On the Curing Rack: CANDY ROCKS Handmade Soap

You know how every now and again you get an idea for a soap and you go to make it and slice it the next day and... it actually worked?!  Well this time I had one of those moments.

CANDY ROCKS

A juicy blend of sugared berries with a tangy splash of Citrus and an icy blast of Peppermint Candy

 My mom was recently here for a visit and we sat and brainstormed for some design ideas for a few of my new soaps.  This was one of them and I have give her most of the credit.  My only real contribution to the design were the "ice cubes" on top, lol 

She encouraged me try a few color combinations that don't exactly match and really play with the contrasts.  I really like clean and neat designs and we were able to come up with something a bit different for me, yet still not too far out of my comfort zone.

On the Curing Rack: ACHILLES BAY

Has anyone else noticed the trend of making tall, slim bars of soap?  I don't now how long it's been catching on, but I'm always late and it's pretty new to me.  

ACHILLES BAY

 Top citrus notes of Grapefruit and Clementines blended with tropical Mango, cracked Coconut & Pineapples on a bed of Freesia and Ocean Moss.

Last year, I paid a nice bit of ($)change($) to have a soap mold custom made for me by Rich (The Soap Hutch).

 So, needless to say, I won't exactly be in the market for a new one anytime soon.  This has presented a bit of  a dilemma  for me, because I've been dying to try these bars.

Fortunately, I had the mold made a bit taller than my actual bars.  So, it was a pretty simple trick to use it for this style.  How I actually did this is a bit difficult to explain.  I should have taken pictures.  But, in short, I over filled my mold to make sure the bars would be tall.  Once unmolded, I cut the length of log into seven 2 1/2  inch chunks.  Then, those chunks were turned sideways and sliced into 1 inch bars.

If you're obsessed with soap designs, like me, you'd be amazed at how much more interesting your funnel pours, swirls, embeds, etc. will look down in these taller, slim bars.

On the Curing Rack: BLOWING BUBBLES Handmade Soap

This is a customer favorite and I must admit, a favorite of mine as well.  The scent is super yummy and the design is pretty cool.

BLOWING BUBBLES

A fruity berry combination of strawberry, blackberry and wild huckleberries touched with a hint of pineapple and soft rose on a sweet caramel bottom

 

I've made this several times in the past, but only actually got it right the first time.  Every time since then has been (in my opinion) a failure.  If you are a regular reader of my blog, then you already know how I feel about embeds.  They're a pain in my...  

Embeds are very time consuming and as a stay at home, home-schooling mom, time is not something I have a whole lot of, lol.  I only do this soap once or twice a year as a result.  So, it's extra important that when I do, it turns out as planned.
 

No soap gremlins this time!  I'm very happy with the final results :0)

On the Curing Rack: COCO MINT Soap Cake Slices

My experience with the Rainbow Cake, got me itching to try my hand at soap cake making again.  For so long, I've been content just admiring the beautiful creations from other soap-makers.  Once you get the hang of it, it's really not that hard.

COCO MINT

Hot Cocoa with a delicious blend of Hazelnut, Toffee and Vanilla with a cooling swirl of sweet Peppermint Leaf

I haven't had a lot of success finding a chocolate that I love, so this time I blended one and I'm very happy with the results.  I blended several oils in there but the main key was the touch of Vanilla. It warmed the chocolate and gave it just the right amount of buttery notes.

 

The brown portion was colored using Hershey's cocoa powder with a pinch of black oxide to keep it dark.  This green is a mica from Nurture Soap Supplies and it is a little tricky.  I've used it several times now and find that it starts green, then slowly turns to a odd grayish/green before slowly coming back to itself.  So, if you're using it for the first time and experience some fading, don't be scared.  The color will most likely return during the cure.

On the Curing Rack: SUGAR PLUM FAIRY Handmade Soap

For quite some time now, I've struggled with finding a great stable purple colorant for my soaps.  Recently,  I found out about Nurture Soap Supplies through a Soaping 101 video.  The Rainbow Micas were also what I used to make the Rainbow Cake soap. 

 

(Sweet Sugared Plums with a heart of Citrus Zest on a base of warm Vanilla Musk)

 

Now, while I can't say that this is 100% my dream purple, it is very close.  It was nice not to have to blend any additional colors to create the purple.

 

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I can't recall if I've mentioned this in a past post, but the 24K Gold Mica from TKB is the best gold mica that I've used for soap-making and believe me when I tell you, I've tried many!  The color is deeper and the sparkle from the mica really comes through in CP soap.

 

 

Overall, I have to say that I'm very pleased with the results.  There are some micas from the Conservatorie's Happy Hour Collection that I still want to try.  I'll be sure to share the results once I do :0)

 

 

 

 

On the Curing Rack: FALLEN SNOW Handmade Soap

Now, that my Fall Release is behind me, I'm gearing up for my Winter Holiday Release.  Seems like there is barely a break between the two, lol.  I'm behind already.

 

FALLEN SNOW

A fresh clean blend of Siberian fir needle, Green Apple and Lemon zest with a sheer floral center on a base of woods and Patchouli

This soap has such a relaxing snowy scent!  I know people get turned off when they see "patchouli"  but I promise it's barely there.  The scent is so incredibly clean.
 

 

I did a snow white base with a 2 toned blue utilizing the spoon swirling method.

Rainbow Layered Cold Process Soap Cake with Petal Piping

Well, its only taken me 2 months to get up the nerve to try this but I'm so happy with the results!  The entire process took 3 days. 

 Day 1 for pouring the initial cake layers using 6 small batches.  The goal was to allow each layer to firm up just enough that the next layer wouldn't sink through.

 

On Day 2, I was able to unmold and frost.

 

 

The cake is scented with a really delicious fruity scent.

You can watch the process below :0)