Yesterday's Efforts

[SuzieOz]

I'm pretty happy with yesterday's soaping session - all unmoulded, sliced and stamped today.

Peppermint & Clary Sage; Sage & Lemongrass FO; a spotty rustic looking Cedar & Orange.

That last one was meant to be a more fluid drop swirl - I got that a bit wrong
The smell is pretty awesome though.

I'm using up some EOs and FOs before I can justify buying any more - the Sage & Lemongrass was one I was regretting buying. But this soap I made suits the fragrance so well I can't help picking it up and smelling it constantly, and I can't wait to wash with it!
It's amazing how much a soap's appearance can alter how you think of it.

I need a new design for the Cedar & Orange though, any thoughts anyone?

 

[Saponomancer]

They look gorgeous to me

Ceder and orange is a tough one, I want to say dark orange and brown with some little purple swirls perhaps

 

[CaraBou]

Nice soaps and nice stamps. Cedar & orange, I've not tried that but it sure sounds like it smells good! I like the way the current one looks, so if you do change it up, move that color scheme to a new scent and name! Or just rename it to juniper orange; the blue isn't too far off from the color of juniper berries, the scent would be similar, and some people even call juniper a cedar.

 

[SuzieOz]

Thanks for the feedback. I always thought Juniper would make a lovely girl's name

I love purple. Yes, I think I'll try some purple.

That brown was meant to be pink - I used Aussie pink clay - but my hand slipped and in it all went!

 

[LisaAnne]

They are all beautiful, the middle stamp is really nice.

 

[Seawolfe]

What a clever idea offsetting that big stamp like that! Those are all really pretty. And I think that cedar and orange fits that drop swirl very nicely.

 

[soaring1]

Very pretty soaps. Love the blue and white.

 

[Navaria]

Those are beautiful!

 

[Rowan]

Great soaps. I like them all, especially the first one. Pretty drop swirl too

 

[BlackDog]

Oooohhh that first bar looks so fresh! What a lovely bar for springtime.

 

[SuzieOz]

What a clever idea offsetting that big stamp like that!

Yes I thought so ... I pinched the idea from something I saw online ... :shifty:

 

[SuzieOz]

Oooohhh that first bar looks so fresh! What a lovely bar for springtime.

That's a thought ... only we're going into Autumn here! ... :razz:

 

[BlackDog]

That's a thought ... only we're going into Autumn here! ... :razz:

Apologies, SuzieOz. I was on my phone and Tapatalk doesn't show user locations. At any rate, I would sure love to have that bar here in the Northern Hemisphere!

 

[twaburds]

Newbie here! Your soaps look fab! How is it you get the mica colours with a soap stamp? Also, my soap stamp arrived the other day and I have tried it on soaps at various curing stages with no luck on any of them. It just keeps taking chunks out of them. Any tips would be appreciated!

Thanks!

 

[SuzieOz]

Welcome twaburds! Well, as for the mica, they didn't all turn out great. First I tried dipping my stamp in a tray of mica ... hmmm, mica everywhere, bad impression ... then I ended up just using a small make-up brush which I dipped into the mica and "painted" the stamp with before using it.

I'd be interested to know if anyone else has any tips doing the mica stamp thing because I still got a bit of mess on some of my soaps.

As far as stages of stamping, I've tried all sorts of stages too and I've found it depends on so many things - for example the recipe you've used (how soft/hard your bar is), when you've cut it (straight away or not), the type of stamp (wooden, acrylic, rubber), and what kind of impression you want (sharp, soft).

So for some recipes I can stamp as soon as I've unmoulded using any kind of stamp, and others I need to wait a day or two or longer.
I used to stamp after a week or two using a wooden block over the stamp and a hammer, and this gives a nice sharp impression (acrylic stamp).

I've just started using some rubber ones (generally used for ink) just because I had them, and those need to be done straight away while the bar is still really soft.

I think you just need to experiment. Perhaps try stamping straight away and see if that helps. I usually experiment on the end pieces after cutting the soap so I don't wreck my good soap.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Hai_Uyen]

Like them all. Well done

 

[dibbles]

Love them all - very pretty!