A new leaf for a new year....

Milk, Honey & Almond Coconut Milk Soap, 6.5 oz each

 So today is the day I have chosen to break away from Etsy. It has been on my mind and 'to do' list for some time. I love Etsy, always will. I was a true blue fan long before I opened my shop with them.
Now it is time for yet another chapter in my journey, Artfire. The only thing I will be cooking for a few days are these listings. I can not wait until I can share my entire collection with you. I make over 64 different products in over 100 scent varieties, essential and synthetic.

  I strive not to use harsh chemical preservatives, SLS or Parabens. I started making soaps for my daughter and myself. I have unusually sensitive skin and Avi(age 3) suffers with severe eczema from time to time. I would leave her doctors office with three topical prescriptions that had to be put on in a certain order on the skin or it was very painful and a oral dose as well. The first night at home with those creams I couldn't remember which cream went first. Burned her skin and I had never felt like such a horrible parent as I did at that moment. I could not do that to my daughter. We ditched the 'xyz creams' as we called them because we couldn't pronounce the formal versions. I started researching and next thing you know the 'crazy candle lady' had turned into the 'crazy, but smells good, soap & candle lady'. my life as been full ever since. I owe it all to 'xyz creams'.

  When I put something on my body or especially my daughters skin, I have to know what's in it? How was it processed? Natural or GMO ingredients? Sustainable farms? What kind of testing was used to qualify it as safe? When dealing with allergies and miserable skin conditions and a conscience, those questions are important. I fear I have started a personal rant here, (easy to do with me) moving it along, I swear.

Paper glazed mosiac with stamping, sealed

   I am not saying that my products are superior. What I try and stress is that I am there through almost every process my herbs, botanical, powders, fruit extracts, milks go through. I Know. That makes a world of difference to me. When I go to shows I get to share a lot more of my process one on one to the people that feel the same way. If they do not, I offer a little information to hopefully get their wheels turning and leave it at that. I am not a pushy type. I don't want you to buy something that you truly do not want or care about. I want my customers to love my creations as much as I do and I want them to know what they are taking home. I was that way even with my soy candles. Guess that's how the "crazy" got thrown into my title:) I embrace it proudly because that crazy comes from the heart and that's the best kind of crazy if you ask me.




   No matter where I take my soaps and candles to sell them I always meet people and interact with some of the most memorable vendors and customers and families too. I do my best to carry those same type of relationships through the online market as much as I can.  I always do my best to maintain excellent customer communication because that's what I miss about doing the sale face to face. You can meet someone, talk about life and what they like in a product and I can get a feel for what it is they are after, even if they are not sure themselves. Although, I still do my craft show and fund-raisers, it took some getting used to not having that opportunity to interact with my customers on a friendly level before they dive right into the listings. I like being there for the questions, the "mmmm, that's smells good" I wonder if that will help with....?

  I have a lot of brightly colored, eye catching products when I go to my shows. After they are all laid out it almost looks like an edible buffet. I have kids come up all the time, "Oh! look, cupcakes!" or "Ma! cookies, she has cookies!" Eyes lite up with the optimism that says "those could quite possibly be the best cupcakes I would have ever tasted, and then, like clockwork here comes the same long face, when I have to tell them it's not what they think it is. "Oh, it's soap..."
  Most little girls still love it anyway, dying to be like mommy and all big girl and smelling fabulous. I think to myself "one day little lady" as I hand her a free sample of bubble bath cake or a glitter covered soap sucker just to show it's not all about the money just because I am there selling.

  Honestly, my husband makes me. I would be perfectly content giving it away but he is always ranting something about "bills" this and "homeless" that. That's a little something else that is necessary in life and love, a good sense of humor. He is the best support a gal could ask for, thanks hon.

  When it's your hearts work. It helps keep the supplies rolling in of course, but all the money in the world can not make you desire and need to create things to make other people feel good. I don't desire to be rich, I just want to do what makes me happy and if that happens to make you happy too, well, Double win for us.

