Happy weekend! I was inspired by this awesome 4th of July Fudge (pinned onto my 100 Days of Summer Pinterest page, naturally) to create a tutorial using our brand spankin’ new 4-sphere silicone mold, along with the 9-cube silicone mold that I’m still obsessing over. I built sand bottle-like layers in the cubes by manipulating the melt and pour as it dried. In the spheres, I used some of the ideas from this Soap Queen TV episode to create marbled swirls. The color scheme is as American as apple pie, so what better to use than Bramble Berry’s Red Apple Fragrance Oil? Either of these intermediate techniques can easily be modified for a beginner by creating basic layers in the cubes and spheres, and can be varied by using different thicknesses in the layers. If you don’t have these molds, it’s okay, this technique works for all kinds of molds (the thicker the mold, the better).
Archives for June 2012
Funny Friday
Neon Ambrosia Soap on Soap Queen TV
Quite possibly the cutest episode of Soap Queen TV… ever (although the piggies were REALLY cute). I had a great time making this video and creating these two projects. And, as you’ll see from the outtakes at the end, I had a really fun (slash dorky) time with the soap I made.
Bramble Berry’s Soapy Sluggers
Washington has almost made it through “June-uary”, an affectionate term used to describe the not-so-summery weather characteristic of the early season in the Pacific Northwest. While June may not be the sunniest month of the summer, it does bring on the local softball season…introducing Bramble Berry’s debut team, the Soapy Sluggers!
Viet from the warehouse is on deck and Caitlin from production is up to bat, ready to swing on the next great pitch
Talk It Out Tuesday: All Things Lotion
Woohoo! Here we are again with another installment of Talk It Out Tuesday (check out our previous TIOT’s on bath bombs, colorants, melt and pour and our latest on preservatives). I am delighted about the topic this week because I know many of you have questions about water-based lotions. I can’t wait to help you answer them. So read on and find out everything you wanted to know about lotions! And, if I didn’t answer it, feel free to ask me in the Comments section.
What is lotion?
Lotion is a basic skin-care product that is used to soothe dry skin and often has ingredients that are intended to give extra added benefits to your skin. Body butters, balms, salves, lotion bars, creams, and massage candles can all be considered a lotion. Generally, a traditional lotion will have water + oils + emulsifiers + preservative.
How do I make lotion?
While there are hundreds of recipes for lotions, body butters and salves out there, a basic lotion recipe would consist of your oils/butters, preservative, fragrance, an emulsifier and distilled water. To create your own lotion from scratch, you can go by the following guidelines: [Read more…]
#Layers Challenge Winners
Our first ever Bramble Berry Soap Challenge (which we adoringly call Make It Monday) has been completed, and what a fabulous two weeks it has been! We loved seeing your unique, creative and inspirational soaps layered to perfection. There were so many incredible soaps to pick from that we (Team Bramble Berry) decided on four winners. Check out the layered goodness below!
1) Traci from Savon Arts : “Sunset”, scented with China Rain FO.
2) Leanne : “Licorice Allsorts”, scented with Aniseed, Orange, Lemon, Sun-Ripened Raspberry FO, and Lime Essential Oil.
3) Ada from Soap Much Love : “Geometric Soap” scented with Dragon’s Blood FO.
4) Sísí from Heimatilbúnar Baðvörur : “Christmas Soap” colored with Antique Blue Mica and scented with Moroccan Mint and Vanilla Select.
Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge, we’re super excited to see what you come up with in the next challenge!
Make It Monday: #Embedding Challenge
Who’s ready for another Melt and Pour Challenge (Pick me! Pick me!)? Missed the first challenge? Check it out out here. I was so impressed with each and every one of your entries over the last two weeks of the #Layers Challenge. I can’t wait to see what you come up with on the next challenge that’s all about embedding in your melt and pour soap. Bring on the creativity!
Pssst… Check back later today to see the winners of the #Layers Challenge. Squee!
It’s Soaping Cats and Dogs, Onesie, Twosie, Threesie, Easy 4th of July Stars
Loofah Soap, Secret Message Soap, Hamster Soap
Cool Yule Peppermint Loaf, Embedding Layers, 18 Bars of Pure Cuteness!
Mission (if you choose to accept it)
- Create a unique soap that follows the theme for the challenge of the week. This week we want to see embedding in MP!
- Post your pictures of your embedded melt and pour soap to Bramble Berry’s Facebook page during the entry period (June 25th-July 9th).
- Your entry must have the hashtag of the week in order to be entered into the contest. This week, your picture must have the hashtag “#Embedding“.
