Free soap book

Amazon is offering a free soaping book "Smart Soap Making" for Kindle. 

I don't know if it's just today or will be available longer.   I have the hard copy of this good beginner book; but it was nice to download the free kindle version or my iPad.  Enjoy!

Label making day

If you are interested in making your own labels, check out this you tube video by another soaper.  She shows just how easy it is to use the Avery labels web site software to create your own soap and other body product labels. Thanks Jennifer from BeScented for sharing this!

The only other soap related thing I did today was to unpack the last order from Wholesale Supplies that arrived late this afternoon. The soap planer I ordered from Etsy is en route and should be here late Wednesday, so I'm hoping to get some soap made this weekend.

The Waiting Game

My last order from Wholesale Supplies should be here mid week. The soap planer I ordered from Etsy is also in the mail, so by the end of the week or weekend, I might be able to make soap again.

I had my endoscopy two days ago and it turns out last years surgery for the para esophageal hernia has caused a mini hiatal hernia. They stretched the lower end of my esophagus so hopefully that will alleviate the problem I had with the food going down and staying down. It's a heck of a way to diet!

Yesterday I finally packaged some of manly scented soaps and gave them to our son and friends. I just put them in the little soap, cellophane bags and closed the top with ribbon.  Now I had to make a soap for the women of the family and friends.

I also need to learn to make labels now that I've picked a name for my soaps. There's a good you tube video on that, by the gal from Be Scented, so I need to find a block of time to go back to the Avery site and create a basic label, I also need to buy some of the less expensive labels on Amazon that will work with the Avery software.

Right now there's laundry to fold and lunch dishes to wash.

Mini cupcake mold

After I opened the package of the muffin mold, I realized that it really wouldn't give me the cupcake ridges I would like for a cupcake soap, so I ordered the individual cupcakes molds and realized they would work better if I set them into the muffin mold.

They are a bit floppy and more stable in the more rigid muffin mold. Plus, they sit up a bit which I think will make them not only easier to fill, but also better spaced and easier for piping the top, soap icing, portion. Now I just have to find time to make all these soaps I have in mind, and today won't be one of those days.

My prescription glasses are ready at Costco and I need a stop at the grocery store to pick up a few things for tonight's Thai chicken wraps. And then there's an iPad that has decided to lose all my email - another problem to fix!

Hanger swirl

This was my first hanger swirl which is now on the last week and a half of curing. I ran out of the special amber fragrance oil and had to add a little bit of something else. It stilled smelled good but after curing another month or more the scent has changed and smells even better. This was made for the men in the family, but I will definitely keep one for myself. At some point today I'll test a scrap end just to see how I like my new base recipe.

Wholesale supplies is having a sale on molds, just for today, so I ordered the smallest ball mold along with enough other things to get the free shipping and a free sample. 

There won't be any soap making today because we have to take down our Christmas tree, and I have to re-organize things in the guest/soap curing room. We had a new long dresser delivered yesterday and now I have to get all the clothes off the bed and back into the dresser, and get the top of the dresser covered and get my soap rack and soap on there.

Tonight the Oregon Ducks are playing for the championship so most us Oregonians,  from 5:30 on, are going to be glued to the TV, including myself who isn't a huge football fan, other than the half time shows and Superbowl commercials!

Modified feathered mantra swirl soap

Welcome to my new blog! It's been a busy few months with family visits, the holidays and my new venture into soap making. Here's a sample of my latest soap. It's called a modified mantra feathered swirl.

These are unscented due to a mishap with the lavender essential oil that toppled over at the most inopportune time, without me realizing that it was spilled. When I saw the tiny empty mis en place glass bowl, I assumed I had already put it into the batch. It was only while I was doing the after soaping cleanup that I realized it had spilled. My kitchen granite counter top was smelling delicious for quite a while because it had seeped through the several layers of protective paper I place there before soaping.

These are now curing along with a couple of earlier soaps. Right now I'm waiting for 3 more soap orders to arrive so I can make more batches. The first one will be a repeat of this one, except this time it will have the lavender fragrance added. Lesson learned! This time the fragrance is going to be put in a heavier little cup with a wider base.

My plan is to have some soaps and maybe some balms and body creams as well, for sale on Etsy by late spring. After making, Cold Process soaps have to age 6-8 weeks or more.  I have so many ideas for color combinations and some amazing fragrance oils for various tastes - sweet, spicy, floral, woodsy, etc. Stay tuned!