Soaps from around the world, (...mainly France)

Rustic, simple and yet romantically beautiful. My soap of the year, for sure.

All of these soaps are absolute works of art. I wish I could be writing that these were of my own creation but, I can not. I hope to one day have the knowledge, patience and skill that it takes to
make a soap that just blows you away like these did for me. The first one is from Taiwan, the maker of this simply gorgeous soap with the resemblance of piano keys goes by the name of Soapworker. They have other beautiful soaps as well. I scour the net finding beautiful soaps almost daily to add to my Soap, Soap and more Soap board on Pinterest. But this little soap here is why I decided to blog about it.

 This next one I found a few weeks ago. I adore the cleanness of the lines and the color choice is beautiful. I always go for the bright colors when I soap but when it comes to finding the soaps I love, I always prefer the  neutral tones. They just go hand in hand with natural soap if you ask me. I love how the Taiwan swirl design feathers out blending all the hues. Beautiful. You can find this gem and more lovely soaps on her blog, Bbee's Soapsite. You will have choose to translate it to English up at the top left of the blog. Then you will read the recipes and inside views on the techniques themselves.
 The first black and white beauty on here I didn't have much information on. The picture did not lead me to a link so all I have is the name on the picture itself. SO, I did a search an up popped her Etsy shop. Wow. You would not believe all the unique and festive finds she makes. Enough to where I want everyone in my family to receive soap for Christmas, forever. Her shop is Kokolele on Etsy. You really should see some of her ornament soaps, top quality all the way. Perfect for stocking stuffers.

The next soap on the catwalk is from France. I could not translate the blog so I have very little to share with you other than the image of a stunning bar of soap. The look is so volcanic and beautiful. The thin layer of black to accent the ombre layering is genius. The shops name I believe, is Savonnaute. They give excellent pictures to there soap making and molds but like I said earlier, no easy way to translate it. I want one of the acrylic molds they show on that site. The clear image of the soap has to really enhance your ability to design. I still loved looking through all the soaps with or with out understanding the words. All you really need is the appreciation of work to enjoy it anyhow.
  I found the amazing looking black & white filigree soap on Pinterest as well. Followed it to an Etsy shop by the name of The Charming Frog. It is part of there black & white collection. How sophisticated, right? I am in love with this soap. So I click to see the rest of the collection and I am literally amazed at the selection. There is a soap for every occasion, mood and holiday. I also found the ornate flower soap at the bottom right too. I love the two tone contrast of the soaps. The use of activated charcoal and night black mica in soaps is something I love to see. It seems to always make the soap stand out to me. I will have to order some of these for Christmas gifts very soon. Yes, even as a soap maker I still love to buy other crafters soaps. Especially when they are this gorgeous.

I hope everyone knows just how talented they are. Excellent skill and originality as well. In this done to death world, originality is very hard to achieve.
Okay, that's all for now. There will always be amazing soap waiting to be shared. I hope that one day that mine will be this glamorous.

 

 

Use rebatch in a Cream soap?!....

The finished re-batched cream soap. Add more water for more fluff.

Put that rebatch to good use!

I have been really busy lately. I wish I could say I have spent most of my time making soap and other goodies but I have spent most of this past week trolling the internet finding a whipped soap recipe that uses re-batched soap. The soaps I make are divine. What I have found are countless from scratch CP recipes that require 5 months before it can be used. The bad thing about that is that I use whipped soap in almost everything I do. I can not afford to wait that amount of time for something that could not ever "rot" to my desired fluffy consistency. I would hate, as a novice to the cream soap world, to invest half a year in something to find out I forgot something. So I hit the crock-pot and burned a lot of midnight oil and early morning light making what I consider fabulous whipped soap. Now I am going to share this with you. I went on every forum, asked for any information from numerous people and never heard a peep until Sharon Soaper. With all her years of experience with beautiful soap shed some light on the subject for me. I could not thank her enough for sharing with me. She gave me info I couldn't find anywhere else on the web.

