Soap Challenge February 2017: CP + MP

I had so much fun last month I just had to do it again! This months challenge was to combine cold process soap with melt and pour soap.

The soap I made didn't quite turn out the way I had it in my mind, but I love how it turned out!

My Master Plan

In my mind I was envisioning a drop swirl. Into the white CP base, I would pour the CP first, and follow that with the MP of the same color in the same location. What I was hoping to get was a translucent shimmery swirl nestled inside the opaque CP swirl. With a clear differentiation between the two.

How it Went Down

I used clear M&P soap and Energy fragrance oil from Bramble Berry, micas from Mad Micas.

 The MP soap got melted down and color was added.

I mixed the CP base to just an emulsion and poured off into individual containers.

CP and MP were alternated along the same path until all the soap was almost gone.

Cold Process

Melt & Pour

A swirl was added to the top with the rest of the soap.

The Reveal

What I ended up with was amazing, although not what I had been hoping for. There was no clear differentiation between the CP and MP swirls, I have a feeling that it was because I made my MP colors too dark and didn't leave it clear enough. It was quite challenging to manage EIGHT different cups of soap, especially with the MP which I had to keep fluid, so considering how it turned out it would have been way easier to just do MP swirls and not the CP with it. Oh well...that's how we learn!!

Soap Challenge January 2017: Collaboration

UPDATE: We got 4th place in the contest!! We were out of prize contention, but still, not bad for our first time!! Check out the winners here, and to see all the entries, click here.

I used to make soap. I used to sell soap. I took a long break from making soap and now I am making soap again.

After I made that first simple batch in October I was hooked all over again! I started joining groups on Facebook, watching YouTube videos, and revisiting my favorite blogs and realized that soapy creativity had soared since the last time I had made soap. What I saw was pretty amazing and I knew right away that I had to get back in on that action!

I found that soapers were frequently mentioning the Great Cakes Soap Challenge, so I knew I had to take a look. I found it just in time to sign up for the January challenge and because there was the option, I signed up for the two months after that as well.

The January challenge was all about collaboration. I asked my bestie, Rachel, to work with me on this challenge. We ended up making seven batches of soap in that weekend and we had a blast doing it. It was a hard choice, but this is the soap we decided was the winner...

The technique is called the Dancing Funnel Swirl. I had watched several YouTube videos about this one and knew we were going to have to give it a try. I think is is fantastic for having been our first time!

Here is a recap of our soapy weekend collaboration:

Of course, no one wants to soap on an empty stomach, so a pizza delivery was required! Yum!!

Don't worry, we cleared away all the food before we got started! 

Soaping supplies out and ready...

 Rachel mixing up the lye water and measuring out the oils...

Me scooping out the coconut oil...

A few of our first tries...

We saved the best for last.

Here is Rachel pouring the soap to mix the colors:

My turn (I, of course, had to do the pink!)

Rachel's turn (She did the purple and teal)

Ta-da!!

Our only regret was that we didn't have a third person there helping us take the pictures. What you don't see is that we each had two squeeze bottles in our hands and taking turns squirting the soap into the mold. It was quite entertaining, but definitely hard to get great photos!!

All of our soaps resting...

We made a lot of soap!!

Finally, the unveiling...

And all cleaned up...

We totally thought these looked like something from Dr. Seuss, so we are calling this soap, "Seussical Swirls"!

This soap challenge was a blast and I am so glad that my first challenge ever was the Collaboration Challenge! I am super excited and already have ideas swirling around in my head for next month!

UFO Wrangling - Round 'em up, Move 'em out.

UFO Sightings

For those of you who don't know, a UFO is an Unfinished Object. UFOs are a close cousin to the WIP, or Work in Progress. To me, the distinction is that WIPs have progress in them, forward momentum. You might not be working on it everyday and it may not be the only thing you are working on, but it's being worked on nonetheless. You will either finish it or it will turn into a UFO.

One does not have to be multicrafty to have UFOs. Even if you are craft monogamous, some projects get started with good intentions, only to be left languishing for one reason or another. Take a look around and I am sure you will be able to find at least one unfinished project laying about. No, really, take a look around. Gather them up...all of them. I will wait.

Got 'em? Good. Now, what are we going to do with them? Finish them? Perhaps not. So let's take a look at the situation...

Is it something you even WANT to finish?

