Otion Archives - Page 2 of 11

ELF Pizza Party: An Educational Field Trip

March 30, 2011 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The BB crew took an educational field trip to our “brother” company, ELF Industrial, to learn the ropes, see some new molds and bond over some ‘za (what we used to call pizza in the 80’s). My younger brother, Erik, is the manager of the company and was a gem to take the afternoon to show us the ins and outs of the company. Erik also runs Bramble Berry’s retail store, Otion the Soap Bar and The Soap King blog. I am especially thankful to have Erik on board running these two ventures with the little Bramble Bump about to make his appearance any day now (April 23 is the due date!).

Yummy pizza from Pizza Pipeline in Bellingham. Have you ever had Taco Pizza? We have and it’s heaven!

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Make Embedded Melt & Pour Jellyroll Soap on Soap Queen TV!

February 24, 2011 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Learn how to combine 2 melt & pour techniques in this episode of Soap Queen TV. First, make a pink and white jellyroll soap which is a variation on the Pinwheel Soap Technique from the 4th of July Special Edition video. Then, embed the jellyroll into a melt and pour loaf, demonstrated in one of the earliest episodes of Soap Queen TV.

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Going Vertical

February 15, 2011 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Our latest pride and joy mold is finally here!

Introducing the Vertical Wood Mold (tutorial coming soon):

Vertical Wood Mold: Made with the same care and craftsmanship as our wildly popular Baltic Birch Molds, these exquisite molds are hand crafted here in Bellingham, Washington. The vertical style allows for unique and creative swirling and layering techniques that will wow your friends and customers.

We have been so enjoying how innovative soap looks with the vertical technique. Fully lined with heat resistant, food grade plastic, this soap mold needs no lining (but does require patience of else you can rip the soap sides getting those liners off!).

Built in divider for perfect layers

Finished soap made in this mold by Kat at Otion.

Get your own Vertical Mold today!

Soap Intensive for One

February 7, 2011 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Ralph, from Lebanon, after 3 fun days of soaping!

We had a very special guest at Otion for a 3 Day Private Soapmaking Lesson. We were able to cram a lot of soaping into the class because Ralph was such a quick learner. He was a natural at soapmaking and covered all the types of soapmaking, all the types of molds he could use (including a nifty Vertical Mold that hasn’t even hit the Bramble Berry product line yet!), all the types of colors to use (including herbal infusions) and experienced a wide variety of soap situations (diluting Labcolors, seizing soap, accelerating trace soap to name a few).


Geode Soap from this tutorial

Ralph spent almost an entire day on all of the ins and outs of melt and pour soapmaking, culminating with swirling and layering. But before we did that, we did the freeform Gem Soap. Both batches turned out great
.

Adding Fragrance (Cold Water)

Ralph also learned how to make lotions from scratch and do Liquid Soap, from scratch. All of his bottles turned out perfectly and he and I both breathed a sigh of relief when none of his fragrance oils seperated or did anything funky in liquid soap (as they are prone to do). You can make your own liquid soap from scratch; we’ve got an ingredients + video + e-book tutorial here.

Just a small sampling of the soap we made in 3 days

Our whipped CP soap, in-process

We had a really good time with Whipped Cold Process soap and everyone enjoyed the Cotton Candy Look of the project.

Rock Soap


The Birchwood Mold makes swirling a breeze!

Thanks for visiting Ralph! We can’t wait to host you again and this time, take a day to explore the sites (skiing anyone?).

Only 8 Spots Left! HURRY!

February 2, 2011 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

You’re invited to the 4th annual Soap Weekend Intensive. This year is going to be bigger and better than ever (and not just because our little Bramble Baby will be making frequent guest appearances). We have a new location that can fit 19 students and more projects. We’ve also confirmed the last guest teaching spot: SWI veteran Paula Kates from PJ Soaps! Learn more and sign up HERE and meet all of your teachers HERE.

