Saturday, July 6, 2013

Mantra Swirl - Soap Challenge Club

This month I took part in Amy’s Great Cakes Soapworks Mantra Swirl Challenge. If you're not familiar with Amy's Soap Challenge Club, each month she issues a new new challenge or technique to try. It's a great way to enhance your soapmaking skills and you can join in at any time. When you sign up, you get access to an instructional video for that month's challenge plus written instructions and tips. Members also get to vote on their favorite soaps and there are great prizes involved too! 

I was looking forward to trying this month's challenge, the Mantra Swirl, as I’ve never done a hanger swirl or mantra swirl before, and I was able to try both of those new techniques in this challenge.  

The original mantra swirl was revealed by cutting the loaf into larger bars and then cutting those bars in half horizontally to reveal the surface of the swirl within the slab. The other option is to do a modified mantra swirl, which is accomplished by combining the hanger swirl technique inside the soap with the mantra swirl on top, and this is the technique I chose to try.

I used activated charcoal for the black portion, copper mica for the middle portion, and left the 3rd portion uncolored: 


I had a bit of technical difficulty, in that I used charcoal for the black portion and although I've never used it before, I had a feeling it might thicken up the soap batter, and sure enough it did! Even though I moved fast with the charcoal-colored portion, you can see from the way my soap swirled (or lack thereof!) on the inside, that it was much thicker and didn't swirl quite as well as the copper and white colors. You can see my sorta-hanger swirl here:


All in all, I’m happy with it for a first try, it was a fun technique to tackle...thank you Amy for the helpful instructional video and tips! 

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36 comments:

  1. Beautiful colors! I was going to try charcoal for one of my colors...didn't think about the thickening part, thanks for the heads up. Hoping mine comes out half as beautiful as yours, thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you LC! I'm glad my charcoal experience helped...I'm thinking clays would do the same thing too. Good luck with your soap, can't wait to see what you come up with!

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  2. This is a beautiful first try! When I made my mantra swirl soap I was daydreaming of your super mold and the dividers :D

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    1. Ah, I forgot to take pictures of that part! I did use the super divider mold and it made that part soooo much easier! I've tried the cardboard and just made a mess, I really admire people who can do that!

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  3. I love this black! How much of AC did you use? I get this black only with smaller portion coloured,with bigger ones it rather looks gray,or greenish. Your soap looks great,Cee and I like you used black& white as a part of colour pattern! But,your pictures puzzle me: the soap seems to be tall and slim,but on the picture of a single bar, it appears to be vice versa?

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    1. Thanks Maja...I thought I might have used too much AC, I meant to add it gradually but ended up adding plenty the first time! However, when I tried a piece today it only slightly lathers gray. I'm hoping that the AC will bleed less than black oxide, so far it seems to. I'm not sure why the pictures look different, maybe it's the angle or positioning of the bars?

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  4. I really like your colors combination, Cee!The top is just perfect and the swirl is beautiful, Cee! Nice try! I made soap yesterday, I will cut it tonight, I hope this is my last try!
    (not easy).

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    1. Thanks Natalia! I can't wait to see yours, and you're right...this soap technique was definitely challenging!

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  5. Beautiful mantra swirl, Cee Gee! I haven't tried that technique yet, but it's on my list!

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    1. Thanks Jenny, I'm still intimidated by this one...I need to practice a bit more! I hope you get a chance to try it!

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  6. A mi me parece un trabajo bien hecho, además es lo que tiene el jabón artesano, que siempre nos sorprende.
    Un saludo Cee.
    ♥♥♥

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    1. Thank you Paulina, you are so kind! Thank you very much for your encouraging comments! =)

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  7. Beautiful mantra swirl, Cee! I like those colors together, too! I've tried this in the past and didn't have good results...one of these days I will try again. :)

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    1. Hi Kalla, thanks! This was definitely a challenging technique, I may tackle it again too if I'm feeling brave enough!

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  8. It is absolutely beautiful, the colors go so well with each other! =)

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    1. Thanks so much Anne-Marie! I'm happy with the colors but I could definitely use more practice with this technique! :D

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  9. Your mantra soaps turned out really beautiful! I am still hesitant to try it but you inspired me

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    1. Thank you Gordana, I hope you get a chance to try it!

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  10. I love your soap! The swirls make me think of vanilla ice cream covered with dark chocolate and strawberry sauce.

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    1. You're making me hungry now Andee! :D

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    2. Well, I think you started it with your yummy soap! ;)

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  11. I love your color combo on this, great job.

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    1. Thanks Meadowyck, I really love the clean simplicity of a black and white soap! :)

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  12. This is gorgeous, love the colours and your swirl :)

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  13. beautiful soap.
    well done for the swirl

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  14. Nice color combo! I used charcoal for my middle color and I could definitely feel the thickness there when swirling.

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    1. My Facebook isn't letting me comment or like :( but I noticed that you used charcoal too! I remember seeing it and thinking, hmmmmm...how did her charcoal soap stay nice and fluid for swirling?! :)

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  15. Looks really cool! Great color choices - even if the black got a bit thick. :)

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  16. I like the colors and the "picture" from your swirls.

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  17. Thanks so much Amy and Cris, I really appreciate it! :D

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  18. So pretty! Your white is so nice and white! Love it!

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    1. Thanks Candy...the white is due to the soap being made from 100% coconut oil, it makes a very white soap! =)

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