Carrie

too dayum much work for me............but God bless you for your patience in putting together all those pieces. :-}

Naw, this type of quilt is really easy, actually. It just looks difficult. You just sew 4 long strips together and cut them into triangles. Do this for however many triangles you need to finish the quilt. Sew the triangles together. Each triangle has 8.5" sides. I did the whole quilt top in an afternoon. The next afternoon I quilted it by machine and then did the binding. The binding takes longer to sew by hand than the entire rest of the quilt.

Do you mean the CP rebatch base? If that's what she's talking about, it's CP soap with no FO or color made for rebatching.

I've shown this one to SliverOfWax before, this is not the type of quilt she likes. LMAO

This is a baby blanket I made for my great niece.

I never put my soap in a warm/hot oven, it always ends up with white speckles and a wonky texture on top.

My first thought was also stearic. Did the cocoa butter melt completely? You said you threw it in after all the oils were melted but was the cocoa butter still rock hard? I don't know if that would affect your soap or not.

Do you use a stick blender? Some stick blenders make bubbles in the soap, if you had bubbles in the soap batter they could rise to the top while you had it in the oven.

When I used paraffin I would put a slab in a plastic tote and lean the slab up against the side of the tote then hit with a hammer. It didn't take that much force. Then the next piece could just set on top of the other pieces and I'd bang on that. I could bust up 55lbs of wax in no time and all of it stayed in the tote so it was less messy. When I needed wax I'd just open the right tote.

I get mine from Essential Depot. http://www.essentialdepot.com/

They run sales and/or free shipping all the time.

I found a couple of pillars I made years ago while cleaning out a corner of my shop. I hurried up and lit the Peak Vineyard 3 color pillar. I burned it most of the day yesterday and so far, about two hours tonight. It's burning perfectly.

I sure with I took notes on my candle making back then, I'd love to know which wick I used.

The scent isn't super strong but I can smell it clear to the back of the house, 40 feet away.

I am sure many will disagree with this but I have for years avoided "most" small time suppliers for this very reason. I sell for a living, basing my income solely on my candle gig and if I suddenly can not get my top selling scents, frankly I am up a creek! I put almost all my eggs in one basket but from time to time I do buy something from someone smaller because I just can't avoid it. One of those baskets recently closed (KY) and although they sold to another supplier I spent several months not being able to get my number one selling soap scent. It was frustrating to say the least.

You say that your income is based solely on your candle gig, I thought you worked for BC?

The repair kit for my impulse sealer shipped today, I should have it on Wednesday so I can shrink wrap my stuff. I'll try to take some picks of the novelty soaps I make.

I scent the fish in a bag with Peak's Ocean. I scent all the other novelty soaps with something fruity that will appeal to boys and girls. This year its Winter Candy Apple, last year was Fruit Slices the year before was Monkey Farts. Don't forget Vanilla stabilizer if needed.

I don't know if I can make any more today. I'm out of clear soap (didn't realize that, I thought my 25lb box was clear and it's white..grrr) and the element broke in my impulse sealer. I don't want soaps sitting around without shrink wrap. I have to call around today and see if I can find a repair kit. I'll get the cupcakes frosted and bagged and maybe I'll work on tarts instead.

Has anyone used the finger puppet from oriental trading like these. Will they stick out enough?

http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/search/processRequest.do?D=finger+puppets&Ntx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&Ntk=all&requestURI=searchMain&Ipp=16&N=0&No=0&y=0&Dx=mode%2bmatchallpartial&Ntt=finger+puppets&x=0

I'll let you know when I'm done making Pirate finger puppet soaps today. First I have to finish making shark soaps, frog soaps, duck soaps, and reindeer soaps. Oh yeah, I have to finish up the Fish in a Bag soaps today too. Then I need to find time to finish DS halloween costume.....Crap, I forgot I still need to make soap frosting for the soap cupcakes too.

. I guess I'll just have to test and see what happens.

Bingo. That's a good plan.

You are right about the slip. RBO tends to not have as much slip/glide, I call it a stutter, LOL.

I think the last tweak to my new recipe had about 30% olive, I upped the lard, lowered the coconut and added some shea. Did you get that sample bar I sent, Scented?

