tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79668876431374803572024-03-05T02:27:22.056-08:00Soap & RestlessWelcome to Emily the Evily's creative playground! Majority of the postings will be showcasing good and bad of my soap experiments, occasionally you will see other random creations here and there, as you can tell from my blog name, it's about soap and also restless!Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.comBlogger312125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-73962179065942658472016-07-27T08:58:00.000-07:002016-07-27T08:58:00.724-07:00Tale of a Mermaid<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I've been honored to be invited to participate in Brambleberry's Soap the Rainbow series. What is Soap the Rainbow? Basically each invited soap maker has an assigned color from the rainbow, each week the soap maker will make a soap project based on the assigned color. For details see the link: <a href="https://www.soapqueen.com/bramble-berry-news/soaptherainbow/" target="_blank">Soap the Rainbow Series & Contest</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Guess what my color is for this week? <span style="color: blue;">BLUE!!!</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So fitting for the hot hot summer!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are a few of my inspirations:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHMPHRUYLzNBdGlin4OVwSigkVZGYl0AbzOlopQoalf_oVB0bY1UvA3MRQiwr_nbU62ItUSb918Rbe6uNsQw_sXN-KezzddQOKBvYajpchLsX7tCK48UbZJoRJAJaQN7npELIB708t9g/s1600/abyss-table-design-layered-glass-christopher-duff-duffy-london-thumb640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpHMPHRUYLzNBdGlin4OVwSigkVZGYl0AbzOlopQoalf_oVB0bY1UvA3MRQiwr_nbU62ItUSb918Rbe6uNsQw_sXN-KezzddQOKBvYajpchLsX7tCK48UbZJoRJAJaQN7npELIB708t9g/s400/abyss-table-design-layered-glass-christopher-duff-duffy-london-thumb640.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.demilked.com/abyss-table-design-layered-glass-christopher-duff-duffy-london/" target="_blank">Coffee Table Made by Christopher Duff of Duff London</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcfEuR7pti9xC3LEWzVBIj_Z9jPt9ZFP18ifWMa1P7TbIjOwKYLHIJypFd12WdPpUDSmew8LzuJajMQQKGSSQ9aUC2lugRBiyjPQJNVg01llo25JYgzE0uWySOwY6Rj5fYpe1XTyCO00/s1600/glass-sheets-wave-sculpture-ben-young-thumb640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihcfEuR7pti9xC3LEWzVBIj_Z9jPt9ZFP18ifWMa1P7TbIjOwKYLHIJypFd12WdPpUDSmew8LzuJajMQQKGSSQ9aUC2lugRBiyjPQJNVg01llo25JYgzE0uWySOwY6Rj5fYpe1XTyCO00/s400/glass-sheets-wave-sculpture-ben-young-thumb640.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.demilked.com/glass-sheets-wave-sculpture-ben-young/" target="_blank">Glass Sculpture Made by Ben Young</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBk-oBdQvPWvyKuJLoqtm4496D5Udspjia4MRVf2MZQyqcvKXRprevfRKXOWWzc7CeX_Egp90p2YppdIghoA_unzm9yGoVjgUD_fh74W0IGLs3LPp5o0i6BchOaBlS-mv5xWD79Vslsk/s1600/MarshaBlakerandPaulDeSomma6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUBk-oBdQvPWvyKuJLoqtm4496D5Udspjia4MRVf2MZQyqcvKXRprevfRKXOWWzc7CeX_Egp90p2YppdIghoA_unzm9yGoVjgUD_fh74W0IGLs3LPp5o0i6BchOaBlS-mv5xWD79Vslsk/s400/MarshaBlakerandPaulDeSomma6.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/marsha-blaker-and-paul-desomma-ocean-glass-art?context=tag-glass" target="_blank">Glass Sculpture made by Paul DeSomma and Marsha Blaker</a></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo64L60X4gpPanwmweBH4OoPQxp1XZ0nB9PY2FPFHp8XJ4T_6G6recd5yze4j-zQR_BbyBOhVtP_C1BhHjWEiZK4ftMppXL8xk6_yX86siBee7o6N7l2TzOD3Y6gxdpZdYU6wksysljhU/s1600/OceanCounterpoint2-640px.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="117" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo64L60X4gpPanwmweBH4OoPQxp1XZ0nB9PY2FPFHp8XJ4T_6G6recd5yze4j-zQR_BbyBOhVtP_C1BhHjWEiZK4ftMppXL8xk6_yX86siBee7o6N7l2TzOD3Y6gxdpZdYU6wksysljhU/s400/OceanCounterpoint2-640px.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.mymodernmet.com/profiles/blogs/marsha-blaker-and-paul-desomma-ocean-glass-art?context=tag-glass" target="_blank">Ocean Counterpoint made by Stone Ridge Glass</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Besides the ocean theme (</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">the obvious choice) </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">for the blues, I want to add a little romantic element into the scheme, what can be more perfect than mermaid, seashell and pearl? I have an image in my head that involves a mermaid's tail flopping on top of the rising waves chasing after the precious pearl washed up to the white sand beach. I don't want to buy a ready made mold to make the mermaid's tails, I prefer a more organic look, so I decided to find a way to pipe them using a cake decorating tip. You can use any tip that is used to pipe rose petal, it's quit easy.</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/PPgvXUefKPc/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PPgvXUefKPc?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Everything went smoothly, the soap was made, video was recorded, then the day after I realized the video file was never saved! What a nightmare...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had to make another "emergency" batch to record again the night before this tutorial is due! Unfortunately I only have limited mermaid tails left, but you can see the entire process.</span></div>
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<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/sohHMldfpJM/0.jpg" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/sohHMldfpJM?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last but not least here are some salon shots of the original batch of Tale of Mermaid soap:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOOUg4jLo7M9FsRm7bJK4HIM0yvaGU3SLesHPwkL1y7AlVdAu46QTiHe2ZkdbsAuWBwBggXJHp65HfDY99YH2BWtALHD-RvzuXgS4y7pPq7J0GjT1k4jUlVzTAavaG0fQSfuARb8mPjo/s1600/mermaid-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHOOUg4jLo7M9FsRm7bJK4HIM0yvaGU3SLesHPwkL1y7AlVdAu46QTiHe2ZkdbsAuWBwBggXJHp65HfDY99YH2BWtALHD-RvzuXgS4y7pPq7J0GjT1k4jUlVzTAavaG0fQSfuARb8mPjo/s640/mermaid-3.jpg" width="632" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9Prwvb_BNf4Hej76wml0nbmsI9MnyVobaP4FZe-FEo7dAb_NLx71mHP9bzlzph8ZvmR9jkcgefxxAjJq6p65EJFhS6DNgdWNY49sQBqDa0Qp0wGT4uud9z_0vIgnPAuqOdRT4cJDFAY/s1600/mermaid-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="440" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhL9Prwvb_BNf4Hej76wml0nbmsI9MnyVobaP4FZe-FEo7dAb_NLx71mHP9bzlzph8ZvmR9jkcgefxxAjJq6p65EJFhS6DNgdWNY49sQBqDa0Qp0wGT4uud9z_0vIgnPAuqOdRT4cJDFAY/s640/mermaid-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdua391d9uGflXfbCNLmxsCWrIzgmnSkmcdamq5TBqKUlk6jK03VfPdJ_mh7AK0nP3mf5eJxO8ZkyToDQDWQ6mZVO_nCJ5tOo9JqM_O5etiQD6OzAb_WAuzlw5qAYd8VlXOerdQqNrn4/s1600/mermaid-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMdua391d9uGflXfbCNLmxsCWrIzgmnSkmcdamq5TBqKUlk6jK03VfPdJ_mh7AK0nP3mf5eJxO8ZkyToDQDWQ6mZVO_nCJ5tOo9JqM_O5etiQD6OzAb_WAuzlw5qAYd8VlXOerdQqNrn4/s640/mermaid-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82GPrA12Gi-7CGHx52Wa72VZnZsk9Zmy_NZgZMHMDieFyVepX_J4yxGpNRkjLudxDgj08FypF_BVxaeXYuJis3_pc_-R7itknM1YCB2o4heHD9jMZ0_-qTChr4ZpOLcdAfGpSPRIqI8U/s1600/mermaid-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj82GPrA12Gi-7CGHx52Wa72VZnZsk9Zmy_NZgZMHMDieFyVepX_J4yxGpNRkjLudxDgj08FypF_BVxaeXYuJis3_pc_-R7itknM1YCB2o4heHD9jMZ0_-qTChr4ZpOLcdAfGpSPRIqI8U/s640/mermaid-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Jsfj-svuVEQkYUdyaYEyZZ0kGFubIsnPB9FvUHS18M1O05wXaPaOY4HSIl6GIzFiIfJvFppVxQ9vk4vAm9zknvXFH2jwM3ogN-CFd9txE46HDgEa7H3Dso30JhM8-Z5IqLI8F6_Oaf8/s1600/mermaid-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj1Jsfj-svuVEQkYUdyaYEyZZ0kGFubIsnPB9FvUHS18M1O05wXaPaOY4HSIl6GIzFiIfJvFppVxQ9vk4vAm9zknvXFH2jwM3ogN-CFd9txE46HDgEa7H3Dso30JhM8-Z5IqLI8F6_Oaf8/s640/mermaid-6.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nXgLotuSbxco2iTLXQs9GhgL56z0NZku3SflXzOqKjgfPrJ-LULDmkHqF71q6JsSv-GzgNbIHORViKZAPVRhM_2fNBDa2XBT6jbGqz1iGBGFG-7Xl3_A_ahuTC7Rh5NzYsyoDIAfSQQ/s1600/mermaid-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0nXgLotuSbxco2iTLXQs9GhgL56z0NZku3SflXzOqKjgfPrJ-LULDmkHqF71q6JsSv-GzgNbIHORViKZAPVRhM_2fNBDa2XBT6jbGqz1iGBGFG-7Xl3_A_ahuTC7Rh5NzYsyoDIAfSQQ/s640/mermaid-7.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-808981899799585862016-05-01T13:29:00.000-07:002016-05-01T13:29:18.201-07:00When Soap Gives me Earth Looking Balls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This design is an total accident, sometimes that produces the best unexpected result.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It all started with a rather "failed" soap project. I made a small batch of soap using a few new silicone molds I got as Christmas gifts. Unfortunately those molds didn't release well, left me with lots of deformed soap pieces. I usually roll scrap or left over soap pieces into balls and this was no exception. It just happened that the 3 colors I rolled together were white, green and blue. I only noticed how much those soap balls look like little planet Earth after rolling them! When life gives you lemon you make lemonade, so of course making Earth theme soap is the only right thing to do!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHD-L9apW5Nl3cGKLfgs2Hld92FErYOoM1eCZjNH4qzs1a2TG5o2DQLlWNclsVNca2tGVELjxNW6h1QSjq_KcvrLMnX8TpJOAJqF3E1WaGJqBRiYzCblcWyezwR16vutKydUWRd0Hl6f0/s1600/earth-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHD-L9apW5Nl3cGKLfgs2Hld92FErYOoM1eCZjNH4qzs1a2TG5o2DQLlWNclsVNca2tGVELjxNW6h1QSjq_KcvrLMnX8TpJOAJqF3E1WaGJqBRiYzCblcWyezwR16vutKydUWRd0Hl6f0/s640/earth-1.jpg" width="492" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9dnr5b3ZnGm1cm8dNdwbv1_TTya2DRyJhr9fnD9lmwe8zfU-vj-7QUg7uH9pmkihSxoTqHLEIlZfwLOVu7jhAU5bBUT-PXadofo8mn3e9mmygeRkrpy7uu2K_Cs8AHD8iLocUnS2fq4/s1600/earth-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="472" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit9dnr5b3ZnGm1cm8dNdwbv1_TTya2DRyJhr9fnD9lmwe8zfU-vj-7QUg7uH9pmkihSxoTqHLEIlZfwLOVu7jhAU5bBUT-PXadofo8mn3e9mmygeRkrpy7uu2K_Cs8AHD8iLocUnS2fq4/s640/earth-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8jnHC7iJOtXPo_MINRxOAQVOBIIo8s-ZaHekQTP_XDsmggujI5lgNv-qCRvsWz50lbPg-vMld1JnFYrYj8Zabhg1rCFjcqNKtLJAkiCfKLWAAEuQ2PNEMZkljDv4qD44jaNjNJtTHBY/s1600/earth-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim8jnHC7iJOtXPo_MINRxOAQVOBIIo8s-ZaHekQTP_XDsmggujI5lgNv-qCRvsWz50lbPg-vMld1JnFYrYj8Zabhg1rCFjcqNKtLJAkiCfKLWAAEuQ2PNEMZkljDv4qD44jaNjNJtTHBY/s640/earth-3.jpg" width="490" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">I name this Ocean Earth soap and it's scented with a water related fragrance. </span></span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It smells like salty ocean front with wet beach sand, subtle note of sea kelp and hints of eucalyptus leaf and cedar wood. I layered it with different shades of blues and topped it off with a layer of soap with fine pumice sand.