Fall Festival

 This last weekend I was a vendor at the Haysville Fall Festival. Haysville is a suburb of Wichita.  It was a free event for anyone who wished to attend, unless you were a vendor.  Vendors paid $50.00 per space.  The event was outdoors in a large park.  The park is lovely.  Any resident of Haysville should be proud of the size and cleanliness of the park.  During the event, Live music was performed off and on, there was horse back riding, a carnival, various food vendors, a car show, etc.  Everything was well organized and planned out.  I took my big pink tent (My son dubbed it, "The Pink Panther").  It took me several hours to prepare for the event.  I only sold $16.00 in craft items., so I didn't even recoup my festival space payment.  I have participated in several events in the past; however, I have spent more time with family as of late (grand-babies), so it has been a couple of years since my last event.  I took a spinning wheel and demonstrated spinning yarn for the better part of a day and a half.  I was told many, many times that it was a dying art.  I was thanked many times for continuing this heritage craft, for demonstrating the craft,  and how lovely my work is.  I would guesstimate that 100 or more people entered my tent to observe and ask questions.  At least 100 more observers stood outside the tent and watched.  Along with those observers, many others walked slowly by and nudged fellow attendees to make sure they knew I was spinning.  In Kansas, we don't raise many sheep.  It is not unusual for someone to go his or her whole life without actually viewing anyone spinning, except in fairy tales and on TV.  I don't mind demonstrating my dying art, (spinning) but shouldn't someone support the arts before they dye out???  I have learned from this weekend Festival that free to attend festivals with many events will not attract someone to purchase like a craft fair or women's fair which will cost a few bucks admission and purchasing hand made items is the expectation of the people who attend the event.  If you want to view someone demonstrating a lost art, don't just tell him or her that they do good work.  Put your money where your mouth is please.  I guess I need a tip jar.  LOL   Am I disgruntled about not making any money--- maybe, but I think I am more tired than anything.  The items I had for sale were:  hand-spun yarn, items made from the hand-spun yarn and purchased yarn, pot holders, hotpads, trivets, hats, tea cozies, dishcloths, wash cloths baby bonnets, baby hats, baby bibs, and hand made soaps.

What else I learned:   I was making string on a Spinning Jenny and  Cashmere wool comes from Alaskan dogs. It is amazing what people think.  I was actually spinning on a Castle Spinning Wheel making yarn from wool.  Cashmere Wool comes from Cashmere Goats.

I am attaching a few pictures.  Have a great week!  Dawnie

My visiting model.  Ashley

 

PS  Don't forget to go to my website at: https://www.slipperywhenwetsoaps.com or my website at: https://www.custercottage.com or my Etsy shop at:  https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

 
PS  Someone stole my silver nuts hanging off the back of my car while it was parked at the festival.  While do people steal things???  Shame on them!!!  These were a gift to me.
Just for grins and giggles:

Yang after his bath.  Caption?  Check out that tongue.

Calamine and lanolin

All of us should have goals and aspirations.  I won't bore you with mine, except for two short-term soap making goals I had. They were to make a soap using calamine and a soap with lanolin.  Most of us have used calamine lotion on our itches.  We put calamine lotion on sunburn, rashes, poison ivy, poison oak, chickenpox, and insect bites.                                

Lush sums up calamine very well:  "Calamine powder is a zinc oxide, traditionally used in medicinal ointments as an antiseptic. It comes from the natural mineral deposits, which is transformed into a soft powder when milled. Calamine powder is one of the main constituents of the traditional calamine lotion that is used extensively to relieve redness, stinging and irritation of the skin. Calamine powder treats the skin with a gentle toning and antiseptic action. Historically, it's been mixed with rose water to create a soothing face mask. Beacause it's such a gentle ingredient, we use it in lots of our products for the face, where your skin is very delicate. Calamine powder has also traditionally been used in face powders, dusting powders and toothpastes. It is one of the most absorbent and soothing bases. Calamine powder is mainly zinc oxide, a white powder, combined with a dash of ferric oxide to produce a pretty, light pink powder."  
https://uk.lush.com/ingredients/calamine-powder 

Calamine is a peachy pink color and they even use the name calamine as a color name of paint. LOL

