If I was a Little Miss character, I would definitely be
Little Miss Procrastination. I had 2 weeks to do this challenge, but guess who
was up late last night making her challenge soap? Nothing like leaving things
until the last minute!
I used my basic soap recipe for this one, which normally sets
up really quickly. I knew I would have to work fast, but I was prepared for
that.
What I wasn’t prepared for was how sllllooooow my recipe
would move this time. I did make a couple of tiny adjustments, hoping it would
give me more play time with my soap, but I can’t imagine these little things
would make that much of a difference. I used a slightly lower water discount (about
20g more water in my 2lb recipe) and had my lye slightly warmer than usual, I also barely brought my soap to emulsion
before splitting the batch. I didn't think those little adjustments would make such a huge difference, but I had to wait about 1 hour before I could work with the soap,
and even then, the ‘spot’ colors were still too liquid, but my base soap was
thickening up fast and I just went for it:
Not my best effort, but still a neat effect. And, I'm happy to have discovered that I can slow down my base recipe for the more complicated techniques.
Top shot:
I’m really looking forward to heading over and seeing how everyone else's soaps turned out, you can check out the rest of them here. Many thanks to Amy from Great Cakes Soapworks for hosting these fun challenges
and encouraging us to step outside our comfort zones and grow as artists.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Your soap smiles!
ReplyDeleteIsn´t it annoying when you have to wait and wait for the soap to get thicker!!? I had that problem in the two first challenges and I just don´t need THAT much time to blend colors and stuff. Still your soap is beautiful and I love the powdery blue color.
It is so annoying waiting for the soap to thicken! I don't usually have that problem...do you have any tips for getting it to thicken faster? Would it help to put it in the fridge or freezer?
DeleteNot really. Sometimes I gave put a little bit of a floral FO and then it thickens up nicely :D
DeleteNow aren't you clever! That's a sure-fire way to get it moving along!!!
DeleteSuch beautiful colors! I can totally relate with the procrastination and dealing with which recipe to use, how fast it will trace, etc. I attempted this and everything that could go wrong went wrong so I plan on trying again on the due date! LOL! Your soap looks very peaceful to me and very pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks Milla, it is definitely a challenge with all the different variables! I'm sorry your first attempt didn't work, but I'm looking forward to seeing your next attempt!
DeleteVery cool effect, Cee! I like how thin it made the spots come out because of the thin trace! Could develop further into a cool technique!
ReplyDeleteThank you Kenna! It is interesting the different effects that come out of the different thicknesses, it's always fun to cut these ones because you never know what you're going to get!
DeleteSo beautifully done, Cee! The top is so pretty!
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your very 1st soap here, without you we wouldn't have found out about this technique.
Aw, thanks Nat! I was honored that Amy chose this technique and it's been so fun to see everyone's interpretations!
DeleteI'm also grateful you had posted about this technique earlier, so I tried it before this challenge (which didn't help much for my next trials,lol). I like your soap,Cee, this baby blue is sooo pretty, you just made me wish some bright blue bar in my collection.
ReplyDeleteAm I only one here who never gets her soaps too thin traced? Oh gosh, I would love to have one!
I sure enjoyed seeing all your leopard spot soaps Maja! I have no idea what happened with this batch...in all the 7+ years I have been making soap with this same recipe, never once have I had it take this long to trace! I hope it happens more often though, I could use a bit more time sometimes!
DeleteVery pretty!!I really love your color choices!!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
DeleteI see a face in that soap :D Love the color choice.
ReplyDeleteI saw a face too ;)
DeleteThe top is beautiful as is that light blue color. And I can see smiles in your spots too!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much Cris!
DeleteReally beautiful! I am always amazed how you achieve that “soft” appearance of your soaps. Thanks for sharing your experience which reminds me how chemistry could be very unpredicted: sometimes some slight modification can have big impact!
ReplyDeleteThanks Gordana, I do try to make myself detailed notes here so that I can remember for next time, hopefully it will help out others too!
DeleteI think I can beat you in procrastinating hands down; something about not having kids allows one to procrastinate that much more. ;)
ReplyDeleteAs always, your soap is gorgeous, and it looks very westcoast to me, I see orcas in it.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful works with us.
Thanks Monica, I wish I had meant to put orcas in there...that would be such a cool idea!!!
DeleteI'll expect orcas in a future post. ;)
DeleteOh boy, you know I can't resist a challenge...ha ha!
DeleteBeautiful soap, Cee Gee! I remember seeing your first leopard spot soap way back when. How cool that that technique was one of the soap challenges!
ReplyDeleteI see a smiling face too! :) Love the soft blue colors and textured top...beautiful!
ReplyDeleteBeautiful Cee! I love the soft blue that you achieved in this soap. Interestingly I also had challanges with my soap mix taking some type to set as well. Must be in the "soapy air" :)
ReplyDeleteGreat Job!
The blue is really lovely - thank you for sharing your leopard spot technique with everyone - I'm looking forward to trying it myself hopefully this week...
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny, Kalla, Roxana and Chrissy! I was really excited that Amy chose this technique for one of our challenges, I just wish my second attempt had turned out as good as my first :( Roxana and Chrissy, I can't wait to check yours out!
ReplyDeleteThe blue are so nice...they are smile with all of us!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much!
DeleteI agree with what others have said: I see a face in there and it is SMILING :) Even if the soap didn't do what YOU wanted, at least it is still a happy cheerful soap lol :) REALLY pretty top there too! Can't believe how much I have missed lately!
ReplyDeleteIsn't it amazing how much difference just a few tweaks can make? I do love how your soap turned out and the lesson you got from it!! Now you have the tools to do even more cool stuff with your soap! Thanks for participating in the challenges, and especially for inspiring this one!
ReplyDeleteEven thought it wasn't what you initially planned, I think your design came out absolutely gorgeous -- the colors are so creamy and cool.
ReplyDeleteAw, thanks everyone! :D
ReplyDelete