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soon after this soap was made we took a trip to Iceland hoping to catch a rare sighting of beautiful aurora.</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-25813685845429232352016-04-10T14:48:00.000-07:002016-04-10T14:48:24.666-07:00Castor Oil Soap Experiment Part 2 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has been good 4 weeks since the soap samples were made. For those of you who just happens to join me for the little experiment, please refer back to my previous blog post for Part 1: <a href="http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/2016/02/castor-oil-soap-experiments-part-1-of-3.html" target="_blank">Castor Oil Soap Experiment Part 1 of 3</a> for details.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I cut one sample per block of soap #1-3, each has similar dimensions and same weight in grams. They all started out 30g each and now after 4 weeks they have been shrunk to 27g each.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #1: made with 25% castor oil</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6SN8yC8v4jFrxQy8o-mDbuv83biOOiJMZsP-oyH-C4xlUj3BY1C9pZxBQhuRAVzr1lnIzJaMEOUt09jwdukDixOVB18SrnB3W07iGrAYBOzE0ZbZ3kGfh9FoejG8c9wvCd1fWNbnVWIc/s1600/experiment-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6SN8yC8v4jFrxQy8o-mDbuv83biOOiJMZsP-oyH-C4xlUj3BY1C9pZxBQhuRAVzr1lnIzJaMEOUt09jwdukDixOVB18SrnB3W07iGrAYBOzE0ZbZ3kGfh9FoejG8c9wvCd1fWNbnVWIc/s320/experiment-1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #2: Substituted 25% castor oil with avocado oil & cocoa butter</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzN1FPG5HFBSmjg2wXcGGmZJlaGsERpeaCMaJcGwuwoLxJZJSplg1vsA7w0nI8VhbDitIysKM26Vzo_cjEXAinYwkEtYurxOJ83Lo_AJMzUhZzrqWqUt_uqxa2-YjztEUKtoEcfO1DH8/s1600/experiment-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyzN1FPG5HFBSmjg2wXcGGmZJlaGsERpeaCMaJcGwuwoLxJZJSplg1vsA7w0nI8VhbDitIysKM26Vzo_cjEXAinYwkEtYurxOJ83Lo_AJMzUhZzrqWqUt_uqxa2-YjztEUKtoEcfO1DH8/s320/experiment-2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #3: Substituted</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> 25% castor oil with hazelnut oil & cocoa butter</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXZqQtouBG8SdOlGpyEp78BNRbNhsp2F6HWZs9_rVdAAoXkHsG5O7HhDnD28WgOBVFZZs3uUQP_HRDCuwJKc9XsD1vss4b8wdLNWJiJoL7FClmTFx5HqbZkItstketToZdcYkdrBVniw/s1600/experiment-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUXZqQtouBG8SdOlGpyEp78BNRbNhsp2F6HWZs9_rVdAAoXkHsG5O7HhDnD28WgOBVFZZs3uUQP_HRDCuwJKc9XsD1vss4b8wdLNWJiJoL7FClmTFx5HqbZkItstketToZdcYkdrBVniw/s320/experiment-3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I simply took a sewing needle and went through the top of each sample to attach a color thread then hang them in each glass container with 300g of my tap water.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnfx-l2_DnpUj9F9P1WhU0Sye8BiCIt4wSDL1u1K2tlL2mbt8CPZsPpRoEIKh_0n6k-OxxJLMNceKmsPF5XnPdupg8rxW5BRXoPjfJguLctjcFOL4gCs6I8Kx9nxCPs4ibkFbW73yl0Y/s1600/experiment-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJnfx-l2_DnpUj9F9P1WhU0Sye8BiCIt4wSDL1u1K2tlL2mbt8CPZsPpRoEIKh_0n6k-OxxJLMNceKmsPF5XnPdupg8rxW5BRXoPjfJguLctjcFOL4gCs6I8Kx9nxCPs4ibkFbW73yl0Y/s640/experiment-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now look what happened 2 hours later, just 2 hours:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sBXiZF8tjApdn-1c8tlo5a9nntleGKsgMeuH2yejk13CbvnH5AD0zT79QJisGQmaxJxIEroHbtfFu3zRlkj5-ECt1wtvubvydVLMwX6v7xaCZ_B957MWDzOLJwC9kWL4AsAZS9nxg2I/s1600/experiment-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="206" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8sBXiZF8tjApdn-1c8tlo5a9nntleGKsgMeuH2yejk13CbvnH5AD0zT79QJisGQmaxJxIEroHbtfFu3zRlkj5-ECt1wtvubvydVLMwX6v7xaCZ_B957MWDzOLJwC9kWL4AsAZS9nxg2I/s640/experiment-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">My observation is that Soap #1 has been dissolved a lot, just in the short period of 2 hours, while the other 2 samples actually gotten swollen. I weighted them at 2 hour mark and surprisingly Soap #2 & 3 actually gained weight! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> Let's look at the chart:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTeU41n-nrTbVt9zG7i786zuDlSJuWVZm35Hnl1g0xBKAI6ol9zy5V7XMI7DSp9XsdvmBRi7_Y9xybO_YEaQgPeLPixHK22AUu_cCkyWP7CqYs25_gubsFjeAjFmrfZs906rB2zSnLTs/s1600/experiment-9.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilTeU41n-nrTbVt9zG7i786zuDlSJuWVZm35Hnl1g0xBKAI6ol9zy5V7XMI7DSp9XsdvmBRi7_Y9xybO_YEaQgPeLPixHK22AUu_cCkyWP7CqYs25_gubsFjeAjFmrfZs906rB2zSnLTs/s640/experiment-9.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had to give up after hour 24 because even around hour 18 the soap containing 25% castor oil was hard to pick out of the glass because it's almost totally dissolved, see photo below:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicifDw5tofEXwV8p8c5_f0PwppJfOlWmbDLtjhaRjwB3GvrFwE0NLIlXRVra5qZIBGCoW003hmEkMz5FTaR4VtiErQQsLYj2R1uRVFq03cjycUQhSj6rHWv1KQuITb6GyVDEC21tBkkN0/s1600/experiment-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="392" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicifDw5tofEXwV8p8c5_f0PwppJfOlWmbDLtjhaRjwB3GvrFwE0NLIlXRVra5qZIBGCoW003hmEkMz5FTaR4VtiErQQsLYj2R1uRVFq03cjycUQhSj6rHWv1KQuITb6GyVDEC21tBkkN0/s640/experiment-8.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The soap water from the 25% castor oil soap lathered well at least! Next post I will show the blind testing result chart from my blind testers.</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-5486542138535399972016-03-29T22:42:00.003-07:002016-03-30T13:25:12.842-07:00Using Cookie Cutter and Piping Tips for Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I am amazed how much patience a cake chef has, especially when decorating a cake, it is so time consuming! I don't bake, this is as close to "baking" as I ever get by using cake decorating techniques in soap making. By combining the use of cookie cutter and piping tips your soap can look very 3D like these:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuDNyOqZUVvaLtjTFUC0j3JRG8jN5COcKvxlIMAwlf4jA-FeerF-xheW5LZ_d1yCB9ExEbCS_OhUjQ0OvfF4x48k9Zof9bjjMqlK8VLivxBwJXTDQWgaFSvJduCJ74MrwOijX6UrvybM/s1600/cherry+blossom-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="470" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcuDNyOqZUVvaLtjTFUC0j3JRG8jN5COcKvxlIMAwlf4jA-FeerF-xheW5LZ_d1yCB9ExEbCS_OhUjQ0OvfF4x48k9Zof9bjjMqlK8VLivxBwJXTDQWgaFSvJduCJ74MrwOijX6UrvybM/s640/cherry+blossom-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcxRAbGCwinI7SGR8NLSsEj7BjHXOhVMrS_zYKiA_uphTfy0-_NFUyHbCQ7zhKQRutBLKpWArHRb0mq87dlrpIu4HiEFCmMDERapBeVCBva9NKS-AylQGsTKNoKdHJzHaG_i46pJ0gu0/s1600/ume+blossom-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhcxRAbGCwinI7SGR8NLSsEj7BjHXOhVMrS_zYKiA_uphTfy0-_NFUyHbCQ7zhKQRutBLKpWArHRb0mq87dlrpIu4HiEFCmMDERapBeVCBva9NKS-AylQGsTKNoKdHJzHaG_i46pJ0gu0/s640/ume+blossom-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span id="goog_882838522"></span><span id="goog_882838523"></span>Little flower and butterflies were cut ahead of time using these cutters and some left over scrap soap pieces:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAabSCdDRUrHYcbHttH7afZfVHshEnIPoAzk1Ck2Xf7d5ecz33xG52eKGRhyNP1-OASTc7y3vZ7X_LMNwtoniq2rVYoPvxo-unuFRzFMTBBJjAFz9z1EgqKnaEhM5mlRZjLa1179C2qWQ/s1600/cutter-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAabSCdDRUrHYcbHttH7afZfVHshEnIPoAzk1Ck2Xf7d5ecz33xG52eKGRhyNP1-OASTc7y3vZ7X_LMNwtoniq2rVYoPvxo-unuFRzFMTBBJjAFz9z1EgqKnaEhM5mlRZjLa1179C2qWQ/s400/cutter-1.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The metal ones I acquired from a local Japanese store and the plastic plunger style ones are from online purchase. They are all common kitchen tools.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHrcQthQ9DA58LQHTXNuxtSrZwJEX0YsXMrZSa5BDpsiUwOHYhSqNz3puv0s7igh5WyLcF26Lsl_ij7XN3el4-KziBT3oEt7XMpSF-wcplR7KreUyB1UHEWfvlJTRMCmpu7-dUiI61E8/s1600/cutter-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="290" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSHrcQthQ9DA58LQHTXNuxtSrZwJEX0YsXMrZSa5BDpsiUwOHYhSqNz3puv0s7igh5WyLcF26Lsl_ij7XN3el4-KziBT3oEt7XMpSF-wcplR7KreUyB1UHEWfvlJTRMCmpu7-dUiI61E8/s400/cutter-2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2g-BY3zLIqKq4MGF4B8YQdud55rByveX_1d371xmZw_oj1i7ydOBcnDZtj22sNeJj0ufjG-uLK2xRn-tMX_tRS3bnXe3uhNt5b1HA-OYnaJ2-kBbFnjX-S3ZWmk-CVEgd_QAN-VXmGvY/s1600/cherry+blossom-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2g-BY3zLIqKq4MGF4B8YQdud55rByveX_1d371xmZw_oj1i7ydOBcnDZtj22sNeJj0ufjG-uLK2xRn-tMX_tRS3bnXe3uhNt5b1HA-OYnaJ2-kBbFnjX-S3ZWmk-CVEgd_QAN-VXmGvY/s640/cherry+blossom-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">With cut line markings on the mold as a guide I used piping tips for the branches and leaves. You might think piping the branches is hard, actually it's the easiest thing to pipe, the more you wiggle the more realistic it looks.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5FPEiYhkWY0KU9dnYceBuF6Vz6ZSYWAdeXLGsOHNQoIS106BbRCGRzKSYfdBYyD7XWR-U-8ZKmvOW-EY3Y-fvWuVQf1GoaSrB2RqgjnEBL7gOJQLhAJFSKywKlGHYkhIDBAJt9Na8Xs/s1600/leaf+piping.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="285" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEja5FPEiYhkWY0KU9dnYceBuF6Vz6ZSYWAdeXLGsOHNQoIS106BbRCGRzKSYfdBYyD7XWR-U-8ZKmvOW-EY3Y-fvWuVQf1GoaSrB2RqgjnEBL7gOJQLhAJFSKywKlGHYkhIDBAJt9Na8Xs/s400/leaf+piping.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you can't find a piping tip like the one on the left, there's an easy DIY tip, just cut a diamond shape out of a piping bag like the image on the right, which is exactly what I did because the tip I have at home is too big for the job.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are so many different cookie cutters on the market, the possibility is endless.</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-32242396408610192032016-03-08T13:56:00.001-08:002016-03-08T18:30:40.738-08:00Sometimes Hard Decision has to be Made<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">About 2 weeks ago I encountered the worst case of IP (intellectual property) infringement ever in my soap making life. It used to be mostly harmless infringement, most of the time the offenders didn't even know the photo they used belongs to me. As a digital age grows so widely spread across the world, the world wide web is filled with countless information and photos. Most of the people do not understand downloading and re-using information and (or) photos without creator's permission from the internet is illegal. Unless the information or photos are being re-used solely for educational purposes and not for profit, which falls under Fair Use guideline, it is simply an IP infringement. Under Fair Use guideline, direct quotation of information or photographs cannot be used for commercial purposes, or without attributing the author.