Neroli, Amber, Rose...oh my! And Mad Oils!

My first order from Mad Oils! So excited!

Over last week, I finally took the dive. I ordered some new supplies from mad Oils, and I absolutely love it! I received rosebuds, hibiscus petals, cornflower petals, and tea tree essential oil. They even included a little sample fragrance oil (It smells like Christmas in a bottle!) and a bit of sample mica. I've already used these in some soaps that you can see below!

So, first off we have my latest Amber handmade soap, scented with Amber fragrance oil from Bramble Berry, along with the cornflower petals from Mad Oils. Gorgeous!

I also made a Neroli & Shea soap, scented with Neroli & Shea Blossom from bramble Berry (I have SO MUCH of this from the samples!) and decorated with hibiscus petals and rosebuds. I love how this one came out, nice and white, no discoloration, and no acceleration. Fantastic!

I also got around to redoing my Etsy store with all my latest soaps, and you can view them here.

I do plan on ordering a bunch of new exfoliants, and I need to restock my castor oil and palm kernel -- order one and run out of two more! Oy.

I also entered Kenna's (from Modern Soapmaking) contest for Gratitude Soapery. I'm very excited for the opportunity, and if chosen will consolidate my Unique Useables with Gratitude -- and have a little leg up in the world to get everything up and going. So many things!

So, my soapy fellows -- anyone tried anything new lately? Let me know in the comments!

Update on Life and crazy happenings..

Man, it's been forever. Or it seems like it.

I'm such a horrible blogger, haha. At least this little break wasn't like the LAST hiatus I had! So to give you guys an update on my current standing...

1. I'm finally out of my old job! No more call center. :)

2. I have a slight break between jobs which will mean MOAR SOAP!

3. I DO have some soaps I've made since the Warm Vanilla Sugar batch, but I still need to photograph them. Namely, I made a batch of Lavender, I resupplied a client with her custom order of my new Energize blend (Lemongrass, bergamot, and listea), and another custom order soap from coworkers, a Lemongrass Mint!

4. I have so many plans for new soaps! I have an order shipping in from Mad Oils (so excited! They're fabulous; find them here)

5. I keep my Facebook more up to date than my blog (sometimes), so if you ladies/gents want, you can follow my page here.

6. So outside of my move form SC to WA, the reason we have been so busy lately is we moved from Bremerton WA to Tacoma WA to be closer to Jay's job, get better pricing on rent, and really just get out of Kidnap County --- oh I'm sorry, I meant Kitsap. :)

7. Sadness for the move, though, because I could not bring my lovely furbabies with me.. They are now happy in another home, and my heart is heavier for it.

Lessa and Ramoth, spooning in Jay's chair.

8. Furbabies that we COULD have, however, included rats! Working with a lovely lady out of West Seattle through Craigslist, I was able to relocate three amazingly cute baby boys!

 From left to right: Larry, Moe, and Curly

I'm sure they will find ways to help me during my soapy excavations. :)

9. So my new job will be work from home, same sort of stuff I did at the call center just different client. And with the advantage of saving 300+/mo on gas and toll costs, it will allow me to focus on my soaping in my free time!

Once again, I apologize for being so busy, but we can all see HOW busy its gotten! Once I get my next batch of soap out, I will post a soapy update!

Warm Vanilla Sugar (And plans!)

I would like to think I've been a busy, busy bee over the last few weeks.

And in a way, I have. But I also haven't.

I did, however, make a new batch of delicious smelling soap. Warm vanilla sugar. This was actually a request from a coworker, whose face lit up when I brought her a few bars when she was in the hospital for surgery last week.

Delicate little swirls!

I love how the little sugar beads look, though they sort of melted a little bit as it heated. :(

I used the hangar swirl technique to get the white swirls with the layer on top.

I'll be working on some more batches soon enough -- right now I'm focusing on saving money for our next move, plus a week long trip to Cali for my boyfriend's cousin's wedding. Woohoo!

Hiatus Over! Cherry blossoms, Rain, and Chamomile to soothe the soul..

