one color. I'm really bummed my entry doesn't count. I can't switch to one of my others because I already posted them as non entries.
 
That is exactly why I took my photo the way I did. Because my pitcher is semi clear and you could see my layers. From the top you could only see the one color. I'm really bummed my entry doesn't count. I can't switch to one of my others because I already posted them as non entries.
Yes, the only way to see multiple colors on top is if you are making a small batch, and perhaps with more than 3 colors. I hope they allow your entry as the angle of the photo was not specified (from what I recall) in the instructions. Either way I hope you had fun trying this technique, now I am curious about your other entries, I am going to go look them up!

Based on the YT videos I watched, the secrets to fine feathering are using thin batter and making fairly fast passes along the mold.



Yes, I remember it being a fast move back and forth, which made it messy but fun. I was intrigued to read about pouring slowly and thought that maybe it worked both ways. It would be interesting to compare both results if someone attempted it both ways.
 
Yes, the only way to see multiple colors on top is if you are making a small batch, and perhaps with more than 3 colors. I hope they allow your entry as the angle of the photo was not specified (from what I recall) in the instructions. Either way I hope you had fun trying this technique, now I am curious about your other entries, I am going to go look them up!
You're right, I thought I was misunderstanding or didn't read all the rules. Here is the rule about the picture of the pouring pot photo:

3. Your entry will have two photos. The first of at least two bars from your batch, and the second of your main pot before pouring.

It doesn't say it has to be from above. Did I miss something?
 
My non-entries:

The first attempt - batter far too thin.
PXL_20210524_174215555~2.jpg

Second attempt, and almost my entry, but the third is a better execution of the vision.
IMG_20210524_183858~2.jpg

Random natural colour soap
PXL_20210524_174852974~2.jpg

The original-ish plan, with moon embed. Not quite happy with the colours on this but in any case it doesn't fit the rules. If I was doing it again I'd swirl white and pink together before layering, and try to make the pink much thicker than the rest to get it to make the kind of blobby swirls I got in the second attempt.
PXL_20210524_175316596~3.jpg
 
I did not know this was a 'rule' until today when I received a very rough (and rude) 'dressing down' for my infraction.
Unfortunate that you thought it was rude. At least I can keep the drama private. This rule is clearly stated in both threads, but continues to be an issue - oftentimes by the same members - every month. Please consider one of the reasons that we keep comments out of the entry thread is for the ease of the challenge moderator, so that when the voting survey is created we do not have to "wade through" many comments to see each entry.
 
my favourite of the 3 attempts I made for this challenge!
Not sure yet if this is my favourite too, but so what.

How did you get such straight lines? Didn't you incline the mould in the beginning much? And/or did you cut parallel to the OPW moving direction instead of perpendicular? IMHO, the long sides of the bars are decent, but the short side steals them the show. 😍
 
Not sure yet if this is my favourite too, but so what.

How did you get such straight lines? Didn't you incline the mould in the beginning much? And/or did you cut parallel to the OPW moving direction instead of perpendicular? IMHO, the long sides of the bars are decent, but the short side steals them the show. 😍
Glad you like it! Yep, the lines are all about the cut :) my only regret is that the yellow element ended up off-centre and didn't "make the cut" so to speak...
 
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After re-reading the rules for this challenge again, I think this may be what @amd means when she states to pour each colour "fully" down the same place. In other words, pour the whole portion of each colour before changing to the next colour. Can you please clarify @amd ?
I apologize for the late response to this - I didn't get to the forum at all over the weekend other than to open the entry thread.
Yes, as you say KiwiMoose, the entire portion of each color must be poured before the next color is added to the pot. In the case of one entry, that pour was done with fine alternating pours and does not meet that criteria. I have not gotten through the full entry thread, but I did notice one other that had alternating colors, so I am reviewing this with another moderator, taking into consideration the lack of clarity in the rules. If you have gotten a message from me regarding your entry being a qualifying entry, I will be confirming by end of day May 24 CST. Thank you for your patience! I apologize for the misunderstanding.

It doesn't say it has to be from above. Did I miss something?
I am also reviewing this as well with the other moderators. There were two reasons for the "one pot" picture - first to show that the batter was poured down the side of the pot in the same location for each color, and second to show if all colors were poured fully in the pot. It did not occur to me that a side shot would be taken (probably because I don't have clear pots!), or that only one color would be seen from the top view. My three attempts did not have that happen, so I based the pic requirement on my experience and what I felt needed to be seen to accurately judge the OPW technique. (or in some cases learn, as where you pour the soap into the pot and out of the pot can vary creating different looks for the soap)
 
Made my final attempt. It’s resting for the cut tomorrow.

