10th ave. soapworks

I know that any color added to soap can morph into a surprise, but there is an added element of unknown when using botanicals to color my soap.  Some people jump out of planes or ski off mountains, but this is how I live on the edge these days.  Hmm.  If I weren't having so much fun, I'd be embarrassed. I recently had my first go with madder.  So....whatsa madder?  It's a root--the root of the madder. Ahem. (I love puns...) I infused 8 oz. of olive oil with 2 t. madder root powder for almost a week.  This amount worked out to be 20% of the oils in my batch. I wanted something in the way of embeds to add visual interest.   I dearly love my soap balls but I don't want to over do a good thing.  I've recently done square-shaped embeds, so this time I cut a bar of white soap into slices. I panicked a little that it wouldn't get dark enough--it was kind of a dusty peach--so I added 1/4 t. dried powder right before pouring. Madder powd...

Well, that was a nice surprise to discover....  I have been nominated for the Versatile Blogger Award. Thanks much to Silvia of SoapJam (one of my most favoritest soap blogs) for thinking of me. VBA RULES:  (Copied from  versatilebloggeraward.wordpress.com ) If you are nominated, you’ve been awarded the Versatile Blogger award.  Thank the person who gave you this award. That’s common courtesy.  Include a link to their blog. That’s also common courtesy — if you can figure out how to do it.  Next, select 15 blogs/bloggers that you’ve recently discovered or follow regularly. ( I would add, pick blogs or bloggers that are excellent!)  Nominate those 15 bloggers for the Versatile Blogger Award — you might include a link to this site.  Finally, tell the person who nominated you 7 things about yourself. I chose 15 blogs, some old favorites, some new discoveries.  Some of the blogs are about soap and the rest mirror some of my ot...

Remember this not-so-great batch?  It's ok if you didn't; it wasn't that memorable.  I had just resigned myself to the fact that my family was going to be using fruit loop scented soap for months to come when a commenter suggested that it be rebatched into a cobblestone soap.  Genius!  I've always used this method to use up scrap pieces of soap, but this was my first time reinventing a so-so batch. I finally did it last week.  Chopped into little chunks, the colors really popped and the swirls were suddenly gorgeous. I added it to another batch of soap of the same scent.  It so much easier on the eyes, methinks. Thanks so much, SoapJam , for reminding of a great way to turn a less than mediocre batch into a beautiful soap!