Hello....and welcome

Hi everyone, my name is Dianne and I am a soap maker from Queensland in Australia.  Have decided to start this blog as an extension of my facebook page, I guess like a diary of sorts, to let you all know what I have been up to, and what is planned for the future.

So, a little bit about myself.  I have a loving partner, who I have been with now for 10 years,and two beautiful children, Chloe who is 5 and Lachlan who is 2.  I have been making soap now for over 10 years, originally making it for myself and family, and giving it away to friends.  Last year I decided that I needed something to do, as I am a stay-at-home mum.  Then it hit me!  Maybe people might actually pay money for my soaps!  So I set about making my first lot of soaps for a local market.  I didn't have any pretty colours or anything yet, just the basics from the kitchen cupboard, but I did OK! Here are a few of my first soaps that I  made......

L to R:  Tea tree and Green Clay, Citrus Spice, Invigorating, Zebra  an Chamomile Tea

L to R :  Country Garden, Zebra, Man Up (beer soap), Tropical Paradise, Tea Tree and Green Clay.

With the money I made from my first market I invested in some pretty colours, and some fragrance oils as well (all of the first soaps I made were Essential Oils).  I had never had to try and make my soaps look pretty before as they were made only for personal use and for gifts...this was a new challenge for me!  So I watched dozens of youtube videos on different swirling techniques and tried my hand at a few of them for my next lot of soaps, and the results were pretty good!

This is Candy Cane....done with hanger swirl

This is Island Sunset.....done using the "Celine Swirl"

 

This is Camo...done using the "Spoon Swirl" 

So that was my first couple of months of soaping and trying to sell it!  Will post more photos later of some of my new works of art!!