Search Results for: www.brambleberry.com

Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (April 9th ~ 15th)

April 15, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Projects inspired by the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection continued this week. If you’d like to try the kit, don’t wait! Today is the last day to buy it. After that, the fragrances will be sold individually. The collection includes Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil, which has notes of orange zest, spice, almond and of course, blueberries. It is used in the Blueberry Jam Sugar Scrub. The scrub uses biodegradable Jasmine Jojoba Beads and Sierra Sky Jojoba Beads to create a berry color and exfoliate the skin. For a bit of moisture and fantastic ‘slip,’ fractionated coconut oil is in the recipe as well.

[Read more…]

Clover & Aloe Spin Swirl Cold Process on Soap Queen TV

April 14, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

The spin swirl technique refers to pouring layers of soap into the mold, then spinning the soap to create a unique design. The key to the spin swirl is a slow-moving recipe and fragrance oil that does not accelerate trace. This Clover and Aloe Spin Swirl Soap is made with the new Clover and Aloe Fragrance Oil, which behaves wonderfully in cold process. I also like to use a lazy Susan for this project – it really helps with spinning motion!

If you’re a beginner soaper, I would recommend getting a few recipes under your belt before attempting this project. The soap batter must stay fluid for a long period of time, so a good understanding of trace is essential. If you’re looking for more spin swirl tutorials, check out the Psychedelic Spin Swirl Cold Process Soap and the Pantone Spin Swirl Cold Process Soap for more inspiration.

[Read more…]

Mother’s Day Project Inspiration

April 13, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 8th, which will be here in no time. As a mom, handmade gifts from my kiddos are my favorite. Give me a macaroni necklace over a store bought necklace any day. =) If you’re looking for a handmade bath and beauty project for Mother’s Day, I’ve rounded up some of my favorites to treat your mom on her special day.

The gift of relaxation is the perfect way to pamper mom. The LoveSpell Solid Bubble Bath DIY creates feminine bubble bars with plenty of sparkle. To use, break up the bar under running water to add big fluffy bubbles to the tub. To see this project in action, check out the How to Make Solid Bubble Bath video on Soap Queen TV.

The LoveSpell Solid Bubble Bath DIY creates big fluffy bubbles in the tub.

[Read more…]

Blueberry Jam Sugar Scrub Easy DIY

April 12, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Soaks & Scrubs

$This Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil contains skin loving fractionated coconut oil and gentle jojoba beads for exfoliation.$
Fragrances are a great source of inspiration for handmade products. Often, a scent gives you an idea of the colors and designs you want to use. As soon as I smelled Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil from the new Spring Fever Fragrance Collection, I immediately thought, “This would make a great scrub!” The fragrance features notes of sweet blueberry, orange zest and just a pinch of spice.

$This Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil contains skin loving fractionated coconut oil and gentle jojoba beads for exfoliation.$
This Blueberry Jam Sugar Scrub will get your skin exfoliated and ready for shorts and tank tops. Sugar, Jasmine Jojoba Beads and Sierra Sky Jojoba Beads exfoliate and leave the skin feeling fresh. The jojoba beads also add a lovely blueberry color to the scrub. To lightly cleanse the skin, it contains potassium cocoate. Fractionated coconut oil adds some moisture to the recipe.

[Read more…]

Soapy Social Media Roundup

April 9, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Happy weekend! The past couple weeks have been beautiful here in Bellingham, WA; it’s been mostly sunny with highs in the 70s! Below, Jamisen, Lily and Chris enjoy the sun by playing soccer in the yard. I can’t wait for the sun to stick around more consistently. =)

Next week, be on the lookout for more projects featuring fragrances in the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection. If you haven’t picked up a kit on sale yet, you have until April 15th. Then the fragrances can only be purchased separately (and, at full price). There is a scrub and a cold process project on the way using Blueberry Jam Fragrance Oil and the Clover and Aloe Fragrance Oil (my favorite from the Spring Collection!). In the meantime, check out my favorite social media links below.