I am so excited with everything that has been going on in my life. I know, I know, it's been nearly a year since I posted, but guys -- man, have I got some catching up to do!

Instead of the BMW hire I had been hoping to get, I started working at ZF Transmissions in Gray Court, SC. It was a plant job, and I was doing some German translation, which was super cool, but my shifts were 12-hours every single day of the week. No days off, nothing. I made one whole batch of soap for a coworker for a Christmas gift to his family the entire time I worked there. 

A blend of Lemongrass, Listea, and Lemon essential oils with poppy seeds for exfoliant!

After Christmas, I started speaking to a long time friend of mine -- I've known this boy for about 13 years now, we've known each other since we were kids. I really wanted a fresh start, to just move out of the state that seemed to harbor all my troubles. After lots of consulting with friends and coworkers, I decided it was the best move for me. My friend, Jay, lived in Washington state, so it was a daunting prospect. Slowly, between December and January 12, I began giving away/donating my stuff to friends or Goodwill, shipping out necessary items, or giving things to people for safekeeping. I flew out January 12, leaving my car to my uncle and signing it over to him. I landed January 13, with barely anything to my name aside from the stuff I was waiting to arrive and a lot less baggage.

Some people call it running away. I just saw it as a chance to start over.

I got a job in a call center not far from home (it was about a 35 minute walk) to make money while i slowly built up my soapmaking stash again. One of my friends from SC is actually moving up here with me this summer, and he plans on driving the trip, so he'll be bringing some of the stash I left in SC for safekeeping with a friend. On top of the job, I've also acquired a new car! (New to me, of course. I'm broke!)

The move wasn't easy, BUT -- I am here to show you how amazing my life has gotten! With some amazing soaps tied in.

I know I've said it before, I dont usually post personal stuff on here, but I feel like my old loyal readers (Jenny! <3) would like to know why I dropped off to nowhere. I'm here to tell you it was every bit as worth it as it was needed.

First of all, Jay and I have started dating. He was my childhood crush, which we touched on at the time when we were kids, but he was incredibly loyal and was already seeing someone. So I moved on, and we sort of inadvertently kept chasing each other for nearly 14 years. With me starting over and actually living where he is, I figured I would go with the advice my dad always gave me: your soulmate is usually your best friend, and you never even realize it. He married his best friend 23 years ago, and they are still every bit as in love as when they started. So here we are, taking a chance for us for once.

Jay and I out on the bluffs. I havent smiled like that in years! Also, ignore the white streaks in my hair.

I also picked up snowboarding, and ATVing. Which are both as dangerous and crazy as they sound. I can't tell you how many weekends I've spend barreling down the aide of a mountain while cartwheeling, the affectionate term Jay uses for my wipe-outs, considering I tend to fall hand over heels the whole way down.

So with Washington, the first few soaps I made sort of resembled the new change in direction. First, I made a cherry blossom scented soap, with my usual recipe, using the Brambleberry FO (shipping is so much better when you live pretty darn close to it!)

These are EVERYWHERE here.This one is in my friend's yard.

I used the normal recipe with the FO, and then I did a mica oil swirl on top. Inside, I used charcoal for black and a red mica from The Conservatorie to really make it pop, and did a simple swirl inside.

Next, I main a soap using BB's Rain type FO. Appropriate, for the mists that seem to plague WA weather.

This one I did TD on the bottom and a blue swirl on top, also with mica oil swirls. I got on a kick, what can I say?

I also made a Lavender Chamomile Huggies type, which I absolutely LOVE LOVE LOVE.

