CPSC Spotlight - 3 - Spiced Palette

Sorry, I am behind on posting.  I caught a nasty cold which turned into a sinus infection, and I am finally feeling better.

Week 3 of the Color Palette Soap Challenge.  Each soapmaker did a beautiful job with the colors and created unique designs. I am sure you will agree that these soaps are beauties. Great job to week 3 participants.

Jen Grimes, a teacher at The Nova Studio in California, made this stunning layered soap that looks like a mountain sunset using natural colorants. She explains how she created the colors, so if you are interested in duplicating them, you can see her instructions on Pinterest, click here.



Miranda of De Zeepkeuken & MirandArt created a striking layered soap.  I love the dark lines between the layers to really make things pop.  Check out the De Zeepkeuken & MirandArt blog, click here.

Cee of Oil and Butter created this adorable layered soap with fancy toppings.  You'll note that each person's computer monitor will show the colors differently.  Apply that to soap and you have a little variation in colors, hence the reason Cee's colors look a little different from Jen and Miranda's interpretations.  Check out the Oil and Butter blog, click here.

I post all participant soaps on a Pinterest board each week so we have a library of palettes and soap inspiration to refer to for ideas and to ooh and ahh over! You can follow that board here.

You can link up your Fall Leaves swirl soap Week 4 photos tomorrow. Remember, the soap challenges are now 2 weeks plus 1 week to link up.  You can join in on the fun anytime.

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Yummy Candle Treats: Fun Food Inspired Candles - Banana Cream Pudding

Banana Pudding Candle

Here is another delicious candle which combines techniques from the above tutorials.  You can purchase wax banana chips from RND Fake Food Plus. 

Supplies needed:

Double boiler

Old pot

Candle thermometer

Wooden spoon

Wick holder
Wax of choice suitable for whipping
Candle wick suitable for diameter the container

Glass container

Banana pudding fragrance (if desired)
Mixer or wire whisk (you don’t mind getting wax on)
Candle dye – yellow

Banana chip embeds
Newspaper
Prep your work area, laying down newspapers to protect surfaces.  First trim your wick to the height of your container plus 1 inch.  Use wax glue to secure the wick sustainer to the bottom center of the container.  Attach the wick holder to the top of the container to secure the wick while the candle sets.

Melt desired amount of wax in the double boiler to 180-190 degrees.  You want to almost fill the container.  Add fragrance and yellow color dye.  Once wax has melted, remove wax from heat.  Pour the melted wax into the container.  Allow to cool and harden.

In an old pot melt a small amount of wax in the double boiler to 180-190 degrees.  Blend the wax with a mixer on high for 5-10 minutes creating the whipped topping for the top of the candle.  When it is thick and resembles meringue, spoon the whipped wax on top of the pudding candle.  Before the topping has a chance to cool, place some of the banana chips into the whipped cream exposing only half the banana chip in a manner similar to real pudding.  Allow the wax to cool and harden.  Trim the wick and enjoy.

 

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Sunday Spotlight - Landscape Soap

Beautiful soap art in pituresque scenes.

Outer Space by Soap for Your Soul

 

 

Bad Moon Rising by Noshings

 

 

Marrakech by El arte del jabón

 

 

 

Poppy Fields Soap by Great Cakes Soapworks

 

 

Mountain Sunset by Simple Pleasures

 

 

Landscape by Puro Soaps

 

 

 

 

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Yummy Candle Treats: Fun Food Inspired Candles - Pecan Pie

Pecan Pie Candle

This candle is a lot easier than you think.  The wax pie crust and pecans can be purchased from Candle Kitchen.  You assemble the pie and top it off with some gel wax to make a candle so realistic you’ll have to make sure no one cuts a slice to eat. 

Supplies needed:

Double boiler

Candle thermometer

Wooden spoon

Wax pecans
9” Wax pie crust and tin
Gel wax (to fill 9” pan)

5 Candle wicks – zinc core

Pecan pie fragrance (if desired)
Candle dye – honey
NewspaperPrep your work area, laying down newspapers to protect surfaces.  First trim your wick to the height of your container plus 1 inch.  Use wax glue to secure the wick in each wick hole in the bottom of the pie crust.  Place the crust in the tin.

Melt the gel wax in a melting pan over gentle heat to 195-210° F.  Add a tiny amount of honey liquid candle dye.  A little goes a long way, so you may want to dip a toothpick in the dye and swirl the toothpick in the wax.  Too much dye will cause the wax to be more opaque and less transparent.  Add ½ ounce of fragrance per pound of gel wax. 

