Cherry Blossom Goat's Milk Luxury Soap

The addition of Goat's Milk

Makes this soap luxurious and creamy.

This is scented with Cherry Blossom Fragrance

From Bramble Berry

A friend of mine from Maryland

Tells me it smells just like the real thing.

It brings back memories of childhood days

Spent at her Grandfather's cabin. 

Spring will be here soon.

Along with the cherry blossoms.

 In the meantime,

Get your own luxurious bar of

Cherry Blossom Goat's Milk Soap

From SoapArt on Etsy

Thanks for reading!

Cupcake Soaps

HSCG Cupcake Soap Session with Ruth Esteves

 

Some finished cupcake soaps

 

Do you like soap cupcakes?

Want to see a how-to for making them?

 

Please check out my guest post on

Ruth's session at the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild Conference

 

You can find it on the Soap Queen Blog

 

The session was well attended,

And it was very interesting and informative.

 

Thank you, Ruth, for a wonderful session!

And thank you, Bramble Berry,

For the chance to attend conference and write about it!

 

Thanks for reading, Everyone!

 

 

 

Making Milk Soap

Milk Soap Samples

Making milk soaps can be a little tricky.

At the Soap Conference,

I attended a session on making milk soaps.

It was fun and informative.

 

You can read all about it on

The Soap Queen Blog

 

 



Chemistry Lesson at the Soap Conference

Here's another blog post about the Soap Conference.

This one is on chemistry.

It was the most fun chemistry lesson I've ever experienced.

I learned a lot, and laughed a lot.

 

I hope you'll check it out on the Soap Queen Blog

 

 

Peacock Swirl Soap

How to Make a Peacock Swirl

In Cold Process Soap

 

I'm so excited!

At the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild conference,

AKA The Soap Conference,

I got to attend a session on a very cool kind of swirl.

 

It's called the peacock swirl.

 

Anne-Marie, the Soap Queen and the CEO of Bramble Berry,

 Invited me to be a guest blogger on the Soap Queen Blog.

She missed the soap conference this year.

She was awaiting the arrival of her sweet baby girl.

So I get to write about some of the sessions.

The Peacock Swirl is one of the sessions I wrote about.

I hope you'll stop by The Soap Queen blog and read about

The Peacock Swirl.

 

Thanks for reading!

I'm Here!

I keep pinching myself to make sure it's true.

I'm at the soap conference!!!!!!!

 

Here's a picture for proof.

Get ready to be impressed.

This lovely creation was submitted to the soaper's showcase.

Yes, it's soap.

Wow.

My photo doesn't do it justice.

If I can get a better one, I'll post it later.

See the huge bag the gal to the right is carrying?

That's a goody bag full of gifts.

Every conference attendee gets one.

 

Here's what Bramble Berry gave.

Yes, to each attendee.

 

I have 4 of these in my Bramble Berry shopping cart.

It's a small soap mold.

It's 4 inches square and holds about one pound of soap.

I've been wanting one.
For how long, you ask?

Ever since Bramble Berry introduced it.

Now I have one.

Yippee!

 

This is a 9 cavity silicone sphere mold.

I already have some of these.
I'm not telling you how many.
I love them.

Now I have one more!

 

 I use them to make soaps like these.

 

I got this great coupon book!

 

Some Brazilian clay and activated charcoal.

 

The goodies from Bramble Berry

Included oils and fragrance,

Clay and Charcoal,

Everything but the equipment (safety first, please!),

Lye and water

To make a batch of soap

In this cute little mold.

They even included the recipe.

And directions.

 

If you are thinking about making cold process soap,

But are concerned about the ingredients,

Or about the process,

Check out this kit from Bramble Berry.

It includes everything in my pictures,

And more!

It's a low risk, low investment

Way to try out cold process soap making.

 

Check back soon for more conference updates!

I better get going -

I have a full day of soapy fun

Headed my way tomorrow.

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



HSMG Annual Soap Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina

I am so excited to have the chance to attend the

HSMG Annual Soap Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina!

 

I have dreamed of going since I became a soap maker.

But I didn't know whether would ever get the chance.

Then along came this great opportunity.

 

I get to attend the conference as a

Guest Blogger for Bramble Berry!

 

Anne-Marie, owner of Bramble Berry and

the world famous Soap Queen,

Is unable to attend this year.

 

Why would the Soap Queen miss the Annual Soap Conference?

