SMF June Challenge Peacock Swirls

1. toxikon - Oo oo so pretty!

2. Omneya- have always wanted to try this

3. earlene - this looks like fun

4. SunRiseArts - Never made peacock swirl, but I want to learn!

5. KCHaystack - You played with me, so I feel I need to return the favor.

6. jewels621 - I'm a peacock swirl/soap challenge virgin, but I'm in!

7. dibbles - you guys will get me through my To Try list yet

8. Dahila - hopefully my hubby will finish my slab mould

9. BattleGnome - if I'm lucky I'll be able to find something for a slab mold soon

10. Soapprentice- time to take out the box my iPad came in again.

11. Cherrycoke216 - After a long stormy pouring rain market day...And now I'm signing up a whole new world I have never traveled

12. CaraBou - Get ready for an upside down pic - I'll be on vacation when the entry thread is open, with nothing but my cell phone

SunRiseArts said:

Thank you! Any particular oil you recommend to mix the gold mica? I have 24k gold mica, and diamond dust, and I love them.

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I just use one of my liquid base oils, usually olive

SunRiseArts said:

I made a practice one too. It was a one bar ( I know), but it was a total failure. I think 2 ways. I used a plastic comb, and the spaces were probably too small?

And also, someone please help me. I do not know when stop beating the batter. I have almost 2 years experience, but always made HP, nit CP, so I am at odds as to when can I stop so I can play with swirls and all.:headbanging:

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As dibbles said,newbie made a really useful video which should give you a visual guide. I literally mix the bare minimum possible, then when the colours are mixed I leave it to stand for a bit before pouring so I can check that the oils aren't going to separate out.

In case I wasn't clear, you don't have to mix mica in oil if you don't want to for one of your colours. You can just colour all your soap batter as you would normally do.

Thank you all so much. The video was super helpful. I am a visual person, so yes, I have been beating my batter too much.

Always afraid it would not soapify ( I know is not a word, ha ha ).

I will try again one more time to see if I can play.

Apparently my technique sucks. But I still got a pretty soap! Hope I have time for another go.

1. toxikon - Oo oo so pretty!

2. Omneya- have always wanted to try this

3. earlene - this looks like fun

4. SunRiseArts - Never made peacock swirl, but I want to learn!

5. KCHaystack - You played with me, so I feel I need to return the favor.

6. jewels621 - I'm a peacock swirl/soap challenge virgin, but I'm in!

7. dibbles - you guys will get me through my To Try list yet

8. Dahila - hopefully my hubby will finish my slab mould

9. BattleGnome - if I'm lucky I'll be able to find something for a slab mold soon

10. Soapprentice- time to take out the box my iPad came in again.

11. Cherrycoke216 - After a long stormy pouring rain market day...And now I'm signing up a whole new world I have never traveled

12. CaraBou - Get ready for an upside down pic - I'll be on vacation when the entry thread is open, with nothing but my cell phone

13.Cobbsie - Never say never!...first peacock swirl and first challenge should be fun! (I'm sure I'll be at 50 posts before the start )

cobbsie said:

(I'm sure I'll be at 50 posts before the start )

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Go cobbsie go!!

1. toxikon - Oo oo so pretty!

2. Omneya- have always wanted to try this

3. earlene - this looks like fun

4. SunRiseArts - Never made peacock swirl, but I want to learn!

5. KCHaystack - You played with me, so I feel I need to return the favor.

6. jewels621 - I'm a peacock swirl/soap challenge virgin, but I'm in!

7. dibbles - you guys will get me through my To Try list yet

8. Dahila - hopefully my hubby will finish my slab mould

9. BattleGnome - if I'm lucky I'll be able to find something for a slab mold soon

10. Soapprentice- time to take out the box my iPad came in again.

11. Cherrycoke216 - After a long stormy pouring rain market day...And now I'm signing up a whole new world I have never traveled

12. CaraBou - Get ready for an upside down pic - I'll be on vacation when the entry thread is open, with nothing but my cell phone

13.Cobbsie - Never say never!...first peacock swirl and first challenge should be fun! (I'm sure I'll be at 50 posts before the start 

14. Artemis - Might be my only soap attempt for the month of June!

I just figured out that my BRILLIANT plan does not fit the rules of the challenge. Now I have to decide if I'm going to do it anyway and not enter it, or totally alter my plan... I really only have time for the one batch this time around.