  Now, if you are looking for a broke down ounce to tsp. recipe your not going to find it. At least not yet. Since everything depends on preference of texture you have the chance to take these guidelines and truly make it your own.
  First off, the experiments I pulled off were all fresh goat's mill, luxury rebatch. It is such an amazing soap I could not let those shavings just sit around. I do not skimp one bit on the ingredients so to treat anything I make with it like it is second rate would be insult to my work. I have not done any of this with a run of the mill, non milk basic rebatch so you might have a slightly different outcome than my batches depending on your recipe. Less might be more in this situation so let me know how it turns out.

 Whipped Soap~ trial run:)

 I took roughly 14 to 15 oz of soap shredded it super fine with the Pampered Chef hand shredder with the crank, (uber EASY!) It makes the chore of grating down your rebatch practically a breeze and makes the shreds so thin that it melts very fast and less clumps.
  Added it to the crock pot on low, with about a half a cup of water. If you shred super fine, check often, add water as needed, stir occasionally, you know the drill. You want to keep it a stew like base. At this time I add a little extra mango butter, glycerine and safflower oil. Careful with the additives, they are going to take away from the bubble action of the end product so use sparingly. Now once it has completely melted(consistency should be around " thick gravy zone"). Let it heat thoroughly, now take you mixer and blend. You want to incorporate as much air into this as possible. I added a little cornstarch, glycerine & water mix to it and continue to whip. After about a two hour full process of adding, heating and waiting you can turn the heat off and let it set for a minimum of 8 hours. The mixture will be firm-ish again. Add a little water and start fluffing. You can add a little more oil to get the consistency you desire. This recipe doesn't give you the full on cloud type fluff I like but it is whipped and creamy and anyone would love the way it makes you feel. I read that a lot of cream soaps were very drying. I can tell you that this recipe with the butter blend goat's milk left my hands feeling amazing. So what it lacks in fluff, it makes up for in other areas. I proceeded to mix this with sugar and made an amazing all natural goat's milk sugar scrub, packaged and ready for the shop in less than 24 hours.

  Recipe 2 Courtesy of the advice of the amazing Sharon Soaper~

You grate down your rebatch, I used about 20 ounces of shredded rebatch and I added my water, a little more than last time with this recipe. I let it melt down, stirring as it melted. When it had turned to liquid , I added the Sodium Lactate, (I get mine from Bramble Berry, they have the best

batch pre- Sodium Lactate

price at the moment) I added a tbs per pound which could have been to much now that i think about it. The regular usage rate is 1tsp per pound of oils so I would try it as directed first to save yourself from wasting un-nececery product. The mix thins out after the SL is added, that's just temporary, don't worry. I proceeded to blend it until it thickened ( about 20 min.) It had risen just about to the top of the crock pot. I covered it and let it set up overnight. Checked on it 7-8 hours later and the top was perfect after a little whipping. The bottom was still a little runny so I pulled the top
layer off, mixed the bottom really good and let it set up the rest of the way. After a few hours I mixed it all back together and blended like a mad woman. Adding a little water here and there depending on the fluffy you are after. I have got to invest in a hands free mixer. Killing my arthritis:) but non the less, it was fluffy and gorgeous just what I was looking for in texture. The only thing is that it was a

little drying, That I have to fix. I think it could be I used too much SL or the fact that I added it solo without the extra helping of oil and butter. The first batch was skin pleasing all the way with the added oils and butter, lathered good too.  But I must say, I used batch number 2 as a shaving cream that same day and I had never used better. No razor burn and normally that always happens with my skin. Absolutely dreamy.
  Now a few of loose end thoughts and points that may cross your mind during this process. Don't over think it. This is a very forgiving process.