Her baby is due during the conference!

How exciting is that?

 

That's how this wonderful opportunity came my way.

I'm excited to meet fellow guest blogger,

Michele Lang, of Tierra Verde Handmade Soaps.

 

You can follow our posts on

The Soap Queen Blog

 

If you are going to the conference,

I'd love to meet you!

 

Thanks for reading!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goat Milk Swirled Soap

Recently I showed you some goat milk soap I made using Mango fragrance. 

Today's soap is along the same lines, but it’s scented with one of Bramble Berry's Summer 2012 S.O.A.P. Panel winning fragrances. 

Say hello to Lavender Green Tea! 

I am not a fan of lavender at all.

I mean NOT AT ALL!

But I absolutely love this fragrance.

It’s so fresh and green. 

It's like a clean breeze on a summer day. 

Did I mention that I love this fragrance?

Lavender Green Tea did not disappoint in the goat milk soap. 

The scent is fresh and strong but is not overpowering. 

I may share a bar or two of this at some point, but I think most of it will sit in my personal stash for a while.  It should just get better with time.

Once in a while I’ll take a bar and use it.  In the meantime, I will stop by frequently to inhale the freshness.

Thanks for reading!

Soap for Hubby

Yesterday I wanted to do a quick and fun soap project.  So I made some soap for Hubby.  Nothing fancy here.  Just some glycerin soap base with color and fragrance added.

Since I first started making soap, Hubby has used the glycerin soaps that I make from the premium melt and pour bases by Bramble Berry.  The first time he used the soap, he noticed that his skin was less dry.  He has been a fan ever since.

I was a big glycerin soap fan until I made my first batch of soap from scratch.  Now I much prefer the soaps from scratch.  I used to have to use lotion every day to keep my skin from feeling itchy and dry.  Now I hardly ever need it. 

I have friends who tell me that since they started using my soaps from scratch they don’t need much lotion either.  I even take my own soap with me when we travel so I won’t have to use the hotel soaps.  My skin feels softer and cleaner when I use soap from scratch.  And of course I get to decide what goes into it; that’s a plus, too.

Back to Hubby’s soap.  It’s quick and easy to make the glycerin bars for him.  And I don’t have to package them!  I can just toss them into a zipper bag and be done with it.

His favorite scent (meaning my favorite scent for him to use) is Blue Man from Bramble Berry.  I usually make the bars with clear soap, but today I made them with the goat milk base, which is white.  So instead of the usual vibrant blue, the soaps are a softer, muted blue.  I used the same blue colorant for the soaps above and below.  But the soaps above were made with the clear base, and the soaps below were made with the goat milk base. 

Anyway, these should keep him supplied for a while.  When these run out, I’ll happily make some more for him.  That is, unless I convince him to prefer the soap from scratch in the meantime.

Next time I'll show you another soap from scratch that I made recently. 

Thanks for reading! 

Goat Milk Soap Mango Swirl

I love goat milk soap.  My shower usually has a bar of cold processed clove soap and a bar of cold processed goat milk soap.  I made this soap with myself in mind.  I thought it was a good time to experiment with color and swirls.  I may have gone a little wild.

I used a Bramble Berry fragrance called Mango Mango.  It’s very sweet and seemed to be a good fit with goat milk soap.  I left part of the soap uncolored, and colored the remaining portions with neon orange and neon green.

First I poured in a layer of uncolored soap. 

Next I poured the green colored soap over the white, sort of in rows. 

 Next I added orange soap in rows between and on top of the green rows.

I used a chopstick to make feathery swirls throughout the soap.

Then I plopped some orange on top and swirled a bit. 

I used the chopstick to try to make hearts, but only some of them turned out.

Goat milk soap just gets better over time.  I just finished up the last bar of a batch I made in 2008.  It was even more wonderful in 2012 than it was in 2008.  I love the soft, creamy feel that the goat milk seems to give the soap.

It’s going to be hard to wait to give this Mango Swirl a try, but then that is always the case with cold process soap.  But wait we must.  Giving the soap some time to cure before use allows the soap to get milder.  It also gets harder so that it lasts longer.

Have you ever tried goat milk soap?  If not, I hope you’ll consider giving some of SoapArt’s goat milk soap a try.  A bar or two of this batch will probably show up in my Etsy shop in a few weeks.

Thanks for reading!

The Soap Monster

This is the Soap Monster.

