Onward!

Phew! Well, it appears that little blip is over, so on we go...

First, I must begin with these beads. This is one of my favorite color combinations in glass. They were in my head and actually appeared as I envisioned them. (I love it when that happens!) I cleaned the holes, but they still need a bath in Coke to clean up the grayish haze on the solid color. Even with the haze, they are just what I was hoping for. Such a "beachy" feel to them, I think I have to make something from them rather than holding on to them to sell as a set.

Not to be outdone, we played with some new soap ideas and are pretty pleased with the results.

The first soap, on the left is the result of the Bear fat I showed in a previous post. It is so hard and creamy and white. We scented it with a nice smoky, woodsy combination of essential oils and it turned out really nice. I washed my hands with it almost immediately, even though it hadn't cured yet. The lather is lotiony, but, of course, since it isn't cured, my skin was tight (although still very soft) after washing. If those mountain men could have gotten hold of some nice coconut oil, they would have had a lovely soap!

The swirly copper colored soap is "Wild Ginger". We love the scent and if it holds, it is a sure winner. This is the first soap I have ever made that will actually match the terra cotta pavers in our main bathroom and also, our "cinnamon taupe" (okay, pink!) kitchen. And the aroma.... a citrusy ginger.

The third soap is something I just wanted to do for midsummer. We made all three of these on Midsummer's day, but this was special. Almost every fancy schmancy oil and butter I had went into it along with powdered rose petals and rose clay. Not as glamorous as I had hoped, but it should be fabulous when it is cured.

For any soapers reading this, I have to mention that after making soap since the early 90's I have never tried discounting my water before and these are the result of my first experiments with water discount. After this experience, I will never use full water again and can't believe it took me so long. If you have not tried it, don't wait any longer!