Rimmed Soap– March soap Challenge

I have wanted to learn how to do this for a while so I jumped at the chance to learn this technique when Amy from Great Cakes soap Works offered it for the March 2016 challenge.  I have not made a video nor done a tutorial but will do at some stage soon.

Making a silicone Liner using Rose’s Box template

Rose Ericson, a good friend, from the States, who made my soap cutter and this soap cutter  for me sent me mould maker to test.
She also sent some combs for swirling but more on that soon.
I took the template apart so I could add putty to the cut in the wood.

Mixing the silicone as per the manufacturers directions.
See the YouTube video here 

#Riverlea soap 

Learn How We Made Winter wonderland soap - a soap challenge entry

This month Amy from Great Cakes soapworks set the challenge for the soap club as a winter themed soap with 2 options – all natural or synthetic.

I chose to do the all natural option as I really want a chance to win the prize: Anne Marie Faiola’s new book Natural Soap making!!

My idea was to have a Christmas tree with pretty coloured baubles floating on the branches…..

I used French green clay, Rose clay, paprika, and cocoa powder to make the baubles.

This was a disaster. Not quite sure what went wrong but I think I mixed too much oil with the colours. The soaps were hard and crumbly and I was unable to make little baubles out of them, but I pressed on all the same. Fortunately I had some of the pink soap in a larger batch, made for Roses which did not go crumbly (I am guessing this is because there was so much more so and less oil?)

The idea was to use Coconut oil, Canola, Palm, Olive for the Baubles and insets and then Coconut, Palm, Avocado, Canola for the "snow" and Verbena essential oil.  

Fortunately the cocoa powder soap worked well and I had my tree trunk.

Once I had the bables made up I put them in my mould that had two sides positioned at angles to create the tree.

I poured layers of french green clay soap ontp each other to try and make an ombre tree. I don’t think it work too well.

Once I had my layers done I put the trunk into the green soap and then poured more soap over it!! Sutpid. It is supposed to be a trunk and stick out! So I had to do a bit of quick thinking.

The rescued tree trunk help in place with wooden skewers.

Day two – soap base poured into the mould and the christmas tree inserted into it. Left over night to harden

More soap base poured onto the tree.

The finished soap. Cut and beveled. Not quite what I wanted but cute all the same.The Verbena oil reacted with one of the oils and made the base a little yellow but it is okay. Looks pretty good.

You can see the video on YouTube here.

#Riverlea Soap 

How to make beautiful, easy Valentine MP Hearts

 
I decided to go non traditional with the colours for this years Valentine soaps.

2800g Clear soap base

Deep brown Mica

Peacock Mica

Titanium Di Oxide

Fragrance oil, we used Forever

Silicone moulds

Chopstick for stiring

IPA for spritzing away bubbles

Little heart shaped cutter

Microwavable jugs

Melt all the clear soap base

Premix all your colours in a little glycerine to prepare them

Pour off 300g soap base add  1/2tsp of Deep brown Mica, add fragrance oil, cover with a lid

Pour off 300g soap base and add 1/2tsp Peacock Mica, add fragrance oil, cover with a lid

Pour off 300g soap base and leave it clear, add fragrance oil, cover with a lid

Add the premixed Titanium Di Oxide to the rest of the clear soap base and cover with a lid

Pour half the brown soap mix into each of your soap moulds and let it go hard

Take the cookie cutter and cut out your hearts. The hearts should stick to the silicone mould. Pull out the main layer of soap and it will leave the hearts behind (left pic)

Spritz both the hearts in one mould and the cut out sheet in the other. Take the clear soap base and pour 150g into one of the moulds and then lay your sheet of cut out hearts directly on top of the clear soap.

Pour the other 150g over the other mould that has the hearts in it. Spritz both lots of soap to remove  bubbles

Leave this to go slightly spongy but not hard, spritz with IPA

Pour half your peacock soap into each mould, spritz with IPA and leave to go spongy, not hard

Spritz again with alcohol IPA and then pour half the white soap over one mould and the other half over the other mould. Leave to go hard.

Cut into squares and wrap in plastic wrap once cool

#Riverlea Soap