Funnel Pour Design - 2nd Attempt

Slab cut into logs

Following on from my natural colourants experiment, I poured the remaining batter into a slab mould using the funnel pour technique.

To do this technique, you need to slowly pour one colour into the mould from one spot.  Repeat this with another colour and pour directly in centre of the first colour.  Keep repeating this with the other colours.  To add variation to your design, pour different amounts of batter for each layer.

Below are some pictures of the cut slab.  Colourants used are: Cocoa Powder, Powdered Strawberry, Alkanet / Brazilian Purple Clay, Alkanet and Indigo (Last two failed to produce colour and thus appear as pale cream)

The Purple Brazilian Clay has turned out as a
 soft lavender colour

Tiny Little Seeds Just Waiting To Be Used

After watching MyCherriCola's video on Youtube that uses cranberry seeds as decorations, I've been inspired to incorporate them into a soap design.  Unfortunately, cranberries are not a native species to Australia and with their tough quarantine laws, it is hard to get botanicals, etc. from overseas.  The strict laws are a good thing as it protects plant and animal life against pests and diseases.  I thought all of my Christmases had come at once when I found some seeds for sale.  

I had to order as many packs as I could and sat about waiting for their arrival making my husband dutifully check the letterbox every day.  Finally, they arrived and upon opening the package, my husband turned around and said 'this is what you have been making check the letterbox for every day?  They aren't very big are they?'

You know what?  He is right.  I don't know whether there is another species of cranberry that produces larger seeds or clever photography on behalf of other sites? The species of seeds I ordered were: Vaccinium Macrocarpon. 

Can anyone point me in the right direction for the better species of cranberry for decorating soaps with, any advice would be greatly appreciated?  TIA

Can you believe there are 250 seeds?

Compare the size of the seeds with
 the matchbox!

If you are interested in watching MyCherriCola video the link is: https://youtu.be/pSa_-1oIqUY

Or access it through my post from 22 August 2015

Experimenting With Colour

Left to Right:  Powdered Strawberry, Indigo, Alkanet and Brazilian Purple Clay,
Alkanet, Cocoa Powder

These are the results of my experiment on the weekend using natural ingredients to colour my cold processed soap.

My soap batter was made up of the following base oils.  Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Rice Bran Oil & Cocoa Butter.

Into 500 ml of batter I added:

1. 2 tsp of Strawberry Powder - Initially there was a faint smell of strawberry. Four days later, there is no indication of the smell of strawberries, and the soap has turned a light tan colour.

2. 4 tsp of infused Indigo - Initially, there was a pale blue tint to the soap.  However, after four days, the soap appears white.  I don't think this will deepen in colour but will check back in a week.  Most likely, I will need to increase the quantity of infused oil.

3. 1 tsp Brazilian Purple Clay mixed with 2 tsp Infused Alkanet - I'm really loving this colour and I'm hoping this won't deepen too much.

4. 2 tsp Alkanet - Initially there was a very pale pink tinge to the soap but it seems I have completely missed the mark and used too little Alkanet infusion.  At the moment, I can't see any colour tint to this soap.  Back to the drawing boards for this one :-(

5.  2 tsp Cocoa Powder - This is a nice brown colour to the soap.  This one I think will darken over the next few days as it is exposed to the air.

Even though some of the colours haven't turned out how I thought they would, I am really happy with the colours produced and how creamy and complimentary they look all lined up together.

Heavenly Scent

I'm so in love with this essential oil blend of Ylang Ylang, Rose Geranium and Vanilla; I first made this just over 2 years ago.  The sultry, seductive blend compliments the natural colourants of cocoa powder and Australian Pink Clay.

