Friday 12 December 2014

Spoon Swirl : December Soap Challenge

The spoon swirl.....one of my favorite swirling techniques......but how stressful is it when it is part of a challenge!!

Scented in Black Linen and Amber, I used Black Oxide, Tangerine Wow Pigment, Fizzy lemonade pigment and a white base.  During photos are non-existent (again!)

Here is the top.....

And here are some of the cut bars :





I was very nervous about this one, because I had done the spoon swirl so many times, I think it made it worse!  But I am very happy with how it turned out.  Thanks Amy for another challenge.  Good luck everyone, and MERRY CHRISTMAS  :)
Bye
Dianne  :)

Thursday 13 November 2014

Great Cakes Soapworks November Soap Challenge - Combing Techniques

Hi everyone!  Finally I have been able to participate in another soap challenge.  Life has gotten in the way of the last few challenges!  I was a bit excited about this challenge, as I loved the peacock swirl one that we did right at the start.  I considered doing another peacock, and then decided to try the Serpentine Swirl.

I decided everything in kind of a hurry, as I had a limited window, with no kids around and no hubby to distract me!!  I chose a fragrance called Birds of Paradise, and from the description I was pretty sure it would discolour, but for this challenge, that did not matter.

I chose my colours: Blue, Yellow, Green and White.....and used micas to get these colours.  Blue Kamikaze, Lemon Mica, Golden Green and Rutile Sheen for the white.

I actually weighed my soap into the squeeze bottles, so that the colours were even, added my FO to the rest, and put that in the mould.

Then it was the colours:  First the green....


Then the yellow...



Then the blue.....


And finally the white.  Did this quite a few times, and then on the last few times, I made sure that my rows of colours were a bit neater.


Now....I will confess that I couldn't make a combing tool, as I didn't have enough skewers, so I just did all the lines one by one......time consuming, but I did say that this was a spur of the moment thing, so I didn't really have a choice!  The next photo shows the first lot of lines....


The next photo shows the chevron pattern after the next lot of lines going the other direction, and in the middle of the first lot of lines!......and also the start of my next pass with the mould turned.


This shows the soap after all the lines have been done, but before the "s" shape.


And here is the finished Serpentine Swirl!  I was very happy with how this turned out  :)


Cut photos



So that is it!  I finally remembered to take photos of the "during" stages of my soap....I always forget to do that!!  I am very pleased with this effect, and probably would do it again, but I am so tragically
challenged when it comes to cutting slabs, that it may be a while!

Thanks Amy, for yet another challenge, that has challenged me!!

See you all next time

Dianne  :)

Thursday 11 September 2014

Soap Challenge: In the Pot Swirl

Haven't been able to do a challenge for a while, and this month the Greatcakes Soapworks challenge was In the Pot Swirl.  I decided to do this challenge, a) because I haven't done one for a while, and b) I am crap at in the pot swirls!......so I was hoping that I would learn how to do it properly.

I decided to just jump in and try a 6 colour rainbow swirl....why not, hey?
So my colours for the challenge were:
*  Ruby Red Mica - Red
*  Peach Sunset Mica - Orange
*  Lemon Mica - Yellow
*  Golden Green Mica - Green
*  Blue Kamikaze Mica - Blue
*  Cosmo Martini Mica - Purple
and a white base with Rutile Sheen Mica.

I guess everything went according to plan except the taking of photos during the process....I always forget to do this.  I scented with a mix of Kumquat and Energy Fragrance oils.  Here is the top:



And here is the finished soap.....please forgive all the air bubbles....my old trusty stick blender died and I had to use another one that puts a lot of bubble into the mix!  I'm not convinced about the ITP swirl being easy....I just can't seem to get a handle on it!  A couple of bars don't look too bad, but I think I will stick to other swirling techniques!!






 So that is the ITP rainbow swirl.....until next time
Bye for now
Dianne  :)

Tuesday 18 March 2014

Soap Challenge: The Drop Swirl

Hi there....it's is time again for a new Soap Challenge from Amy warden at Greatcakes Soapworks.  This month, the technique is the Drop Swirl.  I had done a few drop swirls before the challenge, but it was good to see a new video, and take on how to do it.  This challenge has renewed my love of the Drop swirl....you get so many cool designs from it.  I did quite a few drop swirls in the lead up to reveal day, and here are  the two that I had the most trouble choosing between!  Will let you know at the end of the post which one I have chosen to enter!