Carefully pour your wax into the pie crust about ¾ full.  Allow the gel wax to cool.  Place a layer of pecans on the cooled candle side by side.  Then add a second layer of pecans in a manner that resembles a real pie.  Layering will give the candle a more realistic look even as you burn it.

Pour the remaining wax over the pecans.  This will secure the pecans into place, so be thorough.  Allow the wax to set and cool.  Trim the wick and enjoy!

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Yummy Candle Treats: Fun Food Inspired Candles - Hot Cocoa

Hot Cocoa Candle

This candle looks and smells just like hot cocoa.  Use a cute mug to complete the look.

Supplies needed:

Double boiler

Old pot

Candle thermometer

Wooden spoon

Wick holder

Fork
Wax of choice suitable for whipping
Candle wick suitable for diameter of coffee mug

Coffee mug (candle container)

Cocoa or chocolate fragrance (if desired)
Mixer or wire whisk (you don’t mind getting wax on)
Candle dye - brown

Newspaper

Prep your work area, laying down newspapers to protect surfaces.  First trim your wick to the height of your container plus 1 inch.  Use wax glue to secure the wick sustainer to the bottom center of the container.  Attach the wick holder to the top of the container to secure the wick while the candle sets.

Melt desired amount of wax in the double boiler to 180-190 degrees.  You want to almost fill the mug.  Add fragrance and brown color dye.  Once wax has melted, remove wax from heat.  Pour the melted wax into the coffee mug.  Allow to cool and harden.

In an old pot melt a small amount of wax in the double boiler to 180-190 degrees.  Blend the wax with a mixer on high for 5-10 minutes creating the froth for the top of the cocoa candle.  When it is thick and resembles meringue, use a fork to apply the whipped wax to the top of the cocoa candle.  Fluff the wax with the fork and model it to look like the whipped cream on real hot chocolate.  Allow the wax to cool and harden.  Trim the wick and enjoy.

Allow the wax to cool just to the point that it congeals on the sides of the pot and a thin film forms across the top.  Now using a mixer or wire whisk, whip the wax until it is thick and foamy.  Once it looks like whipped cream, you are ready to apply it to the candles.

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CPSC Spiced Palette Soap Reveal and Tutorial

Week 3 Color Palette Soap Challenge - Spiced Palette.  This week I made a layered soap in a Hot Buttered Rum scent.  Besides smelling awesome, I love the colors. 

First prep your colorants.  I used red oxide, yellow oxide, and titanium dioxide.  Make 1 color with 3 parts red, 1 part yellow.  And the second color a strong yellow with a touch of red.  Make your soap.  At medium trace, mix about 1/3 of soap with the red mixture.  But only place 1/4 of the total batch into the mold. 

 

Add 1/4 of soap to the red mixture, which should lighten it to another shade of orange red.  Layer this over the top of the red layer.  Do so, by gently spooning the mixture a little at a time of the red, staying close to the layer with the spoon so as not to create a drip swirl.

 

Make 1/4 of soap yellow and layer over orange.  Add titanium to the final 1/4 soap and layer over yellow.

Now create a little texture on top just as you would when making meringue for a pie.

Finally, sprinkle with cinnamon.

 

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CPSC Spotlight - 2 - Street Tones

Week 2 of the Color Palette Soap Challenge  - Each soapmaker did a beautiful job with the colors and created unique designs.  Great job to week 2 participants.  Trust me...working with color isn't as easy as you think.

Eileen of Simple Pleasures Handmade Soap (located in Canada) decided to try another peacock swirl with dark and light teals of the palette plus white.  I love the swirl effect.  Check out the Simple Pleasures Handmade Soap blog, click here.

Jen Grimes, a teacher at The Nova Studio in California, made this lovely tri-colored layered soap.  She explains how she created these pretty colors, so if you are interested in duplicating them, you can see her instructions on Pinterest, click here.

Miranda of De Zeepkeuken & MirandArt (located in the Netherlands) chose to use a grey and teal look with a hint of a dark line.  I love the effect.  Check out the De Zeepkeuken & MirandArt blog, click here.    

I post all participant soaps on a Pinterest board each week so we have a library of palettes and soap inspiration to refer to for ideas and to ooh and ahh over!  You can follow that board here.

You can now link up your Spiced Palette, Week 3 soap photos. 

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How My Company Got It's Name

The Bonnie Bath Co.  It took awhile for this name to formulate and it was actually my daughter, then 8 years old, who named the company.  Many people assume it is named after me, the owner, which, as you know, is Erica.  I do not personally know anyone named Bonnie either.  So why this name and not another?

