ArtFire Soap Dope

Artfire has been ignored, at least by me, and it deserves some attention. The concept of Artfire is similar to Etsy in that it's a marketplace for handcrafters to sell their wares except Artfire is a bit different. I am so glad I cleared THAT up! I share such a sea of information, I know you are so NOT in the dark anymore. hehe

I offer you some sacred Sunday soap dope from select Artfire sellers. That's close to she sells seashells by the seashore. If you can say all that without stumbling, I commend you and if you were sitting here, I'd probably make you say it faster and faster.

Enjoy the art.

tomato leaf soap by future primitive

clean n' fresh soap for men (citrus basil) by surfhound soap company

jumbo set of goat's milk soap by AnnsBazaar

mimosa by sagegold

bad boy - shea and cocoa butter soap.......and.......

cole - shea and cocoa butter cold process soap with activated charcoal

both by kbshimmer

shoreline soap (either this was an accident or she is brilliant beyond her years) .....and.....

blue sugar square soap
this one is gorgeous! Can you say moo moo a moo moo moo?

both by sudstress



I know I had fun!! :O)

Plug For The Man

As some of you know, my husband, Brad, writes Bone In The Fan and recently wrote a funny post about the Quizno's pizza commercials. If you are not easily offended hop over and go have a read. I mentioned it on Twitter, so some of you have already had a read.

:)

DIY Gift Basket :: Twig + Thistle

I visited the Twig + Thistle blog and found this oh-so-cute DIY gift basket which looks so teeth aching sweet as an Easter basket filled with handmade marshmallow PEEPS (oh yeah, really)
and a handcrafted bunny.

How can Kathleen (of Twig + Thistle) be so good at so many things? And the Peeps? They are so much nicer than the originals!

But if you look passed the niceness of the holiday swag, you might see that this gift basket could be a great way to present your soaps or whatever handmade goodies you make. There are an endless sea of neat design fabrics that you can use, patterns and adornments that can be added to make these baskets part of any gift giving set.

There is a whole process in making them and you need an exacto knife and tape and other stuff and you need to be able to follow instructions (just a heads up), but Kathleen makes the process a breeze because she even has a button for you to press so you can download a template! Easy peezy, lemon squeezy. So here are some photos I snatched, with permission of course, to give you a sense of the steps, but you need to visit her blog to get the whole step by step instructions. It's WAY cool and if I find myself alone with an exacto knife for more than 10 minutes, I might be able to swing this project.

A Little Soap Dope

For the fiends who are out there always on the look out for beautiful soaps. I know I always love to see what other people are doing. It reminds me that it hasn't all been done already. When I think I couldn't possibly be unique in creating a new soap, I see some one's new style and I think woah! It's a state of mind. It obviously has to come from within, but I do get inspired by the creations of others because I see the time, the care and the beauty of it all, which is why I started making soap in the first place. To me, it isn't a competition. It is a community of people doing an art that is not only functional, but is great for the skin and will hopefully continue to become more prevalent in homes all around the world.

So here's your dope.

AlchemicMuse on Etsy




goodcleansoap on Etsy (love the photos!)



domaly on Etsy -yummo salt bar

That's it for now. More to come when I have more time to browse the millions of talented artists out there! If you think you are one of those talented peeps or people say you are, either send me some soap or send me a link to your shop! Thanks all. Keep it yours and keep creating!!

Yaaaaaa, Baby

I recently discussed bathing with dinner rolls and I have been so into it, I am punchy about the subject. I've made some soap bread or, really, some bread soap. I added loads of rhassoul clay and topped it with colloidal oatmeal powder and cranberry seeds. This is blowing my customers minds - - the fresh baked bread smell.

Brambleberry, you rock! Go get some Fresh Baked Bread here and make sure Anne-Marie does not get rid of it, or I will go nuts with the ten pound ordering. ACK. :)

Also, a big thank you to Amber of Amber's Ambry for the mention on your blog about the dinner muffin soap and Crush On You in Baked Bread I sent you ((blush)). I'm using your picture to share, Amber....very pretty pic:

I see the FO in the picture and I swear that Anne-Marie of Brambleberry is NOT paying me to promote her products. ;)

So should we call the Bread Baking Authority or Hot Grains Anonymous?

Amber's Ambry Tutorial

This tutorial was taken directly from Amber's Ambry word for word. Amber is a lovely woman with mean sewing skills and some super duper creative juice running through her. ALWAYS:

Okay, the moment no one has been waiting for: My first tutorial! I figured those wee little hand balms would be a good thing to do since none of my close blogging friends have a hand balm tutorial yet. Let's go!

