Mica Archives - Page 9 of 11

Painted Ornament Project

December 5, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

The first part of this tutorial was how to create glittery Ornament soaps. Now I’m going to show you how to add details with your own homemade soap paint. I wouldn’t recommend trying to paint over the glitter, you should choose one technique or the other.

Soap paint recipe:
2 parts Liquid Soap
1 partClear Melt & Pour Base
1 part Rubbing Alcohol
1 part Mica or Oxide

This recipe is in parts so you can make as much or as little as you like. We used 1/2 teaspoon to measure out our paint. So our recipe was 1/2 tsp. Clear M&P, Rubbing alcohol, and colorant and 1 tsp. liquid soap.

tools:
small heat proof container
paint brush

Step 1: Measure out the liquid soap and warm it up briefly in the microwave.
Step 2: Add the rubbing alcohol and colorant and stir to mix well.
Step 3: Add the melted clear melt & pour soap base and stir well.
Hint: If the soap starts to cool down and solidify you can pop it in the microwave to warm it up and make it paintable again. If it gets goopy, mix in a little more rubbing alcohol to help smooth it out.
Step 4: Carefully paint your soap ornament. If you paint an area where you don’t want paint, use the carving tool from our melt and pour tool kit to clean it off.

Another Hint: If the paint doesn’t want to stick to your soap, try dusting a little cornstarch over the soap before painting. This gives the soap something to grab onto.

Allow the paint to dry for a day before wrapping in plastic or hanging on your tree. It’s a heavy soap, so pick a sturdy branch. When guests come to visit over the holidays, let them pick their own useful soapy ornament to take home. They’ll think good thoughts about you every time they use their Christmas surprise.

Gobble Gobble! Soapy Family Project

November 19, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Thanksgiving is next week! (Public Service Announcement: Bramble Berry is closed from Thursday November 27 to Monday December 1. But, I’ll be working at Otion on the 28th so stop by if you’re in town.) You’re probably preparing to either go to your in-laws or for them to descend onto your house. If you are looking for a fun family project to do together, or perhaps something to entertain your long-lost-cousin who just wants to hide in the corner, this is the seasonal project for you. Plus! It’s an easy beginner’s project so even though the final product looks complex? It just requires you to follow directions.

Items needed:

Jelly Roll Pan
Festive Seasonal Cookie Cutter
Clear Melt and Pour
Soap Kit Syringe Injector
Micas in Fall Colors
Spritzer full of Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol)
Fragrance (suggestions: Pumpkin Spice, Gingersnap, AppleJack Peel, Rum Nut Cake)

Step One
Prepare the Soap for the cookie cutter portion. We used Cappuccino Mica color in clear soap, scented it with Rum Nut Cake. The Jelly Roll pan uses about 8 ounces of melt and pour soap to make a thin layer (thin enough to push through, that is). To prepare your soap, melt it in the microwave on 30 second bursts. Color your soap to preference and add about .13 – .25 ounces of fragrance. Stir well.

Step Two
Pour your soap into the Jelly Roll silicone pan. Spritz with a finishing touch of alcohol. Allow to harden.

Step Three
Gently peel the soap out of the mold. Use your cookie cutter to press out Fall holiday shapes.

Step Four
Prepare your clear soap. Melt the soap in 30 second bursts. Once it’s melted, add fragrance. Be sure to choose a non-yellowing fragrance or at least a fragrance that stays clear.

Step Five
Pour off a little of your fragranced, clear soap into 3 little pots. You want .5 ounces to 1 ounce of soap per pots. Bonus points if your pots can be reheated in the microwave. Color each of these with a fall color. You want these to be bright vibrant colors so they really stand out.

Step Six
Pour a thin layer of clear soap into the bottom of the Jelly Roll Pan. Wait for soap to harden.

Step Seven
Spray the thin layer of clear soap liberally with alcohol. Spray your turkey (or other fall cut out soap) liberally with alcohol. Place the turkey down on the top of the clear soap.

