Happy New Year 2014 everyone!  I  hope your year is full of fun, family, friends, love and peace.   May good health guard your door step and enough money fill your pockets to share with those who haven't enough. 

Here is a year in review from my FB page.  Some of the highlights from 2013. 

Spring 2013
My new favorite fragrance is Hydrangea. I know I know they don't have a fragrance but by all accounts this is a lovely white floral fragranced soap and very popular so far!

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   This soap photo is for a challenge and was suppose to be tiger stripes!  Well here we have Salt Water Taffy soap cocoa butter and vanilla citrus fragrance. It was a challenge and I learned how to do one fragrance in part of the soap and a second fragrance to color another bit.   Happy Easter everyone!
   

   

   
   

   

   
   

   Summer 2013

   This Sand&Sea Moon and Stars soap was also an experiment for a challenge.  Another creamy lovely soap fragranced each section in a different fragrance and what fun that was!
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   Seeing spots? Yes leaping leopard spots on Lilac soap. More soaping luxury bars, non drying luscious bubbles and lather and I smell so good! LOL   Kiko soaps if you're in Hawi, Hawaii!  Although Lilac doesn't grow in Hawaii to my knowledge it smells wonderful in this soapy!
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PaMella

Dandelion Soap

His undies drawer should be filled with Artisan Man Soap don't ya think!
So I don't do enough soaps in the masculine genre and decided it was time to get with it.   This technique is au currant and is called the Dandelion pour.  What fun this one was and I just had to change it up a slight touch with a few embeds little ones.  The Dandelion soaps that soapers are doing are so dramatic, diverse and just outstanding.   So there are enough bars to go around this fall and winter!  A few for my December market and  a few for gifts a few for my sweetheart and well a few for my etsy shop too if there are any left the first of the year.!

The fragrance I chose was Vetyver.  It is a Bramble Berry fragrance that hasn't been reformulated to my knowledge.   I've begun to phase out all reformulated fragrances that have no resemblance to the original.  It is more financially sound to start over than be disappointed by the tinkering of the reformulation.

 
 It is really time for me to begin blending my own fragrances from essentials and I did that today with a rosemary blend that I think will be permanent.  I've done a few in the past that have been successful like rosemary vanilla and mint or pineapple cilantro and coriander with a mint.  The new rosemary mint  I'm calling  Sweet Rosemary and I think it will catch on, I'm hoping! 

This Vetyver fragrance is a sexy guy scent yet loved by many a woman.  It seems every time I make this soap I go with relatively similar colors.  I love the aqua with brown and used some ground walnut seed in the brown part of the soap for a gentle exfoliation.  To my eye it looks masculine and tribal and I'm pretty happy with it.  There was a bit left over to make some travel sized bars so they will get to go on our next trip.

Oh and on the fru fru side these were mailed out Saturday.  A bakers dozen of orange to pink to purple Lahaina Luxury bars. 

Can you tell I love to make soap, package soap and get it into the hands of others?  Oh YEAH if it were any more fun it would probably be illegal but don't tell anyone!

All in a days fun!   Up at the crack of dawn and two batches in the molds what a grand way to start the day!  Did I mention I love making soap! 

3 packages off the the PO and two (in the sacks) are ready for pick up.  So now I get to sit down and have a cuppa hot coffee and day dream about what to do next! 

As I've been invited to do a three day show this November and another in December, I'm busy creating soap.  I've been dreaming about how I'm going to package it all and trying not to panic.  

Several soapers  have gone with boxes purchased or handmade.  They look so classy especially for soaps ordered on line!  As these shows will be 2 or 3 days each I'm wanting a packaging that is fast easy and viewable when held.  We'll see what I can come up with.   Just ordered some helpful supplies so I'll have plenty of time to play.


I would love any input in packaging you might be willing to share.  Here are a few of my current soaps all wrapped up.  I think I need something a bit quicker! LOL

A tisket a tasket. A green and yellow.......gift!

First and foremost I want to share with you Emily Shieh's Soap & Restless blog post on the Iinternational SKYPE session she hosted last month.  While deemed not quite the success hoped for by Emily, I can tell you as a participant it was a wonderful class and experience.   If the opportunity  presents itself to have a class with Emily you will not be disappointed.  With attention to detail and encouragement for your artistic expression you will learn much with her.

I also want to share with you a gift I received today!  I'll do that last.

So in Em's own words here you go in case you missed this adventure in soaping!

"Soap & Restless: Third and Final Trial Live Video Soaping Session: ""I had very high hope for this 3rd and final trial run of my future live video soap session I plan to offer.  My 2nd trial went really well...""  Em's colors, ingredients and techniques will amaze you!

Like many of my soaping friends I spend too much of my free time on line.  So many soaps so little time just  oogling soaps, watching it be made .....scheming dreaming and planning what is next to fill my fantasies or the desires of my clients!  It's like falling into Alice's proverbial rabbit hole!  Soap porn, eye candy, color addicted soaper beware and then the supplier emails to sort thru!

Also like many of these obsessed friends I'm unable to resist a lovely fragrance, ingredient, color, packaging material, a new ribbon or new to me look!  It is the fragrance that I'm totally focused on currently as I've located and documented 11 boxes of fragrance in my home.  I know, I know many have more.  I've been on a soaping products budget and have been struggling to keep to it!   Truly LOL really it is more like a diet, you know -  that is die with a t.  To manage my compulsion  well it is like forced march  and I'm dragging my feet a bit.......but trying to use only current items on hand.  Ah ha like the activated charcoal sitting on the shelf! 

