Color inspiration + Swirly Swirls

Color inspiration comes in many forms. I see soap colors in the foods that I eat, the sky and ocean, plants and flowers, photographs, even fabrics. Sometimes the fragrance itself determines the colors I use. This time, my inspiration came from this colorful envelope:

My daughter received a birthday invitation in this bright and colourful envelope, and I knew I wanted to try making a soap that incorporated all of these cheery colors. Plus, I had a couple of micas that I hadn’t tested in CP yet, so I thought that now was as good a time as any…if the new colors went awry, they would probably blend in pretty well with the other colors. These are the colorants I used:

Here is the finished swirled soap in the mold:

I was surprised at how true the colors stayed, they actually ended up matching the colors on the envelope pretty closely, which rarely happens with my unpredictable CP soap colors!   

And now, for a lesson in completely awesome swirling…check out this youtube video from the talented Lori from A Life Deliberate Soap Co., her swirls are absolutely stunning! You can fast forward to about the 10:00 minute mark to see her technique:  

I adore her soaps, they are always so cheery and fun. And, seeing as how it’s my birthday tomorrow, I splurged and treated myself to these soaps from her shop =)

Aren't they so cute?! I have to say, her service was excellent; quick and with personal touches. She even included a couple of sample pieces, yay! I can’t wait to try her soaps! She has lots of fabulous soaps in her shop, which you can check out in her soap shop here: http://alifedeliberatesoapco.bigcartel.com/