October 2017 SMF Soap Challenge, simple minimalistic swirl

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Quick question - even though the title says minimalistic 'swirl', not all the examples shown have a swirl. Is a swirl needed for part of the design, or is any minimalist soap design ok?
 
LionPrincess, I am so sorry you will need to have surgery, and also that you have to wait so long for it. I hope your pain eases before the surgery can happen. It sounds like a pretty bad injury.

Well dibbles, I made a promise and rsvp'd to a wedding on the 20th. It's a 5 plus hr drive to see my dad's side of the family. I haven't see my Aunts Uncles or cousins on that side in at least 10 to 15 years. So I asked the doctor if I could wait on the surgery until the 24th. He said it would be okay so that's why I'm waiting. Maybe not the smartest move, but I made an obligation and I need to go.
Thx for the reassuring words everyone:) advil and tylenol are my new best friends lol!
 
Well dibbles, I made a promise and rsvp'd to a wedding on the 20th. It's a 5 plus hr drive to see my dad's side of the family. I haven't see my Aunts Uncles or cousins on that side in at least 10 to 15 years. So I asked the doctor if I could wait on the surgery until the 24th. He said it would be okay so that's why I'm waiting. Maybe not the smartest move, but I made an obligation and I need to go.
Thx for the reassuring words everyone:) advil and tylenol are my new best friends lol!

Enjoy seeing your family. 5 hours in the car is painful enough, without the arm issues.
 
Quick question - even though the title says minimalistic 'swirl', not all the examples shown have a swirl. Is a swirl needed for part of the design, or is any minimalist soap design ok?

Swirls are not a requirement. The examples show different ideas that you could do. Something like claras solid color with a design in mica drawn on top works, for example. I just said simple minimalistic swirl because I really didn't know what else to call this technique. I guess it got a little confusing, I'm sorry.
 
Swirls are not a requirement. The examples show different ideas that you could do. Something like claras solid color with a design in mica drawn on top works, for example. I just said simple minimalistic swirl because I really didn't know what else to call this technique. I guess it got a little confusing, I'm sorry.

I think I am the only one who was confused. But my new plan doesn't involve a swirl (yet), so even though I thought that would be fine I wanted to check.
 
I think I am the only one who was confused. But my new plan doesn't involve a swirl (yet), so even though I thought that would be fine I wanted to check.

You're not alone ... I thought a swirl was part of the challenge.

There's a lot of scope then ...

I probably won't change mine, too far into it already, but it's going to be fun seeing all the different ideas!
 
Sign up sheet

1. Kittish! Minimalism I can do!

2. MommyCarlson - I'm in!

3. Rusti - me three!

4. jewels621 - coming in off of a post-SoapCon higher! I'm in!

5. dibbles - Love it!

6. BattleGnome - I can tongue-in-cheek make a Christmas present for my minimalist sister

7. Mx6inpenn - I'm thinking Christmas too

8. CaraBou - Oh yeah, uh huh!

9. PenelopeJane - Minimalist is easy! Right??

10. BlackDog - this is probably a lot harder than it looks

11. SunRiseArts I agree with black dog. is a trick!

12. SoapTrey - I sincerely appreciate all the encouragement and because of that I'll give it a shot!

13. Earlene - LOL - Lucky 13

14. Ibct1969 - nervous for my first challenge especially against some SERIOUS talent!

15. SoapAddict - thanks!

16. TheDragonGirl- Its been a while, lets do this thing

17. Soapprentice - Note to self “ do not go over board, it’s a simple and minimalist challenge”

18. SaltedFig - Why not?

19. Artemis - it's time to stock up anyway, right? Right?

20. HowieRoll - been too long since I've been able to participate. Yikes - minimalist = a real challenge for me!

21. Skatergirl46 - I’m in!
22. jules92207 - I need a good excuse to get back in the groove, count me in!
23. Traumabrew
 
I've got two different ideas for approaches to the challenge. I just got my scent mixed for the first one. Ylang ylang and patchouli in almost equal amounts, and a tiny bit of cinnamon leaf. I'm going to use orange peel wax in the soap as well. I don't know how much of the scent of that will come through but it plays nice with the main fragrance. The second one is going to be scented with Green Cognac EO from Eden Botanicals. I got a sample of that with an order, and it smells just amazing right out of the bottle and decided I just had to try it in soap.