First one I did was with the fragrance Sweet Orange and Chili Pepper.  Oh how I love this fragrance, and it plays quite nicely too.  I chose Red, Orange, Yellow and White as my colours.  I used micas to achieve the colours.  Here it is.  I got a lot of comments about this soap on my facebook page...people saw something in the soap...can you see it?  :)






Next I decided to do a rainbow drop swirl.  I regularly make a Rainbow Soap using the tiger stripe method, which I sell as  fundraiser soap for Autism awareness.  So I decided to change the design for a one off time, and do it Drop Swirl style.  I am pretty stoked with how it turned out, and I think it will be a bit of a winner with my regular customers.




Even writing this post I was still undecided as to which one to enter!  Wish I could do both!!  Anyway, I flipped a coin and the rainbow soap won, so I guess that one is my entry!  Hope you all like it!  Can't wait to see what everyone else has come up with.  I love these Challenges, and can't wait for the next one  :)
Bye everyone
Dianne  :)

Wednesday 19 February 2014

Soap Challenge : Embeds

Hello everyone!  Time again for another soap challenge from Greatcakes Soapworks.  I always have so much fun doing these challenges, and this month's challenge of "Embeds" was no different.  I have done embed soaps before, but decided to give this challenge a go anyway.

I made 2 soaps in the end.  One with balls, and one with a long embed.

For the ball embed soap. I made several different colored soaps, and made some balls of singular colors, and some balls that were several different colors.  I then rolled some in gold mica, and some in black mica.  The fragrance I chose for this was "Glitter" from NG.  Supposedly it was meant to rice, but I added my fragrance to the oils before the lye mix, and it behaved perfectly!  Anyway it smells absolutely gorgeous!  Here is the finished soap.


I have called this one Glitter Balls!

My next soap I made was with a fragrance called Stormy Nights.  I had an image in my head of what I wanted this soap to look like.  I have a star embed tube mold, so I filled this with white soap and waited for a few days before I could unmold it.  Then I mad some more soap, split it into 3 parts, and colored one part with Activated Charcoal, one part with Blue Ultra Marine, and one part with Titanium dioxide.  I then mixed several different colors together using these colors, to hopefully represent a stormy night sky, and layered them into the mold.  Here is what I did with the top.  At Christmas time I made a soap that I put mica dots down one side and turned them into stars using a skewer.  This time I covered the whole top in gold mica dots  :)


And then began the anxious wait to unmold.  I had used a silicone mold, so I knew it would be a few days before I could get it out!  Finally I was able to push it out, and here is Stormy Nights....pretty pleased with how it turned out.





Well that's it for another Challenge.  I decided to enter Stormy Nights this month.  Thanks Amy for yet another challenge and good luck everyone.....this was fun.

See you next time
Dianne  :)


Wednesday 15 January 2014

Soap Challenge: Taiwan Swirl

Well, it is Soap Challenge time again!  I can honestly say, this is the first one that almost had me beat!  I made two attempts, and I can say, that if the second attempt had not been acceptable I don't think I would have tried it again!

My first attempt was a bit of a disaster.  My batter thickened up way too much, and I didn't think that any sort of pattern would show up at all.  It did, but only just!  This one was scented with a mixture of strawberry and Raspberry, and the brown is Chocolate Fragrance....smells a bit yummy!



So then on to my second attempt!  Changed my recipe, and chose to use an Essential Oil blend this time of Lime, sweet Orange, Litsea Cubea, Tea Tree, and a smidge of Lemon Eucalyptus.....wow...smells good!  Chose my colours, orange and green and used micas, so I wouldn't have to blend them too much to get them to mix in.


Next I added the whitish base to the mold, and then poured in the two colours on either side, trying to get them to go to the bottom.  I used a slightly thicker skewer this time, and did my s curves across, and then down the mould.


Time for the anxious nail-biting two days before I could un-mould and cut it!  And I was pleasantly surprised!  Not great, but not too bad!  So here is "Invigorating" in all its glory!




Thanks for reading! Thanks Amy for yet another Challenge that has made me step out of my comfort zone, and good luck everyone  :)
Bye
Dianne   :)