Oh no! Why doesn't it fit?

Saponista said:

Oh no! Why doesn't it fit?

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Because I had the bright idea of doing a textural peacock swirl. I thought I would soap a little thicker, letting the tool drag through PLAIN batter, leaving just the drag lines. So many of the examples I see have an interesting pattern not just in the colors, but in the 3 dimensional lines. Maybe I will exlore that idea some other time. So, it won't work since it would only have the one color. I read the rules too quickly.

Artemis, that sounds like it would be very nice. When you do do it, I would love to see how it turns out.

I cut my practice soap today. I used way too much black, but it's still nice soap.

Yesterday I started on my entry hopeful (we'll see, it may just end up being another practice soap.) Before starting I decided to do it in two layers, doing a peacock swirl in each layer, so I divided the oil mix in half and also the lye solution halved. I went to measure out my FO and realized I didn't have enough, so had to look for another. Well I like Lily of the Valley and the last couple of times I used it, I didn't experience any problems, even though I have read it can accelerate. Of course, this time it did. I put half of it into the oils for the bottom layer and by the time I used my handy-dandy newly made giant swirl comb, it was so thick that my tool created trenches like the red sea parting for Moses. I tapped it down to flatten it back out before doing the S pull-down with my chop stick. But apparently I was so 'trench-shy' I was too light handed with the chop stick. I can't even see any change from before doing the S pull-down.

In any case, it's going to have to be turned upside down so it can become the bottom of the bottom layer. At least that's my plan at this point. I did that the last time with the Faux Acrylic Pour and I liked how that worked out. In the meantime, I may choose a slightly different color combo for the top. I used more white and no black this time and I like it better than when I used too much black in my practice soap. But I still think I want at least a tiny bit of black. But no Lily of the Valley FO in the top half of the soap. I may just leave the top fragrance-free if I don't come up with something to complement the LoV that won't accelerate. :think:

I made mine today, and I am so exited! I think I like it ....

Congrats, SRA! I just put my very first peacock swirl to bed in its insulation, hoping for a good gel in a slab mold. Slab molds are not my favorite so we'll see how it goes. All in all, I'm happy with the result, but I can also see myself trying again and again before the deadline. You guys may have just created a (peacock) monster!

lol Jewels, I feel exactly the same way. I like it, even though it was not exactly as planned .... I want to do another one, but have no idea what to do with so much soap!

SunRiseArts said:

lol Jewels, I feel exactly the same way. I like it, even though it was not exactly as planned .... I want to do another one, but have no idea what to do with so much soap!

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I have been using the challenges to supplement my supply of end-of-year teacher gifts. We have school, Sunday school, music teachers, coach...

artemis said:

I have been using the challenges to supplement my supply of end-of-year teacher gifts. We have school, Sunday school, music teachers, coach...

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My friends and family have been enjoying lots of ebru soaps, black and white swirly soaps, unicorn soaps... I definitely enjoy the creativity of these challenges!

well, my youngest is now a senior, so it gets different as they get older. But yeah, I used to do that!

And I only have sons, so they all use my soap, but we are pretty stock up right now, and theyreally could care less about how pretty it is!. But gotta make some more!!!!!

I love the combed batch before doing the feather. It was so pretty that alone!

BTW I tried to do the picock swirl with MP, but the soap hardens too fast! I almost had it!

I give mine away, too. I treat my bible study sisters, my boys and their wives, there's a local center for homeless teens, and I am stashing right now for Healing Haiti (a locally-based missions team). I'm never at a loss as to what to do with the soap....it's the curing space I wish I had more of...or maybe I should say that my husband wishes I had more of! I don't have an issue seeing soap stacked everywhere! I keep reminding him that I could have much worse addictions! :-?

SunRiseArts said:

BTW I tried to do the picock swirl with MP, but the soap hardens too fast! I almost had it!

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I love those colors together. My first Taiwan Swirl was those same colors scented with grapefruit bellini.

Still waiting for the mold :silent:

SunRiseArts said:

well, my youngest is now a senior, so it gets different as they get older.

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My oldest is a junior this year. High school has only increased the number of teachers for us.

I give to the woman shelter during the fall and Christmas. I try to make what we use, as I have limited space for curing.....

artemis said:

My oldest is a junior this year. High school has only increased the number of teachers for us.

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My son's high school is huge! There are over 3200 students. Not easy to know all the teachers :think: