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

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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?

Putzing around and ended up with these. They remind me of Jupiter or the rings of Saturn. The bars aren't cleaned up yet; I tell you, I can't get clean edges from using my HDPA slab mold and I can't cut straight to save my life so I always feel like I'm just stuck with them. Doesn't matter how long or short I wait to unmold- so sad! This is a double sided soap and one side is all in browns and black and the other side has red in it. Just a quickie post!