Aug 2018 SMF Challenge - Dancing Funnel Pour

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earlene

Grandmother & Soaper
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PLEASE BE SURE TO READ THIS FIRST (and ALL Rules)-
General Rules:
1. The only members eligible to vote are those with their names on the sign up list - regardless of whether or not you have submitted an entry.
2. This month’s voting will be password locked. Passwords will be PM'ed to registered participants ONLY. So please check your PM's when the voting begins.
3. No posting your entry photos until the entry thread is made. Non entry photos are very welcome!
4. You are allowed to change your entry photo up until the entry thread closes. So if you decide after you post your entry you want another try, and you like the second better, you can change it up until the deadline.
SMF Challenge General Rules
· To enter you must have a minimum of 50 posts and been a member for a month (sorry but no exceptions on this)
· Please add your name to the sign up list if you wish to participate (however, you don’t have to enter a soap at the end if you don’t feel happy with what you have produced)
· The challenge thread should be used to upload pictures of any of your challenge attempts where you can ask for advice and discuss the technique with other members.
· Constructive criticism is welcomed, but please try to keep your comments polite.
· Competition entries must be uploaded to the separate entry thread before the closing date. The thread will open on Aug. 26, 2018 (Please follow the challenge specific rules as to what you need to enter)
· After the closing date Aug. 30, 2018 at 11:59 pm CST the winning entry will be chosen using survey monkey and the winner announced on Aug. 31, 2018. There is no prize attached to this challenge.
· If you fail to make the challenge deadline, you are still welcome to upload your soap onto the thread, but your entry will not be eligible for voting. We still love to see anything you have produced.
· Even though there is no prize, this is still a competition. If your entry is deemed not to fulfil the general rules or the rules specific to the challenge in any way, then you will be given the opportunity to amend your entry. If this is not possible then your entry will not be included in the voting.
· All the challenge mods reserve the right to have the final say on whether a soap is eligible for for voting.
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The August 2018 SMF Challenge is the Dancing Funnel Pour.
Rules for the this month’s challenge:
Use a minimum of 2 colors.
Use a slab mold, or a mold in which you can cut the soap in a slab-like cut (horizontal vs..
Use 2 or more squeeze bottles (one for each color). If you don’t have squeeze bottles, you can devise an alternative, such as a plastic baggie with a corner cut to use like a squeeze bottle, but it may be more difficult to manage without actual squeeze bottles.
This is a CP technique. However, if anyone is creative enough to figure out how it can be done using HP or MP please feel free to do so.

A slow moving (slow-to-trace) recipe helps a lot to give you as much time to work as possible, as does soaping cool. When you first start out this can be rather time consuming.
Credit for this technique goes to Tatsiana Serko and Jelena Vasiljeva. To read more about their inspiration here are some links:
Jelena Vasiljeva’s blog post dated February 1, 2016 :
http://soaptechniques.blogspot.com/2016/02/my-meeting-with-tatsiana-serko-steso.html
Tatsiana Serko’s blog post dated July 14, 2016:
https://bysteso.blogspot.com/2016/07/dansing-funnel-techniques.html#comment-form
Amy Warden’s Great Cakes Soap Challenge Club - Dancing Funnel Challenge (Aug. 2016):
https://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/index.php/dancing-funnel-challenge-winners/
Debi Olsen’’s blogpost dated Aug. 12, 2016:
http://medoitmeself.com/2016/08/12/great-cakes-soap-challenge-club-dancing-funnel-challenge/
Nejen o mýdle’s blog post dated Aug. 13, 2016:
http://nejenomydle.blogspot.com/2016/08/dancing-funnel-technique-soap-challenge.html
These are all very interesting and contain a lot of background information as well as some on how to successfully create a soap using this technique.
I first used this technique as taught in an advanced swirls class I took in June 2017, and have wanted it to be one of our Challenges, so here it is! I was surely challenged trying to make the ‘perfect’ Dancing Funnel soap and soap making video as well.

If you want to forego my own video, take a look at this one, which is short and sweet and shows the technique very well:

This is the video I made in which I demonstrate my last 5 attempts at this technique.

Here are some photos of the finished soap I made, but you will also see some excellent examples when you look at the blogpost links I included above.
Pictured below are four of the 5 Dancing Funnel Soaps I made in July, all of which show that a lot more practice is required. A slow moving recipe and NOT stick blending is the key to perfecting this technique.

full

The fifth soap is pictured in the Challenge video.
Below are some examples of the results when this skill is perfected:
By Jelena:
Kumquat%2B-%2BCP%2Bsoap%2B-%2BFaux%2BFunnel.jpg

By Tatsiana:
DSC_0488.jpg

Thanks for participating and please sign up using the sign up sheet below.
Enjoy!
Edited to correct erroneous link. Thank you, artemis!
 