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most of my photographs had been watermarked with my logo before circulating the world wide web. This owner of a teaching studio is known to be a repeat IP infringement offender since 2011. Apparently she had been using 6 of my photos for more than a year without me knowing. If she charges $35 per person per class, over the period of 18 months, how much revenue did she generated? What's worse is I am not the only one the business owner has stolen many photos from, there are at least 6 other soap makers I know of. After contacting the studio</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> and got no respond, Other effected soap makers and I were forced to report her to the FaceBook and her web host. Most major web hosts and online multi-media sites observe DMCA (</span><span style="font-size: large; line-height: 1.3;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and have policy to respond to clear notices of alleged copyright infringement. All you need to do is filing a detailed report with the web host and they will have to investigate and perform a force-take-down. Fortunately Facebook reacted fast to my request and removed all my photos from her Facebook page. Our effort paid off, her website had been shot down for a few days to resolve all the IP infringement issues.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="line-height: 31.2px;">During the period of time I had to track back my own internet activities to submit evidence of copyright ownership, I finally realized maybe this Photo Gallery page I provided on my blog had been providing people with easy access to steal my intellectual property, it was like a one-stop shop for free. I had to make the difficult decision to close my gallery down permanently. It had a good run for almost 5 years. All I want to do is sharing my hard work and hoping to inspire other people with the same passion. I never foresee this to end this way. Please, if you want to use my photos or other people's photos, do get permission first and don't forget to attribute the author properly! Respecting other people's intellectual property is to respect your own. </span></span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-36749463897837139252016-02-29T21:49:00.000-08:002016-02-29T21:49:48.368-08:00Vortex Swirl Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">After making soap for 5 years I got bored and unmotivated as I tried most of the techniques that interested me. I used to soap at least once a week sometimes more. But I haven't been doing much since the year end holiday season. One night I decided to force myself to make a small batch just to kick start the momentum. I didn't know what I want to do, sort of into the going with the flow mood. It's usually the last minute spontaneous decision after seeing how fast the soap batter moves. Since the batter wasn't moving too fast I decided to pour ITP (in the pot swirl) style into the mold at random spots. The next natural reaction is to spin the mold to create some kind of pattern.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Spin swirl has been circulating our soap making communities for a while last year, got pretty popular at one time. Spin swirl is made by literally spinning the mold at its center axis with or without the help of a lazy Susan. The unique pattern is created by what the physics called the centrifugal force. Centrifugal force is an outward force directed away from the axis of rotation in a rotating reference frame. Ok, plain English please! It's basically saying when rotating the object(s) at whatever defined perimeter's center axis all the objects in that perimeter will be thrown in a rotating outward direction by the centrifugal force. Apply that in making spin swirl soap it means the batter is being thrown outward in a circular rotating motion in the mold, the further away the stronger force the bigger swirl. The result of that is usually a very well marbled outside perimeter swirl pattern but the center stayed still with no movement at all. It's like a tornado, nothing spins at the very center of the tornado; or think of it as a hurricane, the eye of a hurricane is actually very peaceful.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Watch this short video made by SoapQueen spinning the slab mold on a lazy Susan: <a href="https://vine.co/v/e5DLHEDz7MM" target="_blank">Psychedelic Spin Swirl Cold Process Tutorial</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, I had tried to modify the spin swirl last year to find a way to get some swirling pattern closer to the center, see my previous blog post: <a href="http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/2015/09/modified-spin-swirl.html" target="_blank">Modified Spin Swirl</a> I decided to try something else this time. Instead of using centrifugal force, I used the concept of centripetal force. Is it confusing? Most of the people think centrifugal and centripetal forces are the same. They are related, but not the same, no, or else why would there be 2 different words, right?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">So centripetal force is a force that makes object(s) follow circular path. What does that translate into making soap? I simply held my slab mold as it's a gigantic pen (use your imagination) and drew circle after circle on my counter top. In other words, instead of keeping the mold steady and spin it at its center axis, I use the whole mold to draw big circles (ok it might have been ovals because I'm just human, LOL). Do you see the subtle differences now?</span><br />
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-77417492076256553762016-02-07T13:47:00.000-08:002016-02-19T16:56:51.643-08:00Castor Oil Soap Experiments Part 1 of 3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most of the soaping book and online information recommend using between 5-10% castor oil in soap recipes to boost bubble. </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's said that castor oil contributes to lather power of soap.</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> However, more recent studies show that when making 100% castor oil soap the soap has very little to none lather. Shocked?! I was when I first read it! So what is the truth about castor oil in soap? What exactly does it do in a bar of soap? Here are some facts we know about castor oil in soap:</span></div>
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<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">According to wikipedia 85-95% of the fatty acid in castor oil is Ricinoleic with the remaining spread across Oleic and Linoleic. This fatty acid profile is unique and none like others!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recipes using high percentage castor oil tend to trace faster.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Soap made with high percentage castor oil tends to be softer.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">Soap made with high percentage castor oil tends to melt faster.</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now the million dollar question is, if castor oil really boost bubble in soap, why doesn't the 100% castor soap lather at all? On the other hand, if castor oil does not boost bubble in soap, why would all information suggest that? And if castor oil is not used to boost lather in soap what do we use it in our recipes for? To answer all these mysteries I decided to do a little scientific experiment of my own.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I simply just created a simple 3-oil recipe that takes up 75% of the oil weight with the remaining 25% being the variables to play with combination with and without castor oil.</span><br />
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<li><span style="font-family: 'helvetica neue', arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #1: coconut oil 20% palm oil 20% olive oil 35% castor oil 25%</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #2: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">coconut oil 20% palm oil 20% olive oil 35% avocado oil 15% cocoa butter 10%</span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap 3: </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">coconut oil 20% palm oil 20% olive oil 35% hazelnut oil 15% cocoa butter 10%</span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">This first group is used to prove if castor oil soap melts faster than other soap without castor oil. They would be made with the same water content with the same size and material mold. As of now these soap had been made. I will cure the soap for 2 weeks, cut a piece from each block and weight them to be exactly the same gram and pretty much the same dimensions. Then I will dip each piece into a glass of water (same type of glass with same amount of water) for a period of 48 hours. Each piece of soap will be taken out and weighted at 2 hour, 6 hour, 12 hour, 24 hour and the last 48 hour mark. This is to examine the water solubility.</span></div>
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<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #4: <span style="text-align: center;">coconut oil 20% palm oil 20% olive oil 35% avocado oil 15% cocoa butter 10% water contains 5% oil weight brown sugar (sorry, I don't have refined white sugar in my household)</span></span></li>
