What soapy thing have you done today?

[lenarenee]

jewels - I went through some of my old receipts... Nurture has gotten a lot of $$ from me. $750.00 got me most of his (hubby) molds that they were making 2 years ago. Money very well spent. You will have that mold for a lifetime. I made some sample guest soaps in my tall & skinny; I cut the loaf slices and then cut then in half. Made a perfect guest bar for me.

Secret - I'm begging them for a loaf cutter and an MP cutter like the one Bud Hafner used to make. They like the idea so I'm wearing them down .

I bet you are! You're not a shy person who lacks opinions!! Just let us know when we can expect to see them in her shop!!

 

[lenarenee]

Did you use the container for oils or anything like that before? Maybe there was an oily residue that reacted with the lye?

Agreed. I've mistakenly mixed lye in a well scraped but not washed soaping pot and ended up with bit of bits of soap floating around. It was an expensive way to get that pot really clean though!

 

[lenarenee]

I unexpectedly got the afternoon and tomorrow off so I measured out oils for a triple batch of soap....then sat down in a comfy chair to plan out designs but ended up here and at Yellow Cottage Soapery. Now I can't get up! It feels so good to be lazy - haven't had the chance for more than a month.

Someone tell me what design to do for Chamomille & Bergamont, Cool Citrus Basil, and plain orange...while I take a nap.

And I so want a mold like this....https://www.etsy.com/listing/127950229/driftwood-cloud-soap-velvet-lavender

 

[Kittish]

And I so want a mold like this....https://www.etsy.com/listing/127950229/driftwood-cloud-soap-velvet-lavender

Oh wow. I want a mold like that too. Since even before I made my first batch I've had this image floating in my head of a sky blue bar with a fluffy white cloud with a silver lining smack in the middle. I spend hours at a time turning over ideas of how to make the cloud.

 

[earlene]

I unexpectedly got the afternoon and tomorrow off so I measured out oils for a triple batch of soap....then sat down in a comfy chair to plan out designs but ended up here and at Yellow Cottage Soapery. Now I can't get up! It feels so good to be lazy - haven't had the chance for more than a month.

Someone tell me what design to do for Chamomille & Bergamont, Cool Citrus Basil, and plain orange...while I take a nap.

And I so want a mold like this....https://www.etsy.com/listing/127950229/driftwood-cloud-soap-velvet-lavender

Here's a homemade mold that looks like that one.

 

[amd]

I finally completely unpacked and setup the soap lab. I went from 200sq feet in the old house, to 90sq feet in the new house (Nope, that number is NOT missing a zero... I really did downsize.) so it was interesting trying to arrange and organize things. If you are on Instagram I did a quick video @soapiesandsparkies before I organized things. The dear hubby-to-be leveled up my table, and I threw myself into a batch of soap. Six weeks off since my last batch, and I think I completely forgot how to make soap... it was slow going and I made twice the mess I usually do in the process. Hopefully will get rolling on more soap this weekend - I have 40+ new fragrances to try out!

I also started the process to make cream soap from soap scraps, so I should have those whipped up, pumice and eucalyptus mint EO added, and jarred by the end of the weekend for a nice foot scrub. I spent most of last week testing out the different ratios of LS:soap scraps that I had made in April/May and then abandoned when I had to move. Thank goodness I had every jar clearly labeled and packed with the notes! (The notes were the really important part, who knows where they would be if I hadn't put them in the same box!) Oh, and watching lots of YouTube videos. Oh, and I finally ordered the things I need to make some of the recipes in the homemade makeup book I got for Christmas... but Lord knows when I'll actually have time to do that!

Otherwise I have been busy with orders from re-opening the "store", business has been steady every day since I opened on the first. I was really nervous that being closed for two months was going to hurt my business, but so far so good! I haven't made any efforts to advertise in the new town that we moved to. I will probably work on that after the wedding. There's two local farmers markets I would like to check out - one on Saturdays and one on Thursdays - if I can figure out a quick setup plan and maybe just limit the soaps I bring to only my $5 soaps. Well, I'm sure I'll figure it out if I decide to do that.

 

[Kittish]

I tried my first mantra swirl. Came out pretty nice. Next week a friend of mine is going to come over and we're going to make a batch of soap. I'm planning on doing the same technique with her, so I wanted some practice first and also wanted to test out my ultramarine blue. I read somewhere (either here or BBs reviews) about ultramarine blue morphing to purple on someone.

 

[storytimesoapco]

I am cleaning and organizing today, in anticipation of a soapmaking weekend!

 

[penelopejane]

I got new nurture soap molds. I made timber boxes with lids to fit them. I had to resize my recipes and relearn how to cure them because they don't fit into the oven so I can't do CPOP.

I feel like I've taken 10 steps back because nothing seems to work the same way. I am trying new lye concentrations and taking notes on cure times. I can't believe how new molds (which are absolutely fantastic) have changed things so much.

In the end I'll end up with a much more consistent product but whew what a learning curve.

 

[mx5inpenn]

I got my order in with micas & more. I bought a new silicone whisk while out this afternoon for soap. Oh, and I planned my first challenge attempt. Will be working on that tomorrow evening.

 

[kchaystack]

Got my Tonic FO from the group by. It's nice. Gonna soap it this weekend

 

[penelopejane]

Finished making Pure Castile 35% Lye concentration at 12 noon. Still not set enough (three hours later!!) to do swirls on the top of the soap! If I had been doing a three colour wall pour that required a long time to work with I bet it would set in ten mins! :twisted:

 

[Kittish]

Ordered EOs from a couple of different places- mostly to try the nag champa scent MIL wants. Also got beeswax so I can make a few solid perfumes with all the lovely samples from Eden. Signed up to be a supporter here.

 

[earlene]

Well, I learned last night that Photobucket has changed its policy on linking photos to other websites and they are now holding hostage the links to all my photos I have ever posted (as long ago as 2008 ). For the 'nominal' fee of $399 (US dollars) per year, I can fix all those links and have unlimited (until their next policy change) use.

So I thought I'd try and update posts with pictures, but of course I can't do that since SMF changed the policy of editing our own posts. I can do it at other forums I belong to, but don't know that the effort is worth it. I had to make a new post to make the corrections here, but that puts the threads on the 'newest threads' list and I don't think that's a good way to go. Guess I'll just have to accept that most of my previous photos are not going to be visible to anyone and live with it. Going forward, I will just use the attachment feature, which as a lifetime member of SMF I have unlimited space (as per the notice when I signed up for it.)

This is very discouraging, though, on my end. But, I am glad to see that not everyone here was using PB, so there aren't as many ugly PB notices speckling the SMF pages as I feared.

If my back cooperates, I plan to give the monthly challenge another go. I could barely walk the two days prior to yesterday. My back pain started on July 3rd and finally began to be passing bearable yesterday. I am still walking gingerly, but mostly am able to stand straight again. How long I'll be able to stand is another story, but I'll see how it goes. I may have to just do the prep today and do the actual soap making tomorrow.

 

[earlene]

I have a Tall & Skinny mold now! Well, actually it's a sandals shoe box (tall and skinny shape) that my new sandals came in. Now I have to figure out what T&S soap I want to make. I've never made one before, of course, since I wasn't motivated to purchase a real T&S mold.

Any suggestions? I guess I will have to do a google image search and see what comes to mind.

Other soapy stuff today: unmolded one of yesterday's challenge soaps - the slab. It's sitting out getting some air. Then I went to the library to pick up a passel of books I had placed on hold. They all came in at once. 3 novels written by a writer who must either make soap himself or someone in the family is a soapmaker as they all have soap or lye in the title and are part of a series and say 'a soapmaking mystery' on the cover. 4 books on actual soapmaking, 1 titled The Dirt on Clean, the Hand Dying Yarn & Fleece book, plus a book on watercolor paining (I haven't painted in a few years, but watercolor was my medium.) Plus one season of DVDs of Game of Thrones, which I have to watch and return within a week. So, busy, busy me! Maybe I can find a T&S soap in one of the books that strikes my fancy.