For this batch, I used 2tsp of both cocoa powder and pink clay per 500g of soap batter. I wonder what the colour will be like after it has finished curing?  Originally I had planned to make even lines between the colours (sort of like neopolitan icecream) alas, for some reason, the uncoloured batter thickened up quicker than the other two and it resulted in more ploops instead of nice straight lines.  Next time I'll have a serious chat with the soap pixies and tell them to behave themselves :-)  Initially, it sort of plopped itself over the place and during the initial saponification process, it looked like a very sunburnt ......... well I'm not really sure what it looked like :-)

Not looking too pretty at this stage

Glycerin Rivers

Glycerin Rivers Coursing Through the Soap

I didn't mean to get a 'tiger' pattern in this soap, but I really like it.  You see, this pattern was created by rivers of glycerin forming in my soap during the saponification process.  Glycerin occurs naturally in cold processed soap and is part of the reason that soaps made in this manner tend to be very moisturising and nourishing for your body. So why did this occur?  During the saponification and curing process, my soap got very hot and basically, little rivers of glycerin formed in between other oils which had started to solidify.  It is still fine to use; the translucent parts just happen to be a little bit softer.

In fact, often when people comment that soap is very drying to the skin and that their skin is left feeling tight, what they are referring to is commercially produced soap. Large-scale commercial production of soap often deliberately remove the glycerin and add it to moisturising products such as lotions marketing the lotion or cream as a moisturiser to combat the 'dried leather' feel associated with soap.

Poor soap, it gets such a bad wrap at times all because people are led to believe soap has to be drying.

If you regularly use cold processed soap full of moisturising oils, you will find over time the need to use moisturisers diminishes.

You can see in this photo how the parts of soap with
Glycerin Rivers are more translucent

Rainbow In My Kitchen

My natural colourant infused oils have finally been removed from the water baths after 6 hours.  Yes that's right, 2 hours later than I had planned thanks to me forgetting to turn the hob on and not realizing for 2 hours that the water baths were not getting any warmer!

Anyway, here are the results which my husband think are pretty cool

Infused Oils left to right:
Spirulina, Australian Bush Tomato, Alkanet,
Madder Root, Indigo & Turmeric 

Infusing Natural Colourants

I love using natural colourants in my soap making, not only can you get a gorgeous Symphony of colour variations, you also have the added bonus of knowing that they have been derived from nature.

So what's on the soapmaking menu today?

Clockwise from the top.
Spirulina, Paprika, Alkanet, Madder Root
Indigo, Turmeric, Australian Bush Tomato
Centre: Chlorophyll

I am infusing these colourants in light olive oil. As it is winter and I don't have alot of shelving space alongside windows, I'm opting for the warm infusing method.  This involves gently warming the oils slowly over 3-4 hours in simmering water using a double boiler.  It is important when using this method to not "cook" the oil.

What colours might I expect the infused oils to produce?

Spirulina - blue-green colour

Paprika - Salmon to orange colour

Alkanet - Pinkish red through to purplish blue

Madder Root - Light pink to earthy red

Indigo - Blue

Turmeric  - Lemony yellow to earthy gold.

Australian Bush Tomato - I'm not sure what to expect.  Perhaps an orange to red colour.

Chlorophyll - Pale green

Colourants waiting to be infused. Left to Right:
Spirulina, Australian Bush Tomato, Alkanet,
Madder Root, Indigo & Turmeric

You can see in this image that some of the colourants started to infuse themselves without the need of the water bath.

Relaxing by MacKenzie Falls

There is something quite theraputic sitting by a water fall, taking the time to appreciate the surrounding area.

This is truly a wonderful way to spend a winter afternoon, the aroma is simply captivating. From the mossy damp leaf litter smell as it slowly crumbles back into the earth, to the healing fragrances of eucalyptus and tea tree.  The water babbling over rocks as it makes its way to the waterfall is imbued by the tea tree and eucalyptus  tannin /oils that has washed into the water system.  I find myself wanting to go for a swim.  Perhaps not.  It is winter after all.

You Never Know What You Will Find

We spent New Years Day this year in Tasmania at Bridestowe Lavender Estate followed by exploring the countryside looking for an old rail line.  The lavender estate for me and the old rail line adventure for my hubby. 

