Soap Crafting Archives

Winter 2015 Soap Crafting Club…Don’t Wait!

January 15, 2015 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

One of my favorite things about making soap is sharing the craft with others. It’s rewarding to share ideas, tips & tricks and encouragement with the awesome soap making community. If you feel the same way, the Soap Crafting Club is the perfect way to develop cold process skills while receiving personalized support every step of the way from myself, and fellow soap makers.

Each month, you receive pre-measured ingredients (including the mold!) needed to create a unique cold process recipe in the Soap Crafting Book. The only tools you need to provide are the book, lye, and soap making tools such as a stick blender, mixing bowls and spatulas. Shipping is also included in the price! The Winter Soap Crafting Club starts soon; the last day to sign up is January 16th at noon, PST. With only 21 spots left, don’t wait!
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Join the Soap Crafting Club!

March 10, 2014 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The only way to make soapmaking better is to have a friend craft along with you. Join the Soap Crafting club, and receive personalized attention from Amber and I, but you’ll also be able to interact with fellow soapmakers from around the country. Two Soap Crafting club sessions have been held so far, and they are fantastic places to ask questions, get advice and show off the lovely soaps you make along the way. There is a catch though – we cap the participants and over half of the subscription for the Spring Session have been reserved. The Soapcrafting Club Sprint Session starts in April and we would love to have you join us.

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Rainbow Squirty Swirls – The Most Popular Soap Ever?

November 29, 2013 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

We hope that everyone had a fantastic holiday yesterday — we sure did, and today we’ve got a very special cold process recipe for you. If Instagram ‘likes’ equal popularity, this Rainbow Squirty Swirls soap may be our most popular soap yet (see for yourself — more than 120 ‘likes,’ wow)! This tutorial uses the same technique as the Squirty Swirls recipe in the Soap Crafting book, and it’s an easy process that results in beautiful soap every time.

One thing to note about this recipe is that it can take 10 – 15 minutes to squirt all the soap into the mold, so it’s important to use a slow-moving recipe and a fragrance you know won’t accelerate trace. In this case, we used our new Amazon Lily & Rain Fragrance Oil, which performed beautifully and gave our rainbow soap a little tropical flair.

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Last day of the Soap Crafting Pinterest Contest

September 23, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It’s the last day to enter our Pinterest-iffic Soap Crafting Contest! We’ve already seen some fantastic pins, Instagrams and even a few book reviews of Soap Crafting. We can’t wait to see more, so show us what you’ve got, soapy friends!

Some of the entries we’ve received so far! Clockwise from left: Avocado Moisturizing Bar, the Juniper Berry Natural Infusion, the Linear Swirl and a Natural Colorants recipe.

Not sure what we’re talking about? You can check out the original blog post here, but we’ll also give you a refresher of the contest rules: today is the last day to pin your Soap Crafting-inspired projects to our Soap Crafting Pinterest Board. Be sure to include the hashtag ‘#soapcrafting’ with your entry. You can also Instagram your creations with the hashtag #soapcrafting and we’ll pin those onto the board too! To break it down:

We will repin your pins or pin your Instagram photos to our Soap Crafting Pinterest Board.
We will announce our three favorite projects in a blog post on September 30. The three winners will receive all the ingredients for one of the projects in the book.
We can’t repin your pins without the hastag #soapcrafting or pin your Instagram pics without the hashtag #soapcrafting, so don’t forget the hashtag!
You can follow me on Pinterest here or Instagram here. Search the hashtag ‘#soapcrafting’ to see what other soapers have created and fuel your own creativity!

That’s it! We can’t wait to see your take on the Soap Crafting projects.

Soap Crafting Club is here!

September 4, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I think that one of best parts of soapmaking is the amazing community we’re surrounded with — it’s a wonderful feeling to be able to meet other soapers, learn new techniques, exchange ideas, and receive encouragement and feedback to help our community learn and grow.

After meeting so many amazing soapers at the Soap Crafting release event last Thursday, I began thinking of ways to bring people together around the Soap Crafting book, and I hope you’ll all be delighted with what the team and I came up with: I am pleased to announce the Soap Crafting Club, a collaborative subscription-based group featuring techniques and recipes from the Soap Crafting book. Read on to find out more and get in on the fun!

The Neon Swirl is part of the fall Soap Crafting Club session

Think of the club as a private, online classroom. When you sign up, you’ll get access to instructional videos for each recipe, be able to ask questions on a private forum and have a space to share your own soapy creations. When you purchase a subscription, you’ll receive pre-measured oils, lye colorant, fragrance and the soap mold. All you need to provide is the distilled water and the tools! The club is a great way for soapers to focus on technique because all ingredients are pre-measured, allowing lots of time for focus on technique and execution.

