Paperwork, Paperwork, will it ever end?

Paperwork, paperwork, seems like there's never an end to all the paperwork! I've been busily trying to catch up on my soap database. Keeping track of what goes into each batch, dates, photos and etc. really is time consuming! Maybe I should get that soap software? Maybe I'll hint for a birthday gift? It surely would save time and paperwork! At the very least every thing would be in one neat little program instead of a ton of word docs and excel sheets and a separate database....;)

Last night I was full of energy, it was about 8:30 pm and I had an idea-Let's make some soap! So my husband joined me in my shop-he to play on his computer (LOL) and me to get some recipes laid out and oils melting.

I had four molds set up to go, 1 with a new silicone liner to try, 2 with plastic food film wrap and 1 with a resin liner. I decided to do all milk soaps-I hate to waste a brand new container of buttermilk as the date on it has just passed. So I split it between goats milk and buttermilk. Lye at 1.5:1 for this recipe. Got all the hard oils in the big crockpot for all four recipes and got to work!

The first one I kept simple, plain soap with lemongrass EO, but I had been saving some extrusions to make some cool soap and decided to go ahead and use them! You will see the result after they dry enough to unmold and cut. Should be interesting!

My husband was brain storming and asked if I could do a "pancakes" soap. It clicked in my head and this soap is Maple Cornbread Milk Soap. Made with real maple syrup and cornmeal in it! Smells wonderful and looks pretty good too!

My third one I've been planning for a while, I wanted it to be purple, green, pink and white done lily-pad style. Well I got a big surprise! My purple iron oxide went brown! I thought that couldn't happen so was very surprised! The colors I got are brown, green, pink and white, still pretty but I'm still shaking my head over that one! I used several essential oils for the scents because I didn't want them to interfere with the pouring. I was also careful about the colorants sticking to things I knew would not seize up on me. These color results are still mind bending:

And last but not least, the reason I had my husband stick around, was to help me with this one. It is a three color mantra swirl. I didn't want the colors to be too bright, more of a light primary than a bold one. Maybe even pastel. I think it turned out beautiful! My husband poured the center and I did the sides, I did Rose Clay, Blue Iron Oxide, & Goldenrod Sugar for colorants; Frankincense, Jasmine, & Rosemary Essential Oils for scents. Here it is:

Once I unmold and cut I will post what they look like. We went to bed at 1:00 AM but it was a lot of fun making these. :)

Today I did paperwork, yes the dreaded paperwork......sigh. Maybe I need a secretary? Ha!  ;)

Peacock Swirl, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Hemp Milk Soaps

Wow yesterday it was raining and today it's snowing! I honestly think the ground hog got it wrong this year. We've had an extremely mild winter here in Kentucky, that is a good and bad thing. It's good for those who don't like the cold but it's bad in that the bugs don't die and it will make it a seriously buggy spring and summer. I have a recipe or two for some all natural insect repellant and I plan to make lots! :)

Here is the Peacock Swirl soap from yesterday, I expected the bottom to be darker brown-I used vanilla lace for the scent. Still all in all very pretty!

I also did a Strawberry Cheese Cake (salt) soap and a beautiful Hemp Milk soap

 Today I've been putting things in order and thinking about my next soaps. I'm thinking about doing a Flax Milk soap next....ah soaping, the best remedy for any type of stress! Snow away out there, I'm content in my shop making plans. ;)

Nothing like a rainy day in Kentucky

Nothing like a rainy day in Kentucky, I stayed warm and dry and put myself to work making some new cold processed soap. Today I did a Peacock Swirl. It turned out very pretty I think. It's still setting up. Tomorrow I'll unmold and cut it. Colors were done with rose clay, green clay, paprika, charcoal and plain. I've seen these in soap shops and wanted to give them a try.

I used a slow moving recipe but it seems like it's setting up well. Making soap is like bringing the sunshine indoors! I don't even mind the rain when I get to play! I will post the pictures after it's cut.

When first cut it looked like this:

Here are some photos after it has been curing for a few weeks. It did darken like I expected from the vanilla lace. Smells divine! The paprika, rose clay, green clay and charcoal are still beautiful! I will do this soap again!