Thursday, February 08, 2007

Time Flies

It seems like I just updated this thing yesterday, and yet I know it has been nearly a month since my last post. Sorry for the slacking folks, I've just been really, really busy. After staring at a computer all day at work, the last thing I feel like doing is getting online at home. The few moments that I do spend on the computer at home are currently devoted to building a website.

Stitching is still practically non-existent, but it's getting better. I've managed to get into a bit of a routine where I actually work on my stitching (mostly PIG) for a miniscule amount of time each day. Admittedly, it isn't much, but it's better than nothing.

Soap continues to take up most of my time. I've been playing around with various recipes and techniques, and I am getting ever closer to being able to sell some of it. Technically, I suppose some of it has been sold. That was unintentional, though. You see, I took some painted Valentine heart soaps to a friend who owns a coffee shop. These were not for sale-- the intent was that he would give them out to some of his "better" customers. There was no tag, no business card, nothing. It was just a little Valentine treat for some of the folks who had supported his business. Apparently, one of his employees didn't know these were freebies, and he sold several of them.

Below is a photo of samples from some of my recent batches. The one on the left is the lavender soap that was a near-disaster. The first go-round with this soap didn't set up properly, even though the soap was just fine. So, I shredded it and rebatched using buttermilk. Unfortunately, I was in the country when I did the rebatch and had forgotten to bring soap molds. I ended up using a mini muffin tin, hence the small size and less-than-glamorous appearance. The soap is absolutely wonderful, though.

The next soap was my first attempt at using powdered colorant. It didn't turn out quite right. The color was supposed to be added to the water at the beginning of the process. I missed that part of the instructions and ended up adding the powder at the very end, just before pouring into the molds. That's why it's speckled. It's a terrific soap though, scented with Love Spell "type" fragrance. I really like this scent-- rather citrus-y. It's one that I'll definitely be using in the future.



The soap all the way on the right is what the speckled soap was supposed to look like. Notice the pink color! That is what happens when you add the color at the correct time. LOL

The dark one has been named "Ugly Soap" because it is, well... pretty darned ugly, especially when compared to it's more attractive siblings. I used vanilla buttercream fragrance and added honey and oatmeal. The combination of vanilla fragrance and the honey is what turned the soap so dark. The final scent of this came out very earthy, in part because of the oatmeal.

12 comments:

Trish said...

The Valentine Heart soaps are awesome!!!

Let me know if you want to sell any!

claudia said...

I think your soaps are lovely...even the ugly one and the one that came out of muffin tins! I wish I could smell them!

I love your Valentine soaps. What a great idea for Valentines Day!

Anonymous said...

Love the 'ugly soap' it looks so deep and rich.....reminds me of brownie...lol

Sharon said...

Juanita, your soaps are really neat. I like the ugly soap as you put it, because those are some of my favorite scents. When are you going to start selling some?

Chelle said...

They all look good to me! :o)

Karin said...

I think the "ugly" one looks like chocolate too - and I'm not surprised that the coffee shop sold some of your soap - they look very professional!

Anonymous said...

Love the soaps! Very ingenious!

Michelle said...

It sounds like you have been having a marvelous time soap-making! Love the Valentine soaps, and the oatmeal soap sounds wonderful!

Cathy B said...

I've always loved homemade soaps - they usually have the most wonderful fragrance!

I like the heart soaps too!

Carto said...

Hey there!

Wow!! You clever person you - what a wonderful array of soaps! The love hearts are fab - they remind me of 'LoveHeart' sweets that we get over here - do you get them over there too? I totally understand about the blogging and stitching - I'm in the same position myself, so I know what you mean! If ever you need a willing tester of your wonderful creations, yell my way (though it may be a bind to send them to me!). Take care xx

natty68 said...

Oh wow your soaps are wonderful. I love the "Ugly One", its unique.

You wouldn't be able to give me a basic soap recipe would you? And what sort of fragrances do you use - as I would love to make some of my own soaps.

*Hugs*

Christine said...

Very beautiful soaps...
I've always wanted to try making them, but I've still got tons of stuff left over from the last time I picked up a new craft to "try" (candlemaking -- mostly dipping tapered candles) and never picked it back up again after the first time or two...

So now I've made a commitment not to buy a bunch of supplies for a new craft unless I know I'll stick with it. lol

But definitely great looking soaps... now I can only wait for the day when we can have scratch n sniff computer monitors so I can have a whiff *grin*