Pinterest:

Left to right, clockwise:

These Colored Coffee Filter Flowers are so pretty. I used LabColors to create a similar effect in this tutorial.
If you love mason jars for decorating, this Colored Mason Jar Tutorial will be right up your alley.
The yellow and pink hues in this ombre soap by Linda O’Sullivan remind me of a tropical vacation. Learn more about Linda in this interview.
Speaking of a tropical vacation, I would love to sip this Sunrise Detox Smoothie on the beach.

Instagram:
Looking for a new way to decorate your bath bombs? Check out the mica painting technique in the Painted Berry Bath Bomb Tutorial. I can’t wait to experiment more with this technique – there are so many possibilities! These bath bombs are made with the new Blooms and Berries Fragrance Oil, which is available in the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection until April 15th.

On Thursday, I shared the tutorial for these adorable Sunflower Cold Process Soaps made with the new Sunflower Fragrance Oil. I’m so happy with how these bars turned out, they make me excited for summer. They are also fairly easy to make.

Periscope/Katch:
In case you missed it, check out all the gorgeous soap I received in my Soap Swap box! Check out this blog post to read about each bar. I was blown away with the variety of techniques and beautiful packaging of each bar. Check out the video below to watch me open my box.

Twitter:

If you use your phone camera regularly, this post is full of great tips for improving your photos.
Ever wonder if brown eggs are actually better for you? Or if egg yolks will ruin your diet? This post clears up those egg myths.
Have questions about coloring your soap? Amanda Gail’s new e-book How to Color Cold Process Soap is full of awesome information and beautiful photos.
The FDA is asking luxury hotel toiletry maker Gilchrist & Soames to prove they fixed their shampoos and shower gels that were found to contain microbial contamination.
If you have a business, you need to get on board the Instagram train. This post goes over some Instagram marketing strategies. I’m working on a blog post about utilizing Instagram for business, so look for that post soon.

To keep up with soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine, Katch, YouTube and Snapchat. I’m Bramble-Berry on Snapchat. Don’t forget to tag your soapy projects on Instagram with the hashtag #SoapShare and #PureSoapmaking so I can see what you’re making! =)

Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (April 2nd ~ 8th)

April 8, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This week featured several tutorials inspired by the new Spring Fever Fragrance Collection. The collection includes Blooms and Berries Fragrance Oil, which has notes of strawberry, pear, jasmine and musk. To complement the scent, the Painted Berry Bath Bombs have a green, purple and pink design on top. The design is created by mixing mica with 99% isopropyl alcohol and “painting” on top of each one. It’s a fun way to dress up bath bombs.

[Read more…]

Sunflower Cold Process Soap Tutorial

April 7, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

Sunflowers are such a cheerful flower. The vibrant yellow petals instantly make me think of spring and summer. To create these Sunflower Soap Bars, I used the Sunflower Mold and the new Sunflower Fragrance Oil. I brought the soap to a thick trace and colored it brown and yellow. Then, I placed the colors into different areas of the mold. The end result is adorable sunflower soaps that fit perfectly in your hand. This project could easily be made with melt and pour soap as well; I would recommend using the Yellow Oxide Color Block and Brown Oxide Color Block in Clear Melt and Pour Base.

While sunflowers do not have a scent, I think the Sunflower Fragrance Oil captures their essence perfectly. The fragrance is complex with notes of sweet grass, grapefruit, jasmine and sandalwood. It’s a sophisticated floral that’s sure to become a favorite.

[Read more…]

Spring Soap Swap Unboxing Video!

April 6, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

For the Spring 2016 Soap Swap, I decided to be a participant. This meant ten random soapers received one of my soaps, and I received ten different bars from soapers around the country. If you’d like more information regarding the Soap Swap, check out this blog post to read the details. Want to participate in a future swap? We will be hosting another one later this year! Be sure to sign up for our newsletter; the date of the next signup will be announced about a week in advance for newsletter subscribers only.