Beautiful soaps of PJ Soaps

Paula Kates is owner, artist and CEO of PJ Soaps. With an extensive background in Linguistic Philosophy, Paula left behind 11 years in the administrative world of the performing arts, first at Milwaukee’s Florentiine Opera, then with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, and eventually cutting out on her own and turning her love of art towards soap making.

Paula has been making Melt and Pour soap since 2003 most recently winning “Best Soap” at the 2007 ISOCAN soapmaker’s convention in the Chicago area and “Best Soap” at the 2008 First Annual Georgia Spring Fling Soapmaker’s Convention in Conyers GA (outside of Atlanta) and has been aiming for mastery of the art form ever since. Paula is teaching two technique classes at Otion SWI: one on soap painting (really, you can paint just like her!) and utilizing the Melt and Pour Tool Kit to make incredible soaps (it’s easier than you think!)

SWI students hard at work

This year, Paula will be teaching her famous soap painting technique. She’ll also share her tricks on using the injection tool for the finest deatils! Check out the fun we had the last three years:

(SWI 2008, SWI 2009 and SWI 2010) and sign up today while spots are still available!

Soapylove Technique Post – 3 Color Fade

January 29, 2011 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Rainbows and hearts… I can’t seem to get enough! One of my favorite looks lately is graduated color. Several years ago I taught at Otion’s Soap Weekend Intensive and was thrilled to attend a class by Paula of PJ Soaps (she’ll be teaching again this summer!). She showed how to make her beautiful moon soap (click here for tutorial), where she tilts the mold to get a lovely fade between the moon and midnight sky.

I have used this several times with a single tilted color, but realized if you use one on each side and then fill the center, that you can get a 3 color fade!

Here’s what you’ll need:
Coral Mica
Yellow Mica
Liquid Blue
Striped Heart Mold
NOTE: The mold in this tutorial has been discontinued. The kit now contains the Swirled Heart Mold.
Clear M&P soap base
White M&P soap base

Or click here and get everything you need all at once.

Here’s how to do it:

Prop your mold up on one side or corner. I used the Soapylove Striped Heart Mold. Next, melt and color a small amount of clear soap using non-bleeding red or coral mica. Spray your mold with alcohol, then pour a small amount of soap into one side, allowing it to only cover 1/3 of your mold surface.

It’s okay if your color doesn’t line up perfectly with the stripes. Allow to harden. Now turn around your mold so the opposite side is propped up. Melt and pour some blue soap into the opposite side, again only covering 1/3 of the mold face. Allow to harden.

Move your mold to be flat on the table. Color your third batch of soap yellow, spray mold with alcohol, and pour in soap so it fills the center area and covers a bit of each side color. Allow to harden. Spray with alcohol and top off with fragranced white soap. Voila!

Here’s a tip: color your soap with a light hand – if your colors are too dark then the background color won’t show through. When I do this project again, I’ll use a little less blue so the green tone will be more noticeable.

Enjoy!
-Debbie
Soapylove

Man, You’re Soaping Me Blue!

January 26, 2011 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Guest post by Kat from Otion

What better way to celebrate the end of the week than to see some of our newest fragrances arrive at Otion!

Blue Man is Bramble Berry’s strongly inspired version of of the popular men’s cologne, Aquolina Blue Sugar. The base note of Black Patchouli blends perfectly with Orange Peel, Sparkling Mandarin, Coriander Leaves, Star Anise and Venezuela Tonka. It’s surprisingly sweet and majorly masculine. Discolors to a light brown and does great in cold process.

I made a little melt-and-pour project for our display at Otion by cutting out little guys out of opaque soap with an exacto knife and embedding them in clear base with brilliant blue labcolor. The man in the middle sitting down worked the best because he’s actually blue from pouring a blue layer down first before setting him in there.

When the heat from the clear base hit the man cut-out, it created this really whimsical swirl in the soap while it set up!

Below are the little guys waiting to get blue. Even after chopping a bit off his legs, I still couldn’t get the little hat on the third one to fit in my mold.