<li style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap #5: <span style="text-align: center;">coconut oil 20% palm oil 20% olive oil 35% avocado oil 15% cocoa butter 5% castor oil 5%</span></span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This second group of soap is to be used together with Soap #2 to examine if castor oil in deed contributes to bubble boosting power like all the information points to. As of now Soap #4 & 5 had also been made already. They will be cure for the same 2 weeks before doing the tumbling test with water. I will again cut a similar dimension and weight piece from each block, pre-washed my hands, then go for 10 second and 20 second tumble lathering test in my kitchen sink.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: left;">The final part of this experiment is a bit harder. How do I find out if castor oil really contributes to "moisturizing" property of soap? What feels moisturizing to one may not be the same to others. Here's where I ask my readers if any of you would like to participate in my little scientific experiment. Each volunteer will receive 5 different samples of soap marked with alphabet letters that are no associated with the soap numbers I assigned. This is to ensure there are no bias in the final result. Each participant will have to follow my instructions and perform the same tumbling in the sink test then fill out my survey. Don't forget to leave your name and contact email in a short comment and I will get in touch with you shortly!</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-44258540676478923622016-02-02T11:39:00.001-08:002016-02-02T11:39:38.826-08:00New Soaping Book and of course Soap Making<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is my first blog post of 2016! I know it's already February, time flies... I will be starting up my blog this year by talking about a new soaping book.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Brambleberry is one of the most reputable online soaping suppliers in the US. I was recently invited by them to receive a copy of the founder/owner, Anne-Marie Faiola's (aka </span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soapqueen)</span><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"> new soaping book and make soap with one of their new soaping kits. Her new book is called Pure Soapmaking, here's the link if you are interested: <a href="http://www.brambleberry.com/Pure-Soap-Making-How-to-Create-Nourishing-Organic-Skin-Care-Soaps-P6298.aspx?bb=25" target="_blank">Pure Soap Making</a></span></div>
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<img border="0" height="460" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnX6DKQCfYzv2G4569WQ3tZRTBaD-PW0rCiBY_EeVpPgZcqru6pwZtRZ2te_k43GbVxHsJK_1lFl5nN57XN4ZRVdbMHo9TQeEGoQ9GJcDgTxNKYAp5op_4EfAvbsTOq4AtB1rKapew_Hs/s640/brambleberry-1.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was given 3 kit choices to pick what I want to try. I picked Aloe Vera swirl kit because it's the one with beautiful greens. I love using colors! What surprised me is the size of the package, didn't notice the whole kit is to make 5 lb soap log, including soap mold and a handy hanger swirl tool!</span></div>
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<img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9eoXGqJHO9kvERCeHs33PSgote-nNWRJGopX9BTa6f0jKIyEUIvF15Lexho5ff1zBAdWaohm0IXBKqT0ARp5ncrr689M0rvX-OyB49dKE5QiSBLFyG3uSH0U1TuRuiJTVgtBQyKUW4-A/s640/brambleberry-2.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">This new soaping book has lots of color photos and detailed step by step instructions. With a wide range of recipe, additive, and soaping styles, I'm sure even the pickiest soap makers would find at least one they can't wait to try.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo5FEQkJc8lsmU9CEMhbNO6w4dUtlRtB9WuUCIRk22iSh9QmAndjbF6auwbXH_ZTqYWkXJuk_BqH1NwOqQ0jXPDyZ2wa8mXlShVjrnu8fDWiN_PikSFeCBtqg5VOby-4vc8w5Zs_mCP4/s1600/brambleberry-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixo5FEQkJc8lsmU9CEMhbNO6w4dUtlRtB9WuUCIRk22iSh9QmAndjbF6auwbXH_ZTqYWkXJuk_BqH1NwOqQ0jXPDyZ2wa8mXlShVjrnu8fDWiN_PikSFeCBtqg5VOby-4vc8w5Zs_mCP4/s640/brambleberry-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkbHbTfHhyphenhyphen6V7SgiJvHZW67v5hYnq8G_QiJNGfPZuurBY0YZfW7rNGPpwRNMWXIHPHAHQTVJos9EsxO5lvFrR7mwS3xrlJwjtWTGftfmWDiVFKyVw0lyW4Wyf470f_jmxrqu9T67T48Y/s1600/brambleberry-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbkbHbTfHhyphenhyphen6V7SgiJvHZW67v5hYnq8G_QiJNGfPZuurBY0YZfW7rNGPpwRNMWXIHPHAHQTVJos9EsxO5lvFrR7mwS3xrlJwjtWTGftfmWDiVFKyVw0lyW4Wyf470f_jmxrqu9T67T48Y/s640/brambleberry-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pure Soap Making is all about making soap with natural ingredients. In the book there's a section talking about all different colorants we use to color cold process soap. The greens being used in this kit are oxides. There are debates on whether or not oxides are considered natural. Oxides used to be the mineral colorants mined from nature. But those that mined from nature are heavy in body harmful metals. Without filtering and refinement these oxides are not legal to use in cosmetics. Because of the harm risk and extensive refinement process, nowadays oxides are man-made but identical to naturally mined. Therefore a portion of soap makers consider oxides to be natural. However, I disagree with this classification. It's like saying man-made diamond is diamond. Man-made diamond is identical to naturally mined diamond, in fact they are better than naturally mined diamond as they are literally flawless without a bit of inclusion. So, would you consider man-made diamond real diamond? I wouldn't think so. When buying jewelry, sellers have to indicate whether the stone is naturally mined or the word "lab created" has to be indicated.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGEX5kUdnGmhi03tN8pRaon4EGiTW4S1rW2yo3r2IUSSmY8S5YmvIxCWILLgepiVxSTD9nnuDkL0eB1MxbOsgnjSodhJfvwRlOfv7T485PmcLXqryeOpHhFX4IiP98ay7wFlLhwD0EzE/s1600/brambleberry-5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="416" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLGEX5kUdnGmhi03tN8pRaon4EGiTW4S1rW2yo3r2IUSSmY8S5YmvIxCWILLgepiVxSTD9nnuDkL0eB1MxbOsgnjSodhJfvwRlOfv7T485PmcLXqryeOpHhFX4IiP98ay7wFlLhwD0EzE/s640/brambleberry-5.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaitKCPZR24MJIqXbHqs3DEwLBIioCTNb9-VaNW3iGP-EGcYbBkL72wwrtrUpBl8Wx6Xj2j6yD5vIS7ALYsJycCm52toap_eHILPr2l77WF_luix_6R-OthtIO8KbhbI7eEbWFa8GtI/s1600/brambleberry-6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJnaitKCPZR24MJIqXbHqs3DEwLBIioCTNb9-VaNW3iGP-EGcYbBkL72wwrtrUpBl8Wx6Xj2j6yD5vIS7ALYsJycCm52toap_eHILPr2l77WF_luix_6R-OthtIO8KbhbI7eEbWFa8GtI/s640/brambleberry-6.jpg" width="640" /></a><br />
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<img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFMzrqtq0aOARproRsApp7Al_9GDoC2Q0dtxiofv_2D5pPRlxiWe-ythSuuic9SDnWe8p-zdBDotbZ_eGcKCiP56Bn2cQl3QVub9AuAuDffOL7gw54ZbH6mnSBPg2cyLflC1QlIOCmFsM/s640/brambleberry-7.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The book calls for swirly soap top but I'm never one who is known to follow instructions well. I always have to put my own spin on soap. I ended up peaking up the soap top with a spoon and sprinkle these tiny white soap balls I had rolled previously from left over soap. I think it looks like heavy snow on evergreen forest.</span><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0AolECebF2S0GryxMSLybiN4PorU7N9XthT7CriwZSdP1BCXhr0WGvieVugBYOyv7aypAe7rMY70a7O_6_5hLbDrPFPhBGjPN0qlpoxZg0rCkQLo5DOrLO83FEvPXizNEhxW_OWlASi8/s640/brambleberry-8.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">And don't forget to sprinkle some sparkling mica for an instant eye catching shin!</span><img border="0" height="476" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjefz1z8WaQqPh7v5KHL5fsZQrYoNq139jIStCMn3VMk2pxDZ_0OzSLv84CgHS7IOPH17-BqgyYMLEa0jk93SBoC1GO9W78cE67JaOu0KI0szNqISH4gJ5_lGOZ1eC0VLoTHNiGpIhgXxY/s640/brambleberry-10.jpg" width="640" /><span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Over all this new book is very well done. It covers enough information for both beginner and more advanced soap makers. I give it a thumb up! Check out the kit and book deal from Brambleberry: <a href="https://www.brambleberry.com/Aloe-Vera-Hanger-Swirl-Soap-Kit-Book-P6504.aspx?bb=25" target="_blank">Aloe Vera Hanger Swirl Soap Kit & Book</a></span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-81223854878356475372015-12-14T12:14:00.001-08:002015-12-14T12:14:42.709-08:002015 Year End Collage<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Can't believe another year passed and I'm still making soap! Here is the highlight of this year's creation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And wish everyone happy holidays!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsEEt0CedzaloqQ4EQC9nYOdSxxWibTWEPioZccbkxRUskFa5PUwGUoTAasA_2Vo2N1KK1L5BTexwW3Tm5hwSYXBk4Cdy4URiQsLGCVr4Q3fOva4WeRIz6n219yHqxNoJGh26Ls7raAA/s1600/2015+Collage.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPsEEt0CedzaloqQ4EQC9nYOdSxxWibTWEPioZccbkxRUskFa5PUwGUoTAasA_2Vo2N1KK1L5BTexwW3Tm5hwSYXBk4Cdy4URiQsLGCVr4Q3fOva4WeRIz6n219yHqxNoJGh26Ls7raAA/s640/2015+Collage.jpg" width="572" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-13789920585387173442015-11-30T10:42:00.001-08:002015-11-30T10:42:22.157-08:00Rainbow Soap Balls<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Making soap balls for the use of embedding in a log of soap is commonly done. I've done single color soap balls, complicated layered balls, tiny and large. This creation is talking about rainbow color soap balls and how I made them.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRYrhSfV-WCZmKy8A8PVbkK0wBXavmu5WqbuR3qkPPXBwcifdZzcedezHw3jkcAGDedzExufXIMr4VfmACcNXhSgjTXMmxCF-QMwbr7F-ppwmkMFGbxFgoEEsJy19eW0PJzT-1Lu28o4/s1600/ball-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="467" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzRYrhSfV-WCZmKy8A8PVbkK0wBXavmu5WqbuR3qkPPXBwcifdZzcedezHw3jkcAGDedzExufXIMr4VfmACcNXhSgjTXMmxCF-QMwbr7F-ppwmkMFGbxFgoEEsJy19eW0PJzT-1Lu28o4/s640/ball-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I started with making a batch of fresh soap mixed with each individual rainbow color. I usually unmold the soap and wait for 2 days, that's when my soap is still soft enough to knead but not sticky anymore. Then I kneaded each soap dough into thin long rods.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEXaBgDiGueKqdvL8QjIn4PBh9fJlxRzrQpAKC_IJ0QksLfY6UfD12ifg2aMF-AfPNGk9b24nuVNLXhUipMTnRwGJO4tnMF3bLHP_1ikyh4PzGvLNYRAF6pUNSWzZNRAWpMgsrPVGCaw/s1600/ball-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="436" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLEXaBgDiGueKqdvL8QjIn4PBh9fJlxRzrQpAKC_IJ0QksLfY6UfD12ifg2aMF-AfPNGk9b24nuVNLXhUipMTnRwGJO4tnMF3bLHP_1ikyh4PzGvLNYRAF6pUNSWzZNRAWpMgsrPVGCaw/s640/ball-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Combined the rods, cut into sections then twisted them into balls. It is time consuming but look how pretty those balls are! Usually if I want to embed big balls into a fresh batch of soap I need to do it within a week, otherwise the balls will get dried and become too hard to cut against soft fresh soap. Here's the final soap I used these balls in:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6Tj3GTF11Pro7Diz61NtzRn2FuV5x4QcO6Djl9MGMY6LQv_Di6c5HzRQ1Crtwj-zS0SSJC3Edomd6r7soAOM1et_jf5ffp6WnXtVjTYoYO05khYVdL0ClE7nEd4XCOk1jMjPtNn41tI/s1600/merry-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhR6Tj3GTF11Pro7Diz61NtzRn2FuV5x4QcO6Djl9MGMY6LQv_Di6c5HzRQ1Crtwj-zS0SSJC3Edomd6r7soAOM1et_jf5ffp6WnXtVjTYoYO05khYVdL0ClE7nEd4XCOk1jMjPtNn41tI/s640/merry-1.jpg" width="458" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyp4RL30SB5wiSqjijcaICOyv38CfqZkT_mCK-EnXSBvauU7CRIAKxCgJsAc42bONDjoGbRu0Ho8kYeXdWkOcOTqKEQXGpd1AgvdBiZf634xORoIiu4iFRtgOZWCrlHjn89fkdrXSEqgc/s1600/merry-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="454" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhyp4RL30SB5wiSqjijcaICOyv38CfqZkT_mCK-EnXSBvauU7CRIAKxCgJsAc42bONDjoGbRu0Ho8kYeXdWkOcOTqKEQXGpd1AgvdBiZf634xORoIiu4iFRtgOZWCrlHjn89fkdrXSEqgc/s640/merry-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRedHiOuhzD0bxDGfrwZ8v6upydd2pytdmvKqGHK5IR3vRf0zSM2ziVZ8ApVGqidvTuz4Mh1ljSdx5D9_6YSpjjUBjiZgER76pVER7jd40KHv2bSTlV_K0X50ElvRvzDGbWhy_d7OJHdo/s1600/merry-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="452" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRedHiOuhzD0bxDGfrwZ8v6upydd2pytdmvKqGHK5IR3vRf0zSM2ziVZ8ApVGqidvTuz4Mh1ljSdx5D9_6YSpjjUBjiZgER76pVER7jd40KHv2bSTlV_K0X50ElvRvzDGbWhy_d7OJHdo/s640/merry-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-343666036925348042015-11-16T10:18:00.002-08:002015-11-16T10:18:59.017-08:00Shooting Star<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The actual time spent in making soap is pretty short, but that's not to say each batch doesn't take a long time to produce. Why?! Because I spend most of my time designing in my head. This is a short story about the making of my Shooting Star soap. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie08CqZitHGt5_YEJFKHpfYK7rkIjYM4S3D0XSE5cBjXmimk8XiZjk2Er2nYcSN0GaoDJh9RCEZxFVPXrD6FxwmUGoel9fKDqiIFRA_OIOECSQOoRPfysge9PgY-2-W0YWdTEhqD9leGM/s1600/shooting+star-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie08CqZitHGt5_YEJFKHpfYK7rkIjYM4S3D0XSE5cBjXmimk8XiZjk2Er2nYcSN0GaoDJh9RCEZxFVPXrD6FxwmUGoel9fKDqiIFRA_OIOECSQOoRPfysge9PgY-2-W0YWdTEhqD9leGM/s640/shooting+star-1.jpg" width="488" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">It started with me thinking about my holiday season soap making. I don't usually re-make soap from the past, if I can, I prefer reinventing the wheel. Last year the same fragrance soap was made with rainbow colored soap bits embedded in t a white base. The colors of rainbow always catch people's attention. And the idea of rainbow led me to the image of shooting star. The actually star is made ahead of time with transparent melt & pour soap base to embed into the soap log to look like a star on top of a ray of rainbow.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLbQNRZfEwbW4DuyvdClUR4x0G3gUzR9AAeX2URdlWG_9CYznNs_NMI0Cvx-RR3i1I18qWjwM8E55gdQXSYfrDzm14gC2ikZoA750boI6_QPiYAigfDShZOQ2OMQj0DUrrZzzTCgd1Rc/s1600/shooting+star-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZLbQNRZfEwbW4DuyvdClUR4x0G3gUzR9AAeX2URdlWG_9CYznNs_NMI0Cvx-RR3i1I18qWjwM8E55gdQXSYfrDzm14gC2ikZoA750boI6_QPiYAigfDShZOQ2OMQj0DUrrZzzTCgd1Rc/s640/shooting+star-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Well, this is a perfect case of what I see in my head is totally not what happened in the reality... See my diagram below:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWin4LyOdDBuX-ODXbXT4uemA1Pdqituto4yvyzD8H5Id87AUc9aom6XgvwhX6apcaICFcAmbK27WRmwc925o26vcEHprYGL58P_3KQ_WBGf-lrhrOykMuInr_ePQ21lgvmwyaAhBcd6s/s1600/shoting+star.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWin4LyOdDBuX-ODXbXT4uemA1Pdqituto4yvyzD8H5Id87AUc9aom6XgvwhX6apcaICFcAmbK27WRmwc925o26vcEHprYGL58P_3KQ_WBGf-lrhrOykMuInr_ePQ21lgvmwyaAhBcd6s/s640/shoting+star.jpg" width="638" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Oh well, there's always the next time!</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-42153492732011533762015-10-11T17:12:00.000-07:002015-10-11T17:15:31.727-07:00300 Blog Post Giveaway Winner<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The winner is Gina Sollitt! I will email you for details, thanks everyone!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22U4Nw0btj9TtwEtH47KHtrdbFcwqcbtqyIjnSBnV6N7krrZYyuAxcbFqyE8aDPr-SU8g7d2aebvP9JJXxpHfhjIyPokwfnyek1Cs_I6vjrtkXdRnGJKmedwHV0matu7oM1McfLKepBg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-10-11+at+5.07.59+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="316" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj22U4Nw0btj9TtwEtH47KHtrdbFcwqcbtqyIjnSBnV6N7krrZYyuAxcbFqyE8aDPr-SU8g7d2aebvP9JJXxpHfhjIyPokwfnyek1Cs_I6vjrtkXdRnGJKmedwHV0matu7oM1McfLKepBg/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-10-11+at+5.07.59+PM.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If the winner does not respond to my email within 48 hours a new winner will be drawn again right the way.</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-44116087841487008522015-09-26T15:45:00.001-07:002016-01-28T11:19:47.564-08:00Modified Spin Swirl<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">First of all, this is my 300 post! Wow, I never imagine myself lasting this long! And, this will be the fits blog post I give out my original recipe, so please watch my video further down the post to find out all the details. And here's the celebration part, anyone (sorry but USA only) who leaves a comment with email address below will enter into the draw for 3 modified spin swirl soap showed in this post! This giveaway ends on October 10th, 2015. I will randomly draw a winner and contact via email. If you do no leave your email contact you will not be entered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I first saw spin swirl done was from an YouTube video made by a Taiwanese soap maker with a made up name "Mu Lan", here's the link to her original <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wiF_udFPvcA" target="_blank">The First “Spinning Swirl Soap”</a> I have no idea who actually invented this, it is not the point in the post. My soaping recipe is usually not fluid enough to flow like the video because I personally do not prefer using high content olive oil. I had a few tries few months ago and had not much success, see my previous blog post if you want to see my "failed" attempts: <a href="http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/2015/04/spin-or-not-to-spin.html" target="_blank">Spin or not to Spin?</a> Since then I've been thinking about how to improve this technique and put a twist to it to make it my own style.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The flaw (if I may say) to this spin swirl is that the slab mold is so wide that the centrifugal (I think I use it correctly) force prevent the center from being moved while all sides are being swirl to a muddy stage. It might look great as a whole before the soap slab being cut into bars, but this bond to have a couple bars at the center that would not appear as dramatic as the others. I care less about a whole look. It would be great if it looks flawless both as a whole and into individual bars. But individual look always takes president in my soap designs, customers buy soap in individual bars, not a whole slab or loaf.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, I hope you enjoy this fully explained video (and with recipe!) I made: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqaXkJ4qPXM" target="_blank">Making Frosted Forest Soap</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9EA97heU8NGEY7J80yaVx61GrMdFHObz0T0ytZcCo8m80xCwX742hZfDmPqtKklK1G0dGAebT2YzDHGLOfLq3mqYdR68iPe94KnC500ujCaNcC9qTh2eFfmTodrSrgSp_zKZ6bde0zw/s1600/forest-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="424" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgU9EA97heU8NGEY7J80yaVx61GrMdFHObz0T0ytZcCo8m80xCwX742hZfDmPqtKklK1G0dGAebT2YzDHGLOfLq3mqYdR68iPe94KnC500ujCaNcC9qTh2eFfmTodrSrgSp_zKZ6bde0zw/s640/forest-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's me cutting it open: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JyXUi8LqxGY" target="_blank">Cutting Frosted Forest Soap</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR_YGhLHhhSu7j68ZOs70Xuq4GtLjehLU6AnnFQjrHGCi-swUjJUQLhANC9ENN0s17Q4Si3x9VDRAnPnxZl86wPrcp8U-nq8xiJ9h3pyvbqqrTAL0BXSTi6cO4ntnGytjZCwdXqOjVTs/s1600/forest-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="484" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisR_YGhLHhhSu7j68ZOs70Xuq4GtLjehLU6AnnFQjrHGCi-swUjJUQLhANC9ENN0s17Q4Si3x9VDRAnPnxZl86wPrcp8U-nq8xiJ9h3pyvbqqrTAL0BXSTi6cO4ntnGytjZCwdXqOjVTs/s640/forest-2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrGTK5qK3ZPs6eCoSXhLqyUHlRXpon0uyG_6_kNsskAW1C4e4eekiOj1Scw43idVo23hRyCbsNhkQJtHkj7QB0TFdyGhH6-OvpK9BpRboOjULwYP5LbZUQf4thYXqNpNpu7GkVx63Uow/s1600/forest-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="374" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjrGTK5qK3ZPs6eCoSXhLqyUHlRXpon0uyG_6_kNsskAW1C4e4eekiOj1Scw43idVo23hRyCbsNhkQJtHkj7QB0TFdyGhH6-OvpK9BpRboOjULwYP5LbZUQf4thYXqNpNpu7GkVx63Uow/s640/forest-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are some other batches I made using the same technique:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiVVNIxj_Zf_mPgA76R7DU8TP1G8ud3a2kCTXGDtVONjgsHXLGUxZcarPFiG7H3W1SJlx7f53Bjxs4-BWCZJoMBk8LEC5iYgX7GoaMKSMy5RTeuwPEY1oMIfZN_whBADj76Fs7S-1Fz-4/s1600/currant-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiVVNIxj_Zf_mPgA76R7DU8TP1G8ud3a2kCTXGDtVONjgsHXLGUxZcarPFiG7H3W1SJlx7f53Bjxs4-BWCZJoMBk8LEC5iYgX7GoaMKSMy5RTeuwPEY1oMIfZN_whBADj76Fs7S-1Fz-4/s640/currant-3.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-77753784256391566472015-07-22T17:10:00.001-07:002015-07-22T17:10:53.309-07:00The Ultimate Wake Me Up Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Do you know that pure caffeine has been used in the bath and body industry forever? I did exaggerated a little but it is not uncommon to see caffeine as an active ingredient in eye cream or cellulite cream. Continuous use of caffeine treatment products can help eliminating the excess water retention in tissue and smooth out the unwanted cellulite or stretch lines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Soap is a wash off product, I can't prove how much caffeine can actually be absorbed into the skin in the shower since soap doesn't stay on our skin for too long. But I love coffee soap, and I love adding extra caffeine in my coffee soap!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pure caffeine powder looks like white crystalline sand and it's a bit tricky to use. It requires hot liquid to melt and dissolve. I've always been using hot water just to dissolve caffeine powder and use coffee to dissolve lye in the past. This time I got a little lazy. I thought, coffee is hot when just brewed, why not just dissolve caffeine powder in hot coffee to save some time? WRONG... It went well initially, dissolved well, cooled down perfectly. But when the lye hit... boy... turned the caffeine boosted cold coffee into a white paste mess! What a classic case of trying to save a penny end up spending a dime...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I remade the coffee, took a portion out to dissolve caffeine powder and the rest for the lye and the rest, please watch this video:</span><br />