Step Eight
Take your Soap Syringe/Injector and draw up a syringe full of colored soap (remember those little pots of colored soap? Now is the time to use them! If they’ve solidified, it’s okay, reheat and remelt). Pretend you’re Jackson Pollock and start drizzling. Alternate colors. Spray some more rubbing alcohol. Alternate more colors. Syringe, soap, syringe, soap, syringe. Let this masterpiece harden.

Step Nine
Prepare your background soap. It can be any color you want (we used green, gold, white and ivory – they all looked great!) so long as the drizzles stand out from the rest of the soap in a dramatic and impressive fashion. Spray your Pollock strings with alcohol. Make sure your overpour soap is around 120 to 130 degrees so it doesn’t melt your design. Pour the overpour soap gently over the entire pan, filling it 7/8th to the top or as thick as you want your soap to be.

Step Ten
Wait for the soap to harden. This will take at least an hour if not longer. It’s a thick slab of soap at this point. Gently peel out of the mold and cut into squares. I used the handy dandy scraper cutter but you could use a butcher knife.

Wrap in saran wrap, give away at Thanksgiving or use these for fun and easy place settings. Stick a skewer in them to make a sign.

Tutorial: Fiery Energy Bar

September 8, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

When I got this 3-D mold, I was so excited to try it out! The calligraphy is beautiful and since it already said “Energy” then I could use one of my favorite Bramble Berry scents named Energy, too. The fragrance is so bright and refreshing that it inspired me to use fiery colors, and what better way to show off that gorgeous lettering than to play with the melt and pour tool kit again!

I think you will really enjoy making this project. It’s actually quite easy but will leave many people wondering, “How’d you do that?” It’ll be our little secret. 😉

Materials:

Kanji Energy 3-D Mold, with or without contoured back
1/2 lb clear melt and pour soap base
Ultramarine Blue Oxide
Yellow Mica
Red Mica
Energy Fragrance Oil
Melt and Pour Tool Kit

Skewer

1) Melt 1 ounce of clear soap and color darkly with a pinch of blue oxide dissolved in a little rubbing alcohol or fragrance oil. Using the injector tool from the tool kit, fill the lettering with blue soap. Allow to set. (Refer to Cupcake Soap Tutorial for more detail on using the injector tool)

2) Melt 3 ounces of clear soap. Color with a pinch of yellow mica dissolved in alcohol or fragrance oil. Allow to cool to 120 degrees.

3) Spray lettering with rubbing alcohol and quickly assemble the mold, using the rubber bands, and stand upright on table. Fill mold 1/2 way with yellow soap.

4) Repeat step 2, but use red mica. The soap will turn orange, not red. Add 1/8 teaspoon of fragrance oil. Carefully fill mold with orange soap. Spray surface with alcohol to pop any bubbles.

5) Take your skewer and stick it down into the mold, blending the yellow and orange layers. Allow soap to set for a few hours.

6) Unmold soap. Use a knife to trim any rough edges or overfill.

This is a fun way to use bleeding colors to your advantage. The blended area will look even prettier after a little while as the orange bleeds into the yellow.

These 3-D molds are really neat to use and come in many styles. You will love how professional your soaps will look!

-Debbie, Soapylove

Realistic Clamshells – Final Reveal

September 5, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Click here for Day One
Click here for Day Two
Click here for Day Three

Check out the creative results from the class! Most of the students at the Soapmaking Weekend Intensive had never made soap of any type. The bumps and irregularities add to the natural look of the soap.

If you want to make your own Realistic Clamshell Soap, you can buy all of the supplies in one handy-dandy kit here.

Realistic Clamshell Soaps – Day Three

September 4, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Click here for Day One
Click here for Day Two

When the first two thin layers are set and the striping is to your satisfaction, cover and zap the small container of white soap for 30 seconds or so. When heated add one dropper of Gardenia Fragrance and blend well.

Cover and set nearby.