Olive oil is considered a hard oil. That recipe would make a rock hard bar of soap, I would think the frosting would be pretty brittle if you used that recipe.

Have you researched castor oil? It really helps with bubbles at between 5 and 8 percent in a recipe.

I just reformulated my recipe and switched from RBO to Olive. I can't tell you what I liked about the RBO as much as I can tell you what I don't like about olive. Most soaps that I've tried with olive oil, at least fairly high percentages, are slippery and almost slimy in the shower. RBO doesn't do that. RBO is very expensive on the west coast and shipping from the east coast is cost prohibitive, that's why I switched, BTW.

Don't forget, just because olive oil is liquid doesn't make it a soft oil Olive oil soaps harden up rock hard. It is actually considered by most soapers to be a hard oil

http://www.wholesalesuppliesplus.com/CompanyInfo.aspx

Here is the link. Scroll down to Community Support.

That donation fee has been on WSP's website for a long time. If you look at the final page of the checkout, on the right hand side is a box with the word AUTISM in it and a drop down box that says donation. Click the drop down box and select "no donation" if you choose not to donate.

Good thing it wasn't a snake, eh?

Scentsy is the best thing that ever happened to my tart business. The first year I sold tarts I sold maybe 30 tarts in 4 days. Last year, I sold almost 40lbs of fluted tarts in 4 days. I also sold about 30 warmers to go with them.

Thank you Scentsy for opening up the market to crafters like me. Mine are better, I have better fragrances, they last longer and they cost less. I get lots of scentsy business. They are no longer allowed at the big craft show I do. They talked their way in to one but there were so many complaints by the other crafters that they weren't allowed back.

they are individual molds and the soap doesn't seem to harden enough in the mold before I try to take them out

That might be because they don't typically gel in individual molds. Let them stay in the mold until enough water has evaporated that they come out without effort.

I keep my castor oil at 5-8% in my recipe. I highly recommend you bring yours down to 10% or below.

I would also keep the cleansing oils, coconut, babassu and PKO down to 10% or so each.

I agree with the other poster, a bastille bar would be nice.

Here is eugenia's freezer paper liner tutorial.

I do mine similar to this but I don't cut the corners like she does.

Also, like I said before, I cut a piece of cardboard the same size as the bottom of my mold. I place the cardboard over the freezer paper and draw around it. Then I fold at the lines, fold the corners similar to what eugenia does and it's done. I tape it into the mold. It takes about 1-2 minutes. It's quick and cheap and can even be re-used.

I have a bunch of molds. I have a kelsei but I only use it for salt bars because it makes really small bars

I have a woodfield log mold, my first CP mold, and I love it. If you get one, get a lid.

I have another mold that I used to just love with slots cut in the sides for cutting, I can't remember the brand but I don't think they make them anymore.

I have two molds that my neighbor made me that are slab molds, they also have the cuts in the sides for cutting.

I have a couple of double log molds that I bought from Ric on the dish. They are my current favorites. They come with thin liners made out of that stuff they use for overhead projectors at school.

I also have some 1/2 round molds that I like for mans soap. It makes a larger bar and is better suited to man hands.

Most of my molds need to be lined. I make a template out of cardboard that I keep in the mold. When I need to make a liner, I put the template over the freezer paper, trace around it and fold up the sides.

Search craftserver for eugenia's mold lining tutorial, it will show you a fast and easy way to line your wood molds.

Bookmark this site The Scent Review Board

Every time I try a new FO or EO in soap I head to The Scent Review Board first to find out how it behaves in soap.

I forgot to mention, if the FO you want to use isn't in there, make sure to post a review after you make the soap.

I thought shop safe numbers could only be used once, how are they using the same number multiple times?

I get ash on almost all of my soap but only on the surface that is exposed to air while it is gelling (or not)

I have never had ash show up on cut surfaces and I've never heard of ash swirled inside the soap.

I don't know what it is but I'm fairly certain it isn't ash.

I did have a soap that looked similar to that this week. It was lavender eo and it almost looks like it tried to separate in the middle but then that part saponified. The entire batch was lavender colored and the "separated" part is more white/clear. I used it, it bubbles well and my hands didn't dry out after I used it. I don't know what causes it but I don't like it.