Posts Tagged ‘New Stuff’

One kilo, two kilo, four kilo …. SIX!

On Dec 16, 2012 0 No Comments

One kilo soap batches – can do with my eyes closed!
Two kilo soap batches – not a problem!
Four kilo soap batches – eerrrr… yeah, not so good.

So what’s the next logical step? A SIX kilo soap batch.. of course! Well, 6.5 to be correct!

Yup, this weekend I made by first, MASSIVE, six point five kilo batch of beautiful scent and colour free goat’s milk soap. I always forget just how awesome fresh, plain, REAL soap smells. I love it!

Why did I make such a large batch? Because of …. THIS BABY!!

Merry Christmas to ME!

My very first, and soooooo not my last, Soaphutch custom made loaf soap mold. My Christmas present to myself I organised quite a few months ago now arrived last week. And it could not have come at a better time!

Stepping up from my crafters choice silicone molds that produce 7 bars each, this beauty produces a massive forty bars if I use the whole mold! This is my brilliant plan to step up production easily and start maintaining certain fragrances in stock at all times. I can not wait to make my first 40 bar Spearmint batch! The best smell in the world multiplied by nearly seven kilos! I will be in heaven! I might have to move my curing area out of the small laundry and into random areas of the house for fear of scent suffocation if it’s all trapped in a closed door room!

Deciding to play it safe for my cherry popping batch, I went with a plain, uncoloured and unscented goat’s milk soap. I needed some fresh stock anyway, and this way I wasn’t making my first batch a difficult endeavour with colours, trace quickening fragrances, swirls or patterns. A smart move.

I had obviously expected a larger batch of soap to require more lye to make. What I had anticipated was how a larger lye mixture would take longer to make… MUCH longer!! And when you have something that creates it’s own heat (lye, when mixed with liquid shoots up to scorching (80 degrees celcius plus)) in a matter of seconds, and you are trying to not scorch your goat’s milk, this takes a half an hour preparation time up to a full day!!

Add portion of lye, stir, stir, stir, check temp, wait. Add some more lye, stir, stir, stir, check temp, wait. Repeat this every ten to fifteen minutes for a couple of hours. *collapses* After I managed to get it all mixed in, the temperature was warmer than I liked, so I popped the bucket in it’s ice bath and left it there.

In the end, the lye / goats milk mixture sat for nearly 12 hours bringing it to a comfortable room temperature. Mostly because night time came and I didn’t want to attempt a massive batch when tired, I’m also used to working with room temp or colder lye mixtures. I ended up making the batch the following morning and although I expected a slow trace time due to the volume, I was surprised by the near 20 minutes it took! Even with my whizz bang mixer (that plugs into my DRILL!! Yes, I own a hammer drill now, booyah!) it took forever and out of frustration and impatience, I incorporated some air bubbles… grrr.

BUT, we got there. Eventually. I ended up pouring it in at a light trace as my back was killing me by that stage and I wondered if I took it to a thick trace, how hard it would be to lift nearly seven kilos of liquid (or thick custard like batter) to pour into the mold on my bench. I’ll attempt that another day…

A picture with flash, and without.

After managing to get it all in and even, I managed, somehow, to lift the mold, and the soap and carry it to the freezer. Oh my!! As if that wasn’t amazing in itself, I managed to do so without wearing any!!! Two close calls, but not a drop! Skills baby!

I’ll leave the fun adventure that was un-molding for tomorrow’s blog post. It was… well, and interesting battle!

ShareOne kilo soap batches – can do with my eyes closed! Two kilo soap batches – not a problem! Four kilo soap batches – eerrrr… yeah, not so good. So what’s the next logical step? A SIX kilo soap batch.. of course! Well, 6.5 to be correct! Yup, this weekend I made by first, MASSIVE,…

Liquid Soap Making – Success!!

On Nov 22, 2012 0 No Comments

BOOYAH BABY!!! What’s THIS?!?!

That’s liquid soap!! I ROCK!!

And yes, I’m quite pleased with myself about it all too.

After multiple recipe tweaking, and various method attempts, I finally found myself with bottles of beautiful, golden, liquid soap. Giddy didn’t even begin to describe my level of excitement when I realised it had worked. Glycerine is a beautiful, beautiful thing!