 little thin after adding SL

~If you add too much water, just cook it out by heating and stirring a little longer till the consistency gets slightly thicker. You don't want it runny but at the same time the water is necessary for the fluff so don't be stingy.
~If it turns out a little flat or not desirable looking that's okay too. You could add a little more soap to it. As long as it is a good soap you can always add some sugar and whip it that way so the fluff is not center stage. Additives are another way to make it special as well, I used ground oatmeal & jojoba beads in my last batch. I am not sure how clays will effect it but I am sure I will know soon;)

~ Color, I used titanium dioxide to counter react the tan cream of the goat's milk. The tsp I had on hand was not enough. It was enough to lighten it but didn't give it the white most people like. So add gradually till the color you want is achieved.
~Scent. Both batches held scent really well so don't go over board. It took a lot less than I would have put into an MP batch of whipped soap.
~Preservative? My thought was, I am adding all this water after the process has already been completed so surely I will need a preservative, right? I quizzed the Soap Queen on my preservative concern and she informed me that if using one, to make sure your formula is below 100 degrees when you mix it and there should be no problems adding it. Sharon Soaper says, that unless you actually have an issue, don't use it. Any unneeded ingredients can really jeopardize the lather and texture of the finished product I have left some uncovered and experimented with bacteria and none problems so far.

Whip after SL, then wait 8 hrs and whip again

~Experiment, we all have re-batch laying around normally. Play around with it. I read using aloe juice is a good sub for water and I am going to try pure coconut water in my next batch so check back with me for updates and revisions. I have only just begun with this new obsession.

 I am no expert, I am just a lady who loves making soap. I don't have vast knowledge but I learn whatever I can anyway I can. There will be updates as I find them out. Anything I learn through my trials that can shed light on this method I will share. I am shocked at the lack of info about this. I hope this helps you in the right direction. The people that do this from scratch I have to give much respect, I will achieve this myself one day but even when I began making soap, rebatch was my stepping stone.

*******UPDATE**********
I just wanted to let people know how this has held up over time.... Wonderfully. It has actually improved as far as consistency and the bubbles have increased dramatically. I have closed it up and checked on it monthly and used some to see any change. Almost seven months and I could not be more pleased.

Pumkin Souffle Goat Milk Body Butter....

Fall is officially here!! New to the shop's Fall/Winter season, Goat's Milk Body Butter with yummy Pumpkin Souffle fragrance. In a few words like, creamy, light, fluffy come to mind when I think about it but when I use it I think, luscious, rich, and..*heaven*. I have never been a fan of the heavy and greasy products that make your kids slide right out of your hands when you use it. It's even worse to use something like that during the already sticky Summer months, yuck. This butter absorbs in your skin within a few minutes to leave your skin so soft without a heavy greasy sheen. That I love! The best part is making it too. The process I use takes a good 12 hours to do it, most of it is waiting, patiently waiting for the right moment, temperature and the right texture. I use all natural ingredients to produce this lovely whip and most important is the local goat milk that goes into it. I adore using my local resources. Not all ways easy but well worth it in the end. I feel better making a product that I know all the steps those ingredients took to end up in my hands. I use an all natural secret preservative in my milk butters too. Maybe I will share one day but for now, I will remain stingy. I use the best oils, known for being light on the skin yet effective. I choose Argan and Jojoba as my main oils and grape seed as the chaser oil. Most of my products are made to order except for when I do craft shows. So my customers get a fresh scrub, butter, cleanser right off the bat. So there is not a long wait on a shelf or store room. My sizes are not so large that it will take a terribly long time to use either.
   With them being made fresh, my customers get to pick and choose just what they want and never have to settle for a second choice. With over 100 fragrance varieties, I am sure I can make something anyone could love. I can either go all natural with essential oil blends or if you want something different I have that too. The color is an lovely natural, creamy white. All around fabulous body frosting. Sample sizes available for $5 with no additional shipping charge. Check it out and many other fabulous skin loving goodies at 6th Scents Soy & Bath on Etsy. Happy Harvest time Everyone, thanks for stopping by.