*Disclaimer 1* If you are a soap maker, this will bore you to tears. Like, for real. Read the recipe and then skip to the end where I show the nifty way I put the shrink bands on.

*Disclaimer 2* The recipe I use calls for a blend of beeswax, solid butters and liquid oils and is a modified version of a recipe I found online. The most important thing about the recipe is to maintain even amounts of liquid oils and solid butters. You can tweak the beeswax and starch amounts according to your personal taste, but you must use equal amounts of oils and butters for them to properly solidify. Anyway, if you do a quick search for "solid lotion bar" or "solid hand balm" it should bring up a slew of different recipes for you to choose from. I will share my favorite here:

2.5 oz grated beeswax (or beeswax pastilles)
3 oz liquid oils (I've used a bunch of different combos of the following: avocado oil, sweet almond oil, golden jojoba oil, rice bran oil, wheatgerm oil -- still searching for my favorite blend)
3 oz solid butters (I've used varying amounts of each of the following: unrefined shea butter, cocoa butter and mango butter)
1.5 tbsp starch (I was using corn starch, but I have switched to arrowroot)
1 - 2 mL fragrance oil or essential oil (depending on desired strength -- you be the judge, but I prefer my scents on the lighter side and generally don't exceed 1.5 mL)
*This recipe makes 12 mini-muffin sized balms

You will need:
•Beeswax
•Any combination of the oils listed above (or substitute your favorites!)
•Any combination of the butters listed above (or substitute your favorites!)
•Starch
•Fragrance, if desired (you can find skin safe fragrance oils at most craft stores with the soap making supplies, or you can use essential oils)
•Mini muffin pan "mold" (I use both silicone and non-stick metal pans with success, but the flexible silicone pans are MUCH easier to release the balms from)
•Kitchen scale that measures at least in half ounce increments
•Utensil for stirring
•Ladle for pouring melted balm into "mold"
•Crock Pot set to LOW, double boiler over LOW heat or oven safe dish in a warm oven (no more than 200° F) ***The key is to use an indirect heat source.*** Amber's Ambry is not responsible for horrendous kitchen fires caused by irresponsible wax melting ;)
•Individual containers for finished balms (Snack size baggies will do the trick, but don't expect your balms to retain their lovely little shapes that way. After a few trips in your purse or pocket, they will get smashed and smear all over the inside of the baggie. Still usable, but extremely, um, gross looking, so don't say I didn't warn you.)


Step One: Measure your solid ingredients.
Start with your beeswax so it gets a head start at melting. However, it is not necessary to melt it completely before adding the other ingredients.

Measuring mango butter.

Step Two: Add solid ingredients to melting device and cover. (Covering is not necessary if you are using an oven.)

Butters and beeswax pastilles in warm crock pot.

Step Three: Measure your oils.

I measure my oils all together until I get to my desired ounce total -- in the case of this recipe: three ounces.

Step Four: Add oils to melting device.

Adding the liquid ingredients to the solids.

All ingredients added and ready to melt.

Step Five: Twiddle your thumbs and wait for everything to melt. Stir occasionally. Wash some dishes or something. The time will go faster than if you are hovering over your pot waiting for the chunks to disappear. Not that I know this from personal experience...

Oh my gosh, it's finally melting!

When your mixture has melted completely, it will be totally clear, with no little pieces floating in it. You may experience some fine sediment at the bottom of your pot from several sources, especially hand-grated beeswax and unrefined shea butter. This is nothing to worry about and you can just stir it in with the starch in the next step.

Ingredients completely melted.

Step Six: Add starch. This is an easy one. Just measure and dump carefully so as not to splash and stir thoroughly with a wire whisk or a fork.

Starchy goodness.

Whisking with fork.

Step Seven: Add fragrance. If you are leaving yours unscented, ignore this step. Otherwise, measure 1 - 1.5 mL of your desired fragrance and stir it into your melty balm mixture.

Step Eight: Ladle into molds.

Erm, ladling into molds...

Almost completely solid.

See the color difference in the above two photos? The pictures were taken about fifteen minutes apart, but the balms will actually start to set up pretty quickly in a cool room. Use care not to move or bump them during this process or they will develop unsightly cracks and uneven areas.

Step Nine: Release from molds and place in containers.

An army of balm.

You did it!!! Now enjoy your balm and give some to all your friends. They will be so delighted with your crafty-ness AND they will have nice, soft hands when they give you the pat on the back you so richly deserve...

