Feature Friday: The Soap Experiment

I first got interested in soapmaking back in November, when I took a trip with my in-laws and husband to Brevard, NC for a weekend of camping.  At a little sort of head shop in town, I found a bar of lemongrass castile soap that smelled absolutely amazing.  My mother-in-law bought a bar for me and one for herself and when we got home I started washing with it right away.  It was fabulous and creamy and my skin wasn't dry and scaly for once.

So I toyed with the idea of soapmaking for a long time, all the while continuing to buy fantastic bars of soap from fellow Etsians such as Mr. Kitty, Happy Hound and Sacred Suds, all of which were wonderful and different in their own rights.

Finally, a I picked up a few books, ordered the stuff (lye included), and made my first batch. It was a somewhat success.  It came out alright, but the cheap fragrance oil I used nearly seized the batch and the scent has faded (the soapiness part is actually creamy and cleansing and I'm still using the last few bars).  The second batch came out with oily patches and I've put aside to rebatch.

One of the soap molds made by my father-in-law, waiting to be opened.

Then I started reading about sodium lauryl sulfates and the fact that most soaps are actually detergents.  Plus, I couldn't find a shampoo I was happy with as they were all drying out my scalp. So I made my own, adapted from a recipe on the internet, and with rosemary and eucalyptus essential oils.  It came out better than I could have hoped.  As a matter of fact, the first batch only has one bar left.  My husband and father-in-law both love it because they can wash their hair and bodies with one bar.  My mother-in-law loves it because it gives her hair texture and body.  My BFF loves it because it has cleansed her once oily hair and for the first time in her life, she doesn't have to wash it every single day (which is bad for your hair, if you didn't know).

The second batch of shampoo soap.

So I think I've found something to pursue. I am presently tweaking my shampoo recipe and my FIL was kind enough, being a master carpenter, to knock me together a couple of two pound wooden soap molds.
Now the second, twice as big batch (rosemary-lavender scented this time) is waiting to be cut up and set out to cure.

It's interesting how my art has become my work and it looks like my hobby could be headed the same way.

Thursday Spotlight on Julia and Wayne of Belle Terre Soaps

You've seen their products on my blog before, I've mentioned meeting Julia at craft shows here in town and their soap is in my shower.  Juli and Wayne are a husband and wife team who are trying to live a simpler life, more organically, closer to their food and the environment.  To get there, they started a small hobby farm in the North Carolina foothills and established Belle Terre, their little soap company.

Tell us three things about your soap.
1. Our soap is handmade by us using organic ingredients.
2. We buy the ingredients for our soap from a company called Mountain Rose Herbs. They aren't the cheapest but they share many of our values and pay a living wage to their employees.
3. We only use essential oils to add scent to our soap. This means our soaps contain no synthetic fragrance oils, making our soaps 100% natural. In short, we think being clean should be natural!

Unscented All-Natural Handcrafted Soap

How did you get into making it?
We started making soap because Julia has super sensitive skin and can't use chemical based store bought soaps. After buying natural soaps for a couple of years, we decided to try making it ourselves. We had lots of fun and got great feedback from friends and family with whom we shared our soaps. From this point, the idea of Belle Terre was born.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?
It is hard to pick one thing because it changes depending on what is going on. Some days it is our rich, creamy lotions that make my skin feel so soft. At the end of a long day though, it is definitely the bath salts. In early spring when it is cold and windy I never let go of my vanilla lip balm.

From where do you take inspiration?
We are both inspired by nature. Whether it is the scents of wildflowers, the incredible work ethic and commitment of our bee colonies, or the breathtaking landscapes that one finds meandering through the Appalachian foothills we find limitless inspiration and renewal in our natural surroundings.

Lemon Sugar Scrub

Name one other soapmaker you admire and why?
Krugs Eco-Logic. We share many of the same values as Erin from Krug's Eco-Logic. Also, she has been gracious enough to share with this fellow soaper when we have had questions. It isn't often that you come across someone who is willing to share with a competitor. It really speaks to Erin's class and professionalism.

What are you doing when you’re not crafting?
We both work full time, so normally we are working our "day jobs". We are also working on converting 6 acres in the foothills of NC into a sustainable hobby farm. These two activities keep us fairly busy when we aren't crafting.

Four Pack Orange All-Natural Handcrafted Lip Balm

If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why?
For Julia, this would some sort of crafting with fibers. For Wayne, he would rather be farming.

Tell us about a time you were making something that came out better than expected and how it happened.
Ok, so Julia is the creative one and deserves credit for 99% of the cool stuff we do. However, one time a customer requested a bath salt for her boyfriend. She was looking for something a little more masculine than our Lavender and Rose offerings. Wayne decided to play around with some essential oils we had used in one of our holiday soaps. The result was a combination of Virginia Cedarwood, Scotch Pine and Fir Needle that makes you think you are taking a bath in the middle of an ancient wood.

Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish owned one of your bars of soap and why?
We have both lost loved ones who we cared about a great deal and who will always be an important part of who we are. These were individuals who were taken well before their time, and before they had a chance to fully explore and enjoy the bounty that life has to offer. Sharing our craft with these individuals would be very meaningful for many reasons, but most importantly, to let them know that we are alright.

What’s your favorite part of the process?
Our favorite part of the process is selling at markets and festivals. We so enjoy when a customer picks up a bar of our soap, takes a deep sniff and exhales a sigh of wonder at the purity of the smell. Knowing that you have created a product that people really get excited about is a wonderful feeling.

One random thing you think people should know.
Dogs make our lives better.
(Sidenote from Jessica: I totally agree with Wayne and Julia on this.)

Avocado Oil All-Natural Soap

Your shop address/facebook/Twitter/blog/website. Etc.
website: http://www.belleterrenc.com
store: http://belleterre.etsy.com
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/belleterrenc
blog: http://belleterre.wordpress.com
twitter: http://twitter.com/belleterre
pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/belleterre


If you could have one superpower what would it be?
 Patience. Anyone who thinks this isn't a superpower is goofy.

Stuff I Love: Trees

Yeah, yeah.  Not a very creative title today, I know, but I'm feeling kind of tired.  The long and short of it is here is some cool handmade awesomeness and art, straight from Etsy.  All of these things come from my favorites list.

This first one is a painted Victorian style silhouette, with trees inside from the shop, theblackbirdsings, which is the art of Natasha Newton.  I love this simply because it combines two thing I love to put in my art, clean lines and, well, trees.  If an original painting is a bit out of your price range, she also carries lots of other beautiful smaller things from moleskines to postcards.

Silhouette of a Lady with Branches

I adore TheHauntedHollowTree's prints, especially her trees.  They are so fitting to the name of her shop and are done very uniquely with the art of pyrography (woodburning).  The art is serene, subtle, dark and so absolutely elegant.

The Companions Signed Print

Okay, so this next one merely has a tree as the logo, However, Julia and her husband, at BelleTerre are not only local soapmakers (which makes me happy), but they make amazing, completely natural soaps while trying as hard as humanly possible to be totally green and organic in doing it (which should make you happy).  Eventually, I will stop buying their soap when I get good at making my own, but I hope all of you, who love natural soap like I do, will try a bar of theirs.

Lemongrass Shea All-Natural Handcrafted Soap

Finally, if there is one thing I love more than trees, it is my first morning cup of coffee.  I recently got a small espresso a machine with some of our wedding money and I start every day out with a latte and these mugs from marywibis would be the perfect size to hold one, with just a dollop of creamy froth peeking over the top.  (I also love that I, inadvertently, picked another North Carolina artists).

Set of Two Winter Mugs

This won't be the last of trees you see from my favorites, I'm sure.

Monday Spotlight On: Mike of MrKittysSoapShop

Mike is another April's Army team member who volunteered to be interviewed through the Etsy forums, and also the one I've been most excited to interview, especially when I saw his name (I love cats and have one of my own) and his avatar (a kitty in a bathtub covered in soap) and what he sold (I am a soap fiend, order it regularly from Etsy and am about to learn to make it myself).  I actually ordered a bar of his lemongrass poppyseed soap before he even turned in this interview and it is fantastic. Even my husband, who normally doesn't care what he showers with, commented on it's awesomeness. So on with the awesomeness:

Lemongrass Poppyseed Soap

Tell us three things about yourself.

I'm a chef that works for a small software company in Redmond, Washington.

I want to make my first million before I turn 87.

I hate Patchouli.

What’s your medium and how did you get into it?

I make cold processed soap, lip balms, hand creams and bath salts.

I got into this when I was sitting around one weekend bored, and decided I wanted to try something new. I remembered doing soap in Junior High and decided it couldn't be that hard.

I dont know what they were thinking making us do soap in Junior High, but it isn't as easy as I remembered it should be. At that point, I found a recipe that worked for me and kept going.

What’s your favorite thing you’ve made?My favorite has to be Root Beer flavored lip balm. I found the perfect flavor oil for it and love to watch peoples eyes go wide when they smell it.

Truly Awesome Root Beer Lip Conditioner

From where do you take inspiration?As I said before, I have been a chef for 27 years, you dont do something that long without drawing inspiration from it, whether it be flavors, smells or colors.

Name one piece of art you wish you’d created and why? http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/weeee

This is my idea of art. It is simplistic and funny, I like simplistic and funny and wish I could have created it to bring happiness to people like me.

What are you doing when you’re not crafting?Working, being a chef takes up about 12 hours a day and after that another 12 hours of sleep doesn't hurt.

If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why?I really couldn't answer that question, I would have to get bored on another weekend and see what hit me next.

Tell us about a time you were making something that came out better than expected and how it happened.One of the first soaps that I made is called Forest Floor. It uses an Oak Moss scent of which I had no idea would seize the soap. I had everything mixed, colors seperated, and then added the Oak Moss. The soap turned to an instant oatmeal at that point, I still continued on and added the other batch to it and mixed them as well as I could and pushed it into the mold, not sure of the outcome. The next day when I took this out of the mold, it just came out looking phenomenal. It had just the right color, scent and look to it. I still make the same mistake to this day when I make that soap, just on purpose this time.

Forest Floor Soap

Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish owned one of your creations and why?Well, dead people smell pretty bad, dont they? Then they could definitely use my soaps, and lotions for dry skin. I guess it wouldnt matter if they were famous or not.

Oh yeah, and smelly living people as well, doesnt matter if they are famous or not either. 

How would you explain how to do what you do to an eight year old?Have someone else do it for you while your still young and can get away with it.

What’s your favorite part of the process?When the soap comes out of the molds and the colors pop out at you and the smells are going all through the house. I love that part of it.

One random thing you think people should know.

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

If you could be a character in fiction, who would you be and why?

I would be Mr. Burns from the Simpsons, because I wouldn't have to work 7 days a week to get by.

Your shop address/facebook/Twitter/blog/website. Etc.www.kittyssoapshop.com

www.twitter.com/kittysoap

www.facebook.com/kittysoap

Feature Friday: Spotlight on Clare of Mylana

Okay, we're switching things up a bit here, folks.  I havne't done interviews in a few weeks because, well, I ran out of interviewees.  I decide, as I did last time, to post on the board of one of my teams, and hope I snagged a few volunteers.  The team I chose was April's Army, the Regretsy team.  These wonderful people have a collective shop they open one week a month to sell items all for charity, as well as all having a sense of humor about themselves and crafting.

Well, I got an awesome response, and this will be the first of many interviews posted over the coming weeks from my fellow April's Army team members.  Today's interview is Clare, a soapmaker from Murfreesboro, and someone who has benefited from the kindness of her fellow crafters, thanks to Regretsy.

Tell us three things about yourself. I have type 1 diabetes, I was in the Army and served in Afghanistan, and when my husband died he got an urn donated to him from Regretsy in the shape of a turtle. What’s your medium and how did you get into it? I make soap and candles and dabble in mixed media collage, jewelry making, and painting. I got into making soap and candles because my mom worked for a company when I was in high school that published the crafting books for soap and candle making. She brought home the books before publication to do a final proofreading and print check and I picked them up and started reading. I made her get me all the crafting books about the subject as soon as they were published. Tahitian Vanilla Votives What’s your favorite thing you’ve made? My very first batch of cold process soap, it was scented with litsea cubeba essential oil (citrus scent). I loved it because it was the first time I saw the transformation of raw oils and lye into soap that I could use. From where do you take inspiration? I used to specialize in making candles and soap that looked like real food and drinks, like mugs of beer candles, but that kind of thing breaks too easily in the mail and I ran out of money to buy materials when my husband died, so I switched to mostly using my creativity to make what I can out of found or donated materials. My friend closed a soap making business and gave me about 30 smaller bottles of fragrance, and I mix them together to make special blends, instead of buying new fragrance. I do the same thing with my candles and use jelly jars and other food and beverage glassware to make candles. Name one piece of art you wish you’d created and why? The Aztec and Mayan pyramids because I have always thought architecture was cool and I love the tribal stonework. Fresh Scent Big Block Soap What are you doing when you’re not crafting? Cooking, playing World of Warcraft, chatting online and fantasizing about what supplies I can buy next. If you had to give up your medium and pursue another, what would it be and why? I would want to learn woodworking and carpentry because I would like to make things that are practical and useful, while also being beautiful. Tell us about a time you were making something that came out better than expected and how it happened. My husband and I used to make beer together and I added 2 cans of blueberry pie filling to a batch of pale ale once and we filtered out the berries after fermentation. The extra sugar made the beer a little more alcoholic and it had a smooth blueberry flavor, like blue moon beer, but subtle and not too in-your-face fruity. Who is one person living or dead, famous or not, who you wish owned one of your creations and why? It would please me to know that any loser ex-boyfriends of mine from high school were washing with my soap and enjoying it, just so I could privately gloat and say, "Hey, look what you missed out on when you dumped me!". Snicker. How would you explain how to do what you do to an eight year old? I make soap by mixing together different oils with a strong chemical base (lye) that turns them into a bar of soap. What’s your favorite part of the process? Both soap and candles, taking them out of the mold and seeing the finished product is the best...well, actually, maybe that ties with shopping for supplies! Peppermint Blue Palm Votives One random thing you think people should know. Yes, you could make soap with human fat like in "Fight Club", but I don't want to try it... How you can check out Clare's shop and more about her awesome works. http://www.etsy.com/shop/Mylana http://www.facebook.com/Mylana.creations