It was lightened using TD, mica oil swirl on top of purple, with little sugar pearls on top as well. I learned not to CPOP those like I usually do though -- sugar pearls turn into black blobs when baked. :(

I appreciate all of you for following my blog and being interested in where this crazy journey takes me. My next soaps are going to be an Amber soap, a new Lavender, and Warm Vanilla Sugar! Stay tuned~

Life and general happenings

I dont usually post personal things on here, as this is the place for my soapy sensations, but lately a lot of stuff has happened. For those of you who have noticed the absence, I'm drifting from place to place around my hometown to stay with whoever I can, and hopefully in the next few weeks I will begin working for the BMW plant 30 minutes away. My goal is by September or October to have my own apartment, and then I will begin full production of soaps again. I will likely work the night shift, which is fine with me, but with things happening the way they are there isnt much time left for soaping.

I did, however, make more of my man-bar, Rustic for Men, last week. Here it is, all wet and in the mold!

Soap Updates: Shaving, Salt, and Lavender!

So I've been making a lot of soap over the past few weeks -- just never got around to posting it! 

First off, here are my cut Goat's Milk bars -- scented with Clothespins, a very delicate, clean fragrance.

Also, here's the shaving soap I made, using Jenny's blog post as a guide: http://lather-be-soaping.blogspot.com/2013/01/shaving-soap-then-and-now.html

I also made a Margarita-themed Salt soap bar, using Kosher salt, with a light yellow-green swirl and kosher salt, with a limey scent

Today, after getting my supplies in, I reused two half-n-half containers, one has Cucumber Mint inside, the other, one of the Bramble blends I received -- I'm calling it Dragonfruit!

And last but not least, my latest take on my lavender soap:

Thanks for checking them out, and happy soaping!

Bramble Berry Goodies!

Well, for those of you who keep up with my  soapy ramblings, you know that bramble Berry selected my Peacock Swirl soap as Facebook Photo of the Week.

Today, I got my box of goodies from Bramble Berry! Yay!

It almost all didn't fit into my soft light box!

I've been wanting to try Aloe Very gel for some time now, and I use castor oil in all my recipes to boost lather -- the more the merrier! LOVE the adorable notebook they sent, and the Soap Queen notepads are lovely (I want an apron so bad!). These scents are TO DIE FOR, by the way.

The cherry almond was used by one of the MP soapy swappers I got, and I love how it came out in the soap. Not overly sweet, and not heavily almond (I don't like almond scents.) This one seems like a lovely happy median.

One of the scent blends is Hungarian Lavender, Lemon EP and Strawberry (1:2:1) -- I love this one!  Sharp citrus with a subtle floral sweetness. 

The other blend is Hungarian Lavender, Pomegranate&Black Currant (1:1) -- This one is also sweet with a subtle hint of lavender; it reminds me of how the old Dragonfruit SoBe's used to smell (GOD I miss those drinks!)

Also got an ultramarine violet color block for MP soaps -- I still have some soap base lying around somewhere. ;)

Thanks to everyone at Bramble Berry for the amazing soapy package! I can;t WAIT to try these scents out and make more awesome swirls! Just have to wait for my sodium lactate to get here ;D

Soapy Swap Update #2!

I was excited to find a package slip in my post office box this afternoon, as it meant the rest of my soapy swap soaps had arrived! As you guys know (if you're been reading), I participated in both the melt and pour AND the cold process swaps, as it was my first one, and I wanted to have a large sampling of other soaper's work to examine and analyze and pour over and sniff and USE. Because it's what I do! Yaay, OCD.

So, without further ado, the soaps!

I got a soap from QUEBEC. How cool is that!? Unfortunately, I don't speak French. :( I DO know that the name translates to The Daughter of the Sea (Yay Google!). First off, this soap is incredibly adorable! It's a very crisp rosy scent, though I don't think the fragrance is mentioned. The name of the soap is Apple and Pink, and it's made using Magdalen Island's Honey, which I've never heard of before. This bar is very sturdy, and I adore the mica swirls on top! And the little rose :O

Next up is Fresh Linen & Lavender from Joyful Sundries!  I love the simplicity of this packaging. The ribbon of cloth makes a lovely subdued compliment to the naturally colored soap. The top has hints of lavender blossoms, and the scent is definitely a keeper.