I have been wanting to order a Soap Monster from Bramble Berry for quite some time.  But I was afraid of it.  Recently I called myself a little chicken, decided to get over it, and took the plunge ordered glycerin soap base from Bramble Berry in 25 pound boxes. Yes.  Boxes, plural.

I love Bramble Berry’s bases because I feel that they are as close to natural as I’m going to get in a pre-made glycerin base at an affordable price. This is their premium clear base that I have been using since I started making soap.  I dubbed it the soap monster because cutting up a 25 pound block of glycerin soap base seemed intimidating.  Even after reading the SoapQueen Tutorial on Cutting Blocks of soap, I was intimidated.

Let me tell you about my first experience with cutting these monster blocks of soap down to size.

First I want to say thank you to my Dad and my Girl Scout leaders for some great training on knife safety and proper handling of knives.  This information was invaluable as I tackled the soap blocks.  If you ever do this, make sure you know and follow proper knife safety.

Here’s the box the soap came in.  It’s about 13 x 10 x 5 inches.  The soap was poured directly into a plastic bag inside the box. 

Some of the plastic was into the soap a ways, but I was able to pull it out just fine.  If you look closely, you can see little "bag tracks" where I pulled the bag away from the soap.

I started by cutting off a strip of soap about 1” wide from the side of the block.  Glycerin soap base is interesting to work with.  It's sticky and slippery all at once.  It requires a good deal of caution and a bit of elbow grease. 

The one inch slice you see above had some bubbles that needed to be shaved off. 

I used a cheese slicer/planer to do that job. 

It worked great, and I didn’t lose valuable soap base.  Had I used a knife, I think I would have ended up with more waste. 

See the radio in the background?  It was tuned to KNWS, a Christian radio station in Waterloo, Iowa.  That made the time spent on this much more enjoyable.  I’ll spare you the audio of me singing along with the radio.

Here's the progress - this is about 2 pounds out of the 25.

Almost halfway finished!

It turns out the Soap Monster isn't really a monster after all.  Cutting up the block wasn’t difficult; it just took a little time. I had no reason to be intimidated.  So if you're considering buying lots of glycerin soap base, this is definitely a great way to go.

I’m happy with what I got done this time around and will save the rest for another day.

Thanks for reading!

Google+

It's the weekend, and my ambition level isn't too high.  I look forward to helping out at the Lion's Club Chicken Dinner tonight.

While in my less-than-ambitious state, I happened to read Soap Queen's blog.  The post gave some information about Google+ that was very helpful. 

I took the plunge and created a personal profile and added a business page for SoapArt.  I am following Bramble Berry on Google+ and have one person in my circle (hi, Megan!). 

I look forward to making more contacts with friends, customers and other soap makers.

If you have a minute, please hop on over and say hi.  And if you are on Google+, I'd love it if you'd follow my page.

    SoapArt on Google+

Thanks for reading!

Fragrance Set Winner Choices

Yesterday I announced the winners of the fragrance sets.  I thought I'd let you know what they chose.  Two winners wanted fragrance #4.  That one is a very fresh Lavender Green Tea fragrance.  I don't care for straight lavender, but I do love this fragrance.  Bramble Berry has added Lavender Green Tea to their fragrance line. 

Look for more of this in the future.  I already have the fragrance in my shopping cart and have all kinds of ideas rolling around in my head for how I will use it.  So many ideas - so little time.  Sigh.

Although the second winner didn't get her first choice of fragrance, she will get her second choice, which is #3.  It's called Honey Orange.  It did not make it into the Bramble Berry lineup, but it's wonderful nonetheless.  I can smell the honey in it, but I just don't get the orange note.  The fragrance still smells purple to me. 

The third fragrance to be chosen is #7.  It's the one that smells like Hawaii to me. It's called Pikake Flower.  It is being offered by Bramble Berry as a limited edition.  If it proves to be popular, it may get added to their regular fragrance lineup.

I plan to offer some of the remaining sets on Etsy and in local retailers.  So if you're interested in any of them, please let me know.

Thanks for reading!

The Winners Are . . .

Gift Set Giveaway Sweepstakes Winners

Happy Fragrance Day! 

Congratulations to the three winners of the giveaway sweepstakes sets!!  Can you tell I'm really excited by all the exclamation marks?

As a reminder, the set consists of items I made while testing fragrances as a member of the S.O.A.P. Panel for the super soap supplier Bramble Berry.

