Cora the Cow

After yesterday's long post, I'll keep this one short.

I love animals.  I also love living in Iowa.  When driving around Iowa, you can't go too far without seeing cows grazing in fields.  With so many farms in Iowa, I thought it would be fun to make some cow soaps.  I named the soaps Cora the Cow just for kicks.  Each soap is made by hand individually, so each Cora the Cow is similar to the others, but not exactly the same.  That’s one of the things I love about making them individually.   The picture below shows how they look similar but have little differences too.

To make Cora the Cow, I start by filling in the black or brown spots with soap.  I wait for that to set up.  Then I pour the white soap at just the right temperature.  If the white soap is too hot it will melt the black soap that is already in place.  Once the soap hardens, I take it out of the mold and let it sit for a bit.  Then I paint the pink parts with paint made just for soap.  Cora is scented with a fresh outdoorsy fragrance.  Each Cora the Cow soap is individually wrapped in shrink wrap to help her stay fresh and beautiful.

Valentine Candy Heart Glycerin Soap

I tried to resist buying the mold for these soaps.  I really did.  In fact, I resisted for at least two years.  I have way too many molds and seem to keep collecting more.  A while back, I was on a “mold moratorium”, but I still managed to find some molds I couldn’t resist.  I think the moratorium has been lifted due to constant infractions.  At any rate, more molds keep showing up in my soap room.

These little candy heart soaps turned out so cute.  And there are so many different combinations of color and fragrance that will go with them.  The soaps are designed for Valentine ’s Day, but who couldn’t use a “hugs” soap any time of year?  There.  That’s my justification for buying the mold J

The soaps are offered at www.soapartonline.com and at www.etsy.com/shop/soapart  and they come individually or in groups. 

These soaps are about 2.5” x 2.5”.  I saw molds that can be used to make soaps similar to these, but at the real-life size of the candy hearts of about a half inch across.  I think those are really cute, but they seem kind of small to me for using as soap.  I just might have to get that mold some day and try it out.

Here are pictures of some of the heart soaps I made.  The pastel ones smell like cotton candy and the red ones have a long lasting cinnamon fragrance.

State Soaps Iowa and Nebraska

I saw some state shaped cookie cutters a while back.  Guess what?  They can also be soap cutters J

The cutters don’t always stand up the best to soap, but with a little finessing, I can get them to work. 

I like that I can make endless color combinations or these, or even just “float” the state in clear soap.  I started with Iowa because that’s my state.  I don’t have cutters for all 50 states yet, and there may be some that just won’t work.  But I look forward to working with as whatever states customers want. 

I made Iowa shaped soaps in red and gold and in black and gold.  I need to do one in purple and gold too.  I also did one in red and white because red is my favorite color.  I’m also thinking green and yellow or green and white would be good to go along with the state slogan of “fields of opportunity”.

I also made some Nebraska soaps because I have a few friends who are from there or live there.

What state would you like to see?  What color combination would you choose?

Primary Circles

When I started working on this loaf of soap, I made lots of red, blue and yellow “bubbles”.  Then I set them in a white base. 

As the soap is used, new patterns will continually emerge.  That’s part of the fun.  The fragrance is a strawberry-kiwi-berry combination that is sweet and mild.  I was able to cut 11 bars from the loaf, and each bar looks similar to the others, but has unique characteristics in it. 

The idea came from a book called "SoapyLove" by Debbie Chialtis.  It’s a fun book with lots of ideas and beautiful pictures.  Thank you, Debbie, for the idea! 

You can find the book here http://www.soapylove.com/product/soapy-love-squeaky-clean-projects-using-melt-and-pour-soap and on Amazon http://www.amazon.com/Soapylove-Squeaky-Clean-Projects-Melt---Pour/dp/1600611702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327592723&sr=8-1

Football!

This weekend is a big one for football.  I’m looking forward to taking some time to watch the games tomorrow.  My teams are out, but I still enjoy watching the games.  It’s hard to believe that Super Bowl Sunday is almost here and there won’t be great football games to watch each weekend.  On the plus side, maybe I’ll get caught up on some things around the house.

Here’s a little soap I’ve wanted to make for a while.  It’s scented in a leather fragrance and of course is full of lather and quality ingredients that are excellent for our skin.

Want more details on the soap?  Check it out at www.soapartonline.com