Before pouring your white layer into your mold lavishly spray one cavity 5-6 times with rubbing alcohol covering all exposed surfaces in the mold and immediately pour in about 2 tablespoons of white soap and roll the mold around until ALL the white soap seeps into the crevices (i.e., the stripes you created with the fork and cleaning tool). It doesn’t matter at this point how ugly a mess you think you’ve created or how thick and blobbed your white soap is – it will just add character to the bar as it is used. Use the scraper tool to replace any spilled soap into the container it originated from.

Let the white layer set for at least 15 minutes, then reheat your large container of black sea moss soap if needed (not too hot), spray one cavity at a time and fill quickly with black until all cavities are filled. Click here if you missed how to make the black color on Day Two. It’s the first paragraph. Pour the black soap now. It should be cool enough to not melt the first few layers after cooling for 15 minutes.

Notice the poised Rubbing Alcohol Spritzer. This ensures that layers will stick together and that there will not be unsightly bubbles on your finished soap.

After the soaps have cooled (for at least 4 hours), you can cover the cooled soaps still in the mold with plastic wrap and turn detail side up in your freezer under the blower for 3 minutes then pull out and give one quick firm push to each cavity. Check back tomorrow for the final reveal photos.

Realistic Clamshell Soaps – Day Two

September 3, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Click here for Day One

While waiting for the second layer to harden, use the large container and melt 16-20 oz of clear shaving soap for 55 seconds, checking, stirring and heating an additional 30 seconds until melted. Add black oxide (click here to see how to use oxides in Melt and Pour) and color soap dark enough to hide your white scraping tool up to the point where the handle starts – if you can see to the far end of the tool you need to add a little more black. You could just dump a bunch of black oxide in but this way (“the sort of opaque yet also still translucent” way) you get just enough to create a black bar while not also ending up with black suds. When you are happy with the color, add 5 or so full droppers of Sea Moss Fragrance Oil. Cover and set aside.

Check your layers and carve extra gloppy soap away – but don’t try to make it perfect. You just need to get an even look so that the tines of the fork go through and into all parts of the soap easily.

Using your fork, push the tines in at the narrow end of the mold through the first two thin layers until you are touching the bottom of the mold, slowly pulling the fork across the bottom of the shell mold (in an arching pattern across the ridges of the shell) while applying pressure.

The idea here is to create stripes/striations without pulling the actual layers up from the bottom of the mold – you just want to pull up the thin lines/stripes. Most forks will allow for two arching passes along the bottom of the mold (one smaller arch at the bottom of the shell and another above that). This is a slow process. Don’t rush it, lest you make holes in your layers.

Apply this process to each cavity then when you are done with the fork, get your double sided cleanup tool and using the pointy/curved end, make sure each of the stripes go all the way to the bottom. I also usually like to widen 3 random stripes to give a more natural look to the finished soap.

Hold up to the light to check your work. Note the variety of line widths. This helps to add to the natural final effect of the soap. Also, in the photo below, notice the large chunks of brown soap missing. This hole effect happens if you rush a bit during the forking tine process.

Tomorrow, we’ll cover striping and the black layer.

On Golden Frond

September 1, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I’m lucky to work with a talented crew who like to make soap and are creative in many areas of their lives. In addition to be a talented gardener, Kelly runs the warehouse at Bramble Berry. To make these soaps, she used our White Soap Base and Hemp Soap Base. For coloring these little beauties, Kelly used Coral Mica, Heavy Metal Gold Mica, and a mix of the Liquid Yellow Oxide and Liquid Blue Oxide as well as the natural colors of the soap bases. For example, the third soap in with the slightly tan background? That’s the color the actual Hemp soap base is. The mold is the Milky Way Frond design.

Kelly is a mix master supreme when it comes to fragrancing. She blended together Passionfruit Papaya, Champagne, and a mystery bottle from the pouring mistake shelf that most likely contained Kumquat and Creamsicle. The resulting soaps are fruity fun with just a twist of effervescence.