Here are all ten soaps I received in my box, they are so beautiful!

I was blown away by all ten bars in my box! They are so unique and really show off the talent of the soapmaking community. I love how each bar is so different given that all soapmakers have access to the same set of ingredients. Granted; it’s a pretty big set of ingredients but still, it’s awesome to see what everyone does with similar ingredients. Watch the videos below to see the live unboxing of my Soap Swap package. I included both the video on UStream below. I can’t wait to use each bar. They all look and smell amazing. Thank you to everybody who participated in the swap and took so much time and effort to create beautiful bars for their fellow soapmakers. I hope everybody who participated had lots of fun. =)

[Read more…]

Painted Berry Bath Bomb Tutorial

April 5, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Bath Fizzies

Looking for a way to jazz up your bath bombs? The mica painting technique on these Painted Berry Bath Bombs is the ticket! Once the bath bomb is fully hardened in the mold, mix mica with 99% isopropyl alcohol and start decorating. To create the paint splatter effect, I used a dropper to drizzle the “mica paint” in various directions and layers. There are so many design possibilities with the mica paint technique. Check out the Peppermint Candy Bath Bomb Tutorial to see how mica paint is used to create peppermint candy details.

These bath bombs are scented with the new Blooms and Berries Fragrance Oil. The fragrance is a blend of berry notes such as strawberry and floral notes like jasmine and pink peony. It smells amazing!

In my tests, I found these bath bombs did not leave a ring of color around my tub. But, this will vary depending on the amount of mica you use on each bath fizzy. It may also vary slightly from color to color. For example, if you use Luster Black Mica, you may notice more color on the tub than with a lighter color. The bath bombs in this recipe are colored with Rosy Pink La Bomb Colorant. La Bomb Colorants are specially formulated for bath bombs to not transfer any color onto the tub if using normal usage rates. La Bomb Colorants are extremely pigmented, so just a few drops does the trick for the recipe below.

[Read more…]

Soapy Social Media Roundup

April 2, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Happy weekend! I recently finished up in Nashville for the 2×4 Live Workshop. It’s always so inspiring to meet other small business owners. I’m currently writing a blog post about the experience, so be on the lookout for that tomorrow. Back at the office, we launched the new Spring Fever Fragrance Collection this week and I can’t wait to hear what you think of the four fragrances: Clover and Aloe, Blooms and Berries, Sunflower and Blueberry Jam. They all smell amazing!

If you missed the launch, you can watch the live video here. In the video I go over each fragrance and offer some product suggestions. Then, head over to my Pinterest page to find an inspirational board for each fragrance (near the bottom). Check out some of my favorite pins from the Blooms and Berries board below.

Pinterest:

Left, clockwise:

This Blackberry Sage Cold Process Aloe Soap by Emily of Shieh Design Studio is stunning. I love the little berry embeds on top.
I love this idea of incorporating berries into a bouquet of flowers. The berries give such a nice color contrast.
There are so many great design resources available to download. One of my favorite sites is Creative Market. There you can download awesome graphics, templates and more, including this gorgeous watercolor brush stroke. It would look great on a soap label!
The deep purple colors look amazing with the light green shades in this Sweet Fig Soap by Zahida of Handmade in Florida.

Instagram:
I’m so excited that the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection is now available. The four fragrances in the collection (Blueberry Jam, Clover and Aloe, Blooms and Berries, and Sunflower) are all amazing. If you want to try them all, the collection is only available for a short time. Don’t wait! =) After the collection sells out, the fragrances will still be available individually.

The quest for new and fun fragrance oils never ends. Below is a beautiful hanger swirl soap made with a possible new fragrance oil. The colors in this bar were created with Brown Oxide Pigment, Stormy Blue Mica and Nuclear Orange Pigment.

