We made soap, did more paper work, and had a welcome interruption - better than Christmas!

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Wow! April is nearly gone. Sometimes, you blink and a week has passed you by. 

We are trying very hard to get all our "stuff" done: labels, pricing, wrapping soap, securing a tent, chairs, the ability to run credit cards, opening a bank account....and on and on.

Today while "A" worked on the not such fun stuff like making labels and calculating pricing per bar of soap, "K" got to have all the fun and make some soap.

First we will give you a sneak peek of what some of the wrapped soaps look like.

These are (L) Honey Almond Oatmeal and (R) Rosemary Mint

We think that a nice visual presentation is very important, so for the time being will be "economically dressing" our soaps with materials salvaged from "K's" quilting stash.  Maybe later we will sell the soap in muslin bags or pretty boxes, but for now this is our beginning.  In the long run the soap is still a great product.

A few more

Back to the soap of the day....

"K" chose the spoon swirl method because we have used it several times and always get great results. Now which colors should we use? Green!!  Spring is absolutely in full tilt right now. The birds are singing, flowers are blooming, and the trees have leafed out in more shades of green than seems possible. Looking out the window makes us smile and - ok, to be honest - sneeze. There is a fair amount of pollen around, but the pretty lovely shades of green and plenty of tissue make up for the pollen.

The scents "K " chose are honeysuckle FO (fragrance oil) from +Natures Garden   (Link to Web site) and lavender and herbs from +Bramble Berry (Link to Web site). We had a few extra drops of lavender EO (essential oil) in the bottom of a bottle from Bramble Berry which we added - even a few drops can make a difference.  



BREAKING NEWS!

Right in the middle of our work, the dogs went crazy and alerted us to the sound of a delivery truck. Fedex was here with our +Bramble Berry order! We were squealing like, well like grown women who can't wait to see our supplies in person!

the anticipation builds....

New scents!! Energy, Neroli & Shea Blossom, Lemon Verbena, Cucumber Melon and even a free sample of Carnation that smelled incredible, on to the next layer.

oh, oh, oh goodness, we are so happy!!!

Oh boy! Just wait until Thursday to see what we will create with the new colors & scents.

Now back to your regularly scheduled blog post....

While "A" mumbled into her computer about pricing and the color of labels, "K" mixed up the lye/water and stuck it into another room to cool down.  We used the "old faithful" recipe which combines palm, olive, castor and coconut oils with the lye/water mixture.  One of the main reasons we use this recipe so frequently is because it's so easy to work with if you are doing a creative design in the soap. 

Once the oils were mixed with the lye/water it took about 5 minutes to get to light trace. At this point "K" added TD (titanium dioxide) to lighten up the soap color.  She divided the mixture into glass measuring cups - (2) were 2-1/2 cups full (for light and dark green), and 1 cup for the violet, and the balance of white was still in the mixing pot. 

She started with white and layered the colors with dark green, light green, then a little touch of violet/purple, continuing the layering process until the soap was gone and the mold was full.  

Here the darker green is being added on top of layers of light green, white and splashes of violet.

Layering these colors will leave a beautiful color contrast when cut.

Once all the soap was in the mold, "K" added a little stylish swirl to the top and sides.  We can't wait to cut this soap and hope to have pictures we can post for you tomorrow.

It is now 24 hours later, Thursday May 1st to be exact and we are ready to un-mold the soap. Compare the picture below with the one above this sentence, this shows you what 24 hours of "curing" does to the soap.

We remove the freezer paper and turn the soap on it's side, you can see the color variations on the side, we started the layering process with white, you can see on the bottom.

We begin to cut the soap and the lavender and honeysuckle fragrance blend fills the room!

The soap is still soft enough to cut easily, below is the group shot which shows you the variations in color you get with the spoon swirl technique.

And the last picture, the solo shot of the Lavender - Honeysuckle soap, it will be ready in 6 weeks,