This was really fun and opens the door to all sorts of cut-out ideas. Have fun and remember that you can easily cut any design you’d like with an exacto knife, a thin layer of soap and some patience. Oh, and some cardboard underneath to protect your table.

I’m New! Now What?!

January 21, 2011 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Recently my friend Debbie wrote me on Twitter and told me she loved the handmade (cold process) soap I had given her for Christmas and wanted to learn how to make her own. She asked, “How do I start?” Since that’s probably a longer answer than 140 characters on Twitter will give me, Debbie, this blog post is for you!

1. Read this article on the types of soapmaking. The type of soap you want to make is ‘Cold Process Soapmaking.

Rebatch Soap Cold Process Soap Melt and Pour Soap

2. Watch the 4 *free* videos at SoapQueen.TV on Cold Process Soapmaking.

Lye Safety
Basic Terms
Using Fragrances & Essential Oils
Using Colorants

After learning more about the process, are you still interested in moving ahead?

If yes, keep going.

If not, soapmaking is super fun! Consider a slightly less labor intense method of soapmaking – Melt and Pour soap or Rebatching soap. Kits for Melt and Pour and Rebatching are here.

3. Keep educating yourself. TeachSoap.com is a great resource. The TeachSoap forum is helpful. All of the posts here tagged with “Cold Process” add to your knowledge base and the SoapDishForum is a fantastic learning opprtounity.

4. Order a beginner kit. It has everything you need to make your first batch of soap except the Lye. Order the lye along with the beginner kit. Beginner kit A is here. Beginner Kit B is here; Lye is here.

5. Make sure you have all your safety equipment – gloves, goggles, apron etc…

6. Get yourself to Goodwill to get a stainless steel bowl or glass bowl, a couple spatulas, spoons and invest $20 in a good Stick Blender.

7. Wait for your kit. Keep reading. Let your excitement build.

8. When the kit arrives, safety up! Goggles on! Gloves on! Cover those counters with newspaper. Lock pets outside. Children under 14 should be away from your soaping area. Find one hour of uninterupted time.

Now, get ready? Set? Soap!

Bramble Berry in 3-D

December 20, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

We have been working on something behind the scenes for month and we can’t hold back any longer. We’re going 3-D! Or rather, our molds are. Our brother company (really a brother company since my little brother runs it), SoapMolds.com is pleased to announce that we have purchased the entire Heavy Duty 3-D Mold line from Spinning Leaf Inc.

What this means to you:

Bramble Berry and SoapMolds.com will sell the ENTIRE line of 3-D molds (previously, we had a little less than half) with more secure stocking and bulk rate (wholesale) options for sales.

Projects we’ve done with the 3-D molds in the past:

Heart Valentine 3-D Molds
Alien Head Soap
Loofah Soap on a Rope
Soap on a Rope – Basic Instructions
3-D Molds – Trimming
3-D Molds – Layering & Coloring Detail
3-D Molds – Pouring & Fill Line
3-D Molds Set Up

Official Press Release after the jump

Brambleberry.com is pleased to announce the purchase of an exquisite line of 3-D soap molds, originally produced by Spinning Leaf. Says founder Anne-Marie Faiola, “Purchasing the 3-D soap molds portion of Spinning Leaf is the culmination of a 3 year plan for SoapMolds.com and Bramble Berry. Since entering the soap molds market, we’ve enjoyed it immensely and are thrilled about this purchase.”

Bramble Berry has carried the Spinning Leaf line of soap molds under the name “Heavy Duty Molds” (so called because the plastic used in the Spinning Leaf line is heavier than traditional soap mold plastic) for over seven years with excellent sales and customer comments.

R. DeLouis, a customer of Bramble Berry’s retail store, Otion says, “I really like the 3-D molds because I can easily charge a $1 premium on the soaps. The curved backs really make them look unique and upscale.”