Well, it all goes back to my niche when I first started.  I made Celtic soaps and sold only at Celtic events, such as Scottish Highland Games and Irish Festivals.  I knew I wanted to be 'something' Bath Co. and my daughter asked, why not name it after her stuffed lamb, Bonnie.  Well Bonnie the lamb's full name is Wee Bonnie Lamb, which is Scottish for Little Pretty Lamb.  It seemed to fit...The Pretty Bath Co. (The Bonnie Bath Co.) 

People at these venues knew what bonnie meant.  And we knew that the name, Bonnie, was very personal and special to us.  My daughter was never seen without her two stuffed animals Bonnie and Moo (obviously a cow) since she was 2 months old.  Anytime she found another lamb, she would name it with some form of Bonnie...Baby Bonnie, Wee Baby Bonnie, etc.  I even made a scrapbook with Bonnie and Moo all over town in a photo story.  Boy, did that get some looks at the supermarket.  People apparently think you are weird when you place a couple stuffed animals strategically in a cart and photograph them.

The photo above shows Bonnie in the front and Moo in  the background, both threadbare, 'cateracts' on their eyes, deformities from being re-stuffed with small 'scars' marking their surgeries at the neckline - completely LOVED.  They are held by Elizabeth, who looks a lot like my daughter.

Over time, I found that I really liked to do other things, too, and preferred fancy techniques in log and slab molds.  I changed my packaging, logo and style, but kept the very personal name.  You can still see the original lamb logo on the back of my soap packaging, originally sketched by my brother.  Some of you long time followers may remember it.  So there you have it...my soap company is named after my child's stuffed lamb and it's name means 'pretty'. 

How did you choose your company name?

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Color Palette Soap Challenge - 4 - Fall Leaves

This is challenge 4 of the Color Palette Soap Challenge - CPSC. I am going to run the challenges every other week giving you 2 weeks to complete a challenge instead of just one, plus a week to link it up.  I will post a color palette, you create any soap you'd like using at least 2 colors (you can add nuetrals, see the rules below). You can join in any time. I'm sticking with fall palettes since I know many of you are getting your fall soaps out soon. At the end of the 2 weeks, you'll have 1 week to cut, photograph and promote your soap on your blog, business Facebook, YouTube, or Pinterest board and link it up. When you are promoting your soap, provide a link back to this page of the challenge. Full rules are below. Instructions for linking up will appear on next Saturday. Have fun!

I made this palette up myself to get enough color choices.  Let's make things interesting and add to the challenge.  Choose at least 2 colors and use ANY swirl technique.  Remember that neutrals are allowed in any challenge.  You do not need to make the soap in a fall theme.  Try to push yourself to do something different than you typically do.


Rules for CPSC:

1. Sunday the color palette is posted.
2. You have 1 week to create a soap using at least 2 colors in the palette, as close as you are able to get the color. It's soap, I understand there are some limitations.
3. Use any recipe, any coloring ingredient, in any soap medium - cold process, hot process, melt and pour
4. Additional colors are not allowed except for neutrals - black, white, grey, tan, ivory, shimmery gold, shimmery silver (you can post them, but I will only feature soaps following the palette)
5. Photograph your cut soap and promote it on your blog, business Facebook,YouTube or Pinterest boards with a link back to the current color palette (this page), so others can find us and join in, too. It would be really cool if you tell everyone how you created your colors (perhaps I can compile a color formulary for everyone)
6. Saturday the InLinkz goes live for 1 week.
7. You have 1 week to post your photo on this blog linking to your blog, Facebook,YouTube or Pinterest pin (that way everyone can find you on the net)
8. When the challenge ends, I'll pick 3-5 creative soaps from the InLinkz for the week and post them to this blog as featured artisans.
9. I'll add featured artisans and others that catch my eye to my Pinterest board so others can see what you have made using the color palette.
10. Have some soapy fun!

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Sunday Spotlight - Awesome Swirl Soaps

I began reading through the survey responses from my earlier post.  (Did you forget about the blog survey?  You can complete that by clicking here.  There is a prize!!!)  While everyone said they loved soap porn, one person in particular said that they missed REGULAR postings of the Sunday Spotlight.  I've been too sporadic and haven't provided consistent soapy photos.  So I am going to make an effort to be better about posting these features every week.  Especially since I agree, Sunday Spotlight is fun!

 

So here we are..awesome swirls from a variety of artisans...

 

 Soapmarked

 

 

Castle Lake Studio Soap

 

Blog of Soaps

 

Soap and the Restless 

 

 KaFee

Desert Soapstone

Platypus Dreams

Missouri River Soap

Naiad Soap

Sherri's Soaps and Soys

 

 

The Bonnie Bath Co.

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