Welcome to the September 2020 SMF Soap Challenge. This month’s challenge is the Marble Stone Inspired Soap. I do not really know who first intentionally created a soap that looked like Marble Stone. As it happens, when I was trying to decide on this month's challenge, choosing between a few ideas that have been running around in my head, Marble Soap videos kept popping up on my YouTube Feed in notices on my phone. I think that's what influenced me to choose Marble Soap this month. It wasn't until I realized that one of those videos actually mentioned Amy Warden's Challenge just this past July was on Marble Soaps! I had already begun making soaps and putting this together, but considered choosing something else. In the end, however, I didn't really want to switch gears midstream and decided to go ahead with the Marble Soap Challenge anyway. I am sure some of you don't keep up with Amy's monthly challenges and, even if you do, may want to give this a try. I haven't participated in about a year, myself, which is why I had not realized it was so recently used elsewhere.
In any case, I enjoyed making soap with a particular object made of marble as my inspiration, so chose to use that as part of this challenge. I will show examples & descriptions of some of that in my soaps below toward the end of this post.
Doing a youtube search I found an abundance of videos as far back as 2012 which show soap that looks like marble to me, although the first one wasn't really described or called a marble soap; it just looks like one to me. Others I include here are more recent within the past 4 - 5 years. So I really cannot attribute this to any one soap artist. Perhaps in Amy's Challenge, she did, but I haven't read that, so I will leave that to someone else to clarify.
PLEASE READ ALL RULES for the challenge.
SMF Challenge General Rules
1. To enter you must have a minimum of 50 posts and have been a SMF member for a month (sorry but no exceptions on this).
2. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign-up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry. The sign-up list will be posted in this thread.
3. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be sent by private message (via SMF conversations) to registered participants ONLY, so please check your messages when the voting begins.
4. Please do not post photos of your entry until the entry thread is opened. Non-entry photos are always welcome and may be posted in this thread. The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts (other than your entry) where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way.
5. Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced.
6. You are allowed to change your entry photo until the entry thread closes. If you decide you want another try after you post your entry, and you like the second better, you can change it up until the deadline.
7. In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for an SMF Challenge do so with the expectation that they will make every attempt to make a soap for the challenge. Writing about your experience in the challenge is encouraged. By doing so, each participant has a better knowledge of your process when voting. We do understand that sometimes things come up in our lives and throw our plans out of whack, however signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote is not in the spirit of the challenges and is not allowed.
8. Please add your name to the sign up list if you wish to participate (you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have produced), but please do post your experiences in the main Challenge thread and be prepared to be encouraged to continue trying.
9. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
· Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date. The entry thread will open on September 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm GMT (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter).
· After the closing date on September 27, 2020 at 2:00 pm GMT the winning entry will be chosen using Survey Monkey. Voting will be open from September 28 through September 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm, and the winner will be announced on September 30, 2020. There is no prize attached to this challenge.
· If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload pictures of your soap onto the thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We always love to see anything you have created.
· Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfill the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible, your entry will not be included in the voting.
· All the challenge mods reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for voting.
SPECIFIC RULES FOR THE September, 2020 CHALLENGE
1. You will base your Marble Inspired Soap design on any marble stone of your choosing.
2. Using one or more of the techniques described in the videos below, you will create a soap representative of your chosen marble stone object.
3. You may use any size mold, however, a slab mold or a standard log/loaf mold are better suited, particularly if you choose the horizontal cut.
4. You may choose to use any single or combination of techniques described/shown in the material below and use whatever tools assist you in obtaining your desired result.
5. When separating out batter for creating veins in the marble, use VERY LITTLE batter for this. Too much of a secondary color does not end up looking like veins, but lines.
6. You may choose to cut the soap horizontally as is done in some of the videos, or you may choose the cut vertically, depending on your chosen technique and your specific soap.
7. Your Entry picture(s) must include an image of your inspiration marble object (this can be something you own, have seen & have a photo, or an internet obtained image) AND a photo of at least 2 bars of soap from your batch. If you upload more than one picture to the entry thread, please upload the photo you want to be used in the voting survey first. Otherwise, make a note stating which photo you would like to be included in the survey.