Just how and where I got to this tempting place is a mystery.  A magical mystery tour from this blog to that to a youtube or a fb comment here and there and just look what I found  while researching, ahem, activated charcoal soap.   Look what I found and just had to have!

 

It looked ancient and it was named "Black Agate" and I couldn't resist!  Isn't it beautiful!  Absolutely gorgeous.

Did I mention the downfall?  It was on sale.  Did I need permission???  Even though  my budget was gone I  wanted two or three but  but my diet?  Out the window and I'm off the wagon and I ordered just one I think I can do just one! LOL. 

It arrived in a box not a bubble envelope??? And it had company!!!  Oh my gosh what a surprise this was.  Oh it must be a shipping mistake but no there is a note to me.  Yes a note to me of the gifted beautifully wrapped gift!

What a huge surprise not only a beautiful hand crafted and folded gift bag but inside an individually wrapped soap.  A gorgeous soap of 4 of my favorite colors and called Peach Blossom by  Newt & Fig (another wonderful name).  Thank you thank you Catherine for such a surprise filled package and a fun and beautiful gift.  You know how I love your soaps!  I feel so touched that you gave me this beautiful gift soap in your handmade packaging.  I haven't used the Peach Blossom I'm saving it - it looks so exotic!

As for Black Agate it is a wonderful soap a touch exfoliating a bit of grey lather and bubbles and lather that just keep coming on and rinses away leaving your skin feeling so refreshed and pampered!  Absolutely a great soap and one to be enjoyed!

So take the time to look into Catherine's toy box it looks like she has it all set up for the season full of beauties for all tastes!  Check into the Soaping 101 youtube channel and see how she made the darling package in the photo above.  You'll have a grand time!

Aloha and good night Gracie!

Yesterday I had the pleasure to meet and virtually work along side six soapers.  It was a SKYPE conference of soapmaking women.  Much like the stirring of the caldron pot in a joint soaping experience.  We all had a fabulous time making new soap friends and learning new techniques.  Emily Shieh of ShiehDesignStudio was our instructor.

I have known Emily since early 2009.  She was the first person (outside of  TheNovaStudio classes I took) that I  had the opportunity to make soap with.  We had previously split 500 pounds of product in 2008 and then split another supply in 2009.  My mission to pick up local oils pounds and pounds, go to Emily's and split the supplies and then make a soap.  It was a wonderfull day of soap magic well except for the accelerating fragrance and stick blenders on my part!

When I heard Emily was doing a SKYPE conference I jumped at the chance to join in and am so glad I did!  She has taught me so much about the grace of soaping and working with color, form and texture.  I hope you take a look at her work and see what a talented and generous artist she is right here !  As we were going to work in peach to purple who could resist?

The soaps to the left are as instructed.  The few on the right were hit with a touch of coat hanger for effect although minimal I rather like it.

So as this was a test batch I made the little flowers and balls from a previous orange soap then dipped them in micas for this color.  When these are used the flowers will turn an orange color oh and some of them will turn purple!

This photo was an after thought and I love how the color reflects off the silver so feminine.

 If Emily ever decided to do professional lessons don't hesitate you will be completely thankful you took it!

Aloha,
Pam
 

Whimsy for a Monday morning!   Are you up for a road trip north?  How about Albany, Oregon! If you are in the neighborhood here is a worthwhile side trip! A community project dedicated to saving an old lumber town. A Christmas Rooster and an elaborate Dragon are just two of the 52 animals locally sponsored, designed and crafted by the towns volunteers.  The imagination of the creatures is amazing!  Here are a few I'd like to ride upon.  There are cats and dogs and fish and gorgeous horses birds and beasts.  Take a look!

 http://albanycarousel.com/WP/events-2/ 

I'll go with you!!

Zulu with merrikat and flamingo!

 

Soap Asian Pear with Synergy

I enjoy watching you-tube videos of soap making when I'm caught up!  Recently there was a challenge from one of these channels to do a Synergy Soap, a challenge much like the Paint Chip or the Tiger Stripe Style.  So the Soaping 101 challenge is to do a soap showing motion, color or textures, a soap denoting different forces of nature perhaps.  The interpretation is left to each person.

Asian Pear Lily is such a lovely fragrance blend and this was my first experience using it.  I wanted to incorporate this challenge with this fragrance and see where it led.   As I was working with a small sample I needed another fragrance so added some pink grapefruit essential oil.  The pink grapefruit went into the colored parts and the Asian Pear Lily into the ivory which riced a touch but was workable.

Three Colors

Three styles

Two fragrances.

The colors I enjoy working with are muted.  This fragrance calls for muted colors in my imagination.  When I see tablespoons of color going into a soap it makes me think of colors running down the drain and colored bubbles suitable for a Dr. Seuss illustration.

Using a tried and true recipe with my favorite Cocoa Butter off I went.  Fragrance check!  Color well ivory with a touch of French Pink Clay and a lick of Mica from TKB should compliment the Asian Pear theme.

So here we have three colors two fragrances and three looks from one batch of soap!  It turned out beautiful and smells like I want to put it on my body and rub it in my hair!  The cure tick tock tick tock.   "Patience is a virtue possess it if you can, it is seldom found in woman and never found in man"!  unknown author or perhaps a woman from the 1800's who was reluctant to take credit back then.

Have a wonderful 4th everyone.  Mella L