Soap Queen TV Archives - Page 11 of 14

New Soap Queen TV series – CP Soap

April 8, 2010 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

You asked for it and I listened! There have been numerous requests for a video on how to make Cold Process Soap. But the Cold Process soapmaking process is too complicated to show in one 5 minute video. So I have broken down the basics into a 4 part series. Once you’ve seen all 4 videos you will be ready to make a safe and successful batch of CP! Of course, if you just can’t wait you can always buy the DVD I made a couple of years ago. 🙂

Without further ado I present you “How to Make Cold Process Soap: Lye Safety and Ingredients, Episode 1″

How to Make Cold Process Soap : Lye Safety & Ingredients, Episode 1 from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

In this episode, I show how to safely handle Lye or Sodium Hydroxide by wearing gloves, goggles, long sleeve shirt, and pants. I also give the poison control hot line number (which is 1-800-222-1222) with a reminder that you should always call 911 first in any emergency.

I briefly show the free Bramble Berry Lye Calculator for soap as well as our nifty iPhone app. I also talk about some of my favorite soapmaking books like The Everything Soapmaking Book and The Soapmaker’s Companion.

Next, I go over some of my favorite soapmaking oils like Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Jojoba Oil, Castor Oil, as well as butters like Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter, Sal Butter, Lanolin, and Avocado Butter.

Special guest Cold Process soap samples purchased from: Arcadia Aromatics, Ltd., Sherri’s Scents & Soys, Sagegold Soaps, SV soaps, Intentions soap, and KB Shimmer. Making this series was such a great excuse to go shopping and sample some new soapmakers as well as some old favorites. Everyone’s soaps arrived carefully packaged and looked as good if not better than the pictures on their websites.

Remember, this is a basic building block video so if you’re rarin’ to go and don’t want to wait for the last episode to put all of the knowledge together, you can buy the The Everything Soapmaking Book and The Soapmaker’s Companion or Basic Cold Process Soap DVD here.

Are you a blogger? Please feel free to embed this video on your blog. If you need any help just let us know! [email protected]

Sneak Peak: KBShimmer on Soap Queen TV!

March 22, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

To end the busy weekend with a bang, yesterday we finished filming 2 premium episodes of Soap Queen TV with speical guest, Christy Rose from KBShimmer (swirling expert extraordinaire). I had a blast and the advanced soap recipes turned out gorgeous! Thank you SO MUCH for making the trip to Bellingham, Christy! You were a joy to work with!

Sunday’s Photo Album

We just went over our scripts and are about to start filming!

Christy swirling the Lavender and Lemon soap.

This is the “In the Pot Swirl” soap

Cutting the Energy soap.
That’s a wrap!

See more of KBShimmer here (website) and here (Etsy)!

Stupendous Saturday Continues

March 20, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Hi Team,

The Stupendous (busy!) Saturday has almost come to a close and I am all the worse in energy levels for it (ha ha). Between working out, studying scripts for the premium SoapQueen.TV episode filming tomorrow on Swirling Cold Process Soap, entertaining our enchanting out-of-town SQTV star and speaking at the MoneyWi$e Women’s conference, I am pretty delighted that my day is over (for the next 12 hours at least).

What a blessing the day was, though! The speakers at the MoneyWi$e Women’s Conference were all top notch. I heard Debbie Lacy talk about taming money fears. My two take aways from her talk were: (1) Is it your fear or is it your partner’s fear? If it’s your partner’s fear, drop it. There’s no use fretting about their fear. (2) If it is your fear, acknowledge it, name it and then re-frame it in a way that is a positive, celebratory way. You don’t need to keep owning negative fears around money.

Anny Havland, blog here

Next, I attended Anny Havland’s (above) talk around creating long-term wealth through real estate. She had helpful tips around how to qualify for a home loan (good credit, not surprisingly, was key) as well as some common myths for home mortgages. Did you know that using one of those servicing companies to set up a bi-weekly mortgage payment can be done without a servicing company (and their fees?). What the bi-weekly companies do is just have you paying 13 months of payments per year (rather than 12). This is something you can do on your own, either by paying 1/12th extra per month to your mortgage principal or making one extra payment per year (with your servicing brokerage’s help). Learn more about this idea here and read Anny’s financial blog here.