*Now for the packaging addendum:
If you are going to sell your balms and need to seal them with shrink bands, I have a neato little trick I use to keep them from rolling away when I turn the heat gun on them.

I place two thick oven mitts or hot pads on the table and I place my broiler pan (the kind that used to come with new ovens) on top of them. Then I line up the shrink bands over my tins and place the tins on their sides in the grooves of the broiler pan. The pan keeps them from rolling while the heat gun is shrinking the little bands, and it provides a heat resistant surface (with the help of the oven mitts underneath) so I don't have to worry about scorching my countertop or table.

Shrink bands in place, ready for the heat gun.

Awesome heat gun action shot.



The finished product.


Alright, that does it! I hope you enjoyed Hand Balm 101. Please check back much, much farther in the far off distant future for more tutorials. But first I have to think of things that I do that don't already have eighty bajillion tutorials devoted to them. ;) For real though, I hope you enjoyed it. Have fun making hand balm!

Thank you, Amber, for sharing your tutorial! Anyone else who wants to share, please be in touch!!

Requesting Tutorials

To all my soapy friends who have talents here and there: Please come out come out wherever you are! Come share your knowledge.

Wasn't it amazing when Corrie of Lomond Soap shared her funneling tutorial? What a gorgeous pattern the funneling created that I never would have figured out had she not explained. The outcome is so unique and reminds me of famous paintings in museums I've seen.

I believe that learning new techniques can make us feel energized, challenged, and even for some of us, adventurous. Sherrie of Birch Bark Soap gave us a gorgeous step by step photographic tutorial on how to make cold process soap. Sarah of Ladybug Soapworks gave us a salt soap tutorial. Learning should never end. I love learning in a subject I adore. I feel like a drying out sponge that is dying to soak up more and more. I know I am not the only one who is crazy about learning new things. I have found that the soap making community is a curious, eager, sharing and lovely community.

So.....get your talents out and come share. It doesn't have to be your deepest darkest secrets that make you unique.....just a talent you have that we don't have.

xo
Jo

Hot Process -- The Forgotten Soap

Hot process soaps are not featured nearly as much as cold processed soaps. They are the underdogs I suppose...the modest soaps that need a bit of exposure. Here are some beautiful soaps that should be exposed to the rest of the world. Here, world. Enjoy these beauts!

Maylees Garden on Etsy

Nag Champa Spiral Funkiness (love the swirled circles)

butt naked



BareBummBath features hot process soaps that are quite lovely.

berry & honey almond

acai & mangosteen


peace

Stella Marie Soap Company - I have had the pleasure of using Kim's soaps before. Her style, soap and heart is beyond fantastic. We love you, Kim!

clockwork orange

bad brains

Kim's studio with many of her stunning soaps

Anhoki's Place on Etsy...

Youth Hot Process Soap Ala Anhoki

I choose to make cold process soap more often than hot process soap because I have more control with the outcome... designing it. I am very impressed with these soapmakers, I have to say. When I make hot process batches, they come out fine, but the tops looks vomitous. You know what I'm talking about if you've ever made hot process soap.

I chose these soaps to feature because they are works of art. Thank you.

They are hot!

Stamping Impact

I have this soap blog and have been sent soaps to try from all over the place. Some of the soaps have been wrapped with great care and some........ well... not so much. Let's just say, soaps wrapped loosely, then mailed, sometimes do not always stay married to their fellow wrapper. I wish I could say that my house is full of closets with shelves that I could store all these gorgeous soaps I receive, but, I do not. I live in a modest house with little storage other than the hot garage and unfortunately my garage gets to about 200 degrees in the Summer.I'd have to say that's right out for safe soap storage.

So, I keep the batches of soaps together on spare shelves, in large bowls and in drawers all in my nice, cool bedroom. Two of the soaps (out of all the ones I've received) have lost their wrappers. This makes me extremely sad today, especially because I am pretty much in LOVE with a soap I opened and started using this morning. I have come to realize that stamping your company name or logo into each soap bar is super critical and has two important outcomes for you and your soap company and for me as a reviewer and for the customer without a doubt. Everyone wins because what is accomplished? Company recognition.

1. If the wrapper becomes lost, the soap is still represented by you.
2. If the soap is taken into the shower, no matter who uses the shower for the next few days, the soap is recognizable to everyone bathing. Hey, silent advertising is awesome!


Here are 3 examples of beautiful soaps with stamps:

Intentions on Etsy

Magic Hands on Etsy (logo stamped)

Hello Bath + Body

Do you stamp your soaps? If you do, will you share your beauty with us??