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-16749370851365308752015-07-16T12:32:00.000-07:002015-07-16T12:32:51.451-07:00Is It Beauty or the Beast?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is a story of extreme glycerin river in my soap. If you are new to glycerin river you might want to take a look at my previous post here first: <a href="http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/2014/10/where-is-my-glycerin-river.html" target="_blank">Where is my Glycerin River?</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here's my short under 3 minutes video of showing you what happened to me few days ago. Some people think it's a beauty and one of a kind, but I think it's a total beast! Judge it yourself!</span><br />
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-22979183069126649872015-07-10T20:45:00.000-07:002015-07-10T20:45:57.362-07:00Pipping Flower Soap Video At Last<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last time I promised to show a short video clip of how I pipped those flower soap I used to dress up my soap top like these:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns4Fgge8LryFCqNqpg0xYeE2RXO5nLqtwCbPBOS_5jrt8898x-tPJHT5Z0CHY_ARiYgMNEDFeSvtd5B8FJxBaYk-b1LrgAoABCrCLHyKqrhi-qYov2ChKpCo7dkXc5_HEYT0Kzs2i5ms/s1600/poppy-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="492" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjns4Fgge8LryFCqNqpg0xYeE2RXO5nLqtwCbPBOS_5jrt8898x-tPJHT5Z0CHY_ARiYgMNEDFeSvtd5B8FJxBaYk-b1LrgAoABCrCLHyKqrhi-qYov2ChKpCo7dkXc5_HEYT0Kzs2i5ms/s640/poppy-3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I finally got some extra soap left over from a batch I did and so here's the short 8 minute video of me pipping flower soap:</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-88163773714561205812015-04-30T15:39:00.000-07:002015-04-30T15:39:40.635-07:00Spin or not to Spin?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently spin swirl has become the newest trend soapers have been trying to achieve. What's spin swirl? Literally it means spinning your soap mold to create a pattern using that centripetal force from spinning. It might sound simple and easy but guess how many times I failed? 4 times…</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">1st try, forget it, soap got thick so texture top it is, sigh.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29Rz_OZU1ZVy_N4Pgy2vuDlrmN9jKxonvJe19UX5Uh1IIuGtR9w8swMcAwkiePanKILBWaZo-G0ltX1yUWA_dwHsi45y7F4QT3ztmrRZXlWXSF6gGQNGQ5VlfCTkoXUx-H1J1_mCcDts/s1600/10417757_1093077144052593_3442604167373750994_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj29Rz_OZU1ZVy_N4Pgy2vuDlrmN9jKxonvJe19UX5Uh1IIuGtR9w8swMcAwkiePanKILBWaZo-G0ltX1yUWA_dwHsi45y7F4QT3ztmrRZXlWXSF6gGQNGQ5VlfCTkoXUx-H1J1_mCcDts/s1600/10417757_1093077144052593_3442604167373750994_n.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">2nd time you would think I learned from the lesson, but no~ I tried a new fragrance and it didn't behave the way I want it… sigh. At least it smells great!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUcZOibuhlzb8ssgyAOiI_O4f_u5IcUhsYjjXvBheSvleoW7-cL7CeRx2cwegw1dLOssz3581ggSTbjc9VHntYzn_X87UipeGyDMphGVhmcZlCm-20qkbks1nX7ikeuzk_N3BUvcKnVE/s1600/rain-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzUcZOibuhlzb8ssgyAOiI_O4f_u5IcUhsYjjXvBheSvleoW7-cL7CeRx2cwegw1dLOssz3581ggSTbjc9VHntYzn_X87UipeGyDMphGVhmcZlCm-20qkbks1nX7ikeuzk_N3BUvcKnVE/s1600/rain-1.jpg" height="474" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">3rd time is the charm, right?! You can tell the soap batter did stay more liquid, but not long enough for me to finish the funnel pour and perform the final spinning.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpRtxUI8QsZ87ixC54wWxKbF9-QvnCU1GcKSTKGG17eem5w0dQOqbp7K2Ve_3y0JBXVn17nqGZ-HlMXCW98yqtI7c4vYJXUKerQsRuqPOKbDvnXJV6oPdKPo9Kmx9uzf8mCsI7puzK7s/s1600/pure-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPpRtxUI8QsZ87ixC54wWxKbF9-QvnCU1GcKSTKGG17eem5w0dQOqbp7K2Ve_3y0JBXVn17nqGZ-HlMXCW98yqtI7c4vYJXUKerQsRuqPOKbDvnXJV6oPdKPo9Kmx9uzf8mCsI7puzK7s/s1600/pure-1.jpg" height="456" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> I should have given up at this point but I got stubborn! I gave it my final shot! …well, conclusion is, spin swirl is not cut for me...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiE9nOyIsf9DeLBdrul6F7yqrw594eDoSf8CNX9d8Amxj9FqWDoGJx1Ai76yQOPwruHP-w7niEc26X-BCeHwzSjsAPHCSW-mzM6VgWtpxZt5DEDRkp3IEnP4kdSSkzDYeEf3CHWDb2-I/s1600/10446711_1103094929717481_6645229014418448141_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqiE9nOyIsf9DeLBdrul6F7yqrw594eDoSf8CNX9d8Amxj9FqWDoGJx1Ai76yQOPwruHP-w7niEc26X-BCeHwzSjsAPHCSW-mzM6VgWtpxZt5DEDRkp3IEnP4kdSSkzDYeEf3CHWDb2-I/s1600/10446711_1103094929717481_6645229014418448141_n.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The problem is the consistency of the soap batter, I know how to make thinner batter that lasts longer, by using high olive oil recipe and lower lye solution concentration. Despite the proven fact that high olive oil recipe produces milder soap when cured correctly, It's personal taste that I dislike high olive oil soap, it has this slimy feel when washing and it produces creamy lather rather than fluffy suds. The only high olive oil soap I make is my facial Dead Sea mud egg soap because fluffy lather is not desired for facial soap, that has 72% olive oil. If what it takes to achieve this spin swirl is to use high olive oil in my recipe I think I would cross that one out of my list unfortunately.</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-75128828865213259822015-04-20T12:22:00.002-07:002015-04-20T12:22:45.807-07:00Color Inspiration - Misbehaving<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Misbehaving is a funny name for a fragrance I used to make this fun soap. Disclaimer, I didn't make up the name! It is from the supplier I purchased from. I kind of like it for the reason that it did not behave while I was soaping it, so I decided to keep the name.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-wcbEeOYdrg6DZIfm3OhFjE5HIozPRmgviIxDet5aKAKB39Uca2ep0V6azfwUeZL7FpGIIK78v1gHMPllRv2Es5s5mhM3qhrRqXl7NptGgYuwFF9MyhfjNLc-sn2kjXJnol6Y6lI5OM/s1600/misbehaving+soap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgO-wcbEeOYdrg6DZIfm3OhFjE5HIozPRmgviIxDet5aKAKB39Uca2ep0V6azfwUeZL7FpGIIK78v1gHMPllRv2Es5s5mhM3qhrRqXl7NptGgYuwFF9MyhfjNLc-sn2kjXJnol6Y6lI5OM/s1600/misbehaving+soap.jpg" height="384" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The scent strikes me as fun, fruity, zesty with a punch, definitely a party drink type smell. I then went online in search of a color scheme to fit this fragrance. The second I saw the photo on the right I knew it is THE one.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">In my mind I was not expecting this fragrance to speed trace at all, fruity fragrance oils don't usually misbehave! Well, I guess this one got her name for a good reason! I couldn't make even layers, I was sweating to just get all the batter into the mold without bubbles. This one is definitely having some spoiled princess moment!</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLrQdFNL6HSJB3vASw-gHR5PHOHOKNkYOSB5NN-D005S5YqAG7u36OvnjeaLP1458FUzNBRdEgSiIeRhQbekfyri-THqNfJ13fjdw-FNPXZvCUcnE5Cvs1bjCI7245CYAj1KEK8Rtf5c/s1600/misbehaving-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKLrQdFNL6HSJB3vASw-gHR5PHOHOKNkYOSB5NN-D005S5YqAG7u36OvnjeaLP1458FUzNBRdEgSiIeRhQbekfyri-THqNfJ13fjdw-FNPXZvCUcnE5Cvs1bjCI7245CYAj1KEK8Rtf5c/s1600/misbehaving-2.jpg" height="422" width="640" /></a><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsEd4BtIiUUhGgyah17H5PdqQhaVdeBAi5GYf67hyphenhyphen3sQ4sh7jd2ED3IKjFjENBMhg6gnmdmkKIabYKrS-KocgeAZTxv-AIbWlFyyIzWujNfimWugRe1rBY0jP05GMZmg58CMaHTn4c9Y/s1600/misbehaving-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVsEd4BtIiUUhGgyah17H5PdqQhaVdeBAi5GYf67hyphenhyphen3sQ4sh7jd2ED3IKjFjENBMhg6gnmdmkKIabYKrS-KocgeAZTxv-AIbWlFyyIzWujNfimWugRe1rBY0jP05GMZmg58CMaHTn4c9Y/s1600/misbehaving-4.jpg" height="640" width="500" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Helvetica Neue', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Nevertheless, it came out gorgeous except some discoloration from white to beige, no big deal. Hope you like this one!</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-72889601239543215452015-04-06T14:39:00.000-07:002015-04-06T14:39:09.005-07:00Aleppo Soap - Laurel Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Aleppo Soap refers to savon d'Alep, or laurel soap, or Syrian soap. It was said to be originated from Southwest Asia Levant region (around Lebanon, Israel, Syria, etc.) then moved into Europe. It was usually done by hot processing 100% olive oil then infused with laurel berry oil at the end before molding into it's final shape. Aleppo soap needs a long curing time, from 6 month to a year, like aging a good red wine, the older the better. It usually starts with natural green color and aged into more rustic olive khaki shade. The percentage of laurel berry oil used in the soap can range from 2-30%. Obviously the more laurel berry oil content the more expensive the soap would be. Laurel berry oil is not easy to source here in the US. I've only got a small jar from one of my soaping friends. I decided to make my version of Aleppo soap (cold process) using 20% of laurel berry oil and 80% herbal infused olive oil.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyBes7gXN8nBB9gLsmh1ILYcXfd4xKU7u7EfY9MkrwY0i-_jk6QQrkExft069xNxgLTjBsMyc7osYHpKqk5TiY3AdeHQco11-fvXDU5gY5L_-87sAi7ptKd2UxlwIsDHAqxpDuD8JIxo/s1600/aleppo-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwyBes7gXN8nBB9gLsmh1ILYcXfd4xKU7u7EfY9MkrwY0i-_jk6QQrkExft069xNxgLTjBsMyc7osYHpKqk5TiY3AdeHQco11-fvXDU5gY5L_-87sAi7ptKd2UxlwIsDHAqxpDuD8JIxo/s1600/aleppo-1.jpg" height="506" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was afraid I would end up with dull khaki green so I decided to add a pinch of nettle leaf powder and chlorella to help the green color along.