Lanolin has been used for a long time.   It is a very thick grease/oil/wax substance.  Sheep wool contains lanolin and lanolin protects the sheep and the wool from the elements.  This is best described by lanolin.com.  " Wool wax is a natural substance, designed by nature to soften both skin and wool fibres, and to protect them against adverse weather conditions.  The best known uses of refined wool wax products (lanolin and lanolin derivatives) are in medicine, cosmetics and toiletries, which take advantage of these natural protective qualities...  Lanolin is a key ingredient in some of the world’s most popular cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Without it, they would not have the emollient qualities that protect and care for our skin and hair."

http://www.lanolin.com/lanolin-for-personal-care-and-medicine.htm  Lanolin soap is sometimes called wool fat soap.

lanolin soap

Many people choose to purchase only vegan products.  Most of the products I make are not vegan.  I use lanolin, milk, honey, eggs in my soap.  No animals were harmed in obtaining these ingredients!  Without the use of these products, people who purchase only vegan miss out on natural substances which are great for your skin!  I also use tallow and that is obtained after an animal is slaughtered. Many additives I use are natural and come from plants and the good old earth.  Out of all of my soaps, there should be one that meets everyone's need, whether it be pretty or plain, red or green, round or square.......   I am slowly adding items into a new website that only displays my soaps.  I will let you know when that site is available to view.

Since I first used colloidal oatmeal, I have continued to use it in most all of my soaps, along with the use of vegetable based glycerin, shea butter, and raw cow milk.  There is a certain texture I want in a soap, along with lather and emollient qualities.  This being said, all my soaps have to look and smell great too!!!  What do you look for in soaps that you use for yourself?

Please view my web store at:
 http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage
 

Thank you for viewing.  I hope you have a great week!  Dawnie

Circling Taiwan Swirl and Other Soapmaking

The batter................

Swirl/slide soap.  This is called Hardy Har Har soap.  Ed Hardy blend of fragrance and essential oils.  LOL

Circular Taiwan Swirl in the mold.

 Circular Taiwan swirl.  What I an going for is on the left.  The one in the center is the center cut.  The one on the right is fine, but looks more like a tulip than a lotus flower.  Only one lotus flower is in a log mold and it is an end cut.

The extra batter goes into circular bars.  The swirl turned out nicely.

Most of the soap I made yesterday.

Even though it is too late to enter the January contest for the circling Taiwan swirl soap, I had to try my hand at making the design again.  I used the colors of bright yellow, bright purple, and coral.  I also made some swirled/slide soap with a lovely design.  I used the same colors, but I added white and bright green in larger quantities.  I love the way the colors mingle and create a secret design in the soap until it is unmolded and cut.  In my recipe, I used tallow, coconut oil, sunflower oil, shea butter, and coco butter and used full water with 5% superfat.  This recipe makes a nice hard bar of soap with a lot of great skin nourishing butters.

How I make soap:  I measure out the fats and butters.  Then I heat the fats and mix the butters in with the warm fats.  This melts the butters since they are very hard.  I then blend all of these fats with a stick blender, adding a little titanium dioxide to keep the soap white.  In another container, I combine ice water and lye.  I usually wait approx. 30-45 minutes after I mix the lye water.  This gives it time to cool down, but I can allow much more time If necessary.   Once the time is up, I add the lye water solution into the fat and butter solution.  (The oils are usually room temperature.)  I use a stick blender to blend it all together for a minute or so to emulsification but not trace.  I add the fragrance and blend it for an additional 30 seconds.  ( I used a blend of Ed Hardy fragrance oil, lemongrass essential oil, vanilla rosewood fragrance oil.  Ed Hardy fragrance oil is too strong for me so I have to blend it with other scents.

Now I separate any batter I want to color by placing the batter into container(s), adding color to each container, and stick blending the batter and color for a few seconds.  Now the fun begins.  I prefer to have a lot of one neutral color with a small amount of bright color.  If you remember from my previous posts, the rule of thumb is to keep the soap fairly light in color so the bubbles are not colored which in turn would possibly darken washcloths.  If that happens, I have added too much coloring.  Any number of colors can be added to the design at this time, but the soap starts to set up once it is blended, so too much time devoted to mixing the colors will take away from what time I have left to work the design. This is where I have to rush.   It is best to have containers ready and colors premixed or ready to go before I blend the lye and water solution into the fat solution.  Lately I have been using mica for my coloring, when I don't use herbs and spices.  For my colors, I place approximately 2 teaspoons of mica in a container, add about 1.5 cups of soap solution.  If the color does not evenly spread through the deign it is fine with me.  Dark and light of the same color will add some contrast and interest in the design.  If the fragrance causes the soap solution to set up fast, it will dictate how much time I have to deign my soap.  Floral fragrances tend to make soap set up fast.  Once my design is planned and my colors mixed, I place the mixture into molds.  I usually use silicone so I don't have to line the molds.  If I use a wooden mold, I have to line the mold ahead of time.

