Cream Soap Update!

A couple weeks ago I made some Killian's Red Irish Stout and carrot cream soap. I finally have uploaded the pictures from the day I made it. It is now smooth and creamy, but still a bit too hard. I will be adding some more extracts tomorrow to loosen it up a bit. I think I will scent it with a mixture of dragon's blood, oakmoss, and sandalwood. I have been having a hard time coming up with a scent to use, so if you have any suggestions I would love to hear them. :)

This picture was taken just after adding sodium lactate, panthenol, and silk amino acids.


This next picture is at the end of the cook. Over the next day the soap will turn a creamy golden orange-brown.


Here is what the soap looks like now. It needs a bit more liquid and fragrance still, but I am very happy with how it looks.

Whipped Shea Butter

I have been working on some new products today. Since I have about 100 lb of shea butter in my soaping room and a new hand mixer, I figured why not try making some whipped shea butter. I added some apricot kernel oil to loosen up the shea along with some vitamin e. It feels great. It is so creamy that it almost feels like one is rubbing frosting on their body. I left some unscented and scented the rest of the batch with a combination of sandalwood and rose. It smells really nice and the scent has depth to it.

Soaping with the family

I just showed my dad how to make soap. He was such a good helper, maybe we will have another soaper in the family soon. We made a yummie smelling coffee scrub soap. They are great to use in the kitchen to remove scents after cutting onion and garlic. To make the soap a bit luxurious, we added some coffee butter and shea butter. Can't wait to try it out! It looked like melted cookies and cream ice cream...yum.

Killian's Carrot Cream Soap

--> I am making some Killian's Carrot Cream Soap today following the class on Yahoo's cream soap group. I am currently simmering some Killian's Red Ale to get rid of the alcohol. It smells pretty awful. I will post some pictures of my soap later today. If you don't know what cream soap is check out some of my previous posts where I made it here, here, here, and here.

Won't you be my neighbour?

This beautiful Tudor style home down the road was just listed for sale. How I wish one of my friends (hint hint) would buy it so that I could hang out in it.

2 Sketches 4 You

I love making cards, but coming up with ideas can be really difficult sometimes. I have been reading a blog called 2 Sketches 4 You for a while and thought I would share it with everyone. They put up weekly sketches for you to turn into cards. The submissions they receive are just amazing and what is even better is that they pick a winner each week and give them more scrapbooking/cardmaking materials. So go browse your heart out and get some inspirations for your own creations!

The Silver Circle Studio

Ladybug Soapworks can now be purchased at the Silver Circle Studio at 75 Main St in Putnam, CT. I just dropped off my display yesterday. It is a really lovely shop filled with all things handmade and it looked like they specialize in paintings and jewelry. They were preparing to teach a class when I got there. Check out there website here and be sure to stop by and pick up some soap. They are currently carrying 10 varieties of Ladybug Soapworks soap.