Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Snow Day Soap


Goodness, where does the time go? Is October really almost over?

I meant to have a blog post up a bit sooner, but it's been a busy month. My family came to visit last week and we had a great time hanging out! And I've been making holiday soaps so that they will have plenty of time to cure before Christmas.

Since September, I've made four batches of holiday soaps. My Pumpkin Gingersnap soap was the first of the four.

And I am proud to present holiday soap batch number two - Snow Day!

To create the ribbons of blue and gold through the middle of the bars, I used the tilted tiger stripe technique. It is similar to the tiger stripe - which I used to make this Bacon soap - except that the mold is tilted instead of flat when the soap is poured.

I hadn't heard about the tilted tiger stripe until recently. Milla, a fellow soap blogger, posted a few weeks ago about practicing some soaping techniques, and her gorgeous tilted tiger stripe soap near the bottom of her post caught my eye. I did a little more research on the world wide interwebs and found this YouTube video by Soaping101, demonstrating how to do the tilted tiger stripe.

For the scent, I chose a combination of Bramble Berry's Fresh Snow and Nature's Garden's Winter Garden fragrance oils. I had a little less than an ounce-and-a-half of Fresh Snow, and I used about a third of an ounce of Winter Garden to make up the difference. With this method, it's important to choose fragrances that do not accelerate trace, and it is also necessary to use a slow-moving recipe. 

To do the tilted tiger stripe, prop up your mold so that it is tilted at an angle. (I tied two packs of playing cards together and used them as a block, which I slid under the edge of my mold.) Pour some of your base soap into the mold, and then alternate different colors of soap, pouring a line of each along the side of the mold that is tilted toward you. I chose a white base with blue and gold stripes. Once most of the blue and gold soap was used up, I poured the remaining white soap over the top, being careful not to break through the layers below. Then I used the remaining blue and gold soap to create a faux mantra swirl on the tops, pouring a thick line of each and then moving a skewer back and forth just below the surface of the soap.

Here is a video I made of the process:


The tilted tiger stripe is a fun technique, and it creates a stunning design in the soap! I pretty much followed Soaping101's video, but I may try some variations in the future. I think it would be neat to tilt the mold one way, do some stripes, and then tilt the mold the other way to make contrasting stripes.

While I was looking up the tilted tiger stripe, I found a similar technique called the Dandelion Zebra Swirl, which was created by Vinvela Ebony of Dandelion SeiFee. (You may have also seen the Dandelion Zebra Swirl on Amy's Great Cakes Soapworks blog - it was chosen as October's soap challenge technique.) Instead of tilting the mold, a flexible plastic divider is inserted into the base soap and then alternating colors are poured or spooned down the side of the divider, creating ribbons of color. I will have to give the Dandelion Zebra a try someday, too!

Have you tried any new techniques lately? Which are your favorites? And how are your holiday soaps coming along? (Say, that reminds me - have a safe and happy Halloween, everyone!)

25 comments:

  1. Beautiful soap Jenny and I loved the video.....music made me want to jump up and do a jig!

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    1. Thank you, Gloria! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and the music!

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  2. Your Snow Day Soap looks like a great success -- loved the Christmassy music in the video!

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    1. Thanks, Mom! I am really proud of this soap. I'm glad that you liked the video! I like the techno take on Jingle Bells, too.

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  3. Ooooh! Blue and gold :) What a nice color combo.

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    1. Thanks, Marika! I definitely wanted blue and white together, but needed another color, too. I thought that gold would go nicely with the snow theme. I like how they all look together, too!

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  4. Jenny your Snow Day Soap is gorgeous! And thank you for the video, I have to try this :) I'm sure it smells fantastic. I used Fresh Snow FO in one of my batches and it smells divine!

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    1. Thanks, Renata! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video. Fresh Snow is one of my favorite FOs, especially for the holidays. It smells so nice, and it behaves beautifully in cold process soap.

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  5. I couldn't load the video on my phone,so I'll check it back later, I'm dying to see your card board.
    The soap is gorgeous Jenny, the colours are perfect. I wish I could smell it, sounds like something I would like.
    if you remember my 'Savanna' soap, that one was made using 'double tilted' technique, meaning, the mould was tilted first on one, then on another side. You can see the result, it's pretty 'unguesable' (is there this word?) that it was done this way.

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    1. Thank you, Maja! I just tilted the mold and then poured a steam of soap down the side of the mold along the liner. I do remember your Savanna soap - it's gorgeous! I went back and looked at the photos of Savanna again and I can see where the layers are tilted one way and then the other. What a neat effect! Thanks for sharing your technique!

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  6. Thank you for putting together the video, Jenny! I've never made a video in my life, but I would love to one day. It's so much better to watch than to try to explain a technique in words. :-)
    I am impressed with the number of stripes you were able to put into your soap. The result is lovely! I really like your top too. I have to try the mantra swirl one of these days. :-)

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    1. Thank you, Silvia! I'm glad that you enjoy the videos. I like to use Windows Movie Maker to edit and produce them. It can be difficult to explain in writing how to do something, and the videos help explain what I sometimes have trouble saying. And the soap did stretch a long way. It made a lot of stripes! I still need to try the full mantra technique, too.

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  7. oh wow! You nailed this one! I LOVE it! It makes me want to try again and make sure I use a slow moving fragrance. Great job! Thanks for the mention and I should've mentioned in my blog that I learned the technique from Soaping 101's video. I'll have to update that. Great video too!

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    1. Thanks, Milla! I'm glad that you liked the video. And thanks for inspiring me to give the tilted tiger stripe technique a try!

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  8. What a beautiful and luxurious soap you made! I like the color combination and how it contributes to the overall appearance of the soap. Grate job Jenny!

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    1. Thank you, Gordana! I like how the blue, gold, and white work together, too. It really does make me think of a snowy day.

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  9. Your Snow Day soap is beautiful Jenny...and the blue and gold colors are so pretty together! I think this technique is so cool...though I haven't tried it yet. :)

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    1. Thanks, Kalla! The tilted tiger stripe is a fun technique - definitely give it a try someday!

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  10. That's such a pretty soap Jenny, love that pretty swirl and the colors stand out so beautifully!

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    1. Thank you, Cee! I am so happy with how this soap turned out, too. I like the shimmery gold and bold blue against the white.

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  11. You always impress me with your soap stories and your videos, Jenny! Love it!
    This soap is pure beauty, love everything about it!

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    1. Thank you, Natalia! I'm glad that you enjoyed the video and the post!

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  12. Wow, Jenny, this soap looks beautiful. And the how-to tips are amazing... I hope I have the patience to try this method one day :) What did you use for teh color blue? Thank you!

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    1. Hi, Iulia! Thanks for your kind words. This technique is a lot of fun! For the blue, I used Bramble Berry's ultramarine blue pigment. It's such a great, vivid color!

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