Suminagashi and Other Neat Soaps

Hail on the Deck

My, what a busy week. Spring is bursting outside my door and I’m maniacally making soap.

Daffodils Unfurling

In spite of two hail storms yesterday, the daffodils are opening.

A Scary Amount of Colors

Above are the colors I used in the new “Suminagashi” soap.

Suminagashi in Mold

Suminagashi is an ancient Japanese art where ink is strategically placed on top of water and then the design transferred to paper or fabric.

Naked Suminagashi

 This is my interpretation of Suminagashi in the Soap World.

Whew! I'm glad this one turned out pretty

I also made “Strawberry Patch”. Yes, it smells like fresh strawberries. Well, not quite as good as the real thing from the Garden of Nemesis.

Newly Cut Strawberry Patch

 Here’s the “Mocha Cappuccino” made with exfoliating coffee grounds and organic cream.

Newly Cut Mocha Cappuccino

 Now we come to “Cool Candied Apple”. This one was originally named “Little Green Apples,” but unfortunately, the “apples” it was supposed to have didn’t materialize.

Newly Cut Cool Candied Apple

 I wanted to use a technique with a piping bag, but ended up using a squirt bottle. I tried really hard to imagine little green apples on the inside, but they simply weren’t there!

First Order Ready to Mail!

A Confession: Laying Soap Eggs

Now I’ll tell you about my soap eggs. Really, I think I need psychiatric help! It’s certainly a fetish and possibly some kind of a neurotic behavior and/or an unpronounceable psychological disorder. I spend an inordinate amount of time making these little complicated things. Who’s going to pay a zillion dollars for a stupid soap egg? But I can’t help myself. Every time I make a batch of soap, I have to dribble an ounce or two into the Jell-O Jigglers mold I found at Goodwill. This is NOT a soap mold, thus the filled mold has to be frozen in order to remove the eggs by…you guessed it! JIGGLING! More often than not, they have some flaw, which drives me crazy.

I have purple ones, blue ones, green ones, white ones, orange and red ones, flecked and speckled ones, striped ones…help! No hen would lay eggs that look like this. I know it’s coming up on Easter, but this sick propensity to lay soap eggs is year round! If anyone reading this has a cure, please tell me quickly!

Soap Eggs