Helpful tips:
1. Choose a Marble stone you visually enjoy as your inspiration. The possibilities of where to find Marble for inspiration are abundant. Museums & Government buildings often have marble floors, walls, statues, etc. that may serve as your inspiration. If you have photos in your collection of past travels, you may find your inspiration in them. Perhaps you prefer to peruse the internet to find natural Marble Caves or other phenomena in nature that produces Marble as your inspiration.
2. Watch & review videos for ideas of how to obtain the design within your inspiration marble.
3. If you choose to use a mica sprayer, wear an N95 face mask (or better) as well as goggles to protect your respiratory system & eyes. The mica sprayer I used, sent metallic mica particles all over! I found that tapping a mesh strainer caused far less waste and was no where near the breathing hazard.
4. If you are unsure which cut you prefer, cut a section of your soap horizontally and another section of it vertically. I found that even soap I intended for a vertical (standard loaf style cut) looked quite attractive cut horizontally.
5. Choose your recipe & fragrance to fit the technique you plan to use. For example, if your design goal requires pouring layers at thick trace, a fragrance that speeds trace can assist. (See the videos for examples.)
6. More useful tips are included in some of the videos. Be sure to share any you have here on the thread as well.
Good luck everyone, and have fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what you make.
I found 3 basic methods used in these videos, often in combination :
1. In-the-Pot Swirl (and in at least one case, and In the Mold Swirl) - (with & without tilting the mold) (with or without pencil lines)
2. Layering (with & without tilting the mold) (with or without pencil lines)
3. Pencil/Mica Lines (with & without tilting the mold) (in combination with #1 or #2 above)
Technique videos:
ITP pour videos:
By soap artist: Teressa Mahoney Mahoney Limited - Nourishing Handmade Body Care - Nov 2016
By soap artist: 茅寶村 - Dec 2018
By soap artist: tellervo - Aug 2019
By soap artist: tellervo - Aug 2019
By soap artist: Creamy Obsession - July 2020
One portion of this soap is marbled: the first 95 seconds of the video shows the artist creating a marbled effect with a thicker trace batter and only one pour. Finished soap is shown at beginning as well as at the end.
technique videos continued in next post
In any case, I enjoyed making soap with a particular object made of marble as my inspiration, so chose to use that as part of this challenge. I will show examples & descriptions of some of that in my soaps below toward the end of this post.
Doing a youtube search I found an abundance of videos as far back as 2012 which show soap that looks like marble to me, although the first one wasn't really described or called a marble soap; it just looks like one to me. Others I include here are more recent within the past 4 - 5 years. So I really cannot attribute this to any one soap artist. Perhaps in Amy's Challenge, she did, but I haven't read that, so I will leave that to someone else to clarify.
PLEASE READ ALL RULES for the challenge.
SMF Challenge General Rules
1. To enter you must have a minimum of 50 posts and have been a SMF member for a month (sorry but no exceptions on this).
2. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign-up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry. The sign-up list will be posted in this thread.
3. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be sent by private message (via SMF conversations) to registered participants ONLY, so please check your messages when the voting begins.
4. Please do not post photos of your entry until the entry thread is opened. Non-entry photos are always welcome and may be posted in this thread. The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts (other than your entry) where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members, and provide helpful hints you learned along the way.
5. Your soap must be made after the monthly challenge has been announced.
6. You are allowed to change your entry photo until the entry thread closes. If you decide you want another try after you post your entry, and you like the second better, you can change it up until the deadline.
7. In the spirit of advancing our soap making skills, all members who sign-up for an SMF Challenge do so with the expectation that they will make every attempt to make a soap for the challenge. Writing about your experience in the challenge is encouraged. By doing so, each participant has a better knowledge of your process when voting. We do understand that sometimes things come up in our lives and throw our plans out of whack, however signing up with no intent to participate and only to vote is not in the spirit of the challenges and is not allowed.