The only thing the above soap isn’t, is goat’s milk. After five failed batches, I decided to go with a basic, out of the book, non goat’s milk recipe. Just to see if it was in fact me that was the problem. Turns out, it wasn’t! (We so knew that already) Woo Hoo!

So, I made what’s called a ‘bastile’ liquid soap. When a soap is nothing but olive oil and the lye to make it soap, it’s called castile. Bastile is the bastard child version of mostly olive oil with a bit of coconut, and in this case, castor oil. Just for the bubble factor.

Apparently the soap gods were very pleased with my efforts as the batch has the most intoxicating, seducingly sweet smell, ever! At first I thought I must have been smelling something in the air, but after continuously trying to snort my own hand, I realised it was the soap I was smelling. Lemony…? Sort of. Sweet…? For sure. But I couldn’t pin point it. The closest I came to nailing it down to something familiar was the jam found inside hot jam donuts purchased at markets on a Sunday.

What ever it was – it was AWESOME! Especially for a soap with no fragrance added! For someone trying to lose weight, I’m amazed I didn’t try and eat my own hand!

All in all, this soap was a massive success to me. And just the confidence boost I desperately needed to keep trying!

Rinsing off the slow cooker bowl. This is like winning the lotto when making liquid soap – clearly bubble factor was good!!

The little pots of gold!!

Probably not as clear as other liquid soap makers, but I chose a method that is more concerned with the end result benefits than the clarity. For a clearer soap you actually OVERDOSE your lye on purpose, then neutralise it back out and such. I’d rather the ‘less is more and leaves excess fatty acids” method. My skin certainly isn’t complaining about the additional ‘cloudy’ nourishing.

I was trying to work out how to show the thickness of the soap. I didn’t use any additive thickeners with my recipe, and it came out the most wonderfully gel like consistency. A considered downside to home made liquid soap is the water like consistency the end result produces. Some embrace this and use the ‘foamer’ pump bottles, and others add thickeners to bring it more into a commercial like thickness. I am happy that I didn’t have to do either and with a close eye on my cooking method, was able to produce a feel most people will expect from a liquid soap. Yay me!

Once I started getting it poured into some bottles – BIG mess maker – I could see that the soap was in fact quite clear considering I made no attempts at making it crystal clear. Yay me again!!

First official test…. eeeeeek!

Trying to show that it didn’t just all wash off my hand and instead more ‘goo-eed’ it’s way off. Nice and thick!

YAY!! BUBBLES!!!

I was intent at trying to capture the thickness as I ~~was~~ AM so proud of it. After purchasing a bottle of maple syrup for the pancakes today, I realised it’s about the same consistency. Awesomely wicked!

Thought this picture was just too cool! This is after stirring it with the fork. You can see the bubbles suspended in a very cool pattern.

And that’s, my first successful batch of liquid soap!! Took me one… two… *counts on fingers*… four… FIVE days of batch, after batch, after batch to finally succeed. Each batch taught me more and more though, so nothing was a failure. Everything I was reading that made my head spin before, finally switched on like a lightbulb and just made sense, and that alone is invaluable!

Now I understand the process, it’s a matter of honing my own recipe and technique to result with something I am truly happy with. The first bottle of this (and the following goat’s milk batch that succeeded) are already with my number one tester, with more in line to receive over the next few days. Can’t wait to hear the feedback – especially with the donut jam like scent of this batch. Man it’s so yummy!!

ShareBOOYAH BABY!!! What’s THIS?!?! That’s liquid soap!! I ROCK!! And yes, I’m quite pleased with myself about it all too. After multiple recipe tweaking, and various method attempts, I finally found myself with bottles of beautiful, golden, liquid soap. Giddy didn’t even begin to describe my level of excitement when I realised it had worked….

OMG it comes BIGGER?!

On Jun 23, 2012 4 4 Comments

My life is a lot like James Bond’s. Only he gets to fight bad guys while winning all the hot girls, and I get excited over finding bulk sized oils in a new Supermarket. Totally similar right?!

After dropping the kids off at their dad’s today, I stopped into a Supermarket I don’t usually shop at. I was actually there trying to hunt out one of the last remaining Choc Caramel Pie’s that Sara Lee stupidly decided to discontinue. Instead I found something SO much better!! Rice Bran Oil…. in a FOUR LITRE CONTAINER!!

