Archives for August 2010
Soap Weekend Insanity!
Hi From Soap Weekend Intensive! We have students from all over the world here – which is fitting since we have a teacher from Australia here too! The farthest anyone traveled is the Phillipines. Others are from Canada, Arizona, California and more. We are happy that so many soapers are here to soak in the deliberately-small-sized-practically-private class.
Jude Birch, from Aussie Soap Supplies, started off a beautiful Saturday morning with the introduction to cold process soapmaking. The intro class is definitely more entertaining with an Australian accent. I love listening to Jude speak. After the CP intro, the class took a little break and I was super tempted to walk across the street to Rocket Doughnuts for a pick-me-up. But I came to my senses and decided to save my calories for cupcakes. It will be worth it!
After Jude’s cold process layering lesson, we walked down to the Bellingham Farmer’s Market for sandwiches, ice cream and fresh veggies. I can’t get over the weather right now, it is absolutely a perfect day today!
We’re just about to wrap up the day with Liquid Soapmaking so I better get going to prep for my class. I’ll get some pictures up in the morning.Tomorrow is melt and pour with Erin Pikor, from Naiad Soap Arts. It’s so great to finally meet her, she’s a hoot!
Sandwich Social and SWI
All’s Wool That Ends Wool
ONE: Start off by taking a couple strands of your wool and wrap it around your soap. Do all one color, stripes or a creative pattern. Just make sure to cover the entire soap in wool so there are no “bald spots”. The corners of my soap (pictured above) still needs some more wool.
TWO: Wet the soap with warm water and start “using the soap”, scrubbing the wool with your hands, rubbing every inch of the soap. The felting process is basically matting the wool hair so it will stick together. Scrub for about 10-20 minutes until you can’t pinch off any of the wool fibers. I know what you’re thinking: 20 minutes is a long time. But think positive. When you’re done, your hands are going to be soft and smooth as a baby’s derrière.
Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!
Epic Epicurean Eats
It’s another Bramble’versary. Amber, our resident marketing genius, designs our rotating home page photos, our newsletter, lays out our e-books and takes the best photographs of anyone on the team. She started out as my part time assistant five years ago but didn’t stay there long; it was apparent she had skills that exceeded what I needed in an assistant. I’ve never replaced that assistant position and Amber’s never looked back. We’re lucky to have her. And, for her five year Bramble’versary, I wanted to make something that was befitting of how complicated and multi-faceted her job is. Behold, the Salted Caramel Bacon Brownie.
Did You Already Eat That? (Guest Post)
Did You Win? Contest for a Cause Winner
Thanks to everyone who entered the Contest for a Cause. I’m so proud of our tight-knit soapmaking community for actively taking a stand to oppose the Safe Cosmetic Act. All of your tweets, posts and letters to your Representatives do make a difference! So thank you, thank you and THANK YOU!
Now what you’ve all been waiting for…it’s time to announce the winner. All of the entries were printed, cut and put into a pot…
Pasta with Fresh Fava Bean Sauce
If you follow me on Twitter, you may have seen my photo of my CSA share haul. But if you don’t, you can see it here. In Washington state (and other states around the nation), small organic farms group together and offer ‘fresh from the farm’ produce groupings as a subscription program. We pick up a full box of veggies every week and have more vegetables than we can eat weekly.
Since eating fruits and vegetables is a proven anti-cancer strategy AND (darn), vegetables have less calories than cheese (double darn), while there are fresh veggies, I am taking advantage of them.
I have never eaten a Fava Bean before. I’ve seen them (in that movie ‘Silence of the Lambs’ but that counts, right?). And, you’ll have to forgive me, I started taking photos with my iPhone after I tasted how delicious the dish was (whoops).
So Fava Beans – they’re these large large large bean-like things. You have to get the beans peeled before you make this. I found the easiest way to do this was to slice the tip off the beans (horizontally) and then peel the beans out.
Recipe:
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 – 2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano
1 1/2 cups chicken stock (canned is fine)
salt & pepper
2 cups peeled fava beans
3/4 pound dried fettuccine
2 oz. piece of pecorino cheese or Parmesan cheese
1. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan until hot. Add the garlic and saute briefly until just before the garlic turns brown. Stir in oregano and then add 1 cup of stock. Bring to boil, season with salt and pepper and add 1 1/2 cup of fava beans. Simmer to blend the flavors for 5 minutes.