Bramble Berry has a separate company that designs and manufactures soap molds. That company, ELF Industrial (named after her younger brother’s nickname) operates out of a 2400 square foot warehouse in the Industrial District of Bellingham, WA to manufacture an entire line of soap and chocolate molds. ELF Industrial has a full table CNC machine and two vacuum forming machines.Their website for custom design work is www.SoapMolds.com

ELF Industrial Manager, Erik Faiola, states, “We are so excited to add this to our line of wholesale mold options and we’re up for the challenge of producing an additional 66 designs.”

Bramble Berry will be selling the molds at www.brambleberry.com and through select distributors through the United States and Canada.

For more information about ELF, please contact ELF Industrial Manager, Erik Faiola at 360.671.0201 For additional information about Bramble Berry’s new acquisition, please contact Anne-Marie Faiola at 360-734-8278.

From Philly, with Love

December 8, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

While she didn’t come bearing a Philly Cheesesteak, Maureen did come to us all the way from Philadelphia and we were thrilled to have her join us. She came to Otion wanting to expand her melt and pour soapmaking skills. Though she has watched all of the SoapQueen.TV projects (I love a student who has done their homework!), her projects weren’t turning out quite the way she wanted. (She doesn’t know it, but she was my last full-day private class until the baby is born. My back isn’t loving the full standing days anymore.) And bonus, in addition to being insanely off the charts sweet, she is a dog lover! So, her and Toby (our resident mascot dog) got a long really well and Toby helped us make soap for part of the day.

We had an extremely full day (in a good way!). We worked on the SoapyLove Signature Project, Plaid Soaps. And then we moved onto detail work to showcase the Melt and Pour Tool Kit. Maureen really got to learn how to use all of the tools. We made a LOT of soaps with those tools.

Pictured above are the yummy Gift Box molds and the Heart on Grid Mold; below are the Holly Leaf Molds. They all look so sweet with their perfect detailing. Maureen was a really quick study so it made it easy to get perfect soaps every time with her.

Then we moved onto Jelly Roll Soaps, Embeddable Paper (the onesies in the photo below), Peppermint Bark, Orange Slices, Candy Canes and a custom project just for Maureen (that will be just our secret).

Like many of our students, Maureen was shocked at how much soap the day produced so we ended up shipping her soaps to her since there was no room in her suitcase. It was so much fun to spend the day with Maureen. She had a great attitude, a sincere desire to learn and was a hard worker. I know however she chooses to use her newly acquired soap techniques that she will be successful. Check out her Etsy shop here.

Thanks Maureen!

From Maine … with Soap

September 7, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I had an awesome Monday. Well, that might be overstating the case since A. It’s Tuesday and B. My email quit working mid-morning so I got to fight with Outlook for part of my day. Nothing says ‘Boy, I feel productive!’ like staring at your monitor for long periods of time. But overall, it ended up fantastic because I spent the day with Nadeen from Maine. She has been here for almost a week, exploring the fantastic Pacific Northwest. And, lucky for us, there was only one day worth of monsoon-like deluge. She made the most of her trip – going to Pike Place Market, hiking and visiting all the great sight sites. But, she saved the best for last – a full day of soapmaking.

She spent the morning with Kat (one of our incredible instructors) learning Cold Process Soapmaking – beginning and Advanced. Notice the progression from left to right. By the time Nadine left, she definitely had her cold process skills way up to soap par.

The day wouldn’t have been complete without a full lotionmaking session and a melt and pour lesson (including the famous SoapyLove Plaid soaps and the Naiad Soap Arts Ambrosia Soap). The Ambrosia soap turned out absolutely adorable.

Thank you for coming to spend the day with us! It was a huge honor and we can’t wait to host you again.Update from 9/8: Check out the CP soap on the right all trimmed up over at The Soap King (Otion’s blog).

Thinking About Opening a Store?

August 31, 2010 Filed Under: Business Musings

An interview with … me (!) about opening a craft store. This interview was done for a small business advice book that (to the best of my knowledge) was never published. I didn’t want it to languish in the archives forever so am dusting it off to share with you!

What is the most important piece of advice you can give to someone who
is considering opening a craft store?