Twitter:

I love see the creative process of artists. This post by Meg Biram is full of beautiful images of her paintings and includes a giveaway!
Sometimes, a complete life change can sound really tempting. But, what if you simply rework what you have?
Are you among the third of Americans who don’t get enough sleep? I know that some nights I certainly am.
Sometimes the solution to a problem brings opportunity. These college kids began a granola bar company with leftover grains used to make beer.
I love this new book by Jan Berry of the Nerdy Farm Wife. There are so many awesome recipes, I can’t wait to try some. You can now find it at Bramble Berry.

Facebook and Instagram Photo of the Week (March 26th ~ April 1st)

April 1, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

With temperatures in the 60s this week, you can feel the seasons changing in Washington state. So, it’s the perfect time to introduce the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection. The collection includes four new fragrance oils – Sunflower, Clover and Aloe, Blooms and Berries and Blueberry Jam. Right now you can get all four in a kit for just $15.95. Click through the Introducing the New Spring Fever Fragrance Collection post for color inspiration and notes for each scent.

[Read more…]

Cinco de Mayo Cold Process Soap Tutorial

March 31, 2016 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Cold Process Soap

Soap inspiration can come from many places, including historical events! This soap was inspired by the Mexican flag to commemorate Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo celebrates the Mexican army’s victory over French Forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5th, 1862. This design could also work as an Italian flag soap, or even a Christmas soap. Last year I made an American flag inspired soap, and it was much (much!) more difficult. =)

I used the Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool to create the white, red and green sections of soap. Then, I carefully swirled the very top to create more interest. This soap is scented with an amazing combination of Lime Fragrance Oil and Tobacco and Bay Leaf Fragrance Oil. The two fragrances blend together for a scent that’s bright and citrusy with sophisticated earthy notes. I’m always amazed at how well Tobacco and Bay Leaf Fragrance Oil blends with other fragrances! See more blend ideas here.

Recently, the Silicone Liner for the 5 lb Wood Mold was redesigned to be sturdier and easier to use. The redesign made it thicker. Because of this, the Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool will not work with the new Silicone Liner for the 5 lb Wood Mold; it only fits with the older, thinner version. If you only have the new, thicker version you can still use the Multi-Pour Sectioning Tool if you line your mold with freezer paper instead. See how to line the mold in this post.

[Read more…]

Spring 2016 Soap Swap Round Up

March 30, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Last week, all the bars for the Cold Process Soap Swap 2016 were swapped and sent. If you participated in the swap, keep your eyes out for your box of goodies soon! If you’re unfamiliar with the swap, the basic idea is that soapers send us 10 bars of soap. Then, we swap the bars and send 10 new bars back, each made by a different person.

So many amazing soaps were sent for the swap!

If you did not get the chance to sign up for this swap, we will have another one later this year. I wish we could have swaps all the time with an unlimited amount of soapers. But, it takes a lot of time to swap 100 boxes! =) If you’d like to be among the first to sign up for the next swap, sign up for the Bramble Berry newsletter. We will give advance notice to newsletter subscribers about when the swap will take place and how to sign up. Click here to sign up for the newsletter.

[Read more…]

Introducing the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection!

March 29, 2016 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Spring is officially here! The weather is warmer, the days are longer and plants are in full bloom. If you’re in need of spring project inspiration, the new Spring Fever Fragrance Collection is here to the rescue. The collection includes four amazing new fragrance oils: Sunflower, Clover and Aloe, Blooms and Berries and Blueberry Jam. Each fragrance oil captures a different essence of spring. For a limited time, receive 2 ounces of each fragrance for $15.95, more than $10 off retail price. Once the Spring Fever Fragrance Collection sells out, the fragrances will still be available to purchase individually.

Each fragrance oil has been tested in cold process soap for scent, discoloration and performance. Scroll down to see the individual notes in each scent, along with information on how the fragrance oil performs in cold process soap. I introduced these four fragrances LIVE today with color palette suggestions and related product ideas. Watch the video below! In addition, I created Pinterest boards for each fragrance oil if you’re looking for more inspiration. Find them here.

Live streaming video by Ustream

[Read more…]