I spoke on the importance of determining your own destiny and taking charge of your finances through goal setting. While I can’t say for certain what the take aways from the audience were, here are what I was hoping they would take away:

1. Baby steps equal greatness. Small incremental amounts of efforts over time creative mind-blowing results. Just put one foot in front of the other and do the same boring thing that’s working, day in and day out, and you’ll be happily shocked at where it takes you in 1, 3 or 10 years.

2. Plan, little mouse, plan! Having a hard time getting your friends and family to tell you that you have the best idea ever is more difficult if you don’t have a plan. My favorite book for helping out with business plans (and determining mission and values) is The Rockerfeller Habits.

3. Start small and start now. Use 99Designs.com for fast, inexpensive graphic design and Elance.com for affordable copy writing and webdesign. Succeed on your terms and on what you can afford. Go for the awesome branding package and website design package when you’re past start-up page.

With Marcia Brixey, the founder of MoneyWi$e

Tonight, my husband and I took our special SoapQueen.TVguest and her husband out for dinner. She came all the way to Bellingham,WA from Terra Haute, Indiana. We are honored to have her as a guest and I am excited to introduce her to you tomorrow. Until then, happy soaping!

Stupendous Saturday

March 20, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Hi Team,

I have such an awesome weekend planned and I can’t wait to share it with you. This morning, I put the finishing touches on the scripts for tomorrow’s filming of SoapQueen.TV. We have a secret surprise guest in town to help me film the shows. The two premium content SoapQueen.TVepisodes will cover cold process swirling secrets and I can hardly wait to share them with you.

Before that happens though, I am speaking at the MoneyWise Conference on how self-employment and controlling your own destiny is totally the way to go. I will definitely post my top take aways from the portion of the conference I am able to attend. I also have a super fun soapmaker interview for this week as well as my take aways from a Learning At Lunch I attended this week with the Alaska Airlines CEO. It’s going to be a jam packed weekend (and week) and I wanted to post to let you know that I am working on some great content to share with you. Until then, happy soaping!

Soap Queen TV – Whipped Soap Cupcakes

March 18, 2010 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

They look like cupcakes, they smell like cupcakes, but don’t be fooled, they’re soaps! Learn how to make soap cupcakes with whipped frosting in this episode of Soap Queen TV. Using the same technique Debbie shared on the Soap Queen blog (in this tutorial), I make a soapy replica of the Lavender Vanilla Cupcake from Cupcake Royale.

How to make Soap Cupcakes with Whipped Frosting from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Here’s what you’ll need for the cupcake base:
40 oz. White Melt & Pour Soap
1 1/2 oz. Vanilla Select Fragrance Oil
1 1/2 oz. Vanilla Color Stabilizer
6 ml Canary LabColor (diluted)
SoapyLove Scalloped Round Mold

Here’s what you’ll need for the soap frosting:
16 oz White Melt & Pour Soap
8 Tbsp Natural Castile Liquid Soap
9 ml Royal Purple LabColor (diluted)
1 oz Lavender Fragrance Oil
SoapyLove Jojoba Bead Mix

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!

Cold Process Soapy Sunday

February 28, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

A big thank you to my soy latte (the 2nd serving of caffeine in four-five months; I’ll admit that I’ve missed it) and energetic film crew for getting me through a long day of shooting Soap Queen TV. I’m so excited for you to see this cold process series. It’s going to be great for beginners and aspiring cold process soapers out there; learn all about colorants, fragrances, lye safety and basic CP vocabulary. The first episode of the series airs in April so keep your eyes peeled.

Don’t you love the new set? It’s so happy, chic and Soap Queen-y. It makes me smile (grin).
Have a great week everyone!

Soap Queen TV Presents: How to Make Rebatch Soap

February 18, 2010 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Ever wonder what Rebatch soap (or Triple Milled soap or French Milled soap) is? In this episode of Soap Queen TV, I show you how to make Rebatch soap. Rebatch is great if you want a soap that’s a little more natural and rustic looking soap but don’t want the hassle of dealing with Lye when making Cold Process from scratch.

Soap Queen TV: How to Make Rebatch Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Ingredients:
1 oz. Pink Grapefruit Essential Oil
1 oz. Lemon Essential Oil
2 oz. Dried Calendula (Marigold) Petals
1/2 oz. Sweet Almond Oil
1/2 oz. Annatto Seeds
4 pounds Basic Rebatch
3 Tbsp. Distilled Water

Molds used:
ELF Slim Rectangle mold
Bramble Berry’s 2 pound loaf mold
Plastic food container

Are you a blogger? Please feel free to embed this video on your blog. If you need any help just let us know! [email protected]

Soap Queen TV 2010 Season Begins!