Budgeting is a mundane yet important part of opening a craft store. It is so much fun to think of all the items you’d like to buy, the signage, the displays, the branding and the overall look and feel of the store that it is easy to overlook the importance of budgeting and the prosaic aspects of spreadsheets. In my experience with opening a craft store specializing in soapmaking supplies (Otion), every little extra expense ended up adding up to a large amount of overages. If I had been more serious about my budget, I wouldn’t have overspent in my opening months. Can you offer any insight into emerging trends in crafts?

With the economy being a little difficult right now, I’m noticing a trend towards staying home and making entertainment options at home rather than going out to dinners and movies. After all, it’s cheaper to stay home and make bath fizzies with your family of 4 than it is to take them all to dinner and a movie. We’ve seen our business grow this year with more new customers than ever because of this trend. What is the biggest mistake you see new store owners make, and how can someone avoid making that mistake?

New store owners often neglect marketing and networking, thinking that advertising is enough to get the word out. Sadly, advertising alone will not drive customers to your store. You need to be ultra creative to ensure that your message gets out to the general public. For example, when we opened up our crafty soapmaking store in Bellingham, WA, we went to local restaurants and offered them customized soap products for their bathroom at a discount if we were able to put up a small sign stating were the soap came from. We did free classes every Wednesday at noon and heavily advertised the classes. We did coupons and frequent buyer punch cards. We joined the local Chamber of Commerce. More of our customers come from word-of-mouth than traditional advertising methods. If you are a craft store owner yourself, what is the one thing you wish
you had known before you started?

I wish I had known how long the day could be when not many customers come in. Some days, people just don’t come into the store and finding things to do to keep busy for 8 hours can be tedious, demoralizing and downright boring. What has been the most rewarding aspect of your career as a craft store
owner?

I love talking and interacting with customers. Listening to their crafty and creative creations inspires and energizes me. The customers are the best part of the job! What has been your most effective marketing tool for generating new
business?

Blogging has been very helpful for our business. Otion blogs at http://www.otionsoap.com/blog. We reach a wider audience through the blog than just our walk-in traffic allows and are able to have a conversation with our customers in a new and different way. Social media is an amazing tool that is really coming into its own, five years after I started Otion. Advertising is getting cheaper and cheaper because you can utilize social media to harness enthusiasm and eyeballs. Do you have any words of encouragement to offer new store owners?

Being self employed is the best thing I have ever done. I love being in control of my own financial destiny. Just remember that “how you do anything is how you do everything.” The little things DO matter. Dusting, keeping a clean shop and greeting customers within 15 seconds don’t seem like much on their own but taken all together, they help to ensure a friendly, welcoming environment. There are many little things that individually don’t seem like a big deal but add up to a successful shop. Keep your business reading up. I love reading Fast Company and Inc. magazine and discussing business books with other small business owners. Having a network to turn to during difficult times is definitely one key to sticking it out through the long haul. You’ll be glad you did.

Liquid Soap in a Soaper’ific Jiffy!

August 15, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

As promised, here are some pictures from my liquid soap class yesterday. We started a batch from scratch and the class got to dilute, color and fragrance their own mini batches of liquid soap to take home. Wondering about how to make Liquid Soap yourself? Here is a downloadable handy e-book.

Here, I’m demonstrating that the liquid soap still needs to cook some more using phenophthalein to test the pH. The chemical turns the soap hot pink (maybe that’s why I like this demonstration so much).

Here’s the happy class scenting customizing their liquid soaps.

After a long (but soaper’ific!) day, Erin (from Naiad Soaps – our Melt and Pour Instructor Extraordinare) and I needed to wind down so we fished peacefully on Lake Samish. It was the perfect end to a whirlwind day of soaping. I’ll post more pictures and details of the weekend next week.

Right now it’s time for graduation; certificates and cupcakes are calling my name.

Soap Weekend Insanity!

August 14, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

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!

This is Anne-Marie signing out from Soap Weekend Intensive 2010. Wish you were here!