Whilst my hubby was exploring an old rail tunnel, I was mesmerised by the beauty surrounding me.  This photo is a throwback to a magical start to the year.

Goodies In The Post

I'm so excited, that I have to share this pic.  Some new silicone moulds I ordered arrived via post today.  I can't wait to try them out.  I'm sure tonight I will go to bed with thoughts of soap embeds drifting  in my head 😆😆

Happy soaping everyone 😄😄

Funnel Pour Design

With the left over batter from my 2nd attempt at creating a drop swirl design, I made a small batch of soap using the funnel pour technique.

Wowser!! I really love the end result. Cut into small cubes I think they look stunning.  It is amazing the results you can achieve using natural colourants and botanicals.

Drop Swirl Design - 2nd Attempt

Drop Swirl Design - Thin Trace

Here are the results of my second attempt at creating a drop swirl design.  This time I poured my batter at a thinner trace.

Colourants: Activated charcoal & paprika

Essential oil blend: Valencia Orange, Sweet Orange, Litsea Cuba (Maychang) and Patchouli

Drop Swirl Design - 1st Attempt

Drop Swirl Design - I see a Jelly Fish

After finally waiting long enough for the soap to finish curing, here is my first attempt at the drop swirl technique.  The addition of clay sped up the trace time of the batter and the colours were 'plopped' in thicker by the end than what I would have liked.  I was also hoping for more distinction between the French green clay and purple Brazilian clay.  Having said that, I really quite like the patterns that were formed especially how there is a mix of solid and wispy patterns.

I'm interested to see what the colours will look like in a couple of weeks.

Unmoulding My Creative Acidents

Well what a bit of a mess I made with the batches of soap made last weekend.  I tried to be patient and despite the mishaps making the batches of soaps, I was really eager to see how my drop swirl attempts turned out.

All of the next day I was counting down the hours until I could get home and unmould my soap.  I had already woken up early to sneak a peak, I felt like a child on Christmas morning.  I got home from work as quickly as possible and got stuck into unmoulding my soap.  The smaller moulds which I poured left over batter into seemed fine but something was wrong with my larger loaf moulds.

Underside of Soap unmoulded too early

  Little beads of what appeared to be moisture were seen to be   sitting on top of the loaves.  What could this be?  Was it    
  perspiration?  This didn't make sense as it is currently winter
  where I live.  Was the soap too lye heavy?  To be sure, I  
  decided to touch the soap with the tip of my tongue. ZAP!!  
  Hmm, I thought to try again in another spot.  ZAP!! ZAP!!
  By this stage thoughts of "Stop zapping yourself" chanted by
  Nelson from The Simpsons sprang to mind.  Don't laugh,  
  this is a real way to check to see if soap is too lye heavy and
  is known as the zap test (for obvious reasons).

  Having decided that my soap was too lye heavy, I decided to
  completely unmould the soap and shred for rebatching.  As I
  pulled the soap from the mould, I discovered a very thin  
  layer of oil on the bottom.  Could it have been possible that I
  unmoulded the soap too early??  My soap usually is ready to
  unmould after 24-30 hours.  Having resigned myself to failed
  soap, I thought I might as well leave it for a couple of extra  
  days.

After another 24 hours, I cautiously stuck my tongue on the soap. . . Nothing!!  No zapping for me 24 hours later, moisture on top disappeared and the thin layer of underneath had disappeared!!

What did this mean??  I was too impatient and should have waited longer.  I hadn't taken into consideration the fact that the room temperature where they were curing was a lot colder than usual.  I also didn't stop to think about how I had poured the batter into the mould when it was at only a thin trace just after emulsifying instead of my usual medium trace consistency.  These two factors would have added to a longer curing time.  In my haste to unmould too early, I now have an ugly pattern on the underside of one loaf caused from I believe where I had broken the 'seal' of the mould and the oil did not absorb / form into the soap evenly.