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74OmZ_P7i6dWO5aouBJ8D_e6s0iDu8bT_NwHOMwvULjsN01pQ4Gry_PCIb0wBg5J5-9LRyXziV3uFC9FIjwOyVUbmxJSJxm_eilrLxNqwmjCsbZJqiuYIyWtYFc74izlNiZlV3TKy4ec/s1600/aleppo-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi74OmZ_P7i6dWO5aouBJ8D_e6s0iDu8bT_NwHOMwvULjsN01pQ4Gry_PCIb0wBg5J5-9LRyXziV3uFC9FIjwOyVUbmxJSJxm_eilrLxNqwmjCsbZJqiuYIyWtYFc74izlNiZlV3TKy4ec/s1600/aleppo-4.jpg" height="640" width="490" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here are some interesting observations I got from making my very first Aleppo soap. The first impression of laurel berry oil is that it smells a little like rotting herb, or dirt mixed with garden herb. I wouldn't say it's a pleasant smell but it does not stink as much as carrot seed oil or neem oil thank goodness! The smell is so strong it really troubled me on what to add to "compliment" or deter the original scent. I finally added a little bit of sage and sandalwood fragrance into the batter hoping the rotting herb scent would mellow out a bit. The 2nd impression is that it sure is a very thick oil, almost like a mixture of paste in oil. What surprised me the most is when I poured in the lye solution and started stick blending the mixture. Usually high olive oil recipe takes much longer to reach trace (emulsification between lye & oil). But this one went kind of fast, within a minute (or less) the mixture is emulsified and started to turn a little gelatin like, shinny and appeared slightly translucent. I had to hurry and pour into the mold. I swear I was doing it as fast as a soaper can be but it still solidified faster than I expected, during the pour! And I was only making 4 cubes!!! At the end I had to use a spoon to pulp and push it into all corners of the mold trying to avoid any air pocket forming.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhApnx4Pefsngk_eG6Mxz8isyIF_r7h_bNiSkLPUz1TtOzm8goBbuBHiyje1rHTGkm2uQEmCl3mkPpWNpt9GWRDxmvO3ooDlYkll74MfkXtPqq2bpXjOtjG2kxQkTsHIju2cO7dzYRA8P8/s1600/aleppo-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhApnx4Pefsngk_eG6Mxz8isyIF_r7h_bNiSkLPUz1TtOzm8goBbuBHiyje1rHTGkm2uQEmCl3mkPpWNpt9GWRDxmvO3ooDlYkll74MfkXtPqq2bpXjOtjG2kxQkTsHIju2cO7dzYRA8P8/s1600/aleppo-3.jpg" height="640" width="482" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> After only a few days of curing I got impatient and took the scrap from the soap pot to do a test run under my kitchen faucet. I can't say I'm not disappointed that it did not lather much. It does not feel slimy like most of the high content olive oil soap, it feels very astringent, no wonder this kind of soap usually need to be cure for 6 months to a year. I will have to stash these away, at somewhere I don't usually visit, or curiosity will kill this cat fast, I won't be able to keep my hands off these cubes!</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com41tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-86374611535261829852015-03-25T16:00:00.000-07:002015-03-25T16:00:42.394-07:00I Roll Roll Roll the Soap!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This is for a soap challenge I got myself into. The mission is to incorporate 3 ingredients into our soap plus one assigned tool to create the look. In this specific challenge we had to use egg, milk and sugar in making our soap. That's not hard at all, I've used all 3 so many different times. The hard part is the tool I was assigned to create my look. I got a rolling pin... This is the soap I created with all the circumstances:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirSElfcXxZk_btFpOzVO2ggew_oa7DheHbfq4QU_gqk3tSRXa2i3TwQ_dkowV4_KGgq0Sx2mHJ1Aa8fc8V_L03vlgRXmV-8LBBupQRjNfoQRn8pglkExBbMevc2KWLAahZMA0tEJ6_yo/s1600/10940984_1067068936653414_8101781354307060139_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgirSElfcXxZk_btFpOzVO2ggew_oa7DheHbfq4QU_gqk3tSRXa2i3TwQ_dkowV4_KGgq0Sx2mHJ1Aa8fc8V_L03vlgRXmV-8LBBupQRjNfoQRn8pglkExBbMevc2KWLAahZMA0tEJ6_yo/s1600/10940984_1067068936653414_8101781354307060139_n.jpg" height="322" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had 7 days to complete my look. I don't know why on earth I had to make it so complicated. This took me 9 days! I didn't make my deadline… sigh.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This was a 3 stage process. The first pour was to make 3 different color soap. Then I take them out to roll with THE assigned rolling pin when they are only 24 hours fresh.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7DAPBd_ttntzuEnZC6sHCbfzpgMBhNnnfQV3yH32N0yglhW0AnbnsLYyaKIf04cYcIvyixyamHvBS8tmZj_fPvE9dAm2N0VBHNRi8lhXM6yyj2KKlzvcRyGiPW0-AoFmWQbgsx4yIEI/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL7DAPBd_ttntzuEnZC6sHCbfzpgMBhNnnfQV3yH32N0yglhW0AnbnsLYyaKIf04cYcIvyixyamHvBS8tmZj_fPvE9dAm2N0VBHNRi8lhXM6yyj2KKlzvcRyGiPW0-AoFmWQbgsx4yIEI/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" height="640" width="516" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG7qDzboqHT4IMuM_9fznaYwXIap7BSATyDbdwTKmqZV8Ei5uUW5gwKscO_7c85ZPqouB8YgV579obSH96gsny_LhjlCoS2vBRGOjHwLNdVzZV4rNZ-CggTp3p0W6xbd6uvO_JVvLXkU/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVG7qDzboqHT4IMuM_9fznaYwXIap7BSATyDbdwTKmqZV8Ei5uUW5gwKscO_7c85ZPqouB8YgV579obSH96gsny_LhjlCoS2vBRGOjHwLNdVzZV4rNZ-CggTp3p0W6xbd6uvO_JVvLXkU/s1600/FullSizeRender.jpg" height="486" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had to use lots of saran wrap to prevent fresh soap from sticking to my wooden rolling pin. A lot of people thought I made the soap roll with melt & pour soap. But I think fresh cold process soap is actually easier to manipulate, I can mold it to anything I like until I'm satisfied with it. and yes, I got a little OCD, took me the whole night to roll out 3 identical sheets of soap...</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52IS-lZyunbPHhxWODRLK45jKawb_ZKzd7bwwRtyYbZQaQLr7MJV5GoY5MdVv3NmILasnclWDZMfXZUgtfEo2EB9lSIFora2pcJXylQZVWpN65emZy9fuz34AV0MiV78q09Ux8QFxdd8/s1600/FullSizeRender(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj52IS-lZyunbPHhxWODRLK45jKawb_ZKzd7bwwRtyYbZQaQLr7MJV5GoY5MdVv3NmILasnclWDZMfXZUgtfEo2EB9lSIFora2pcJXylQZVWpN65emZy9fuz34AV0MiV78q09Ux8QFxdd8/s1600/FullSizeRender(1).jpg" height="325" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Stage 2 is to insert this rolled soap into a vertical column mold then pour the second batch of soap.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtmYhcRgAcLjVm8GgpsFnKfPxssSTL52GHvb89IWvPhyphenhyphenOg_QWwVgkgOcEj_edvIBRN-pE2s3mnUn1FKol18g9xgaymzXanbowvwk6McHpH8hsi-UQQj-GFFJ2c0COoZxOSYXmXZhPpHY/s1600/11021111_10153023860178991_1700880823215215488_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLtmYhcRgAcLjVm8GgpsFnKfPxssSTL52GHvb89IWvPhyphenhyphenOg_QWwVgkgOcEj_edvIBRN-pE2s3mnUn1FKol18g9xgaymzXanbowvwk6McHpH8hsi-UQQj-GFFJ2c0COoZxOSYXmXZhPpHY/s1600/11021111_10153023860178991_1700880823215215488_n.jpg" height="640" width="468" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Final stage is to take the soap roll out when it's hard enough (the next day) and whip up a small batch to drizzle on top then sprinkle some sugar pearl together with glitter.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFVnyX3rrmVmpG84UxoKbzxMEYfbaFD8Tr9pDvevotrkTJhSoDyLqa0UtjCvAfvqVCY3UgChss4O2KKExVISXatgFtiZ-oYmhTZkd3r-3UGszCrhbWWn35OVJzjp2m0JB2Ltmm0VD7yw/s1600/10408520_1067068926653415_5434177801942464552_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhFVnyX3rrmVmpG84UxoKbzxMEYfbaFD8Tr9pDvevotrkTJhSoDyLqa0UtjCvAfvqVCY3UgChss4O2KKExVISXatgFtiZ-oYmhTZkd3r-3UGszCrhbWWn35OVJzjp2m0JB2Ltmm0VD7yw/s1600/10408520_1067068926653415_5434177801942464552_n.jpg" height="454" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My hard work paid off! These are literally hand cut, with a kitchen knife because of its round shape and all that random drizzle. You should see the last piece, so slanted, LOL</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_VsKJGmCy66WE57J99nsy5mJADUzlTXPMkzYKYi_o9AzMLIjUhowacdRu0Pdx76ZKTZ2yeF8Ama72nQJ5Llnnj9QFlDWyHbDa-wowUXauuw4E8uyy13T3LAVr7jIz6Cvp5c-RkE1YjY/s1600/10352831_1067068969986744_8576872857371747343_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm_VsKJGmCy66WE57J99nsy5mJADUzlTXPMkzYKYi_o9AzMLIjUhowacdRu0Pdx76ZKTZ2yeF8Ama72nQJ5Llnnj9QFlDWyHbDa-wowUXauuw4E8uyy13T3LAVr7jIz6Cvp5c-RkE1YjY/s1600/10352831_1067068969986744_8576872857371747343_n.jpg" height="492" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They are so totally adorable! But, I swear, I will never ever do this again! Forget it! This really pushed my patience to the tipping point. Remember my Rainbow Cake Soap from last year? I don't know which one is worse. If you wonder what rainbow soap I was talking about see this post: <a href="http://soapandrestless.blogspot.com/2014/06/rainbow-cake-soap-fun.html" target="_blank">Rainbow Cake Soap Fun</a></span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-25325245754014826682015-03-14T10:27:00.002-07:002015-03-14T10:27:46.596-07:00Cake Soap in a Roll<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I don't make cake and cupcake soap as often, probably only by request or during holiday season when people are looking for one of a kind gifting ideas. Cake or cupcake soap although looking very pretty and eye catching, they are somehow impractical to use as soap. I love making cake soap only because it can inspire my inner most creativity. This past holiday season I decided to try some new pipping techniques. Have you heard of scallop technique? Check out this easy tutorial: <a href="http://cakeforthought.com/2013/02/22/simple-scalloped-birthday-cake/" target="_blank">Simple Scalloped Birthday Cake</a> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I didn't want to follow the traditional scallop pipping which usually is horizontal lay out, I decided to use if as drapery, vertically.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NZ38ffwv_ob5OtCMNnuQtzZsB3uhBf7orQ9CTNQA956jUP4aBAmVMnt0DOfLOXwAIHFjhjT00bbwm3NgxR_xu0A5qD0lCHHJyraV80bJ6pjAuT6WDhWIT_VBkwd-g1Y5HMYzfqB30gA/s1600/10488122_981192345241074_8737508922042639694_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NZ38ffwv_ob5OtCMNnuQtzZsB3uhBf7orQ9CTNQA956jUP4aBAmVMnt0DOfLOXwAIHFjhjT00bbwm3NgxR_xu0A5qD0lCHHJyraV80bJ6pjAuT6WDhWIT_VBkwd-g1Y5HMYzfqB30gA/s1600/10488122_981192345241074_8737508922042639694_n.jpg" height="400" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">And to give the typical scallop pipping technique a twist, I used Wilton's open star pipping tip:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGHGIwQndTIFGajXTCyFMDrDlDQ3H69-ebPxjl6bzjSot0fZ5ppo1Sh3fVMvlIGNaDOEC0IkRGPcQudjKQjjhesaIQrB4GbUJ4_ZjPUbdodyTDaTc4PWk8-AkHElW08bKd9BgLHscdkw/s1600/Open-Star-Decorating-Tips1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGGHGIwQndTIFGajXTCyFMDrDlDQ3H69-ebPxjl6bzjSot0fZ5ppo1Sh3fVMvlIGNaDOEC0IkRGPcQudjKQjjhesaIQrB4GbUJ4_ZjPUbdodyTDaTc4PWk8-AkHElW08bKd9BgLHscdkw/s1600/Open-Star-Decorating-Tips1.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then smear with a tiny spoon from center up to create that scallop edged dimple then embed a sugar pearl inside.