See, where I live there are two main supermarket chains – Coles and Safeway (known as Woolworths to everyone outside of Victoria because for some reason, we just have to be different. I guess that’s why I live here…) Much like Ford or Holden, everyone has their choice. I’m a Coles girl. I don’t know why, but I’ve just never liked Safeway. I think it’s because they always feel smaller. The isles are thinner which means you have to be closer to people as you pass by, and that usually means being polite and making eye contact. /shudder

Coles is bigger. Wide open spaces for a crazy cat like myself to run free. And I do mean run… although my ‘prey’ is usually two screaming kids who think this is the best game EVER! Even though I love my Coles, like any relationship, they occasionally just tick me right off!! This is usually the case when I find something new I like, only to return a week later and see that they have stopped stocking it. I’ve had this happen no less than six different times.

I discovered last night that my anger about the missing choc caramel pie’s were in fact misguided and it wasn’t actually Coles’ fault. It was the manufacturer Sara Lee. They discontinued it due to “poor sales” apparently. That in itself is a shocker because surely my consumption would have been enough to raise share prices alone.

Knowing that this god like desert is now almost extinct, I’m on a mad search to find the few remaining pie’s. And my first stop today was the local *groans* Safeway up the road from my ex. No pie. Although they do stock the Custard Danish which my Coles don’t so snaps for Safeway on that.

Knowing I needed Rice Bran oil as well, I thought I would grab some while I was there. Like the shining star that lead the three wise men to baby Jesus, so too did isle number four glow with a directional beacon. There, on the bottom shelf, was FOUR litre size containers of Rice Bran Oil. Haaaaaallelujah!

The man walking up the other way of the isle gave me such an odd look when I let out a mouse like “squeee” and did a little stomp of my feet like an excited four year old.

See, Coles only stocks the 1L bottles. While usable, it’s frustrating running out, which I do often. Not to mention the extra land fill. But now I have found a FOUR litre container! That’s three less times I have to remember to purchase while out shopping. Safeway is starting to look like that ugly tween who’s skin cleared up and became a good looking young adult. There is potential. I feel myself looking in their direction with a quizzical, potentially interested stare.

Like Bella, my love is with Coles, but I am feeling drawn to Safeway at the same time. Oh could this be the love triangle I have always wanted to be the centre of? I may have to explore this further… but first, I’m off to snuggle with my large, cold tin of rice bran oil.

ShareMy life is a lot like James Bond’s. Only he gets to fight bad guys while winning all the hot girls, and I get excited over finding bulk sized oils in a new Supermarket. Totally similar right?! After dropping the kids off at their dad’s today, I stopped into a Supermarket I don’t usually shop…

The anxiously awaited AFTER shots!!

On May 18, 2012 11 11 Comments

Three trips to Ikea, a lost child, a couple of blisters and a LOT of furniture re-arranging. That has been my past week, but the result (bar the lost child) was WELL worth it!!

Now, no skipping to the end!! You have to take the journey with me. If you haven’t yet seen the before photos, read the post titled ‘From Hobby to Business – The Before stage…‘ Once you’ve had a look at the photos there and seen what it was like before, then you will see just how truly awesome the new set up is!

First, you have to appreciate just how many packages I had to bring home. Ikea is known for it’s ‘flat packed’ furniture which is nice and easy to get home (mostly), but it also means a LOT of construction!!

There is actually six long boxes pictured there! And those are just the frames!!

My draws – in the boxes stacked up. At first I was happy with how light they were, but that happiness was quickly replaced with boredom at having to put together fourteen draws that each had about ten pieces each. Geez that got old very quickly!

The plastic tub draws I liked. Which is a good thing as there was a LOT of them!

Opening this box was a great feeling. It was the first box to be opened and started what I thought would be a couple of hours until my new office. Oh how wrong that thought would be!! It ended up taking nearly a week to get everything sorted and a full weekend just to get back a usable room!

I knew there would be mess. I knew there would be temporary clutter as things had to be moved out, before other items could be moved in.

Thankfully the Universe played it’s cards so that the week I had the money to do this, was also followed by a ‘daddy weekend’, so both kids weren’t forced to breath in like I was if they needed to pass down the hallway. That was a TIGHT fit!