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I guess I'm in a Kapia Mera mood today:
Also, Earlene, the link you have for Amy Warden's challenge is the same as the one you have for Debi Olsen's blog.
And why would we pass up the chance to match your voice to your name? Thanks for the demo! With all those spots, how long did it take to make one batch?
 
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Sign up Sheet -

1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
 
I guess I'm in a Kapia Mera mood today:

Also, Earlene, the link you have for Amy Warden's challenge is the same as the one you have for Debi Olsen's blog.

And why would we pass up the chance to match your voice to your name? Thanks for the demo! With all those spots, how long did it take to make one batch?


Thank you, artemis! I'm so glad you caught that & let me know while I could still edit and correct that error.

I also adore Kapia Mera's style. That's a beautiful example.

Nice video earlene!!

Thank you, dibbles! I have a ways to go yet to even begin master that software; it is a powerful program and I see so much potential it's mind boggling. Stretching my mind and pushing the limits of my education is one of the ways I enjoy growing, which why I love learning new things like creative software and intricate soapmaking techniques. Now if I can just learn to master the Dancing Funnel!
 
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Sign up Sheet -

1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
 
Sign up Sheet -

1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
5. scard - I can dance...not! but I'll try
 
Last edited by a moderator:
1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
5. Scard - I can dance...not! but I'll try
6. Artemis - we'll see if I have time to play!
 
Oh goodness, I'm so excited to see the entries for this challenge! I tried this technique a week ago and boy was the result kind of ugly! Good luck everyone!
 
♪ ♫"We can dance if we want to, we can leave your friends behind
Cause your friends don't dance and if they don't dance
Well they're are no friends of mine"♫ ♪

1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
5. Scard - I can dance...not! but I'll try
6. Artemis - we'll see if I have time to play!
7. jcandleattic - Maybe I'll actually have time to join this one?
 
1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
5. Scard - I can dance...not! but I'll try
6. Artemis - we'll see if I have time to play!
7. jcandleattic - Maybe I'll actually have time to join this one?
8. BattleGnome - mold size vs squirt bottle size....
 
New
1. dibbles - happy dancing!
2. shunt - going to try (if I have time)
3. amd - it's been on my "to try list" for several years
4. Misschief - I've tried a couple of times, time to perfect the technique!
5. Scard - I can dance...not! but I'll try
6. Artemis - we'll see if I have time to play!
7. jcandleattic - Maybe I'll actually have time to join this one?
8. BattleGnome - mold size vs squirt bottle size....
9. Primrose - better buy some squirt bottles ...


Lets see if Primrose can actually submit an entry after the last two failed challenges ...
 
Thinking about the capacity of my slab mold... would it be ok if I had a solid layer and used the technique on the top half on my bars? I think my mold holds around 60oz of oils which is way too much for a first time technique. I can easily use my loaf molds but I think this could look cute with a layer somewhere.
 
BattleGnome, yes, that would be okay.

But you're still going to end up with a lot of soap if you need to choose to repeat it 2 or three times to perfect the technique. Of course you might be so much more adept at working with slow moving recipes than I am that you'll get it perfect the first time. Anyway, if you feel the need for a couple of smaller practice runs, you could look around your house for smaller slab mold substitutes. The first time I made it was in a plastic food storage container the size that provided 3 average-sized rectangular bars of soap.

One of my sample soaps pictured in the still shot of four was made that way. It's the one on the right in which you see a black line. Everything below the black line was a different soap base made the day before and kept covered with plastic to keep it soft and extra day.
 
It was pointed out that the original creator of this technique although not fully credited, was La Perle (laperle_yokohama) who posted this to her Instagram account dated Aug. 30 2015 here:
LaPerle2015Aug30.JPG


You will notice that Jalena (soaptechniques) responds with "fantastic soap, I love it!!!" to her post. Jalena's soap that she made and called the 'Traveling Funnel" looks more or less the same as far as technique, so more credit should be attributed to La Perle than previously stated.

This is just to clarify that perhaps the technique may have evolved a bit along the way, but La Perle's soap may have been more than just inspiration.
 
I may have to try this, if I get a soap mold made up in the next few days I'll sign up. Haven't made any soap for a while, it seems to last a long time!
 

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