8. Please add your name to the sign up list if you wish to participate (you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have produced), but please do post your experiences in the main Challenge thread and be prepared to be encouraged to continue trying.
9. Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please keep your comments polite.
· Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date. The entry thread will open on September 21, 2020 at 2:00 pm GMT (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter).
· After the closing date on September 27, 2020 at 2:00 pm GMT the winning entry will be chosen using Survey Monkey. Voting will be open from September 28 through September 30, 2020 at 2:00 pm, and the winner will be announced on September 30, 2020. There is no prize attached to this challenge.
· If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload pictures of your soap onto the thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We always love to see anything you have created.
· Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfill the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible, your entry will not be included in the voting.
· All the challenge mods reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for voting.
SPECIFIC RULES FOR THE September, 2020 CHALLENGE
1. You will base your Marble Inspired Soap design on any marble stone of your choosing.
2. Using one or more of the techniques described in the videos below, you will create a soap representative of your chosen marble stone object.
3. You may use any size mold, however, a slab mold or a standard log/loaf mold are better suited, particularly if you choose the horizontal cut.
4. You may choose to use any single or combination of techniques described/shown in the material below and use whatever tools assist you in obtaining your desired result.
5. When separating out batter for creating veins in the marble, use VERY LITTLE batter for this. Too much of a secondary color does not end up looking like veins, but lines.
6. You may choose to cut the soap horizontally as is done in some of the videos, or you may choose the cut vertically, depending on your chosen technique and your specific soap.
7. Your Entry picture(s) must include an image of your inspiration marble object (this can be something you own, have seen & have a photo, or an internet obtained image) AND a photo of at least 2 bars of soap from your batch. If you upload more than one picture to the entry thread, please upload the photo you want to be used in the voting survey first. Otherwise, make a note stating which photo you would like to be included in the survey.
Helpful tips:
1. Choose a Marble stone you visually enjoy as your inspiration. The possibilities of where to find Marble for inspiration are abundant. Museums & Government buildings often have marble floors, walls, statues, etc. that may serve as your inspiration. If you have photos in your collection of past travels, you may find your inspiration in them. Perhaps you prefer to peruse the internet to find natural Marble Caves or other phenomena in nature that produces Marble as your inspiration.
2. Watch & review videos for ideas of how to obtain the design within your inspiration marble.
3. If you choose to use a mica sprayer, wear an N95 face mask (or better) as well as goggles to protect your respiratory system & eyes. The mica sprayer I used, sent metallic mica particles all over! I found that tapping a mesh strainer caused far less waste and was no where near the breathing hazard.
4. If you are unsure which cut you prefer, cut a section of your soap horizontally and another section of it vertically. I found that even soap I intended for a vertical (standard loaf style cut) looked quite attractive cut horizontally.
5. Choose your recipe & fragrance to fit the technique you plan to use. For example, if your design goal requires pouring layers at thick trace, a fragrance that speeds trace can assist. (See the videos for examples.)
6. More useful tips are included in some of the videos. Be sure to share any you have here on the thread as well.
Good luck everyone, and have fun! I'm looking forward to seeing what you make.
I found 3 basic methods used in these videos, often in combination :
1. In-the-Pot Swirl (and in at least one case, and In the Mold Swirl) - (with & without tilting the mold) (with or without pencil lines)
2. Layering (with & without tilting the mold) (with or without pencil lines)
3. Pencil/Mica Lines (with & without tilting the mold) (in combination with #1 or #2 above)
Technique videos:
ITP pour videos:
By soap artist: Teressa Mahoney Mahoney Limited - Nourishing Handmade Body Care - Nov 2016
By soap artist: 茅寶村 - Dec 2018
By soap artist: tellervo - Aug 2019
By soap artist: tellervo - Aug 2019
By soap artist: Creamy Obsession - July 2020
One portion of this soap is marbled: the first 95 seconds of the video shows the artist creating a marbled effect with a thicker trace batter and only one pour. Finished soap is shown at beginning as well as at the end.
technique videos continued in next post
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