2. Dump this into a heat safe blender container and puree with an additional (remaining) 1/2 cup chicken stock until smooth. Return to the sauce pan and add the remaining 1/2 cup favas. Simmer gently and add salt and pepper to taste.
3. At some point in this process, bring another pot of water to boil and add salt and a teaspoon of olive oil to the water. Add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and mix with the sauce. Toss well. Serve immediately and grate cheese over the top.
Quick! It’s Fava Beans are in season now. Get thee to your Farmer’s Market and find some fresh Fava Beans.
Write. Tweet. Post.
Good Afternoon Soap Queen Readers. I just wanted to remind you that today is the last day to enter the Contest for a Cause! I’ll be picking the winners tonight so hop to it. Send me your letters, post to your Facebook and tweet like you’ve never tweeted before. Am I getting carried away? Perhaps, but it’s for a good cause. Oppose the Safe Cosmetic Act! Read the Contest Rules HERE for a chance to win the prize below.
I was in Washington DC earlier this week opposing the act with with Donna Maria (Indie Beauty Network), Lela Barker (Bella Lucce), Leigh O’Donnell (The Handcrafted Soap Guild) and Kayla Fioravanti (Essential Wholesale). See some of the blog posts here, here, and here.
Dying Wool is a Sheep Thrill
THREE: After the dye is dispersed and the wool seems to be evenly colored, cover the wool with plastic wrap and put it in the microwave for 5 minutes. WARNING: The water will almost be boiling when the 5 minutes is up. DO NOT TOUCH. Just let the wool cool until it hits room temperature. Then remove the plastic wrap.
Mojito Melt and Pour Soap Tutorial
I love reading each and every blog comment posted by Soap Queen Readers. Thank you for all of your input and inspiration- It really makes it fun for me! Mid July, I posted a tutorial on Watermelon Soaps and received a comment from SweetMadeSoap that she had made a delicious Mojito Soap with shades of green and white scented with Lime and Peppermint Essential oils. I just had to give the Mojito soap a try (as my mouth started watering just reading the comment). And the results are in…
NOTE: The Scalloped Round Mold shown in this tutorial has been discontinued. This kit now contains the Round Mold.
Glossy Silicone Tray Mold
Mint Leaves: For my dark colored mint leaves, I used clear melt and pour mixed with Liquid Green Colorant and a sprinkle of Yellow Mica. Then I poured a thin layer into a brownie pan tray mold. Once it cooled, I used my mini leaf cookie cutter to cut out the leaves. Try adding a little bit of white soap base to the mix if you want a lighter mint color. As you can see, I did both!
Assembly: Pour a thin layer of clear melt and pour (that has cooled to 130 degrees) into your scalloped round soap mold. Spritz four mint leaves and add them to the soap base. Then add another thin layer of clear melt and pour. Spritz three or four ice cubes with rubbing alcohol and add them to the soap, on top of the mint leaves. Then start the random assembly. Add more mint leaves and ice cubes until the mold is full and you have mint and ice sticking out everywhere. Repeat with the other cavities and remember that they’re not all going to be the same. There are no two Mojito Soaps alike (in my experience).
Summer’s Not Over Yet!
Report from DC – Education Matters
Hi from DC! It’s been a jam packed day. I can’t even convey how much work, how much energy and how much commitment everyone that is here with me has to this issue of ‘Safe Cosmetics.’ If you are unfamilar with bill H.R. 5786, the ‘Safe Cosmetics Act’, you can familiarize yourself with it here (Soap Guild Site). Here’s what we told the offices we met with:
1. Small Business will be negatively impacted – Regulatory issues around cosmetics cannot be more stringent than than are with food (as they will be with this bill). Small business especially will bear the brunt of this regulatory climate.
