Team Bramble Berry wishes you treats (and no tricks) this Halloween!
Jamisen taking a little cat cow nap at the pumpkin patch.
Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Team Bramble Berry wishes you treats (and no tricks) this Halloween!
Jamisen taking a little cat cow nap at the pumpkin patch.
Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine
Filed Under: Cold Process Soap
Remember when Amber did a guest post on the homemade Almond Milk (which also inspired a Blueberry Almond Smoothie and Strawberry Almond Thumprint Cookies)? She inspired us to make Almond Meal Soap with the leftover almond meal from her almond milk making. The almond milk byproduct of almond meal is a gentle exfoliant and a lovely way to get a little more cleaning power from your bar. The fragrance oil blend of chocolate and lavender is a gourmet candy like combination (think sophisticated foodie chocolate). Enjoy this luxurious recipe!
Filed Under: Tips & Tricks
Here is the first in our new video series! These videos will supplement our Soap Queen.TV videos, so that we can share more techniques and ideas. In Soap Queen Shorts, I am demonstrating how to use a particular product or do a specific technique. We are keeping the videos short and sweet (hence the name) and saving the more complex projects for Soap Queen.TV.
Is there a product or technique you would like to see? Tell me in the comments below!
Products used in this video:
Filed Under: Cold Process Soap
We had a blast playing with pinks, purples, greens, blues and oranges in the LabColor range and thought you might want to see what we came up with (since colorant usage rate is a common question in customer service). We used the Bramble Berry LabColors in 4 ounces of unscented cold process soap using the 12 bar square silicone mold. Check out the usage rates below to get these exact same colors. For dilution rate, we did large size of Labcolor in 8 ounces of *distilled* water. Can you tell where the gel phase is in the soaps below? I sure can! It’s the brighter middle parts of the soaps.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Fresh Air and Sunshine
My Husband and I are soaking up some Vitamin D in Seabrook, WA.
We know it’s been a miserable summer with way too much heat in most of the country (or in the PNW, no heat!), so suggesting that you go out and play in the fresh air and sunshine may sound like cruel and unusual punishment. So let’s just agree that we’re talking about fresh air and sunshine are necessary for optimal health when the temperature outside is below triple digits!
If the average person kept a diary of how much time they spent outside versus inside, time under an open sky would be surprisingly miniscule. Most of us have jobs that tie us to our desks, and our exposure to fresh air and sunshine is limited to a run to the corner espresso stand and periodically taking out the garbage.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
I bet when you saw the title of this blog, you didn’t think I literally meant ‘Baby in the Pumpkin’ but yes, we carved out a pumpkin and all in the name of fun photography, stuck Jamisen in the pumpkin
The baby in the pumpkin did make this year more memorable than previous years. We had an extra fun time carving our pumpkin this year! As you can see, we did it a little differently than the traditional Pumpkin =)
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
It’s here! It’s here! The very special tutorial we filmed with Kristy Schemrich of Kristy’s Lovely Lathers is ready for you to watch! Now you can learn to make amazing soaps like Kristy for just a few dollars. I had such a wonderful time with Kristy when she and her husband came all the way to Bellingham this summer. In fact, I have an entire video of bloopers from when we were filming that prove it. And yes, that’s Amber laughing hysterically in the background.
Embedded Neon Soap Online Tutorial
Learn to make a striking Swirled and Embedded Soap Loaf in this online soap tutorial. Taught by Kristy Schemrich of Kristy’s Lovely Lathers and Anne-Marie Faiola of Soap Queen, you couldn’t be in better hands to learn this complex looking project. They break it down step-by-step for you to easily follow along and make the entire project from start to finish. At over 15 minutes, this is a longer, more detailed video than our free Soap Queen TV videos, and for less than $4 how can you go wrong?
Filed Under: Cold Process Soap
If you’re thinking about getting into cold process soapmaking then you’re probably going to need to learn how to line a soap mold. Fear not, I’m here to help!
This is the technique I always use when lining molds. When you get the basics down, you’ll be able to line any sized mold. I think that I speak for many people out there when I say that I would rather scrub the kitchen floor with a toothbrush than line a mold. Does anyone despise lining molds as much as me? (Did I go too far with the tooth brush analogy?) However, we must put in the work before we get to play. This technique is fast and easy for me. So I thought I would share it with the world…or at least the soapmaking world.
With this technique we’ll be cutting out one big piece of freezer paper that covers the bottom of the mold and the long sides. Then we’ll cut two smaller pieces that will just cover the ends. This technique works on any mold.
Filed Under: Cold Process Soap
What is bastille? Bastille is a term affectionately coined by soapers for soap that is made with a high percentage of olive oil. Castille is 100% olive oil soap and bastille is soap made with 70% (or more) olive oil but contains other oils or butters.
Castille on its own is not very bubbly but if you add a bit of coconut oil and buttermilk you can boost the bubbles a bit but keep the mildness of the high olive oil content. Buttermilk contains sugar which helps boost the bubbles as well.
I love this recipe. Its simple with just two oil ingredients (olive and coconut), is colored naturally by using carrot baby food (pureed carrots) and makes a great soap for baby or for those with sensitive skin. This recipe creates a super mild soap that still has a good lather.
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Maak Soap Lab is from Portland Oregon, just around the corner from Bellingham! (Well technically 4 hours down the coast, but you get my drift). We first discovered Maak when we hosted a contest with Fair Ivy (read about the contest here). We fell in love with their detailed packaging, ‘modern rustic’ look and clean website design and it’s a double bonus that they’re located in our neck of the woods, the fabulous Pacific Northwest! Check out the goodies I just bought.
Filed Under: Bramble Berry News
Thank you to all of the S.O.A.P. team members who tested the new fragrance oils for Fall. Three fragrances made the cut and they’ve already been ordered. In fact, we’re expecting them any day now. I can’t tell you what they are yet…you’ll have to wait just a couple more days to see which scents made the final fragrance oil roster. I also wanted to give a shout out and big THANK YOU to each and every S.O.A.P. team member. You gals blew it out of the water with your creativity and variety of testing. I can’t say it enough! I had so much fun reading your results and blog posts. You’ve definitely set a high bar for the next S.O.A.P. team!
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
Eat More Greens
Yeah, yeah, yeah. We all know this because our parents have been pushing this idea on us ever since we were old enough to hold a spoon. But now, rather than eating your broccoli in response to the all-purpose “Eat it ‘cause it’s good for you” exhortation, you have many more excellent—even exciting—reasons to eat more greens.
Blending your veggies is a good way to get them in. Try my “Green Smoothie” recipe. It’s packed with fresh veggies and spinach!
Filed Under: Personal Ramblings
We have had a fantastic weekend with family. I feel so lucky that my folks were able to come up for the entire weekend. We explored Stoney Ridge Farm today and wow, was it packed full of families! I haven’t seen that many families in one place ever! Of course, once we visit Disneyland, that statement will probably change.
Jamisen has never seen farm animals before. In fact, besides a few adorable niece and nephew dogs, he’s never seen ANY animals before. He seemed interested.