After resting my very tired feet & icing my back for a bit, I hope to start cutting the slab mold. Need to remember to take photos, too.

 

[Helenz]

Balmy session

Sorry not to have posted for sooooo long but been up to my eyes in activities.
I have joined a Co-0p of crafters and am on a roster for manning our shop. There are 6 of us at the moment with a couple more people lined up to join us.
We are called the Red Barn Gifts Co-op and are in Whakatane New Zealand.
We have approx 20 local crafts people selling in our shop so have a wide variety of arts, crafts and gifts for sale.
I sell my soaps and other products and its nice not having to contantly do the market rounds, especially in winter!!! Brrrr.
In the last week I have been making Foot balms, Beard balms, Beard oils and solid lotion bars. I have also made some cupcake soaps, some doggy bone soaps and some small bars of lilac and lavender and some teatree & kawakawa soaps. I will have a nice stash of goodies to take out to the barn for sale.

Recently I used a moon cake press for bath bombs and I much prefer these to the normal round bath bombs. I had no trouble with consistancy and no problem unmoulding these. Plus they look great too.

cheers Helenz

 

[earlene]

I've been cutting and planing soap, since my last post to this thread. And taking photos. Also looking at pictures of various T&S soaps trying to decide which technique to use to make a Tall & Skinny soap. I know the T&S Shimmy probably came to mind when I asked if anyone had any ideas, and it did to my mind as well. But it doesn't float my boat that much. But I might do it anyway. Still there are so many options. I haven't cracked the soaping books from the library yet, so I think that's what I'll do today. Look at soap making books.

 

[penelopejane]

Also looking at pictures of various T&S soaps trying to decide which technique to use to make a Tall & Skinny soap. I know the T&S Shimmy. But I might do it anyway. Still there are so many options. I haven't cracked the soaping books from the library yet.

I'd look at "browsing soap pics".

 

[Kittish]

I got my order from Eden in today, a day earlier than I expected it. I got their Amber Rose blend (smells ok OOB, will probably smell lots better on skin. Not sure I want to try it in soap yet.), and some champaca absolute (for MIL's nag champa). I also got a passel of free samples, which I'm going to play with making a couple of solid perfumes with: green cognac, which smells amazing OOB. I want to get more of that and try making soap with it. Carnation absolute, balsam of peru oil, blue chamomile and ambrette seed are the other samples.

 

[amd]

Soapy things: figuring out the best workflow in the new soap lab. Masterbatched 24lbs of oil. Avoided the soap dishes stacking up (for that matter, I've avoided the regular household dishes stacking up too...). Last night I made 4lbs vanilla lavender coconut milk soap using an impression mat and attempted to brush mica and make a decent decorative top. It looks "ok" unmolded. I'm waiting for the vanilla to do it's thing, but I suspect I will be dry brushing the top again. If you want to see what I was attempting, checkout Hippie Mumma's Very Vanilla video on YouTube (sorry I can't link directly, I'm at work). I unmolded this morning and cut. They were too soft to stamp yet so I will do that tonight.

Non-Soapy Things: Ordered the wedding shirts and ties for my dad and future brother in law, because they couldn't seem to manage it. Got fitted for the dress alterations. I am still looking for shoes for The Diva (seriously... are fugly shoes all the rage? 'Cuz that's all I can find.) and trying to figure out the cupcake tower and table decorations. Wedding is in 16 days and I'm having nightmares. In among all this, I am sitting with my grandma for 3 days a week while she does chemo treatment (she is terminal, but she wanted to try to get to the end of the year), figuring out how to run a house of 6 people, running my soap business, working a full-time job, and barely hanging on to my sanity. This girl could use some prayers (and a personal assistant, wedding planner, and housekeeper).