It is mid-August and just a few days before my daughter’s first birthday and the same few days before the end of my maternity leave. The last one month has been hectic, full of efforts to settle in our new place, prepare for going back to work and have summer fun with my family. Among all this I made time for soaping for this month’s challenge hosted by Amy of Great Cakes Soapworks and for some of my friends who were in need of some summer soap.
I wondered some about what to choose for this month’s challenge. I tried the negative space embeds for July’s color challenge when I used differently colored opaque soap for the embeds. That’s why I guess I decided to use transparent soap for the negatives space embeds this time. I was really at a loss what design to choose but, fortunately, I got across a picture of a beautiful suncatcher and thought that it would be great to make a suncatcher soap. But soon after I saw the picture of the suncatcher, I found another one of sea glass beads and (who would have guessed?) decided that I wanted to try a sea glass soap, too. Since my time for soaping has been so little this month I made two different soaps at the same time – using individual molds (milk packs cut into halves) made it possible so I had to only prepare all the colorants (micas) and get started. Of the two soaps I made, I chose the Sea Glass for the challenge.
I have to say though that coloring the base and swirling the soap was the easiest part of this project. As I wanted to have spaces of different sizes I had to use plastic straws of three different sizes. And Gosh, was it difficult to cut the holes! I began making the holes when the soap was still somewhat soft but the cutouts would not behave – no matter how hard or gently I tried they would not come out.
So I waited for a night and tried again the next morning and – to my surprise – there was no problem this time. The soap would stick inside the straws and come out smoothly.
And then came the next hurdle. Coloring the transparent soap and getting it into the tiniest of the holes without letting in any air bubbles. And here I think I was not so successful. Some air went in and for some of the soap I used too much mica which made the soap less transparent than the image I had in my mind.
Here is a picture of the soap before I trimmed it into a (little bit) better shape.
I love how the swirl came out and the color combination – it is very summer-y. It makes me think of sunshine, beach and the sea.
And my other soap, the Suncatcher. I did the faux funnel swirl, two rounds only but as I needed more impact, I also used some mica in oil to enhance the line of the suncatcher wire.
I have loved all of Amy’s challenges because I learn something new in each of them This time I realized (though a little too late) that whenever I want my transparent soap to look really transparent, i have to go easy with the mica.
Thank you Amy for hosting this challenge and the inspiration for yet another wonderful project!
I am very much looking forward to seeing all soapy beauties this month!
Maya
AWESOME, always look forward to seeing your creativity with your soap entries.
Thank you so much, Jjbaze!
Fantastic! I love the ideas that you come up with and the first soap is absolutely beautiful. What fragences did you use?
Thank you, Veronica! It is always a lot of fun to try new patterns and color combinations 🙂
For the first soap, I used patchouli, orange and just a hint of mint. For the second one, I was planning to use patchouli and lavender but I forgot to add the blend…So the Suncatcher soap is unscented. Oh well, Everybody forgets sometimes…
This is art !!! Really beautiful and well thought out.
Thank you, Suzy! I never thought of this soap as art but am happy to hear that! It was fun making it and as soon as I have some more time on my hands I will try other patterns.
Wow, your soap turned out beautiful!!!
Thank you, Janet!
How fun!! They are both beautiful, but I do love the sea glass one. 🙂 The base soap really sets off the transparent negative space.
Yes, it is fun combining opaque and transparent soap. Though I like the pattern of the suncatcher, the sea glass stands out because of the colors.
Wow. They both turned out great. And a the photos really show off the melt and pour soap.
Thank you, Bonnie. I think I was lucky this time – cutting out the negative spaces was a hard task and I was not sure whether the transparent soap would look transparent.
Beautiful as usual, Maya! I love both of your soaps.
Thank you so much, Debbie!
You did a beautiful job with both soaps Maya, great colors too!
Thank you, Zahida!
Oh my gosh that’s beautiful! What a wonderful blend of colours and opaques and transparents.
Thank you, Monica! With this project I realized that combining opaque and transparent soap opens the door to an entirely new world. It is fascinating to work with both types of soap at the same time.
The idea of sea glass was brilliant, and the way you carried the idea off is just lovely. I always love the look of M&P and CP combined, and this is a beautiful example.
Thank you, Lisa. I am quite happy with the result though I think that next time I use transparent soap I will do a couple of things slightly differently 🙂
Maya, This is so stunning- What a creative design with the varied circles and the transparent soap! It is also helpful to learn what worked for you and didn’t. I have to give this a try.
Thank you, J. It was fun making it, but I think it is always fun to make something new. Please try it some day, just be sure to have several hours because it does take time to fill the tiny holes one by one. I will be happy to see your interpretation!
Love them both, especially the first one! So creative and unique! Which one was your entry? I hope you took a photo of both!
Thank you, Maja. The blue-and-orange one was my entry and I did take some photos though I have not yet tried making videos. With the tiny spaces in Tokyo, it is almost impossible to position a video camera so that you can film the soapmaking well…
You really did a grate job! Both soaps turned beautiful and all energy installed was worth of it!
Thank you, Gordana. I definately enjoyed making them and very much hope to be able to spare several hours again so that I can make some other soaps similar to these 🙂
What a great design idea! And the droplet shape in the second soap is charming. Those soaps really look like jewels. Bravo!