In the private Soap Crafting Club forum, I will be answering questions and giving feedback on the soaps. I want to give each soaper individualized attention. As a result, the number of members will be limited! If a session fills up, have no fear — we’re offering four, unique 3-month-long sessions throughout this year, as well as a subscription for the entire year. Every session features three different recipes from the book, and you can see the complete schedule below:

Fall 2013 Three Month Subscription:
September – Natural Colors Soap with Annatto p. 56
October – LabColors Ombre Soap p. 70
November -Neon Swirl Soap P. 180
2 pound wood mold with silicone liner

Winter 2014 Three Month Subscription:
January – Funnel Pour Soap p. 79
February – Avocado Moisturizing Soap p.134
March – Tie Dye Soap p. 198
5 lb Wood Mold with Sliding bottom and silicone liner
Note: You will need to provide distilled water and an avocado

Spring 2014 Three Month Subscription:

April – Black & White p.60
May – Coffee Grounds p.154
June – Wine Twist p. 147
Vertical Wood Mold
Note: You will need to provide distilled water, wine and coffee grounds

Summer 2014 Three Month Subscription:
July – Oatmeal Layers p.162
August – Psychedelic Green Tea p. 172
September – Linear Swirl p. 186
9 bar Birchwood Mold with silicone liner
Note: You will need to provide distilled water and oatmeal

The Lab Colors Ombre, also part of the fall club session

To join our merry band of soapers and fun, click here to purchase a subscription. The fall session is currently live, and those who have signed up will receive their kits by September 30. There are still spots open, so don’t hesitate to join in!

Soap Crafting Release Party in Bellingham

August 18, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

For any soapy-enthusiasts who live in the Bellingham, Washington area (that includes Vancouver BC and Seattle), we have a treat for you. On August 29 at 7 p.m., I’ll be hanging out at Village Books in Fairhaven for a special presentation of the Soap Crafting book. I’ll explain the inspiration behind the recipes, talk about the writing and testing process, answer any questions and just generally chat about my favorite topic — soap! There is no cost to attend and no need to RSVP, just bring yourself and your copy of the book (I’ll stick around at the end to sign copies!). Of course, they’ll have copies on hand to sell at Village as well.

What: A very special presentation of Soap Crafting

When: Thursday, August 29 at 7 p.m.

Where: Village Books (1200 11th St, Bellingham, WA 98225)

Why?!: To meet up and chat about soap (and all things Soap Crafting, of course!)

You can view full the full event info on the Village Books website here, and I hope to see you there. Until then, happy soaping! =)

Facebook Photo of the Week (July 26th ~ August 2nd)

August 5, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Whoah. Okay, seriously. Where did that weekend go? We were so busy all weekend that I completely forgot to post Facebook Photo of the Week. It is hard to believe that August is already here and we are more than halfway done with the year. Jamisen starts pre-school soon. EEK!

If you’re already gearing up for fall craft fairs and preparing holiday gifts, we had a post full of tips for being successful at your next craft show. If you’ve got tips of your own, be sure to share them in the blog comments because we’d love to hear them too!

This week has also been full of pleasant surprises. Drumroll please — the Soap Crafting Book arrived to our warehouse early. You probably could have guessed, but I was absolutely beaming (and okay, maybe I shed a few tears of joy too)! You can order your own copy through Bramble Berry here. We shipped out all the pre-orders last week and any pre-orders that got in just under the wire on Friday are shipping today =)

As always, Bramble Berry’s Facebook page was filled with amazing photos of soaps, bath bombs and more. Check out this week’s feathery-looking feature below!

This week’s entry comes to us from Rebecca at Backwater Beauty. She used a technique that a fellow soaper created during the last Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge called the Feathered Mantra Swirl. The colors and design in Rebecca’s soap are so delicate and soft. This is a technique I’d love to try my hand at, and it’s such a nice twist on the traditional Mantra Swirl. Thank you for being part of our soapmaking community, Rebecca! Each week, I love seeing other soapmakers take the plunge with a new design.

Rebecca’s Website: Backwater Beauty

Rebecca’s Facebook Page: Backwater Beauty

Be sure to post pictures of your soap creations on the Facebook page each week for a chance to be featured on the Soap Queen blog!

Soapy Social Media Roundup

July 6, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July with lots of friends, food and of course, fireworks. We just wrapped up our 4th of July Make It challenge, and we received a number of fantastic entries. The variety was incredible! We saw lip balms, bath fizzies, all kinds of soaps and even some patriotic nail polish. You can check out the winners here.