What Have I Got to Lose?

It has been months since I made any soap.  I guess I could say that I lost track of the time or that other priorities have taken place in my life.  The truth dawned on me last weekend.  Simply put, I have lost my nerve.  Since the end of last year, a few things occurred at work (AKA my non-soapy job) including a large scale restructure which resulted in 217 people being made redundant.  Although I kept my job, it has unsettled me, and I wonder how much longer before I too become redundant.  Until now I hadn't realised how much it had impacted on my life.  I know I have been keeping my head down and grateful that I have not lost my job but afraid to take risks (not reckless).  The redundancies have had a spillover effect into my home life and hobbies / interests.

For so long now, I have been making just honey and oatmeal soap.  Don't get me wrong; I love my honey and oatmeal soap but after awhile my soapmaking feels bland.

Last weekend I forced myself to get back in the saddle after many months of feeling 'lost'.  I felt extremely anxious about making soap and challenged myself to step out of my comfort zone by trying new techniques and blends.

Challenge 1: Drop swirl design using Brazilian purple clay and French green clay as colourants.  Scented, with a blend of lavender, spearmint and vanilla followed by a sprinkling of dried heather on top.

Challenge 2: A blend of sweet and valencia orange and patchouli for that hippy feeling mixed into a batch if soap coloured with activated charcoal and paprika.  Decorated on top with a feathered pattern.

Beautiful pattern on top moments before the clingwrap
 saga coloured with activated  charcoal and paprika.

I actually had panic attacks and many bouts of tears about what could go wrong and made mistakes because of my nerves.

Batch 1 - I forgot to add salt to harden my bars, and I didn't think to blend some water with the clay initially to break up clumps.  The portions of batter that were mixed with the clay started to become a thick trace quicker than the uncoloured batter.  I'm not sure if it was because of the clay or because I only poured my essential oil blend into these portions of the batter.  The drop swirl became more of a plop swirl.

Batch 2 - Forgot to add the Vitamin E.  Placed clingwrap over the loaf mould after making a pretty feathered pattern on top, only to watch the wrap sag and destroy the pattern.

I'm really not sure how these are going to turn out but I feel more relaxed now.

Where Has The Time Gone??

Why is it lately that I am spending more and more time looking back on my life?  Somewhere, somehow I have lost sight of who I am.  I guess it has been a gradual process that I never really took notice of until now.

With a mixture of throwback memories and new experiences, I am on a mission to rediscover myself - my health, my aspirations, my interests -

I've always been drawn to this photo I took on one of our last visits to First / Grindewald in Switzerland.  I love how I can not see completely what is ahead.  Little did I know at the time, that circumstances beyond our control were to shortly alter my husbands and my life in ways beyond our imagining.  For almost five years since this photo was taken, we have both felt that we have been surrounded by mist not really having any clear direction in our life.

I know it won't be easy, but step by step I am determined to find myself again.

Soap Ball Experiment

Late last year I ordered the small silicone 9 ball flexible mould from Aussie Soap Supplies.  I had read on other posts that it was easy to unmould and one of the tips I had picked up was to put your mould in the freezer to held with unmoulding.  I wasn't sure if this would really work with palm oil free cold pressed soap so I only ordered one mould.  Having some left over honey and oatmeal soap mix, I poured this into the cavities with if I'm honest expectations of future frustrations when unmoulding.  I had no idea of what to expect, after the soap had cured I popped the mould into the freezer wondering if the promise of perfectly round soap balls would soon materialise.

The brown marks are oatmeal and honey.
Note the air bubbles

After taking the mould out of the freezer, I was really surprised how easy they were to release from the mould.  As you can see in the photo, lovely round balls were formed each with diameters of 22mm.  I tried to get as many air bubbles out of them but because the soap had traced very quickly, it was alot thicker than what I would have chosen to pour into this mould.  I will bear this in mind for future use.  It is hard to see in this photo (I don't have a fancy smancy camera) but a lovely shine was left on the exterior of the balls from the high quality silicone that was used for making the mould.