....AAaaannd idea number one goes bust as my soap seized on me. One pulse, stir, two pulse, stir, oh frick that's going solid! Mix in color as best I could (shouldn't have done that...) and glomp it into the mold. Bleh.

Further edit: attempt number two seems to have gone off okay. I'm starting to think that orange peel wax contributes to acceleration, but since I stayed away from the stick blender with this batch it went a lot more like I envisioned.

Both batches are hanging out in the oven for the night, I'll check on them in the morning.
 
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Sign up sheet

23. Traumabrew

Traumabrew, thx for joining the challenge! You need a minimum of 50 posts to submit I wanted to mention. Seeing as you're at 48, I wanted to be sure you have 2 more before the thread opens in case you didn't see that part. Not like that's too hard lol, just wanted to be sure. Thx again for coming on board!

Kittish, sorry to hear about the seize! What a bummer.
 
Thanks lionprincess00. I hope your surgery goes well and you're able to heal up quickly. And that you enjoy seeing your family again!

Just peeked in at my soaps, and the seized batch looks... ugly. Set up fine, no separation, it's just... I can't say what color it wound up looking like here. Just think of grass after the goose is done with it... I really hope it mellows as it cures.

The second batch looks oh so much better. I used the same mica to color both batches, and this one looks like the dark green I actually wanted, without that 'somebody ate this already' tinge to it. It's weird. Same soap recipe, same colorants, the only thing I did different was the EOs for fragrance and different designs in the mold. Well, design. The first one was going to have a design, but that didn't work out for me.
 
Is MP ok for this project? I would like to try it on MP too.

I apologize first off. I never thought of melt and pour. Second off as long as it adheres to the rules, yes M&P would work. I'm curious now and excited to see what you have to show! Sometimes we seem to be more CP geared, but MP is absolutely okay.

I do apologize for not giving examples of M and P.
 
Cut my first two attempts for this month's challenge today. The first one I knew already wasn't in any way a contender for the challenge, it accelerated so bad that it was all I could manage to stuff it into a mold before it went completely solid. Cut, it looks every bit as horrid as I thought it might. Goose-$&!@ green with yellow lumps. Yum! The second attempt looks... eh, ok. Technically, it meets the requirements but I'm not thrilled with how it looks. I think I'll set these guys to cure and try again with some other soap recipe (was trying out a new one, figure to kill two birds and all). The scent in both batches is really nice- green cognac in one and a combination of patchouli, ylang ylang and cinnamon in the other (guess which one misbehaved!), and hopefully the soap will turn out to be pretty nice too once it cures. It's just... not pretty.

So now to decide what sort of color scheme I want to go with and accompanying fragrance blend. I'm thinking for at least one of them I'll use the green cognac again, I want to see how it ends up smelling on its own (orange peel wax in the batches for the first set of attempts- carries a really strong orange scent and no idea yet if it'll fade like citrus EOs do). Maybe go with a deep red and some accent color with that, it seems like it might wind up smelling like a lightly fruity wine or port when it's done.
 
No problem! I love MP. Sometimes I think is the ugly ducking around here!

I had left over soap from embeds, and made this. Will something like it qualify?

DSCN1930.JPG


DSCN1931.JPG


DSCN1932.JPG
 
No problem! I love MP. Sometimes I think is the ugly ducking around here!

I had left over soap from embeds, and made this. Will something like it qualify?

I have tried mp and I just am flat out no good at it! I think the soap on the right in the second picture wouldn't qualify because though it is predominantly one main color and the accent used is a very small percentage of the overall amount, the front of the soap looks more busy. The accent is being used much more on top than the main color, and it isn't quite minimal enough. The one on the left in the second picture would qualify because the accent isn't used as much.

Your accent colors need to be minimally used for the design that you choose.

Those are gorgeous though. I can never pull off anything with MP soap!
 
Pretty!

I have attempt number three for the challenge in the mold. I've also got a batch of shaving soap doing its cook thing. Got my second set of shelves fully set up, so suddenly I only have half my racks full! :clap:

Edit: Fingers and toes crossed! Attempt number three is looking good so far. Fairly firm in the mold, but I'm going to let it sit another day before I take it out. No ash at all on top after about 16 hours. The mold came with this clear plastic 'lid' (pretty flimsy, but it fits reasonably well) that I'm using.
 
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