And of course, with no kids around, my priorities could be put in the correct order without any concerns!! Yup – my grocery shopping sat there for nearly the full weekend haha. Except the cold and frozen items of course…

The mess and ‘furniture placed in the middle of the room’ was crazy! FAR worse than I had predicted it to be.

The mess outside was even worse!!! That said, the kids had a blast breaking up all the Styrofoam pieces and jumping on the cardboard.

BUT …

Eventually the mess makes way for…. *drum roll*

Organisation!

Which leads too….

DUN DUN DUN Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

My neeeeew set up!! At first I was really unhappy about having the table moved to the middle of the room (you’ll see why it’s there shortly), but this past week has actually proved it to be quite useful! And for once it’s being used as a table and not a dumping ground!

Ok, so starting from the outer edge, we have two of these draw sets. They were actually from the kids section and meant for toy rooms, but are perfect for holding my soap molds as it allows me to have different depths for my draws. The top draws house my single molds – cupcakes, flowers, embeds, cars, etc. While the bottom draws house my multiple molds – the plastic ones with three or four sections and the mixed silicone molds.

Apart from the bottom white tub that houses the plastic containers I use when I mass measure out my CP soap batches, the rest of the draws are all molds! AND, that’s not even all of the ones I have! Tucked away on the cube bookshelf is two more boxes of molds – mostly the ones I don’t use and the ‘holiday’ ones that don’t get used often. But still.

I have another set of the plastic tubs that house my toy embeds and other nick nacks pictured below.

Moving along we have the draws. THE. Draws. The most expensive purchase but one I fell in love with as soon as I found it. Each draw has a gap, which allows air flow. And both sides and the back of each draw is only half as high as that front panel, so again, more air flow. Can you say PERFECT soap curing draws?!?!

It also just happens to be THE perfect height for my bars of soap. I mean really, Ikea might try and claim this is a “dee vee deeeee” draw, but we know better. Clearly it was meant to hold soap. Perfect width, perfect height, and air flow. HA. As if DVD’s…

Next comes Billy. My Billy. My Billy bookshelf. Complete with matching doors that have plastic in the middle to save glass around little kids.

Open the doors and … VOILA!! All of my soaping stuff in one place!! Top has the super special oils, next one down has lip balm ingredients followed below by those glorious blocks of M&P soap that fit oh so perfectly!

Moving down you hit Bath Bomb, Bubble Bar and Playdough ingredients, followed by more special (but not super special) oils and butters and then down the bottom is the really bulk stuff.

These have come from my kitchen cupboards, the cube bookshelf, the laundry! All over. And now, all neatly in one place!

This cupboard / bookshelf set was the reason for trip number two to Ikea. While I was there on Tuesday checking everything out, I was slipped a bit of a tip that on Thursday of the same week, this set would be HALF PRICE! Who can argue with half price? And, with my Ikea Family discount, it worked out about 40 – 45% of the original price. Schweeeeeet.

And why was this item so important?

Because it is the PERFECT set up for my essential and fragrance oils!! The entire thing is only about 20cm deep, so you don’t lose bottles behind one another, and with a couple of additional shelves purchased, I am able to fit everything in without wasted space!

The dark doors also keep everything nice and dark and cool inside. Another thing just meant for us soapers! I looooooove it!

So perfect is my set up that even the little nooks and crannies hold things perfectly!!

My kitchen cupboards have finally become usable again. Gone is the mega clutter and having to reach over bottles and jugs to find the item I need. Now, the main cupboards in front of my legs house the items I need constantly – my measuring jugs, colouring and fragrance mixing pots, etc.

MUCH happier with this set up!

As I am with the ‘utensils’ cupboard. Trying to get one of the stick blender components out was usually met with frustration and something falling on my foot as the cords became tangled quite often. This is much neater and only made possible because half the other items are now over on Billy.

The only hiccup was the Cube bookshelf. I tried to get maneuver it down into the kids bedroom, but I couldn’t get enough of an angle to slide it in. I tried the toy room but became stuck in the doorway. I could pull it apart and move or store it, but it weighs a tonne and you really need two adults to tip it over onto it’s side so you can dismantle it. I am awesome, but still only one adult.