I know soap making sounds like a lot of work, but it became fairly simple once I learned how to judge my time and what emulsification and trace should look like.  I usually type my formula into a SAP calculator from Soaper's Choice so I know how much lye and water to use.  I also have a computer program that tells me what cleansing and hardness qualities my formula will have.  At first I preferred to follow recipes or use just one fat such as tallow or lard.  After that, I branched out.

The Circling Taiwan Swirl Soap Method:  Basically the soap loaf mold is divided into 4 sections lengthwise.  In the 4 sections you pour at lease 3 colors of soap batter is poured with one color in each section.  Then the dividers are removed.  A back and forth action from short end of the mold across to the other short end of the mold and all along the mold inching along using a tool such as a skewer or a spoon handle to mix the colors and give them a swirl into each other.  You stick the tool all of the way to the bottom of the mold.  After that step is completed all of the way down the soap mold, you circle the interior mold edges a couple of times with that same tool.  This action makes the swirls start to tilt.  The work is done, so let the soap set up for a day or so before unmolding.  Once unmolded, the soap is cut into chunks approximately 2 1/4 inches thick and then cut across through the center of the chunk, making 2 bars.  A lotus pattern should show up on one end of the soap log.

I hope I explained this so you are able to understand it.  I made soap using this method a few days ago.  You can check it out at: http://custercottage.blogspot.com/2016/01/scrubbie-yarn-and-circling-taiwan-swirl.html

Please view my web store at:

http://www.custercottage.com

And visit my Etsy shop at:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/CusterCottage

 

Dawnie

 

New grand-baby picture.  She loves spending time with the chickens.  She can imitate the chickens very well.

Wichita Weavers, Spinners and Dyers' Guild Learn To Make Soap

Saturday the Wichita Weavers, Spinners and Dyers' Guild attended a class to learn how to make soap.  I am posting a few highlights and even a picture of me.  I taught the class. 

 

Thank you for viewing!  Dawnie 

Pina Colada Soap

I am experimenting with some some ideas this week.  I want to make pina colada soap with realistic pineapple chunks.  I found round, plastic cracker storage containers.  I thought I could use these as a mold to make round soap pieces for cutting into pineapple chunks.  I made a batch of soap which contained more than the amount to fill a cracker tube.  I wanted to test my new sunflower molds and with the left over I made yellow soap and sprinkled it with coconut flakes and yellow pearl cake decorating beads. I also used annatto seeds to naturally color my soap.  The annatto seeds were left to infuse in the oil for 3 weeks.  At the beginning, my soap was an orange color until it began to trace while I mixed it using my stick blender, and then it lightened.   The sunflower molds work perfect and the soap sets up quickly.  The soap is extremely easy to remove from the molds.  The only thing I notice is that the sunflowers are not flat once they are turned over.  I will smooth the bottoms some once they have set up a tad bit more.

Today I was surprised with bright, beautiful, and tasty cupcakes for my birthday.  Tracy H. made them.  She made roses and  mums on top of the cupcakes.  I only had 3 left when I took this photo.

I was able to test my experiment with the round cracker storage container.  I lined the sides of the container and froze the container for easy removal.  I learned that I needed to remove the bottom of the container in order to remove the contents.  This was expected and not any problem in the future since I have a screw on lid.  In the future I will be able to remove the lid and  push the contents out.
I learned that I could not cut the soap while it was frozen.  It tends to crack in uncut spots.  I was wondering if anyone has ever placed lye water and oils together before they have cooled and found the mixture to resemble an oatmeal and water mixture?  I came across this issue again today.  In the past, I learned that I just need to mix the solution for a while and allow it to cool as I alternate between the use of the stick blender and stirring with a large spoon to allow the stick blender to cool between uses.  I have burnt up motors in the past when I did not permit my stick blender to rest every few minutes.  As I mix the soap , the solution will begin look like a lovely smooth pudding.  At this time I place the solution into the log molds and I have very little time to work with it.  I placed the pineapple looking soap pieces in the center of the soap and also on the top.  They are placed more heavily on the top.  I put shredded cosmetic grade Mylar on the top also.  