Citrus Soap Review and Links

July 31, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Day One – Making Tube Citrus Soaps (soap on top right in above photo)
Day Two – Making Tube Citrus Soaps (soap on top right)
Day Three – Making Mold Citrus Soaps (soap on bottom right)
Day Four – Making Mold Citrus Soaps (soap on bottom right)
Day Five – Making Realistic Citrus Soaps (soap on top left)
Day Six – Making Realistic Citrus Soaps (soap on top left)

Citrus Soap – Day Three – The Mold Way

July 28, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Citrus Soaps using a Milky Way Round Mold

What You’ll Need:

Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base
White Melt and Pour Soap Base
Canary LabColor
Fragrance Oils (Good ones are Yuzu Cybilla, Energy and Creamsicle Cybilla Fragrance Oils and Tangerine Essential Oil)
Droppers
12 Bar Round Silicone Mold or 4 Basic Guest Soaps Mold
Pyrex container
Biscuit Cutters or Circle Shaped Cutters
Spoons
Rubbing Alcohol in a spritzer bottle
Saran Wrap
Paring Knife (or small cheese knife)

Part One

ONE: Melt 16 ounces of clear soap in the microwave. Color and scent to preference. If you’re making limes, try a nice green (Shamrock Green Mica or Emerald Green LabColor are both nice. Lime LabColor is a neon green and nothing like the natural fruit). If you want to make lemons, Canary LabColor is particularly fetching.

TWO: Wait for colored soap to harden fully. Pop out of molds.

THREE: Cut down the colored soap. A biscuit cutter is the best option but circular cookie cutters or a very steady hand work equally well. The key is to cut the soap down to make a smaller circle with which to make slices with. If you’re using a biscuit cutter, save the extra soap for a fun bonus project later.

FOUR: Prepare your clear first layer. Why a clear first layer? The soap looks better when it’s showcased in a clear layer rather than shoved into a white base. If your soap is naturally yellow, a drop of Liquid Blue will act like a bluing laundry additive.

FIVE: Pour a thin layer of clear soap, fully covering the bottom of your round soap mold. Spritz excessively with alcohol to ensure no pesky air bubbles ruin your perfect clear layer.

Check back later for Part Two in this Tutorial.

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Heavy Metal Gold(en) Crests

June 25, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

These medieval soaps were made by Debbie over at SoapyLove Daily Ditties utilizing Bramble Berry’s new Heavy Metal Gold mica. This ultra concentrated gold cosmetic colorant is a more deep, luscious gold than traditional Sparkle Gold. It’s got a hint of green and black in the blend to tone the yellow down.

In a unique twist, Debbie paired the gold with white melt and pour rather than the customary clear. The effect is positively majestic. She painted the molds, dusted the soap and poured multiple layers to get these effects.

You can experiment with your own creative twist and design a customized Coat of Arms based on your interests and personality. Find Heavy Metal Gold mica here, Coat of Arms mold here, and suitable fragrances (Smokey Patchoulior perhaps Moonlight Pomegranate).PS – If you’d like to meet the Artist in person, she’ll be at Otion on July 19 & 20th teaching at the Soapmaking Weekend Intensive.

Calling Summer Sun in Bellingham

June 9, 2008 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials, Melt & Pour Soap

With Summer supposedly around the corner here in Bellingham, I am desperate for happiness even if it comes in the form of cheery soap. I hope these sunny flowers make you smile.Here are the supplies you will need to make these Summer Sunflower soaps:Clear Melt and Pour Soap base
Sunflower Labcolor
Java Beans Labcolor
Pearly White Mica
Fuscia Labcolor or True Tone
Cappuccino Mica
Sunflower Milky Way Mold

Step one: Melt a small amount of your clear M&P soap base in a small heat safe container. I usually use a small glass Pyrex or coffee mug. For this project, you’ll only need about 16 oz. of soap base to make 4 stunningly beautiful sunflowers. Divide the soap into about 4-5 different sections for different colors and layers. It never hurts to have a little extra.

Hint: You can use a white base if you want a soft and pastel colored flower. I wanted my sunflower to be bright and vibrant so I chose a clear base.

Step Two: Color your melted soap base with the Sunflower Labcolor and pour into the petals part of your mold. Don’t forget to spritz each layer with alcohol to eliminate bubbles and to make sure your layers stick together.