So instead the dining room table was moved from this spot and now resides in the middle of the room, and the cube bookshelf has taken up residence here. I am actually liking it as I’m using it to display some stock – with the possible thought of allowing customers to come into my home. Maybe. Not decided on that one yet.

The boxes below also house other random items – bottle packaging, gift basket items, etc. Two of those hold the molds I mentioned before. I just can’t get over how much stuff I have!!

Was hard to capture the front shot as the ONLY sun that has come out the past few days came out right as I was taking this shot haha.

The back section has also proved VERY useful in housing my incredibly large selection of colours, micas, glitters and more. I mean seriously, how did I end up with so many colours?!?!

It was a lot of work, especially as I did it all on my own. There was some mild frustrations as I misjudged the distance between the draws (at first I had no gaps, so had to remove and redo ALL the draws), and hanging doors on your own is NOT easy trust me.

BUT. It was soooooooo worth it. Words can not say how much it was worth it and how much I love the new set up! This was my birthday / mother’s day / new business present to myself. I want to keep growing in my soap and eventually would love to either have my own shop, or have sections in other people’s shops permanently offering my soap and other items for purchase.

And this… is the first step! So, what do you think?

ShareThree trips to Ikea, a lost child, a couple of blisters and a LOT of furniture re-arranging. That has been my past week, but the result (bar the lost child) was WELL worth it!! Now, no skipping to the end!! You have to take the journey with me. If you haven’t yet seen the before…

Third Ikea trip was NOT the charm!!

On May 15, 2012 8 8 Comments

I’m DONE!! I just screwed my last screw and my new storage set up is now complete!!

This new ‘move from a hobby to a business’ furniture change over involved THREE trips to Ikea – one to check everything out and buy some, second to get the stuff that went on sale two days after my first visit, and finally to return two draws (I bought too many) and pick up the doors that were out of stock until today.

I now LAUGH at all the “do we go this way… no we’ve been past there before…. oh I’m lost” comments. I can navigate that place with my eyes SHUT and I know all the short cuts. I did actually chuckle out loud as a lady clued in that I knew my way around and quickly scurried in behind me as I took one short cut, then another. I heard her sigh a “oh theeeeeere it is” sigh as she increased her practically tailgating distance behind me and found what she was looking for.

I was NOT laughing however when I lost Diesel today. There was a little wooden trolley thing he was playing with that I just could not get him to put back. Not surprising as he never lets his sisters toy trolley go either. So, while he was busy racing around the kids section, I stopped to check out a mirror for Savannah’s room. Then I noticed I couldn’t hear his trolley noise.

Then I noticed I couldn’t see him. I checked everywhere and couldn’t find him.

Then… I found his trolley. Discarded in front of the stairs / escalators, my stomach dropped and my heart stopped. Like a scene from a movie where a kid has been snatched, the toy trolley was just …. abandoned. In the middle of the walking area.

I immediately ran over to an Ikea lady and told her I had lost my son. She said she would call someone and picked up the phone. Very casually she asked me how old he was, like this was no big deal. I replied 21 months. Her face dropped and she yelled out to another lady “Whateverhernamewas CODE 300!!!” Straight away this other lady was beside me, phone in hand asking what he was wearing, how tall, how old, his name, hair colour, etc. I felt sick.

Never have I been able to visually picture what my child was wearing so vividly. A red top with ‘Robots vs Aliens’ on the front, dark gray track pants with two white stripes down the outside of each leg, brown shoes with two velcro straps on each foot. Mousy brown hair, 21 months, about yay high.

All that ran though my head was that wooden trolley … just sitting there. I couldn’t even think that he had just wandered off. He had to have been snatched. That trolley, he wouldn’t just leave the trolley. Someone had my baby.

I have NEVER been more happy to be wrong. The little ~~shit~~ darling had left his trolley there as it was too hard to take down the two flights of stairs to the market / collection area. After you’ve gone through all the display parts of Ikea, you head down stairs to the market hall where you collect the smaller items – plates, glasses, cushions, storage boxes, etc. Then you hit the warehouse self collect and check out.

Well Diesel had not only taken himself down to the market hall (did I mention TWO flights of stairs?!), he had also decided to do a spot of shopping while he was there. The Ikea lady trying to keep me calm heard the noise first, but as it reached my ears the squeal of excitement was an instantaneous recognition.