January 28, 2010 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

Soap Queen TV is back with a fun and unique project perfect for Valentine’s Day!

This year we are focusing on other types of projects and techniques including Cold Process Soapmaking, Lotions, Scrubs and so much more so stay tuned!

Soap Queen TV – Massage Candles from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Massage candles are a wonderfully luxurious treat to make for yourself or that special someone. A massage candle is a blend of skin safe waxes, oils and essential oils that melt at a low temperature, perfect for a warm and soothing massage.

Ingredients

4 oz. Container Soy Wax

1 oz. Deodorized Cocoa Butter

4 oz. Avocado Oil

5 oz. Shea Butter

1/2 oz Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

1/2 oz Patchouli Essential Oil

4 six oz. Candle Tins

4 WU 250 Wicks

Buy everything you need with the click of a button!

From Camels to Cadbury

January 27, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I’ve been back in the States going on 2 days now and am just getting back into the swing of things with jet lag and the fun accumulation of snail mail and work projects that built up while I was away.

We were very lucky and had a long layover in London so I went from Camels one night to Double Decker buses the next afternoon. It was surreal to go from sand to the pavement and hustle of London within one 24 hour period.

On our last day, we went to a farm out in the country side and rode camels, Arabian horses, hiked to the top of a hillside to watch the sunset and experienced traditional dancing, food & hookah smoking (Well, it was available. I’m a wimp and didn’t try it). For future reference, camels are really, really tall and when you’re in the air, you feel very high up. And, they’re not smooth at all to ride unless they’re running. When they are running, they’re easy to ride but when they are walking, it’s a core workout!

When we got back to our hotel (which overlooked the Red Sea), we were interested to see that there were blankets spread out all along the waterfront with small groups of people eating and hanging out in picnic-fashion. There were a lot of people out picnicing by the water, too. Imagine our surprise the next morning to find many of them still along the waterfront. The had stayed up all night! The photo from the top left is one of the picnic-groups leaving their area and walking away, presumably to go home and sleep.

And then it was off to London for 2 days. London was cold, drizzly and foggy but was steeped in history. We rode the Red Bus for the entire day on the first day, listening to the tour and marveling at the sights. In the evening, we went to go see the musical ‘Wicked’ (which we loved and highly highly recomend). On the second day, we went to the Tower of London and the Tate Modern. It was quite a juxtoposition – a tower that had been around since 1078 and then the Tate Modern, showcasing international modern and contemporary art. It was almost a 1000 year swing in time periods.

We were sad to leave the history-rich city of London but thrilled when we retuned home to Seattle to find that the weather in Washington state was warmer and more clear than in London (How is that possible? We typically have terrible weather in Washington state!).

I was delighted to see everyone at Bramble Berry and was especially thrilled that the 24-hour-turnaround goal had been kept for all of our orders that shipped while I was gone (yay!). A special thanks to Amber for doing such an incredible job with putting her spin on the blog and keeping everyone entertained with her screen printing and mad baking skills. She’s quite a whiz.

Look for a new SoapQueen.TV video tomorrow! Sign up to receive the latest video news at SoapQueen.TV if you want to be the very first to be notified. Also in Bramble Berry news, we sent out a newsletter yesterday. If you didn’t get it and you’re a subscriber, let me know. There was an exclusive recipe in it for subscribers.

Inventory & SoapQueen TV

December 29, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Soap from our Cold Process Line

My apologies for the short blog post today. It’s been a fabulous day with lots of progress made on inventory (almost done with the counting! yay!) and we are loving the fun questions about projects you’re making over your winter breaks. Judging from the phone calls today, a lot of you are making Cupcake Bath Fizzies.

Over our inventory break, we’ve continued working on the new season of SoapQueen TV in earnest and have the scripts done up for an episodes on Rebatch soap, Massage Candles and more. You will be able to watch those shows in early February (if not sooner!). If you’re a fan of SQTV and like the projects, you might want to check out these extra long SQTV tutorials over at Bramble Berry. Two of them feature SoapyLove‘s exclusive projects that turn out great every single time.