- At the end of the two weeks, Team Bramble Berry will pick our favorite soaps. The winners of the challenge will be featured on the Soap Queen Blog! You have until Monday, July 9th to post your Melt and Pour #Embedding pictures.
- You can submit up to three different pictures.
- Note: The embedding can be either objects or soap…or BOTH! [Read more…]
Balloons, Beaches and Babies
Hello Weekend and hello parentals! We’re so happy that Grandma and Grandpa Faiola are visiting this weekend. We started our morning like we do every morning, just before 6 a.m. with a change, a bottle and a hug. But, unlike every morning, we had a fun hike planned with the Grandparents. The second breakfast was finished (a delicious green bean, cashew, mushroom omelet – yum!), we hoofed it out as fast as we could to one of our glorious Washington State Parks and hiked to Clayton Beach. [Read more…]
Crisp Anjou Pear Embed Tutorial
Summer is in full swing, and I’m loving anything bright and refreshing right now! Bramble Berry’s brand spankin’ new Crisp Anjou Pear Fragrance Oil really awakens the senses and the colors of this soap are perfect for that summery vibe. Done in two parts, I’m hopeful this project brings a smile to your face! PSST: I know something that will bring a smile to your face – our NEW silicone 5 pound log liner specially designed for the 5 pound Soap Queen log mold. It has saved us hours of lining molds in just the last month.
Buy everything you need for both parts of this project at the click of a button!
Part One/Day One: [Read more…]
Business Blog Mashup – Interviews and Inspiration
Welcome to Part 2 of our Business Blog Mashup! Do you need some inspiration for your packaging? Are you looking to get some great advice from other soapmakers on business? Do you need a little motivation to make it through a rough patch in your business’ growth? Or do you just really like looking at pretty pictures of soap? Then this is your post! I’ve been fortunate enough to have the opportunity to chat with a lot of amazing soapmakers and home crafters over the years. I’ve also got some pictures of amazing and inspiring soap we’ve received (and collected!) over the years for you to drool over.
Interviews
Above: Lather Unusual ; Indulgence ;Lauren of Dress Green; David from The Bubble Roome
SWI Recap Day 2 – MP, Lotions, Scrubs and Cupcakes
Day 2 of SWI brought all of our wonderful guest instructors together! We invited Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove to teach us some fun melt and pour projects, Erin Pikor of Naiad Soap Arts taught her awesome array of scrubs, and Jill Heuser gave us the low-down on lotions. Get ready for lots of photos! First, we started of with a little bit of this guy.
SO in love.
A perfect pick-me-up first thing in the morning, Debbie’s projects incorporated Bramble Berry’s neon pigments for a super cool, 1980’s vibe. She used the SoapyLove Checkered Heart Mold with two variations, a psychedelic splatter soap and a neon checkered soap! Then, the SoapyLove I Heart Soap Mold done in super bright neons put a fun twist on a classic sentiment.
Radical!
#Layers Update
We have been so over-the-top inspired by all of the great #Layers sharing happening on our Facebook page. The one above was created by Debbie Chialtas of Soapylove (pssst: want more Debbie designs and inspiration? She’s written a book and several e-zines on melt and pour design and technique. They all contain drool-worthy soap projects. You can’t miss!) If you want to enter the #Layers design challenge and contest, just post a photo of your melt and pour layers soap to our Facebook page and make sure to include #Layers in the subject line or title. The # hashtag make it easy for us to search for it when it’s time to choose which soaps to highlight on the blog as our (subjective) favorites. Read all the details about the challenge here. If you haven’t posted yet, you have another five days! Get layering. We can’t wait to see what you create.
SWI Recap: Day 1 CP-Stravaganza!
Another year of Soap Weekend Intensive is in the books. The super fun, crazy, intense, and soapy extravaganza started off on Friday with Cold Process and Melt and Pour 101 at Otion, and the house was packed with eager students from all over the world ready to kick off the weekend!
Saturday started off with a visit from a very special guest – my little man, Jamisen!
After that ray of sunshine, we dove right into our first round of Cold Process demos: three different milk soaps! I taught two techniques with Goat Milk and one technique with Rice Milk, straight from my new book, Making Milk Soap from Scratch.
Happy Father’s Day
This Father’s Day started out with Chris giving me the best present of all – an hour of extra time to sleep in. Because we scheduled Soap Weekend Intensive over Father’s Day Weekend (whoops!), Chris has the joy of spending the entire weekend with perfect Mr Jamisen while I soap it up! Soaping has been exhilerating but exhausting so it was wonderful to get to sleep in an hour. Best. Father’s Day. EVER.