We’ve also added a new social media outlet to our quickly growing roster. Bramble Berry is now on Wanelo (which is a combination of “want,” “need,” love,” — cute!) You can search for products, stores and even key words, and Wanelo aggregates results from all across the web. It’s a great place for one stop shopping.

Here is the Soapy Social Media Roundup for this week.

Pins:

Top left: How awesome do these Curry Vegan Kale Chips look? They’re the perfect alternative to regular potato chips at summer backyard barbecues.

Center: It’s here it’s here, it’s finally here! If you couldn’t tell, I am elated about the arrival of the advance copy of Soap Crafting. The book won’t ship out until August, but you can pre-order a copy here. Our international friends can email sma(at)brambleberry(dot)com to request their copy. Each pre-order comes with some awesome extras (two exclusive videos, two never-before-seen recipes and a complete guide to colorants — hint hint!), so don’t miss out.

Bottom: This elegant penny ball serves two purposes — it looks great in your garden, and it also (supposedly, at least according to Pinterest) keeps slugs away. Whereas salt only dehydrates slugs, the tiny amounts of copper in pennies repels them completely. It’s a great way to keep those summer strawberries safe and sound.

Right: Something to keep in mind each and every day!

Vines and Instagrams:

Making the Mantra Swirl for the Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge club. We decided to go with high contrasting colors — black oxide, titanium dioxide and Fizzy Lemonade! The best part? It’s scented with our brand new Cucumber Oak Fragrance Oil =)

And then everyone’s favorite part, the reveal! I love the way this turned out.

This is one we’re calling the “Hawaiian Shirt” soap. Even if you can’t take a Hawaiian summer vacation this year, you can still dream about a tropical paradise. Keep your eyes peeled for a tutorial on this one coming up soon. (Tip: this video doesn’t play automatically, so be sure to click the start arrow!)

Looking for more Bramble Berry videos? Check out Vine and Instagram online. If you have the apps on your phone, my username is @BrambleBerry!

Tweets:

This is a thought-provoking blog post on how the age-old phrase “boys will be boys,” can be problematic. Sometimes it takes a group of preschoolers to teach us all a valuable lesson about respect and compassion.
We all know exercise is important, but this article emphasizes how the type of exercise you do should be tailored to your health goals. Looking to control your weight? Go for a run. Trying to stave off heart disease? Walking reduces the risk of heart disease by nearly 9 percent!
If you have to give a big presentation at work, consider these tips to help hammer home your message. How you frame a topic can make it or break it.
With temperatures pushing 90 in Washington this week, these adorable ice eggs were just the thing to cool off and have a little fun.

Our warehouse was closed yesterday and we have a skeleton staff today, but we’ll be back running at full capacity catching up and fulfilling orders on Monday. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend!

Soap Crafting Advance Copy Has Arrived!

June 26, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

After many sleepless nights, hundreds of hours in the Soap Lab and thousands of bars of soap, the time has come: the book is finally here! Although there is only one copy of Soap Crafting for now, it’s surreal and gratifying to physically flip through its pages.

We’ve seen the Advance Reader Copy (otherwise known as the “dummy” book) as well in its digital form, but nothing compares to holding the bound, hardback, full color final product. It’s total vindication for a year’s worth of hard work (not only for me but our entire team). With 31 brand new cold process tutorials and information on everything from oils to tools to a comprehensive FAQ and Troubleshooting section, this is one solid soapmaking companion.

Pre-orders for Soap Crafting are still available, and each pre-order comes with two complementary exclusive video downloads for recipes in the book, two never-before-seen-projects download sheets (that aren’t included in the book but are really rad) and a special comprehensive guide to colorants. Those who pre-order can expect their copy to ship out in the beginning of August.

Jamisen stopped by the office for a visit today, and we sat down and flipped through the book together.

One more bonus look utilizing Instagram’s new 15 second video editing options! The book has so many full page, full color photos…

(This one doesn’t start automatically. Click the arrow to play).

You can pre-order the book HERE to ensure you get all the extra goodies available ONLY to those who pre-order.

Soapy Social Round Up: May 10

May 10, 2013 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

The week is technically over but there is still so much to be excited about! We announced a new Soap Swap, our Bramble Girl is almost due, and my book is ever closer to publication. In fact, here is a Vine video I shot last week while making a super secret bonus project that goes along with the book:

This week we also worked on a fruity Strawberries & Cream soap using fresh strawberry puree and real cream. Keep your eyes peeled for a tutorial =) [Read more…]