Hint: I do another spritz after each layer has hardened and right before I pour the second layer. This will help the layers stick together.

Step Three: Melt a little more clear soap base (if you haven’t already) and color with the Cappuccino Mica for the center of the flower. For the darker shade in the center, I used the Java Bean Mica.

Hint: For that extra special attention to detail, pour a thin layer of clear soap colored with our Fuscia True Tone over the yellow petals and the the brown center. This will show through a little bit and give it that shaded and realistic look. Don’t forget to spritz between layers.
Final Step: Almost done; you can use any color here for the final layer. I think it would look great finished off with the same Sunflower Labcolor. I just chose our simple Cappuccino Mica and it turned out realistic, sunny and perfect for summer (eyes downcast modestly, of course).

Soap Sunday!

June 1, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I spent Sunday soaping. Batch one was a Cold Process batch made with Cappuccino Mica (the brown colored soap in the photo) and non-colored soap (the ivory). I used a vegetable peeler to peel little curls off of pre-made melt and pour soap. The green swirls are colored with Emerald Green LabColor and the yellow swirls are Canary LabColor. I’m interested to see if the colors migrate into the cold process soap soap.

The second batch was to test a prototype loaf mold for the Bramble Berry Flexible Mold Line. The light brown is made with Cappuccino Mica with lighter little swirls of Apricot Blush. The color didn’t do well in the cold process soap. I used a lot of color and it faded quickly but I’ll wait to judge until gel phase is done and the soap is cut. The peaks are made by dipping a whisk 1/2″ down into the soap and pulling up to create texture. There is too much air in the batch. The air bubbles rising to the surface make the over-blending obvious.

Finally, this batch is a lovely 3 color pour made with Cappuccino Mica, Apricot Blush and Orange Mica (discontinued) scented with Peach Fragrance Oil. Again, I was too excitable with the stick blender and blended the Cappuccino-colored soap too much. A few heavy taps got rid of most of the bubbles. Hopefully the rest will migrate to the top and out of the soap during gel phase.

I did mar our kitchen table by setting down a cup with dripping fresh soap. It ate the wood and finish on the table. But, it’s not the first time this table has been abused (if you don’t remember the beeswax spill, click here and here) and won’t be the last. Hopefully my husband will be his normal easy-going self when viewing the lye stain.

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Candy Swirl Soap – Part Three

May 25, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Missed the intro for this Pinwheels Soap Project?

Click here for Part One.
Click here for Part Two.

Step 7: Fill another coffee cup or heat safe Pyrex with soap.Melt the soap and add color (to preference) and fragrance.

Step 8:Let melted soap cool so that it is no longer steaming and won’t burn your finger (if you were to dip your finger in the glass). The goal is to have the soap cool enough to not melt the white pinwheel swirls.Spray the four pieces of white soap in the round mold with rubbing alcohol and pour the remaining colored soap into the mold, over the pinwheel soap cut outs.The rubbing alcohol ensures that the pieces will adhere nicely to your overpour.

Step 9: Place mold back into the freezer for roughly 25 minutes if you’re impatient and willing to get condensation on your soaps. If you want to ensure that you don’t get glycerin dew on your soaps, resist the urge to hurry the process and wait 3 hours before gently popping your soaps out.

Step 10: Enjoy!

While these aren’t Pinwheel soaps, I think this type of wrapping would be phenomenal for the Pinwheel Soap Project.

Make this Cute Knitting Soap

May 13, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

These amazing soaps were made by Nicole in Customer Service with our Flexible Knitting Mold ($14.85, made out of a flexible silicone and lasts forever).Nicole used our white house brand soap as a base and colored the entire batch with the Super Pearl White Mica to add the shimmery look to the soaps. The different colors of string were made with Cornflower Blue Mica, Yellow Mica, Rose Pearl Mica and Aqua Pearl Mica.

These make up the first layer poured into the mold using a dropper. She then used Black Mica for the coloring of the knitting needles. This was the second layer also put into the mold using a dropper. The final pour for the background of the soap is White House Soap Base colored with the Super Pearly White Mica.