Busy Months

In the next couple of months we have Easter, My Birthday, My Son's Birthday, Mother's Day, and Memorial Day.  I am trying to get a few projects made for these holidays and the start of the week end craft sales.  This weekend I made 2 very small batches of soap.  Usually I make a 20-22 lb. batch, but I wanted to make some art soap and a smaller batch was necessary so I did not have 22 pounds of blue laundry soap.  LOL  What I made was Blue Roses and Martian Moon soap.  I will attempt to post pictures of them, but indoors at night with a flash is not the best for taking photos up close.  I normally do not do such dark soaps, but like I said, it is an art soap.  Blue Roses is more of a light blue teal color with some variation in color and added soap chips for texture.  The top is decorated with a few soap chips and some white mica sparkles.  It smells just like roses and it is not overpowering.  The second soap was more for the Science Fiction lovers in the family.  We all have them.  LOL  I am just teasing.  I am not one, but many friends of mine and my son fall in this category.  I made a tube of soap with the Blue Roses soap and when it set up I cut it in two.  These two pieces became the moon for the Martian Moon soap.  I did not want the background to come out the same color as the moon and I wanted it to look like night with a few stars in the sky.  I used a few chips of soap in the recipe so it would have texture and look like stars.  I also swirled the blue soap somewhat and that left interest in the sky look.  The top is decorated with a few pearl cake decorating beads, star glitter for soap making, white sparkle mica, and a few toy Martians.  The Martians are about the same color as the soap.  The fragrance is coconut, almond, and fruit smoothie.  It smells wonderful and is not girlie or manly.  If you have any comments you wish to share, give me note or a ring.  Thank you for viewing this email.  Dawn

Fir Balls.....................Soap

As I was making the last batch of soap I decided to make another batch with a more manly fragrance and humor.  LOL  I had some of the soap left over and I placed it into  a small mold, knowing that I would be forming soap balls later, once it hardened a little.  The soap was mostly medium to dark green with a few white and light colored specks in it.  When this soap was hard enough to stay in shape, I placed all of the soap allocated for soap balls into the food processor and shredded it up.  Then I rolled it into small balls from 1/2 to 3/4 inch in diameter.  I was not concerned with the balls being in perfect shape.  I like them into a variety of the sizes and shapes since it gives the viewer a more pleasing view.  After that, I rolled the balls into black caraway seeds, using a plastic bag.  What man doesn't like a little extra exfoliation, right?  The extra caraway seeds that fall off of the balls and any extra green shreds would just add to the visual interest.  I left the balls to harden for a few days.
Since the balls were green and the plastic lid I placed the balls on was red, I was thinking about Christmas.  That reminded me of Christmas trees and my co-worker has recently mentioned the hairballs her cat has removed, and another co-worker reminded me that his favorite soap I made was dingle berry, which was a gag gift......and,.........well,......uh, all of this was in my head and I decided to call the soap fir balls and use balsam fir fragrance as the main fragrance.  Now you know how my mind works.  Soon I will see men with a white funny jacket coming to see me.

The Fir Ball soap is made and I tried to pour the first half at beginning trace.  It had a few green swirls in it.  Three silicone molds were placed at an angle so the first pour would be a triangle of soap.  I then placed the balls in randomly when the bottom angle set up slightly.  It was able to hold the balls up somewhat.  The top angle was mostly a white but it did contain a few green swirls.  I also made leaves and a third log mold, but this mold was not placed at an angle.  A soaping friend of mine told me that she makes soap and places it in the refrigerator or freezer and it does not go through the gel phase and she thinks it is creamer and has a better texture.  I was finally able to try that with this soap.  I think I agree, so I may need to tweak my methods and try this more often.  Thank you for that helpful hint Dawn!

I think the soap turned out beautiful.  It is creamy colored and it has a lovely pine smell.  It reminds me of my trip to The Dakotas.  Unlike Kansas, in the densely wooded areas a pine fragrance lingers in the air.  A few men requested a glitter free soap, so here it is.  My new MAN soap.....Fir Balls.

If you are not a soap maker, I do appreciate you reading my blog and I hope you do find it of interest.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog and I hope you and yours are truly blessed!  Dawn