Amy's Organics!!! and I'm In!!!

Well I have been extremely busy with soap making. I've kind of mastered the Sandy Maine Recipe and am still loving it as it is simple and turns out real great! I haven't been writing my blog because as it turns out I just happened to go on the Kiijjii site,its like ebay where you can post ads for stuff for sale and want ads and things. So one morning about a month ago I was poking around the hobbies and crafts section and saw this ad for someone who was looking for someone local who makes handmade soaps....my face dropped, what is this I exclaimed!!!! to my husband John , I emailed her right away and told her I was making soap in my kitchen. This girl Amy is in the process of opening an organic shop and was looking for local artisans to help fill up her new store. It is a country store that is a about 15 mins out of town and she called me, we met and she agreed to put my soap there on consignment. What a break for me!!! I was the only one who answered her ad too by the way.

I have been very busy making soap and getting all my other soaps wrapped and tagged and weighed and going to the printers, I finally bought one so I can print my stuff out at home. thats another story..... buying stuff to make my display for the shop space she's given me. I have been working at cab driving, making soap, walking dog, doing my gardening and housekeeping, running back and forth to her shop and am exhausted but so excited!!!!!

A good recipe!

Okay so I am catching up a little here no pictures ....but my bible has been Sandy Maines, The Soap Book. Her book uses the same ingredients for the soap base and then gives recipes using different scents and oils. I love this book! Its so simple: I'll give it to you....

24 oz olive oil
24 oz coconut oil
38 oz Crisco All Vegetable oil (I use the new w/palm)
12 oz lye
32 oz distilled water

At trace add your Fragrance Oils, Essential Oils your colours if you are marbling your clays or ground exfoliants. mix and put into your molds. I find her book so easy to follow for us beginners! check her out on the web www.sunfeathersoaps.com

*Note* it is always good to check your recipe before you start with www.soapcalc.com
for exact measures. Its easy to follow!

Till next time Happy Soaping!

(Now I am in a panic cause I don't know what I did with her book...Its somewhere in my soap piles I've got going on) I hope!

So much to Learn! Soap Molds

I have been struggling with the unification of my soap bars. I have one wooden log mold which I like, another is a plastic mold which was okay at first but the last batch of soap I made with it the sides buckled and I ended up with a puffed out log mold. After cutting it the bars were okay but I had to trim alot of excess off the sides . Because I am going to be selling I want my bars to be uniform so I don't have a bunch of soap thats all whacky! I tried using milk cartons too which the bars turned out but are more square "ish" I have looked at Walmart, Superstore, Staples, for containers that may be suitable for makng a good soap bar but to no avail. I am getting fussy now. (to order on the internet from suppliers, is expensive at this point).
I am pretty tapped. Soaping is not a cheap hobby as I am finding out.

My hubby had a telescope box that was the perfect size and so I used that on the last batch of soap I made and got 44 bars out of it. I will continue to use that box until I can afford to get something else. You really want your bars to look the same! I may commission my hub to make some for me with some of the lumber we have around here.

Soaping Update

Since I started this blog I was such a "newbie" at the process of making soap. Over the last few months I have contiuned to make soap. The Patchouli Love Soap turned out real nice. It leaves a light trace of scent on you all day! No wonder its called Love Soap! I've had people tell me "it smells nice in here" (I drive cab) I'm going to have to make more of it.

I am excited actually as I will be putting soap on consignment in a new shop here in Thunder Bay "Amy's Organics" 526 Lakeshore Drive. My soap will be there on consignment. So that is the reason I haven't written on the blog as I have to get ready to sell!!! We will open May 21st

Finished Soap Bars! A Sucess!

These bars came out of my wooden soap mould, the end pieces I roll and make into a soap ball. All you have to do now is run the edges over with a vegetable peeler to remove the ragged sides and let it cure. Curing time....at least 4 weeks.

More Bar Cutting!

Here is the first cut, I feel kind of professional doing this lol! But this is where it gets exciting. After reading and reading and scanning the internet I can finally see the reward! I am still a rookie at this new craft but this wants me to make more! The smell is amazing too! I got 30 bars out of this batch!

How to Cut Your Soap into bars!

Well folks its been since March since I have made any entries and never did finish up on the Love Soap. After you remove your soap from the molds ( a good rest time is 12-48 hours) you end up with loaves of soap. What I did was go the hardware store and purchased a Mitre box. Mine cost 10 bucks so cheap to buy. I took some white medical tape and marked the mitre box at 1 inch. You put the loaf into the box line it up from the tape mark to the slots where you cut. Simple. I purchased a soap cutter which makes this task easy.