Cinnamon Ridge Fragrance Company used Cranberry Pomegranate -- which is also another favorite of mine. I used to use little car fresheners that smelled like this soap does! It's interesting to see the soaps packaged in muslin bags -- I'd never considered that one before! Maybe a packaging switch is in store in my future... 

Oh man. I could eat this. Seriously. It isn't an overpowering fragrance. They used Dark Chocolate and Cream Cheese Frosting FO, and oh my god, I think I may have found an artificial chocolate scent I enjoy. It's also naturally colored with cocoa powder, and I love that I got a round soap! I've been wanting to make some for a while, but I have no containers, except for a grits one I've been saving -- though that would make a sizeable circle. Okay, before I eat this one, I need to stop sniffing it. Or maybe just one more little one...mmmm.

And from Bubblin' Glenn, we have their Lounge Lizard soap! Love the swirls with this one -- their activated charcoal black is SO INCREDIBLY BLACK. I wonder how much they used! I need my blacks to be that dark. And stiking the label TO the soap! Very nifty idea, and probably saves a lot of time. Not sure about the scent on this one; it's musky and lightly minty, but it wasn't included in the description. :(

I've never smelled Tea Tree oil before. Cue my surprise when I took a decidedly strong sniff of this one out of the bag. COUGH. Yeah, lesson learned. :) Raven and Rain Soap Co send their Rosemary Tea Tree Oil Shampoo bars, which is EXCITING because I want to try shampoo bars but havent because I'm chicken and my scalp can decide to be -quite- flaky. So I'm very terrified to try anything that isn't Head and Shoulders or Pert Plus (do they even make this one anymore? I remember my grandad using it). Not sure if tea tree oil would do the trick for me with that one though...I do need to invest in tea tree oil, however. ITS SO DANG EXPENSIVE. It makes my soapy-trickle funds sad.

I LOVE THIS SOAP. It literally smells like I just popped open a Ginger Ale. I can't even process this! Oy! And I obviously cannot drink this one. :( Sad Ashley is sad. This soap is lovingly brought to you by Pine Place Market Soaps, and I have now decided that I need Ginger Ale Fragrance Oil IN MY LIFE RIGHT NOW. Love the sparklies on the white embeds, too.

Maitri Bath and Body LLC gave their Beau Brummel soap, scented with "a heady tobacco fragrance." Not sure if that includes marijuana, but it sounds like it. :) And this one is a Goats milk soap! Awesome! I have something to compare my goat's milk soap to. Which I'll post cut pictures of later by the way. ;)

COFFEE BEANS. I smelled them INSTANTLY. Yum! This soap is from Rustic Relevance.  While I'm not a huge fan of leather fragrance oils (yuck) I DO think that the natural coffee bean aroma compliments it nicely. Smells like my great grandfather, who loved his old leather jacket and always had that coffee-tobacco smell about him. :) Love the very low-key packaging to it. I LOVE KRAFT COLORS. There, I said it. I can be admitted now.

Mud Creek Alchemy scented their soap with Spiced Mahogany -- which smells incredibly enticing and masculine and yum. I might have to see if one of the boys wants this soap. And it's HOT PROCESS! So happy to have gotten one of these. I started with hot processed soaps myself, but they seemed so squishy. This one does have sodium lactate in it, though -- I also have to invest in that stuff, too! I'm too impatient to wait 3-4 days to unmold my soap, so I'm usually stuck cutting it out of my HDPE molds after 24 hours.

Ida Rose's soap is scented a very light Spearmint Eucalyptus. It comes off very clean, and not heavily minty.  Also enjoy the textured tops on this one, very nice and simple. 

Lavender Chamomile! Yay! I loved this Huggies scent (we use wipes to clean up the kitties sometimes) and I absolutely ADORE this packaging! Too time consuming for me personally, but very lovely. This one is made by Susan's Handmade Soap. Love the fact that the soap bar is kept simple as well, with a nicely textured top.

SO, those are my CP soaps for the CP part of my BB soap swap! So many repetitive letters, haha. :)

Thank you all for listening to my crazy ramblings, and as always, happy soaping!