I managed to make some pretty translucent soap without trying. it was at a lighter trace when poured which made part of the difference, I'm sure, as this is my normal recipe. I always love that alabaster look although sometimes the soap bar itself feels slightly different in texture than when it's at a medium trace when poured. 

I tend toward more colorful soap but sometimes I have to come back to wonderful grays and black, which I love, every time, even though I tend to park these colors in the back of my mind for periods of time. It was a gray day and these were taken next tot he window in natural light. I probably should have adjusted the exposure on the pictures but I like how warm the wood feels and the slightly darker look of the whole thing. Not terribly artsy but I don't really care!

So I tried to make a soap that looks kind of like Malachite. Needs some work and some tuning on the colors. Lots of malachite has bullseyes and I wasn't going for that but the more striated kind. I think this is a bit too edgy so if I try again, I will probably manipulate the mold some to smooth out the lines.

I filmed the making of three of the four layer. Well, I filmed all four but I can't seem to process the last layer, but I think three is plenty. The first pour was way too thin and got very blurry. The second pour is what you see in the picture. In the third pour, I lined my colors up in the container perpendicular to the pouring spout rather in parallel to it but I decided to pour it that way anyhow, to see what the difference would be. If you watch, I apologize for my messy soaping ways, tripping over the dustpan and rustling the paper on the floor so much. I'm not very professional.

Thin trace Ribbon Pour, first two layers.

Thin Trace Ribbon pour, layer three

Trying a super thin Ribbon pour. My first half is not pictured because it just poured through itself. I have no idea if it sunk and kept some of its ribbons or if it mixed and is a complete mess but it wasn't looking hopeful. I did remember to scent it though, unlike my other half. Because there was no way to get the batter to hold the next layer, I made a 16 ounce oils batch with low water so it would stay thin for a long time, then loaded one container with half that batter. Each container was good for 2 pours, so each of these layer is approximately a 4 ounce oils batch. It was interesting to me how different the first layer is from the last. The batter was by no means thin with the last pour but it must have had a little more body. The first pour mixed much more than I ever anticipated. I like them all and can see how I could get a very good agate or malachite look from a pour like the last two layers. Next up.....!

I forgot to scent the soap in the pictures, which sucks. The bottom layer is scented and may carry the day. I'll have to see. 

I must have the world's worst camera phone. Blurry half the time and the colors generally don't look as saturated as in real life. Oh well. Next time I can upgrade, right?

My last post was one half of a double sided-soap, which I ruined by gelling too hot. The first layer separated but the second layer didn't. What a mess that was. Now I have a bunch of thin bars with no place to go. 

Ribbon pour No. 6317 or something

I think the weirder it is, the more I like it. I poured this tonight and took a couple cell phone pictures but clearly my lens needs to be cleaned. I'll have to get pictures after it's done. I tried pouring from the corners but ended up zigzagging it across the top and letting the weight of the soap push itself out but I had to stop pouring a few times to get some black in there. I need four hands. I just know there is more untapped potential but I find my head a blank some days.

Made some soap for our forum challenge, which is based on using color wheel and schematics like contrasting colors, monochromatic palettes, etc.. I was hesitant to try the orange and blue with a Ribbon Pour because of mixing but when I mixed the micas, I got an interesting slivery brown, which I thought was acceptable. Still managed to keep enough of the colors straight up, versus mixed and I'm happy with the bars. 

I thought I would show some cut pics of the double-sided soap made from these two, which I recently posted.

I have had soaps that I like in the mold, all as a piece, but then I feel like the cut bars don't have as much interest and vice versa. I wasn't certain I would like many but the more heavily patterned ones and the bars along the sides would suffer. I knew one bar would be extremely boring on one side and I was right.

Here are the bars with side number one from the top soap shown first and then the reverse side, from the second soap.

I'm afraid to say that you are BORING, side number one! Thankfully I can see by the sides of the bar, that there is much more going on just below the surface so in use it will perk up. In its current state, it is somewhat redeemed, as a bar of soap goes, by side number two.

These are nice and gentle in pattern on side number one. I didn't think I would like the fade out of the lines on the second side when I looked at the soap as a whole, but in bar form, I really like the effect of the lines blurring into almost nothing on the bar on the right.

I like these more than I expected as well. I like the first side better. They make me think of sand dunes under an overcast sky. I like the Saturn rings effect on the second side of the bar on the left. I have no idea what I did that took the chunk off the side of the other bar. Yes, I know I need a beveler and a planer, but I don't sell and people are happy to take the soap as is so I haven't done the extra work. Color me lazy.

I anticipated that I would like these bars best as they have the most detail. But I like the bars just above this the best.

Wood Grain

I decided to join the Great Cakes Challenge this month for the wood grain challenge. I love wood and all the variety in it and in fact, have boards of curly cherry and curly maple scattered around my house as they are as good as any art for their beauty.

For technique, I used my Ribbon Pour once again as it is very good for creating fine lines as well as wider and I felt like it would give more natural variation. (See posts from 12/30/15, 5/11-27, 7/15-29, September 9-18. Video showing the technique: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xVa7xxQIQk and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc-4TnFO2S8, and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QCl7yOyPYw) I must have downloaded 50 pictures of various woods that attracted my eye and in the end, went for the lovely lustrous reddish orange and golden colors found in the pictures shown after the soap. I found some amazing pictures of cocobola wood which has much stronger color variation as well and made a soap after that but in the end, I decided on using the soap with softer tones for my entry as I thought it looked most natural.

I used Nurture's Sparkle Gold, Shimmer Gold, Sahara Gold, Maya Gold, and Copper Penny. Scented with BrambleBerry Cedarwood EO with a touch of Vetyver.

Here is a video of the making of that soap. For slab soaps, I really like making double sided soaps, so both the front and the back have a face up presentation of a soap instead of one side having the blurry back. I also love making 4 layer soaps so the patterns and colors change throughout the use of the bar. In the video, you can see that I am pouring on top of soap already in the mold and that is why- that is a 4 layer soap.

https://www.facebook.com/helka.finn/videos/vb.100002631771219/1061937440570638/?type=3&theater

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Other attempts- NOT entries

I found these of cocobola wood which is incredible! I tried to make something like it but the wood wins, for sure. On the flip side of the soap, I tried to replicate Koa but well, the wood wins big onthat one as well. 

Other side of yesterday's soap. A bit closer to a freehand yin yang swirl. I was afraid to swirl it more to get it tighter, plus I want every bar to have some interest. Will have to keep trying.

Gah. Off center and not certain if it's possible to pull it around without leaving the edges blurry. One bar will be very very boring but the rest should have nice details. Still, where else can this go?