There is no shame in admitting you don't want to finish a project. If the finished product is not something you see yourself enjoying or if it's not something you would want to gift, then GET RID OF IT. NOW. Don't wait. The reality is, you are never going to finish it, so why let it continue to take up valuable crafty real estate?

This is an example of something I really don't want to finish:

Pattern: Baby Sophisticate Jacket

It is a baby sweater that I was going to give to my boss' newborn son. The size is about 6 months and the baby is now almost a year old. It definitely won't fit him and no one I know is expecting. Rrrrrrip....

But I do want to finish it...someday.

That's great! If this is going to be a gift, decide on the recipient and then put a date on it. Most of us are pretty good at working toward deadlines. Birthdays, Christmas, Graduation Day, Mother's Day, Arbor Day, Thursday. These are all great days to give someone a gift! Attach a note to the UFO with the recipients name and the date you want to give it to him or her.

This one is at the top of the "To Finish" list:

Sweater Pattern: Alec XL

This sweater is for my boyfriend. It was supposed to be a Valentine's Day gift, but I (obviously) didn't get it done by then. All that is left are the sleeves and the collar. With focused effort, I should have it done in two weeks. (But if you ask him, he'll say July. Sheesh, either he has no faith in me, or he knows me well!)

Want to keep it for yourself? (Who doesn't love selfish crafting?!) If this is the case, then determine seasonal-ness of the piece. If it is the middle of winter, now would be the perfect time to finish those mittens. January may not be the best time to finish that Christmas tree skirt, because there may be something else you will be able to use sooner.

Here is one for me, but no hurry:

I started this in, oh, about 2003. Yep. It has been a UFO for over 10 years! It is probably my oldest crafty UFO. I would love to finish it this year, but have other things that need to be finished first.

Now what do I do with them?

Your UFOs, once warm and happy in their dark hiding places, are now fully awake and they want you to play with them and feed them! If you have completed the above exercises, hopefully you have culled the herd a bit and the ones that remain should have a purpose. Prioritize! Make an ordered list or put them on a calendar if you want to go the super organized route. Then, keep out a few with the closest deadlines and put the rest away. I would suggest putting them all in one bin or in one location. That way, when you finish one, you can easily grab another.

One last note for now about prioritizing: do you have something that is almost finished? (I once had a project sit for more than a year and all it needed was TWO buttons.) For goodness sake, finish it and move on! It is fun to finish crafty projects and it is very satisfying to check things off of to do lists. Getting one or two UFOs done quickly might be just the spark you need to keep going.

Is that all? 

For us multicrafty individuals, the reality is that there will probably always be UFOs hanging around. You know I am right about this. (I have heard rumors that there does exist a race of humans who actually finish one project before starting another. GASP! I know, crazy, right??!!) The important thing is to keep them from getting out of hand. Don't be afraid to periodically glance over the flock and make some tough decisions about who stays and who goes.

In crafting, we should finish the projects we start. However, something can be "finished" when we make the decision that we don't actually want to finish it. And that's okay.

I think I might need some help with that last part. 

No worries, that's what I am here for! The hardest part is often letting go and I have some pointers for dealing with that, so stay tuned for part two.

The Elliptical Ring

Tuesday Tutorial

Something old, something new.

I was looking through my jewelry box a few weeks ago and found a necklace that I had picked up ages ago. I never liked the setting, but I loved the stones that were used. When I saw it again, my crafty brain went into overdrive! I could take it apart and re-make it into something else. Jewelry making is not something I had ever done before, so I had no tools or materials on hand. So I took a trip to my local bead shop for a quick wire wrapping lesson and left with some wire, some tools and a few beads. I finished that project and still had some stuff left over, so I decided to try something else.

My First Instagram!

It looks like it is about time for a crafty cork project!

Lucky Number 13

Today is my son's 13th birthday. And boy, oh boy, have those years been crazy! When I think about the events of the past 13 years, I find it fitting that this blog is launching today and that this is the first post.

Actually, I wasn't planning in launching just yet. I still have lots of things to do to get it ready, but I couldn't pass up the chance to mark this occasion. It would be so great to be here on his 18th birthday and marking the blog's 5th anniversary. It certainly feels like I have five years worth of ideas swimming around in my brain!

Happy birthday, Jared! I hope the number 13 is lucky for both of us in 2014.

To the rest of you...I will see you here again soon!