Passion fruit & Pineapple "The Sea Salt Peacock"

It's getting cooler, leaves are scattered across my porch and the days are getting shorter. Fall is here and Winter is steadily making it's way to my door too. I anticipate this time of year just for the change it brings. Once I have felt the difference for a few weeks I am over it. The first time I have to walk my dog at 6a.m. and I feel like a Popsicle, I am way over it.

  Then I start the long yearning for Spring and Summer again. At least I have my fragrances, I can light a candle or take a bubble bath and the aroma's take me back. That's what this scent does for me, I instantly thing spring break, summer fun, fresh fruit all in one fruity burst of fragrance. I am in love once again, happens often in my line of work. Oh, the misery right? Another treason why I love what I do so much, It smells good. Even if I spill something and make a huge mess, It still smells good.

  Pineapple & Passion Fruit fragrance is a new oil from Wholesale Supplies Plus. I was reviewing some of there new scents to see how they performed during Cold Process soap making. I have tested three of there Pineapple fragrances so far, and Pear berry which is a dead ringer for BBW type all the way. There Pineapple scents are fabulous! The Pineapple & Mango and Passion Fruit & Pineapple are my favorite. They both have worked beautifully with my process. There is time to get in there and just let your creative side loose. And I did. I have been obsessed with sea salt this month, I guess it's another way to hold on to summer too. I was recently on a Blog based in France and was totally blown away by some of soaps that I saw. It's called BOS, Blogs Of Soap, you really need to check that out. I have oodles of ideas from amazing work on that blog. So I took an Idea with the cylinder bottles and turned it into a bright and funky soap loaf, topped off with various colored Sea salts on the top.
First off you need to cut the tops and bottoms off your smooth plastic bottles and insert either after you pour or before. I did it prior and had a little trouble with breaking the suction loose to get them out. Wait at least 12 hours before you remove the bottles. I started to decorate the top with sea salt I colored with oil locking mica powders, tweezers help. Patience too. I had no plan at first but it came together nicely.

 I let it set over night, after i removed the bottles just to give it ample time to firm up. I tend to make soap on the softer side so I need all the dry time I can get. The next morning I whipped up a one pound batch of coconut milk awesomeness to fill the holes in. I used the same micas I colored the salts with and a touch of white. Divided my batch up and poured small amounts into each hole in order until I reached the top.
   I had my extra molds ready for the excess I couldn't use and made some adorable colored sea salt hand soaps for bathroom. Just sprinkle in some on the bottom and put the soap in while it has a little body to it so it will set on top of the salts with out swallowing them completely.
  Then I was faced with the big
decision to cover the holes you see
in the picture above or leave them
showing.
 The bottom picture on the right was soon after pouring so you can actually see the outline of the holes a little. Where the ends frayed up from pulling the bottles out are not that appealing. You would want to push those down, level with the top prior to filling. I choose to push mine down with the sea salt and cover completely.

You can see on the bottom of the two on the right, when I was pulling my bottle out the suction was pulling the soap in. I am not sure how to stop that but I think using a cylinder that air can move through will fix it. Like actually cutting the top and bottom off before you use them. Now I am dying to see what it would be like without them covered up so I will be doing this again very soon. With a whole different color scheme of course. I only like to do the same thing twice if it's ordered. I love to create something new for my customers to see, it will keep them coming back just to see what you will have next. Not to mention the fact that it keeps it fun and new for myself too.
I let it set out covered for 24 hours, then I placed it in the freezer for another 24 hours. After all the waiting and anticipation I was finally ready to cut it. This is the moment I live for! That Christmas morning feeling for me every time, never gets old. And this is what it looked like. Totally made me think of a Peacock:) I hope this was helpful to someone. Take it and make it your own. If I missed something or you need any info just let me know.