I ran over to the top of the stairs to see him happily coming back up – a pizza cutter (plastic) in his left hand, a large blue plastic spoon in his right. He was squealing as he was coming up the stairs on his own and doing just fine. How I managed to go down the stairs without my jelly legs completely giving out is still a mystery, but I did. And I grabbed him in a massive hug.

Diesel of course had no idea what the big deal was and became frustrated that his new toys were being smooshed in between our bodies and he wanted to show me what he had found. I took his hand and started up the stairs. He held the Ikea lady’s hands and as we made it up the top, he thought it was time to do that swing thing that parents do with a child in the middle. He was having a blast.

Thank goodness the restaurant and couches were at the top as I don’t think I could have taken another step. I noticed all the other adults around collectively breath a sigh of relief as I collapsed in a chair with Diesel climbing up beside me, proud as punch and loving all the attention. Seeing a frantic mother calling out for her child gets your attention. Seeing that same mother with a staff member crying and looking white causes a lot of concerned but helpless looks.

After some water for me, and apple juice for Diesel, it was time to collect the items I needed and go HOME!! I was still frazzled at the check outs and it would seem that the Ikea ‘lost child’ system worked as I approached the check out chick to receive a “Hi Diesel, you gave your mum such a fright!”. She recognized him by his outfit. And possibly because I had buried him in a deep trolley he was never getting out of LOL!

Thankfully the trip home was far less eventful and my doors are now attached to the storage unit. As I had to shuffle a few shelves around I noticed I could really use one more shelf at the bottom … then I slapped myself at even thinking of going back to Ikea again!! Maybe after a stiff drink or 10!

Photos of the new set up to come soon. Need good daylight and it’s already dark now. But I am in LOVE with how it all looks!!! Perfect isn’t even close …

ShareI’m DONE!! I just screwed my last screw and my new storage set up is now complete!! This new ‘move from a hobby to a business’ furniture change over involved THREE trips to Ikea – one to check everything out and buy some, second to get the stuff that went on sale two days after…

Coolah Creations Crazy Play… DOH!

On May 5, 2012 5 5 Comments

I find it amusing that I keep gravitating (or being pushed) towards kids stuff. I’ve just come from a business selling kids clothes, and when I decided to make the switch to making soaps full time, originally I had planned to do kids soaps. My plans changed however when I discovered cold process and swirling… instant and deep love. I thought that was the end of my ‘kiddy’ times…

I was wrong…

My first market? A baby and kids Market. My next Market? The same. The third market I just booked is in fact an EXPO (bigger) for … *dun dadda dun da daaaa* Pregnancy, baby and KIDS! I feel the Universe is perhaps trying to tell me something?

I don’t mind. If that’s going to be what takes me on the journey to making a living from soap, I’m happy if it is based around kids items. After all, they are FUN to make for – lizzards, and frogs and butterflies, oh my! And of course I can still do my adult soaps with fun swirls and other pretty patterns. Mum and dad need to wash too!

Last night I went googling for one thing. Just one. By the time I crawled into bed, about two hours later than intended, I had close to 50 tabs open and about 20 new ideas for things I wanted to create. From simple soap molds, to entirely new creations added to my market stand. All … kids items!!

One of the pages I came across is a website for Aroma-dough. Playdough, that is infused with aromatherapy essential oils for a variety of effects. This wasn’t a coincidence, this was a massive and nearly violent shove from Miss 4′s Universe. She has been begging me to play with playdough all week, and even though I have wooden floors through out, the thought of all the mess was putting me off.

Then, she got up with the sniffles this morning. After I had put Master 1 down for his day time nap, it was not snacks and juice Miss 4 requested (her usual treat for being quite while he sleeps), it was playdough. ‘Muuuuum, can I play with *snuff sniff* some playdough *cough* noooooooow? *sniff cough* Please?

Liiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiightbulb!

I gave in with a groan, but on the condition she waited for me to make a fresh batch. Not really an option since the store bought stuff was hard and crappy anyway. But I didn’t make just any playdough…. oh no no. I made awesome playdough which is infused with an essential oil blend Tea Tree, Eucalyptus, Lavender. Perfect to help clear stuffy noses!

Does it work? Oooooh yeah!! My nose is as clear as a brand new drain pipe just making it, and after 20 minutes of playing, Miss “was oh so quite” before is back to her very loud, very talkative self. I asked her if it worked and was met with an inhale of hair that would make any normal human being pass out.

