Multi Coloured Gradient

It seems that the only time I am making soap lately is for these challenges. Which is a great thing considering we are coming up to our summer market season. This months challenge is a multi coloured gradient soap. I have done the single colour gradient, with my turkish mocha soap and loved the effect. so I was really looking forward to doing this one.

I pondered what colours to do and one day when my daughter and I were coming home from a day in town the sunset over the mountains was so spectacular, with the snow and clouds over the blue green of the mountains and going up into the pinks of the sunset. I thought that is what I am going to do.

I was a bit worried about the green as I thought I was out of green, but it turned out that I had some green mica, and blue mica then I used fuchsia for the pink. Well I didn't disperse the micas well enough and the mix of both the green and blue looked blah. so I added a bit of blue ultramarine to the blue and the green just had to stay the way it was. I scented with a mix of lemon, lime, rosemary, peppermint and juniper EO's.

Colours all mixed and ready, well almost mixed as I found out too late.

For a change my soap mix behaved perfectly, a tad thin at the start and a tad thick at the end but both were easily workable. I poured and mixed just how I watched in the video. I mucked up the quantities but that is what individual moulds ready on the side are for. Then put it in the oven for the night  

The finished soap just before cutting. I am very happy with it, I just have to pretend that the mica dots are trees on the hills.

HOLLY SWIRL

Another month, another soap club challenge. Amy I really don't know where you get the time and inspiration to keep these amazing challenges coming. I sometimes think to myself how many ways can there be to swirl colours in soap, well I guess the answer to that is the limit of every soap makers imagination. Each one of these challenges has pushed my soaping ability.

 When I saw the Holly Swirl I thought I can cope with this one, I mean it is just an ITP in a base colour. I had four attempts at this one. The first batch stayed too thin, and my ITP colours were not contrasting enough. The second batch again the base color stayed too thin, but the swirled colours were perfect, although again not contrasting enough. But I was happy with the result as it was a deer hunter camo look that I was after, and it is pretty well what I got.

Aussie Bush, scented with EO's of eucalyptus, lemon eucalyptus, peppermint and cedar wood. Deer hunter camo inspired by using venison tallow. The second batch was the same scent and similar colours.

The third attempt was Lavender and Lemongrass Buttermilk soap. I had recently made a big batch of butter as my cows are giving lots of cream and I had to use it up, so I thought to put some buttermilk into soap. I put chilli infused oil into the whole batch, last time I did that it really made a pretty hot pink, but the chilli mustn't have been strong enough. I added pink and yellow clays for the ITP. Again not quite the "holly swirl" but I am still happy with the end result.

Lavender Lemongrass Buttermilk.

Finally I needed to make a new batch of one of my best sellers "Summer Garden" scented with EO's of rose geranium, lavender and lime. I thought what a perfect time to do a colour make over.

Summer Garden coloured with green clay, ultra violet blue, fizzy lemonade, fired up fuchsia.

I was hoping to speed up the trace a tad as I had too many batches that moved too slowly. Of course Rose Geranium sped it up. So it still does not look anything like Holly's swirl, but I really like the effect of it for a fun summery soap. I am not giving up, I will master this technique, maybe next time. But now I can't wait to see what every body elses soaps look like.