I’m also planning a trip to Saudi Arabia with the Entrepreneur’s Organization for business classes. I’m excited about the opportunity to learn from some of the top business minds in the world on subjects like Cross-Cultural Entrepreneurship and Women Entrepreneurs in Saudi Arabia. I’ll be out of the country the 15th through the 25th of January, leaving the blog in Amber’s capable hands on the days I am not able to post.

Again, apologies for the short post today; look for a blog post tomorrow on Copper Penny & Emerald Mica tests in CP soap. Until then, happy soaping!

Soap Queen TV: Holiday Candle Travel Tins

November 5, 2009 Filed Under: Home Crafts

Grab some hot cocoa, get comfortable and prepare yourself for some candle making fun! In the final episode of my Holiday Series I show you how to make cute little travel candles perfect for the gift giving season.

When filming this episode I tried to include as much helpful information as possible, which resulted in a nearly 13 minute long video (hence the get comfy recommendation). I demonstrate how to use our liquid candle dyes and wax dye blocks as well as show many common candle problems and how to fix them. Although I mention it in the video, I really want to emphasize how important it is to use heat safe containers both for your mixing container and for the final candle container. I love keeping a few of these travel candles on hand for last minute hostess gifts or ‘just because’ gifts to give through out the Holidays.

Download the free PDF label template here to print out and make labels just like the ones in the video.

Soap Queen TV Special Edition: Holiday Travel Candles from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

To make 4 candles you will need:
16 oz Soy Container Wax (C-3)
1 oz Cinnamon Stick Candle Fragrance
Few drops Hunter Green Liquid Candle Dye
or a few shavings of Red Wax Dye Block
4 Candle Tins
4 WU-250 wicks
8 Pencils
Double Boiler
Heat Safe Container

Soap Queen TV: Holiday Soap Stamp Project

October 22, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

This video demonstrates a technique I shared with Mario Bosquez on Living today (a Martha Stewart Sirius radio program) . The whole crew loved it so much I thought I should share it with my Soap Queen TV viewers too!

I love this innovative and economical project. It’s a great way to make reusable seasonal designs out of plain soap molds – allowing you to change your designs without purchasing new molds.

Soap Queen TV: Holiday Stamp Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Here’s what you’ll need:
16 oz. Clear melt & pour soap
4 oz White melt & pour soap
Unmounted rubber stamps (the clear ones seem to work best)
Red-blue mica
Merlot mica
Liquid green oxide
Cranberry Fig fragrance
Melt & Pour tool kit
Basic Rectangle Mold

Plaid Video with SoapyLove

October 12, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

When we flew Debbie from SoapyLove up to Bellingham to teach at our sold out Otion Soapmaking Weekend Intensivethere were many, many comments asking for a video of the classes to bring the learning into your own home without having to travel to Bellingham.

Anne-Marie and SoapyLove making soap on the Soap Queen TV set

Debbie and I have done a SoapQueenTV video that is over 13 minutes long and details how to make the amazing plaid soap concept. You can buy access to the video here for $5.95 or buy the video and the supplies kit for under $30 here. The kit comes with access to the video, everything you need to make the soap and a handy full color print out with instructions on how to make the plaid soap.

PS – We’re starting planning for SWI2010 (Soapmaking Weekend Intensive 2010). Are there any teachers you’d like to see on the rostser? Any special projects that would push you over the edge to come and hang out with us for the weekend?

Soap Queen TV: Gingerbread Man Soap

October 8, 2009 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

This gingerbread man soap project has been a favorite of mine for years and is one of the most popular kits at Bramble Berry. Our gingerbread man soap mold is easy to use and the results are always adorable. I couldn’t resist sharing this classic project, but I wanted to give it fresh, new twist. So I created a little box template that fits the soap perfectly and gives a nice finishing touch as a gift.

Soap Queen TV: Gingerbread Soap Project from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

To make the soap you can just purchase the kit here or get these ingredients individually:
Gingerbread Man Soap Mold
Clear Melt & Pour soap base
White Melt & Pour soap base
Merlot Mica
Cappuccino Mica
Gingersnap fragrance

To make the box you will need:
Bramble Berry Box Template
Cardstock
Scissors or craft knife
Bone folder or butter knife
Glue stick or double stick tape
Ribbon