Despite the mess I now have to clean up (might put the dyson to the ultimate test!!), it was worth it just to turn Miss 4 from a groaning, stationary blob on the couch who sniffed every 30 seconds to let me know she was still alive, into a back to normal, loud, running around, squealing crazy girl. Yes, so glad I brought a frustrating level of energy and noise back…

This batch was just normal playdough (flour, water, salt, etc). I wanted to test how the essential oils would work with mixed in. Now that I know, I’m considering testing and tweaking until I have a stable formula that could perhaps be included with my Market stand. My kids market stand.

If that’s what’s meant to be, at least I have two very willing testers already!

ShareI find it amusing that I keep gravitating (or being pushed) towards kids stuff. I’ve just come from a business selling kids clothes, and when I decided to make the switch to making soaps full time, originally I had planned to do kids soaps. My plans changed however when I discovered cold process and swirling……

Hi! Remember me?

On Apr 26, 2012 6 6 Comments

Oh my goodness, I’m alive!! Just lol. The past two to three weeks saw my clutz gene (my own personal gremlin) rear it’s ugly head and saw me fracture my leg! It was the most dramatic thing to …. I walked into my own flippin bed!

It’s not the first time I have inflicted pain upon myself. I’ve rolled my ankle (which then ripped all my ligaments and tendons) getting out of bed, broken my little toe getting out of the shower, fell over walking to the couch and fractured my arm, etc, etc, etc. I’m like a life long blonde moment. Even as a child (7th grade I believe), I managed to break, fracture AND dislocate my little finger trying to give the dog a cuddle. I’m …. special.

On top of my bed attacking me, I came down with a bout of Mastitis (it’s a female / child thing … basically an infected boob for those that have no idea) which saw me spend one night so cold my chattering teeth kept waking my 4 year old. She was not pleased at all about that either. But I was so cold, the thought of uncurling from the fetal position and actually getting out of bed to turn the heater on was just too much. Plus, my fever was so bad I was awake for maybe 30 seconds at a time – just long enough to hear the end of the ‘muuuum, SHOOSH!”. The following night however, I sweated to the point of needing to change my bed sheets … twice!

So there went 48 hours of my life, plus a further five to six days curled up on the couch feeling very sorry for myself. April has been a month I will gladly see the end of!

Not before the 29th though! I have my first MARKET!! Eeeeeek!! I’m majorly freaking out right now! I’m not too sure why I agreed to do it – caught up in the moment talking to a friend who was egging me on perhaps? Thinking that I really need to start getting my name out there as I’m starting to drown in made soap? Who knows. I’m glad I’m doing it, don’t get me wrong, they’re good butterflies. But they’re butterflies all the same. And at the moment if feels like someone slipped them three cans of red bull and then pissed them off! Oi…

Giving myself only three weeks to get ready for my first market was a silly idea though. Especially when I was already low on funds AND low on M&P base! I’m only taking M&P soaps to this one as it’s a ‘baby and kids’ market so my CP ones don’t really fit the bill… although I have asked to take along my Energy soap as it smells like fruit tingles and is coloured with kiddy colours.

But it’s mostly Cupcakes, Soapsicles, Smurfs, Monkeys and toy embeds. Oh, and my new Batman soaps!

I’m not sure how many of the baby and kids Markets I will do, it’s turned something I do for fun into something that’s stressed me out a bit. I’m hoping to use it more as a way to start getting noticed, but at heart I’m a soaper who does it for the pure enjoyment of it. I love trying new technique’s, playing with my swirls and experimenting. I’ve discovered I’m not real good at the mass production thing.

Of course, the good thing is it’s gotten my thinking about where exactly I see my soaps going. There’s a fellow soaper I chat to that makes my jaw drop – she has an entire range of products (soap, balms, creams, etc) and an entire shop displaying her goods. I look at that and go “Oooh! I want to be her when I grow up!”

Problem with that is, I’ve already worked out I don’t want to keep the same range of stuff all the time – I much prefer doing different things constantly. Plus, if I had to try and duplicate a soap, I would likely fail and then get frustrated. I wonder if I could just have a shop that is constantly changing?

