10th ave. soapworks

Just a short note to let you know that I'm still alive.  :)  I've been on a little hiatus, having spent some time in Texas, making a wedding cake for and participating in one of the happiest weddings ever .  But I'm anxious to get back into my soaping routine and here are a few things that I have lined up for this coming week. 1) The first order of business is painting my soap studio.  Ace Hardware stores are having a special promotion during March, offering a free quart of paint every Saturday (last day is tomorrow!!).  I've been wanting to repaint for months so it is perfect timing for me.  I chose Briarwood, a pale green, and painted the first half last night.  I love it! 2) I've joined Amy Warden's soap challenge and I'm looking forward to trying all kinds of different techniques in the coming months. 3) Inspired by a soaping friend, I'm going to make a loaf of whipped soap.  I haven't w...

I have this one toddlerish tendency, and no, it’s not the daily naps (unfortunately), but rather my insistence on doing things myself.   If I can make it, cook it, or experiment myself, that’s what I’ll do.   It’s partly independence, but mostly not wanting to be ignorant and robotically dependent on some faceless entity for my every need. It didn’t take me long to start incorporating my own products into soaps and bath products.   Although I can’t put this much of “me” in most of my soaps, here is a bar of cucumber-mint soap to illustrate.   It contains my own garden’s cucumber, pureed and frozen for winter soaping, yogurt I made, and inside is a slice of loofah that I also grew.   (For the record, it’s not my own mint sprinkled atop this particular batch.   My harvest wasn’t big enough to last the winter.) Is the finished product superior to other soaps?   Of course! ;-) So maybe no one lathers up and says, “Was this cucumber hand pi...

I love this scent, a citrus blend, and make it regularly.  But I pulled myself out of my green and yellow rut with this batch.  It also marked my return to the faux funnel method.  I knew I was headed for trouble when my soap thickened up as I was still mixing colors.  It got thicker by the second, but I was determined to keep to my plan and doggedly whacked my funnel "pours" into the mold, using a little more force each time and holding my cups of soap higher and higher to mimic a poured look.  And with a fair bit of whacking of my poor wooden mold on the cement floor, I managed to work out most of the bubbles. But it worked.  And I am so pleased with myself.  My stubborness usually results in another round of examples for the "How Not to Soap" reel.  Now to avoid getting Saponification Cockiness...

If it so trips your trigger, stop into Handmade Fuzzy's blog right here to read more about me-- the interview And for some more fun, try the puzzle-- Squeaky Clean puzzle   (I love these puzzles!)

I soap in phases.  And this, scented with black raspberry-vanilla, is another in my "soap ball" phase. I think I'm done with this for awhile; I'm feeling the faux funnel swirl urge again.  I just have to stock up on olive oil....yet again.....

I had a request for another special order--another all goat milk soap, this time scented with Orange Grove.  I thought I'd make little orange balls to add to the batch.  I've only made soap balls once before,  ages ago, out of still-warm hot process soap but I wanted to try cold process this time.  Soap balls aren't the newest thing to hit the soaping world, but my camera was handy, so here you go.  I used single bar soap molds to make two orange soaps, one to gel and the other to leave ungelled.  I wanted to see exactly what each was like but suspected the ungelled would work better.  After a few hours, I was able to begin working with the ungelled soap.  It had the consistency of wet clay. I had to let the chunks dry slightly so I could roll them into a smooth ball.  When I started working with the gelled (but still warm and soft) bar, I was really unimpress...

One complaint I've heard about "real" soap is that it tends to get a little slimy if it sits in a puddle of water.  It seems that a lot of soap dishes are made just to look nice and function is overlooked entirely.  Soap mats are the best solution I have found to avoid that melty, gooey effect and to dry the soap between uses, making it last longer.  You can either rest it in your current soap dish or use it instead of a soap dish.  Whenever it starts looking a little soapy, just wash it along with your towels and such. After a bit of practice, I learned how to make my own little mats to rest my bars of soap.  And they work great!  If you don't know how to crochet, look for an online video for a lesson or do what I did and find a book that explains how.  I use a single crochet stitch.  In order to get the ridges on the mat that allows for more air flow, I only crochet through the back loop and not both o...