I’m not used to making such small batches of soap and used too much oil to disperse the colors for yesterday’s soap so it was super soft and sticky. Did better today to economize the amount of oil I used for to mix the colors. I like the results of yesterday’s soap so I cut the bars and used an oval shaped cutter to make embeds for a future batch of soap.
image.jpg
 
My non-entries:

The first attempt - batter far too thin.
View attachment 57661

Second attempt, and almost my entry, but the third is a better execution of the vision.
View attachment 57660

Random natural colour soap
View attachment 57662

The original-ish plan, with moon embed. Not quite happy with the colours on this but in any case it doesn't fit the rules. If I was doing it again I'd swirl white and pink together before layering, and try to make the pink much thicker than the rest to get it to make the kind of blobby swirls I got in the second attempt.
View attachment 57663
Love that first attempt and I don't think it was too thin at all! Beautiful.It's another version of the type of look you can get from OPW. Some of the challenge entries are even thinner than that.
The only reason my lines were a bit thicker was because in the YT clip she said to let the batter sit and thicken a bit to get the distinct lines. So that's what I did. It nearly killed me waiting! I'm not a patient person. But I now see that pouring thin is beautiful in itself, so will try that next time I attempt a OPW. In fact, I'm gonna try thin, clumpy, some thin colours mixed with thick colours etc - the possibilities are endless!

Yes, the only way to see multiple colors on top is if you are making a small batch, and perhaps with more than 3 colors. I hope they allow your entry as the angle of the photo was not specified (from what I recall) in the instructions. Either way I hope you had fun trying this technique, now I am curious about your other entries, I am going to go look them up!
I think it depends more on the vessel type. My entry batch was the usual size (1kg or 2 pounds), and the non-entry was 1.5 kg. In both you can see all the colours easily from the top because i actually used my soap mixing bowl as my pouring bowl ( i.e - poured it all out to mix the colours, cleaned the bowl out and then poured them all back in again). It's a wide bowl so the colours layered beautifully into circles within circles.
 
Not sure yet if this is my favourite too, but so what.

How did you get such straight lines? Didn't you incline the mould in the beginning much? And/or did you cut parallel to the OPW moving direction instead of perpendicular? IMHO, the long sides of the bars are decent, but the short side steals them the show. 😍
Yes! When you make the face cuts parallel to the long edge of the mold, you get the “thin line pour” effect. These bars aren’t quite OPW because I didn’t add all of the batter to the pot at once, but I’m pretty sure that they’re from a single loaf that was cut two ways.

E7812D99-7DB3-404E-A219-F5EDEF214328.jpeg
 
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Yes! When you make the face cuts parallel to the long edge of the mold, you get the “thin line pour” effect.
I did that accidentally with my OPW soap. My cutter only cuts 9 bars at a time, and my loaf is 12 bars long. I must have turned the extra "chunk" sideways before cutting, as I definitely got the straight line look on those bars. I'm still deciding whether to post that attempt as my entry, or to try again before the deadline. I don't need more soap, but I believe I can do better if I can keep all three colors fluid, instead of just two.
 
The center two bars at the back have fairly straight lines, because I accidentally turned the last chunk sideways before cutting. I actually like those the best, although I realize they aren't technically the OPW style for which we are aiming.
Well, you're not alone! Both in cutting “wrongly”, and in thinking these have just another twist that makes them the most interesting looking!
I was first puzzled “how did she make the streaks change colour throughout the bar???” and didn't understand until I faithfully read your comment again 😀
 
I think it depends more on the vessel type. My entry batch was the usual size (1kg or 2 pounds), and the non-entry was 1.5 kg. In both you can see all the colours easily from the top because i actually used my soap mixing bowl as my pouring bowl ( i.e - poured it all out to mix the colours, cleaned the bowl out and then poured them all back in again). It's a wide bowl so the colours layered beautifully into circles within circles.
Yes, I suppose if you use a wide bowl that would happen, in that challenge though, we were encouraged to use a tall and narrow container. The entries are great!
 
Unfortunate that you thought it was rude. At least I can keep the drama private. This rule is clearly stated in both threads, but continues to be an issue - oftentimes by the same members - every month. Please consider one of the reasons that we keep comments out of the entry thread is for the ease of the challenge moderator, so that when the voting survey is created we do not have to "wade through" many comments to see each entry.

Not really keeping it private.
 
Yes, as you say KiwiMoose, the entire portion of each color must be poured before the next color is added to the pot. In the case of one entry, that pour was done with fine alternating pours and does not meet that criteria.
I am pretty sure my entry is the one you are referring to. I did not pour the entire portion of each color. If my entry is not included then so be it. Not sure why either way makes much of a difference except for the fact that i guess i didn’t follow the “rules”. It’s one of my best design results if not my best so certainly won’t let it bother me if I am not included.
 

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