The good thing, I think, with constantly changing and trying new things, is I’m also hopefully constantly growing and improving. I figure as my business (hopefully!) grows, I will just expand in size. Instead of making a 1kg block of soap, I’ll start increasing it to 2kg, 5kg – dare I say 10kgs? That way I can still be different, but making/selling larger quantities. *nods convincingly*

For now, I’m concentrating on Sunday. Three sleeps to go. I figure if the shaking, trying not to vomit from nerves seller doesn’t get people’s attention, the scents will. I’ve read there are ‘food’ stalls there (cakes and cupcakes mostly I think), I plan on being the best smelling stall in the building! Wish my luck!!

ShareOh my goodness, I’m alive!! Just lol. The past two to three weeks saw my clutz gene (my own personal gremlin) rear it’s ugly head and saw me fracture my leg! It was the most dramatic thing to …. I walked into my own flippin bed! It’s not the first time I have inflicted pain…

The Soap Racks that nearly killed me!

On Feb 17, 2012 0 No Comments

This weekends focus is going to be cleaning! Even though I spent approx 103 hours last Saturday tidying up the kids toy room, you would barely believe me if you saw it now. Mini tornado’s I tell ya!

The big focus for this weekend however is going to be cleaning the kids bedroom as I need to move half of the cat tree that’s in the loungeroom into their room. This is so I can move the other half of the cat tree that’s beside my bookshelf to the now vacant spot in the loungeroom so I can finally put together my other soap rack and get it in from outside and in use! Confused yet? Tired? I am lol!

The thought of putting together the other soap rack is not a joyful one. It reminds me of the struggle, frustration, headache inducing night that birthed these now wondrous wooden god like shelves living in my laundry. For those with no idea what I am talking about, feel free to read the previous entry about my new curing racks here: Word Morph!! Shoes = Soaps! Here is the picture (for those who can’t be bothered reading hehe): Now, take note of the small image in the bottom right hand corner. This was the image that sold me – see how it’s a shelf, but it has the gaps. That’s awesome for airing soaps! Going by that picture however, I expected to get something along the lines of *counts* 1…2….3… twelve shelves and three columns in a flat pack box. I didn’t. Instead, I got this: I found it utterly amusing that the eBay listing I first found these guys through had a ‘no firewood’ image included. Especially half way through construction when a good tepee fire in the backyard was sounding like a really good idea!

So you see a lot of wood right? Do you see anything else? A bit of paper perhaps? No? Neither did I. NO INSTRUCTIONS! Thankfully my brain does more than just ache most of the time and I was able to figure it out. Getting started wasn’t too hard… By the time I got to the second layer however, my hands were already starting to hurt, and I was getting frustrated that every time I pushed one piece in, another would pop out! Pushed in the left side – the right side popped out. Pushed in a bottom piece, the top piece popped out. Grah! The whole process was exasperated by one of the cats seeing the new shelves as a perfect climbing frame slash jumping hoop. Don’t even get me started when a flippin ant decided to walk underneath it… Eventually I got there though, not without some VERY sore hands!! I had to push every slot together, and some of them where a little less than co-operative… After approximately two hours …. I bring you…. My new Curing Racks!! TAA DAAA!!! The racks got a coat of varnish the following day and now reside in my laundry full of soaps and other soaping items! I love them so much! At the end of it all, I had seriously sore hands, sore legs, a back-ache and a head-ache. I was hot, sweaty and buggered. It was hard work!! That said – I have a second set to put together, so if you really enjoyed reading about it, you are more than welcome to come experience it first hand!! I’ll even sit back and let you do it all!! I’m just that kinda sharing person.

ShareThis weekends focus is going to be cleaning! Even though I spent approx 103 hours last Saturday tidying up the kids toy room, you would barely believe me if you saw it now. Mini tornado’s I tell ya! The big focus for this weekend however is going to be cleaning the kids bedroom as I need to…

My Soaps

$<p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/people/velcromonkey/\">Coolah Creations</a> posted a photo:</p> <p><a href=\"http://www.flickr.com/photos/velcromonkey/8526946955/\" title=\"Monkey Farts!\"><img src=\"http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8228/8526946955_4460cc87fa_m.jpg\" width=\"240\" height=\"160\" alt=\"Monkey Farts!\" /></a></p>$ Click to see more at my Flickr

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