Each gift set includes one of each of the following:

• Hand-knit cotton wash cloth
• Bar of melt-and-pour soap
• Lotion bar
• Bar of soap from scratch (cold process) soap
• Wax waffle

Here's a picture of one of the sets minus the wash cloth.

The winners are – Drum Roll, Please:

·         Rona Messmore

·         Morgan Boyer

·         Connie Jones

Woohoo!  Congratuations!! 

Each winner gets to choose one of the fragrances for her coordinated gift set.

The summary of my impressions of the fragrances are here.

Bramble Berry’s announcement of the fragrances that will be added to their line is here.

Thank you to everyone who entered.  The contest was fun, and I am so happy to be sharing some of the test products with a few people.  Watch for future contests here and on SoapArt's Facebook page. 

Thanks for reading!

French Green Clay Spa Soap Cold Process Soap for Body and Face

This French Green Clay Spa soap is all natural.  By that I mean that no synthetic fragrances or colors are added.  I love color; I love fragrance.  I usually add synthetic colors and fragrances to my all natural cold process soap in order to get the results I desire.  But this one needs nothing more than the French Green Clay and the beneficial essential oils of tea tree and lavender.

During this photo shoot I felt like a little kid again.  But instead of playing with blocks, I was playing with soap.  In this photo the French Green Clay soaps are gymnasts making a pyramid. Welcome to my world of random and sometimes odd thoughts.  I will spare you the other four shots of the soaps making geometric patterns.

This French Green Clay soap is full of ingredients that pamper skin.  It’s a wonderful all-over body soap, but also makes a superb facial soap.   Here’s why.

It contains French Green Clay which is an excellent detoxifier and has up to 19 minerals that are believed to help prevent the appearance of premature aging.  Hmmm.  Maybe that’s why I felt like a kid during the photo shoot!  Anyway, the French Green Clay gives the bar a wonderful gentle exfoliating quality.  I love a little scrub in my facial cleanser.  But I don’t want to walk away with scratches on my face.  Hence the gentle exfoliation.

The soap also contains Tea Tree Essential Oil, which is well known for its various properties of treating problem skin.  Some things that tea tree is said to do:

Serve as an anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory agent. 

Provide relief from insect bites.

Soothe and clear rashes.

Reduce acne. 

Tea Tree Essential oil is also said to help relieve athlete’s foot and soften corns.  Those aren’t qualities I need in a soap I plan to use on my face.  But they can be quite beneficial when the soap is used as an all-over body soap.  Tea Tree Essential Oil even gets credit for improving dandruff, so this soap is also a wonderful head-to-toe soap.

If you want to read more about this soap, or if you would like to purchase your own bar, they are now available at the SoapArtOnline website. 

Don't forget to get your name entered as many times as you'd like in the Sweepstakes giveaway of some sets I made using the Bramble Berry S.O.A.P. Panel Test Fragrances.
You can earn entries by commenting on this blog post, commenting on SoapArt Facebook posts, Sharing SoapArt Facebook Posts, Pinning SoapArt products, and signing up for the SoapArt e-newsletter.  Complete rules are available here.  The sweepstakes ends March 20th, with a random drawing of three winners on March 21st.

Thanks for reading! 

Lobster Soaps

The reason I got into soapmaking in the first place is because of my sister, owner of my little studio on Kent Island in Stevensville, Maryland.  Her regular soapmaker had to stop consiging soap, so I offered to "give it a try" so her studio could still have the great smell of homemade soap.  I instantly fell in love with making soap. Thank you for encouraging me and supporting me in my soap addiction, sis!

With that in mind, it’s about time I made some lobster soaps with customers of my little studio and Island Arts in mind.  Here they are.  These guys will be on their way to Maryland later this week if all goes as planned.

I didn’t want to make them smell like raw seafood.  I didn’t think they should smell like flowers either.  I used a wonderfully earthy-salty-oceany fragrance from Bramble Berry called Sea Moss.  It’s a very fresh scent that is perfect for these soaps.

The lobsters were fun to make.  Of course they were.  I haven't made a soap yet that I didn't enjoy making.  First I poured the red and let it set up.  I forgot all about taking pictures in progress.  Then I poured in the white soap at just the right temperature so it didn’t melt the red soap.  I hope people will enjoy them.

Here's a lobster trio.

Thanks for reading!