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Thursday, April 11, 2013

Soap Challenge 2013 - Elemental Swirl

For week 2 of the Soap Challenge, the technique is the Elemental Swirl.  Here is the link to her blog with the pictures of other soaper's creations as well as a little more info on the Elemental Swirl.

I really struggled with what to do with this elemental swirl.  I wasn't sure about the colors to use (I have a relatively limited selection of colorants - mainly oxides, micas, and natural colorants).  I wasn't even sure about what scent I wanted to make.

So, I looked at DesignSeeds for some inspiration:

Inspiration photo from DesignSeeds at:  http://design-seeds.com/index.php/home/entry/flora-tones20
I love these colors, and I figured I could get close enough with the colorants I have.  For scent, I have had a spearmint and ginger EO blend on my list of things to try.  To balance it out a little more, I added some coriander EO I had laying around (This is a very expensive soap - these EOs aren't cheap...)

I rolled up my sleeves, turned on the Elton John Pandora station on my computer downstairs and started creating.




Here is the soap log before and after cutting.  I really love how the colors turned out!  I didn't have very high expectations for this soap, but it was really fun to do, and I like how it turned out.  The "green" smell of the EO blends and the flower-like colors really make me wish spring was here already.



Here are some of my favorite shots of the cut soap.  The swirls turned out great, but I wish I had poured a little more forcefully to get a wavy pencil line.



One more for good measure:




The colors aren't exactly like the DesignSeeds palette above, but I am proud of how this soap turned out!

~Chrissy

8 comments:

  1. How cool is that! I have yet to try out design seeds, but it looks like a great place for inspiration. Your soap is beautiful! Thank you for participating in the challenge!

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  2. The soap is so gorgeous! I love the green part. It is so warm and reminds me of grass (that we still don´t have here in Finland because spring is a month late).

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  3. Thanks, Amy! I've enjoyed playing along with the challenges this year, even though I didn't get the Tiger Stripes done in time. This was a technique I've never tried and would likely not try anytime soon if it weren't for your challenge. Thank you for setting it up!

    Marika - in Minnesota, we just got about 5 inches of snow yesterday and today. I cannot wait for spring! I was thinking the bottom portion looked like grass, too, which goes well with the vegetal scent of the EOs. I may try this again with a blue top for a landscape look.

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  4. Oh wow, Chrissy, that soap screams Spring....love it!!!

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  5. Sunset of the valley! That's how I see this soap! Really like this greens!

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  6. This is so beautiful, Chrissy! Love especially the green part :)

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  7. Beautiful, Chrissy! I love the colors you chose. Sounds like a wonderful EO blend, too.

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