2. Trace elements are not feasible to include on labels – This is what a label will look like for a lotion bar with Cocoa Butter, Olive Oil and Lavender Oil
Ingredients: Olive Oil (Tri-Glycerides of Palmitic, Di-Glycerides of Palmitic, Palmitoleic, Stearic, Oleic, Linoleic, Arachidic Acid, Linolenic Acid, Squalene, Beta Carotene, Campesterol, Methylenecholesterol, Stigmasterol, Sitosterol, Fucosterol, 28-Isofucosterol, Stigmadienol, Brassicasterol, 7-Cholestenol,Ergostadienol, Avenasterol, Triterpene Alcohols, Tirucallol, Taraxerol, Dammaradienol Beta-Amyrin Germanicol, Butyrospermol, Parkeol, Cycloartenol, Tirucalladienol, 24-Methlene 24-Dihydroparkeol, 24-Methlenecycloartanol, Cyclobranol, 4-Methyl Sterols, Esters of Tyrosol, Esters of Hydroxytyrosol, Vitamin E (Tocopherols), Carotenoids, Oleuropein) Cocoa Butter (Tri and Diglycerides of Stearic Acid, Palmitic Acid, Lead, Oleic Acid, Linoleic Acid, Isoleic Acid, Beta Carotene, p-Hydroxybenzoic Acid, Vanillic Acid, Ferulic Acid, Syringic Acid, Phenylehtylamine, Theophylline, Aliphatic Esters, Aromatic Carbonyls, Caffeine, Theobromine, Diketopiperazines and Alkylpryazines), Lavender Essential Oil ( Cineole Octanol, Octanone, Alpha Bisabolol, Alpha Cadinol, Alpha Humelene, Alpha Phellandrene, Apha Pinene, Alpha Terpinene, Alpha Terpineol, Alpha Terpinyl Acetate, Alpha Thujene, Alpha Thujone, Beta Bisabolol, Beta Pinene, Beta Thujone, Borneol, Bornyl Acetate, Camphene Camphor, Cineolealpha Terpineol, Carvone, Caryophyllene, Carophyllene Oxide, CIS Alpha Terpineol, CIS Alpha Bisabolene, CIS Carveol, CIA Linalol Epoxide, CIS Ocimene, Citronellal, Citronellol, Coumarine, Cuminaldehyde, Eugenol, Furfural, Geraniol, Geranyl Acetate, Geranyl Butyrate, Hexanol, Hexyl Tiglate, Isoborneol, Lavandulol, Lavandulyl Acetate, Limonene, Linanlol, Linalyl Acetate, Methyl Heptenone, Myrcene, Nerol, Neryl Acetate, Oleanolic Acid, P Cymene, Rosemarinic Acid, Sabinen, Terpinenol, Terpinolene, Trans Carveol, Trans Epoxy Linalyl Acetate, Trans Linanol Epoxide, Trans Ocimene, Ursolic Acid)
3. Reporting requirements are draconian. This bill requires you report when you hire someone (to the FDA), when you change suppliers (like when you switch to Bramble Berry from another vendor), who your distributors are (hello? competitive advantage out the window) and all of your ingredient formulations (without guaranteeing your confidentiality).
4. This bill is based on bad science – Cosmetics are not killing you. Diet, lack of exercise, obesity, smoking, and excessive drinking are positively linked to cancer. Cosmetics have no conclusive link. Yes, 1,4 Dioxin is terrible (in high doses, ingested by rats). Yes, Formaldehyde is bad if you are massively exposed to it (in 100% concentration high doses, bathing in it) but small businesses are trying to formulate with natural ingredients and yet they are the ones that will be most affected by this.
The meetings were our opportunity to express how small business would be affected. We were thankful to have the time and understand that there is more time for us to comment, educate and share how small business will be affected before a bill is passed.
There is still time, Soap Queen Readers and Bramble Berry Customers – keep up on OpposeSCA.com, write your Representatives, sign the petition and vote your opposition to the bill here.
The most important thing? Your Representatives are on BREAK right now. They are likely visiting/staying in your district (where they live). CALL THEM! Visit them while they are home. You have thirty days starting now. You can do it! Call me if you want talking points – 360-734-8278 or email me. I will help you talk to your Representatives and tell your story in a way that makes an impact. We can do it – we can educate and inform lawmakers on how this bill (as currently written) affects us.
Greetings from DC – Oppose SCA
Hi Happy Soapers, I’m in Washington DC (after two long flights) with Donna Maria (Indie Beauty Network), Lela Barker (Bella Lucce), Leigh O’Donnell (The Handcrafted Soap Guild) and Kayla Fioravanti (Essential Wholesale). We’re here to advocate on behalf of indies everywhere. Our goal is to educate the staffers and representatives behind HR 5786 (The full version of the draft bill for you to read is here.) Our meetings start tomorrow and we’re hopeful, positive and forward moving.
When I got off the plane, I was so happy to have a quick ride to the hotel because it meant that I had time to do a run around the monuments. There’s something surreal about jogging around so much history. Also, muggy. Surreal and muggy. Needless to say, I was thankful to get back to air conditioning in my room.