Will I use this mould again?  Absolutely, I just wished that I had ordered a couple of these so I can make lots of soap balls at the one time.  One plan for these delightful balls is to use as embeds.  Hmm, I may need to order some more

New Years Day - Trip to Bridestowe Lavender Estate

Looking across the fields of lavender,
 Bridestowe Lavender Estate, Tasmania 

This morning was a fantastic start to 2016. Setting off bright and early we travelled to Bridestowe Lavender Estate. My husband and I knew we were in for a great treat when he drove round a bend to see a glimpse of waves of purple peaking through the trees.

On our arrival we were amazed to see such a beautiful scene less than an hour drive outside of Launceston.  The aroma was divine. I couldn't help it, I had to get close to this marvelous herb.

 Several different people had recommended we try the lavender scones in the cafe so whilst I was distracted by the scenery and aroma around me,  my husband made it his mission to go on reconascence to track down the famous lavender scones.  He came back excitably telling me that not only could we get the lavender scones but we could also order lavender latte as well.  Too bad if I didn't feel like heading to the cafe at that particular moment because clearly according to my husband's watch it was time for coffee.

My goodness, the latte was delicious and the scones were without a doubt the best scones I had ever tasted.  These were served with cream as well as rhubarb and lavender jam.  The flavours blended so well that there were no overpowering taste.

If you have read my previous post than you will know that one of my soap resolution this year is to be more creative in the use of different botanicals in my cooking.  A quick stop in the gift shop was in order and I now have some dried culinary lavender, rhubarb and lavender jam as well as some lavender syrup for adding to our coffee.  I akso came away with a bundle of complimentary recipe cards.

I'm itching to get home and try my hand at making my first batch of lavender scones.  Some of the other complimentary recipes include:

* Lavender Butter Cake
* Lemon and Lavender Cake
* Iced Bridestowe Lavender Tea
* Lavender Banana Cake
* Lavender Chocolate Cake
* Lavender Shortbread
* Potatoes with Lavender and Rosemary
* Lavender Brownies
* Lavender and Honey Ice Cream
* Lavender Babycakes
* Lavender Pancakes

Overall a thoroughly great way to start a new year

2016 Soapy Resolutions

Ringing in the new year is traditionally for most people the time to set resolutions usually which have been forgotten or broken by the end of January.  I've decided to set myself soapy resolutions for 2016.  Some will be specifically for soap making but others will be to challenge myself to use botanicals in other ways.

Looking back, it will be 10 years this coming July / August since I took my first venture into making soap and bath products.  A lot has happened over this time and so I feel it is time to get 'back to basics' where I'm going to challenge myself each week to try something new or revisit a technique or design that has sat on the proverbial shelf waiting patiently to be the belle of the ball.

I've also decided that this year I am going to focus on creating blends for example that are reminiscent of places I've visited or memories that have a special meaning to me.

Below are some things I have already earmarked to challenge myself with:

Techniques - 

* Landscape designs

* Taiwan Swirl

* Brush Embroidery

* Ombre Gradient Soap

* Feathered ITP Swirl

* Wall Pour

* Embeds

* Clyde Slide

Soaps - 

* Salt bars

* Beer Soap

* Whipped Soap

Other -

* Massage Bars

* Exfoliating Bars

* Tea Baths

* Bath / Shower Fizzies

* Body Butter

Culinary - 

* Herbal Tea blends

* Culinary Lavender

* Herbal vinegars, honey, herbal infused oil 

Household Cleaners - 

* Herbal Carpet Cleaners

* Natural Cleaners etc

Already this is a really long list, so how am I going to achieve my resolutions?  By being organised.  I've already scheduled weekly reminders in my calendar for a) planning the next week challenge and b) setting time aside to create the existing week challenge.  I also plan to mix it up i.e one week make soap, the next week using botanicals in my cooking etc.

Happy New Year everyone