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFMgvMsG38TtPiMHYClDwG_-8xiar9hHIuVv7iRAtwupg5HTr7frILdVHzu-2PJmyQM6OU_wAFYEDxaEYfEZYbxT3s_xJTNm7gWrfutQ8XxlSmTwjYqJtiJpFXV68SayEAD9NaVAkApM/s1600/BRV-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQFMgvMsG38TtPiMHYClDwG_-8xiar9hHIuVv7iRAtwupg5HTr7frILdVHzu-2PJmyQM6OU_wAFYEDxaEYfEZYbxT3s_xJTNm7gWrfutQ8XxlSmTwjYqJtiJpFXV68SayEAD9NaVAkApM/s1600/BRV-2.jpg" height="486" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrznWvO8fxENlrMvN5Hv_tB_miNG_eNwDwbf_qrj614-Nd9nyyU9MFTydSqC2BPngf-hilrytFKQFypUXR09_NxcKlVQ5dLBiAgch1GjD9kH0lIx2fLSFTgoKTDwAkckPLZsytSRo_XM/s1600/BRV-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrznWvO8fxENlrMvN5Hv_tB_miNG_eNwDwbf_qrj614-Nd9nyyU9MFTydSqC2BPngf-hilrytFKQFypUXR09_NxcKlVQ5dLBiAgch1GjD9kH0lIx2fLSFTgoKTDwAkckPLZsytSRo_XM/s1600/BRV-3.jpg" height="518" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This second one is not as inventive, but surely as time consuming to make. The overflow dripping "cream" is the hardest to create for me, I just don't seem to be able to time the right soap consistency.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-Uj-HhBBt98HQxNJ-pbWTAz8FNRapZfd6jaVHBRbzrymMbHCBcShC1Jy06iEud0IdNnGhRMzsR8gJRetZQmLiaoyZp-tG-ahoLJZ91m27myTjbNmfIrUMlP9Tnn16rfbj6Eix47ER38/s1600/coconut+lime+cake-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEie-Uj-HhBBt98HQxNJ-pbWTAz8FNRapZfd6jaVHBRbzrymMbHCBcShC1Jy06iEud0IdNnGhRMzsR8gJRetZQmLiaoyZp-tG-ahoLJZ91m27myTjbNmfIrUMlP9Tnn16rfbj6Eix47ER38/s1600/coconut+lime+cake-3.jpg" height="526" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">This 3rd one is my own spontaneous try. I was hoping to get a ribbon icicle or tassel look:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpRFDAR-0b_JviM5fQ3Fo39wJp0c6f8c1hnHuo27DyrbvoSjfQurDZmu0vO_w7sMWmrtlLiTtRHSiwEadPy57SEmZPtCjBDdeh5yGZWKqvyKuP5KgGZP3hXMWxo_LLjy7FB_bDodebas/s1600/Peach+Papaya-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMpRFDAR-0b_JviM5fQ3Fo39wJp0c6f8c1hnHuo27DyrbvoSjfQurDZmu0vO_w7sMWmrtlLiTtRHSiwEadPy57SEmZPtCjBDdeh5yGZWKqvyKuP5KgGZP3hXMWxo_LLjy7FB_bDodebas/s1600/Peach+Papaya-2.jpg" height="498" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I used Wilton ribbon tip like this one:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAs8_A5L957-ukptJlAWiAxy8T7-NJ9LFKXly0DXJ7EmwB_AbDb4HqUw37y6wW-YfSUhw2KCCD0UjidqC5kkl1L_DQP5ZkYKVABaItyGu9_oyiv9urvfHODDgWojAOk1bhPtBqsLZ9_Y/s1600/images-2.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQAs8_A5L957-ukptJlAWiAxy8T7-NJ9LFKXly0DXJ7EmwB_AbDb4HqUw37y6wW-YfSUhw2KCCD0UjidqC5kkl1L_DQP5ZkYKVABaItyGu9_oyiv9urvfHODDgWojAOk1bhPtBqsLZ9_Y/s1600/images-2.jpeg" height="320" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">My husband's favorite is when I pipe poppy flowers:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjA7emb5he09oZKcE_OxEtrTM0AImKslCj7Qc4ep1Rkyfpq2F3bAtlC6McETkJxj74GCS9yd8nzUUJxtYthc0lQIZk4oaoMQdWoAi4HihbYy61JHLyc_c8_HmtdU286v_LUSemcIQ1rE/s1600/flower-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbjA7emb5he09oZKcE_OxEtrTM0AImKslCj7Qc4ep1Rkyfpq2F3bAtlC6McETkJxj74GCS9yd8nzUUJxtYthc0lQIZk4oaoMQdWoAi4HihbYy61JHLyc_c8_HmtdU286v_LUSemcIQ1rE/s1600/flower-2.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Maybe I will do a short video clip to show how I do them later so be on the watch out if you are interested!</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-61973590468931242832015-03-02T09:38:00.000-08:002015-03-02T09:38:08.944-08:00Location Location Location<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last holiday season I signed up for the biggest craft show I've ever been to. I don't sell in craft shows often, at most maybe one during the holiday season, most of the time I just list my products on Etsy. First time doing big craft show (over 200 vendors) was nerve racking. I had no idea how much product to bring and what price point to set in order to off set the costs. In talking to my family about this my sister in law brain stormed a few ideas with me. This was one of them, to make soap related to location.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEyrnSKfBejFq4f4yeN2aJydEIqb3ich5tRuCmFqea5cWNiLFnE9EEhllZnk82VIehV0P6AoSCb3qidG5b5S5qKJ-cuI38Kt-9_irf3N1RsgPasMcT_xKv9a_97wxTCM9n6hKZOqFf4A/s1600/il_570xN.696700122_ssrj.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEyrnSKfBejFq4f4yeN2aJydEIqb3ich5tRuCmFqea5cWNiLFnE9EEhllZnk82VIehV0P6AoSCb3qidG5b5S5qKJ-cuI38Kt-9_irf3N1RsgPasMcT_xKv9a_97wxTCM9n6hKZOqFf4A/s1600/il_570xN.696700122_ssrj.jpg" height="640" width="544" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I live in San Francisco Bay area, California, one of the most interesting and diverse cities in the world, not only in geography but also in culture. Speaking of San Francisco one cannot forget to mention the first gay neighborhoods in the United States, it's commonly called The Castro district. It has been one of the most lively and prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender. You would know you just enter the zone the minute you see rainbow flags everywhere. And that, is my inspiration for my I love SF soap.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7xUahvdUQ3v84Bdy4BNm9W8VTEu0hSJa4VdcDcd6VY0lnvsPxxl2i6zX4L6yk807hu__AaDPa_fOi6ckFIK67IQdgz-8Es3cu7NZDEnGtK-aICwu_tyP60X7LbgC_Bn240KjJsGKiks/s1600/il_570xN.696700112_ifa1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjh7xUahvdUQ3v84Bdy4BNm9W8VTEu0hSJa4VdcDcd6VY0lnvsPxxl2i6zX4L6yk807hu__AaDPa_fOi6ckFIK67IQdgz-8Es3cu7NZDEnGtK-aICwu_tyP60X7LbgC_Bn240KjJsGKiks/s1600/il_570xN.696700112_ifa1.jpg" height="464" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Making this soap is not as easy as I thought. There's a lot of waste of soap as I use a cookie cutter shaped like a map of USA to cut off a larger piece of pre-made soap. I then hand carved out each heart or star shape approximately over where SF is on the USA map, spray some water and embedded the pre-made tiny heart or star soap into the void. Till today I still have 1/2 of the left over scraps. I will need to find a way to use them up. But I have to say, they are so cute!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSfKzH52LmpZbbagViSRWADpGlRZFGC438cF7UWdh2sb4xK9C6f0Urtwymha1rlKY7JJNCqhjeG1TnbrgRT2eVSYvSy7brq8DQE0-4Z83XUX7HljiWXh87s5dkwX__YiL6phI-kpfwr4/s1600/il_570xN.696825249_dkvi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqSfKzH52LmpZbbagViSRWADpGlRZFGC438cF7UWdh2sb4xK9C6f0Urtwymha1rlKY7JJNCqhjeG1TnbrgRT2eVSYvSy7brq8DQE0-4Z83XUX7HljiWXh87s5dkwX__YiL6phI-kpfwr4/s1600/il_570xN.696825249_dkvi.jpg" height="500" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-53790748842079795362015-02-23T14:26:00.001-08:002015-02-23T14:26:54.268-08:00Using Texture Mat for Soap Pattern<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> Have I mentioned before that making cold process soap is very much like baking and decorating the bakery? You will be shocked how many soap makers shop at baking goods for tools we can use!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This is about using fondant texture mat to make soap. There are 2 kinds on the market, plastic sheets which are much cheaper, and the more durable silicone mats but cost far more. Plastic sheets tend to have simpler patterns while silicone mats can be as intricate as you can ever imagine. However, the common problem we run into is that it's hard to find fondant sheet big enough for our molds, they are not designed for soap makers for sure!</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBXlGApXUYrdYb4YAJrZDx9SC8VXF9FHX-TRNshrVhBc_N7rcwNxJV4T6ZeiiCggDSerTPv0megMF_zhpdvmOUt21TbN00tk6Irhjp9HmbV7gsHJKxDQQV7NLcXc6zZ1SHBpeOWl4228/s1600/wood-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHBXlGApXUYrdYb4YAJrZDx9SC8VXF9FHX-TRNshrVhBc_N7rcwNxJV4T6ZeiiCggDSerTPv0megMF_zhpdvmOUt21TbN00tk6Irhjp9HmbV7gsHJKxDQQV7NLcXc6zZ1SHBpeOWl4228/s1600/wood-1.jpg" height="440" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">About 2 years ago I was lucky to saw this listing of a clear plastic texture sheet that has very nice wood grain pattern and the size is bigger than any I've seen out there. I bought one to try, but that batch of soap failed. I learned a lot from that experiment. These groove</span><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">s are shallow, only about 1/16" deep at most. To cast a great impression the soap batter needs to be very fluid at pour but harden fast to get a perfect release. I admit I didn't have the patience to think about all these little details 2 years ago so I simply gave up after one failed try.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxPwRuzsY7rslAmch7Z58-guN5KsQYqrGRC6Pj8ARD1L6sYENLaIBTB2NwhTZUjt_Uf-P8X_hCv1L0-DyaD_02gia6jYNLsHlVFJMsrcuy0oqeZGuabsgARj1qN9CohCCfTNh3vIpC7E/s1600/wood-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikxPwRuzsY7rslAmch7Z58-guN5KsQYqrGRC6Pj8ARD1L6sYENLaIBTB2NwhTZUjt_Uf-P8X_hCv1L0-DyaD_02gia6jYNLsHlVFJMsrcuy0oqeZGuabsgARj1qN9CohCCfTNh3vIpC7E/s1600/wood-2.jpg" height="640" width="534" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Making texture mat soap is somewhat different. It requires forehand preparation. Measure twice (sometimes 3 times) and cut once to fit the interior of the mold. In my case I used a silicone log (loaf) type mold and lined the mold with this plastic texture sheet on 3 sides to form an "U" shape. Simple clear tape was used to secure the sheets temporary to the mold. Then all I need is some simple 2 color ITP (in the pot) swirl and pour into the mold.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB-DPPAW_EXiJqBc-lOhv03y6Y3LKPI6OYmbjDKa2UTXU3MeaiMujiSsz11nW80Re1DJJM4knA4weyqv-epwrX0-Q1o-pABgySb52cYwil5BgMNTkNVTEUlLOpypVkg0HsawxmBDca2c/s1600/yuki-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizB-DPPAW_EXiJqBc-lOhv03y6Y3LKPI6OYmbjDKa2UTXU3MeaiMujiSsz11nW80Re1DJJM4knA4weyqv-epwrX0-Q1o-pABgySb52cYwil5BgMNTkNVTEUlLOpypVkg0HsawxmBDca2c/s1600/yuki-1.jpg" height="464" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG6PsfK8UCRhuk6GcDgqVgaKa_qNITD-bQl7g8OsswOj1l6taq6ggIQJfj_FG6N9WKU8YRjYDkosZh2prT9ygV19sgkZdFdAs5Bhaxpc-sKyr1_5g7oqfMaOYM_6Eawm8SgbPG7IoEzc/s1600/yuki-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPG6PsfK8UCRhuk6GcDgqVgaKa_qNITD-bQl7g8OsswOj1l6taq6ggIQJfj_FG6N9WKU8YRjYDkosZh2prT9ygV19sgkZdFdAs5Bhaxpc-sKyr1_5g7oqfMaOYM_6Eawm8SgbPG7IoEzc/s1600/yuki-3.jpg" height="472" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbOXO2G1iDC9OBmlk2f59x81eNClxYhLMRxjDae-qDhottgQaGlrkg5o0_bO26gJu5JiDcY5nhbRG0hxZhK3zqE13-GDcgvOcBQxJPBF3OirsO3WzOF2wzLtcQsrB45hUfdk1MDRVDKY/s1600/yuki-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzbOXO2G1iDC9OBmlk2f59x81eNClxYhLMRxjDae-qDhottgQaGlrkg5o0_bO26gJu5JiDcY5nhbRG0hxZhK3zqE13-GDcgvOcBQxJPBF3OirsO3WzOF2wzLtcQsrB45hUfdk1MDRVDKY/s1600/yuki-4.jpg" height="478" width="640" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">I really like these simply elegant looking soap bars!</span></span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com31tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-63513959475114865532014-10-09T17:18:00.000-07:002018-04-10T13:36:20.593-07:00Where Is My Glycerin River?!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">What is glycerin river? In most cases it happens when you use water dispersible titanium dioxide to color your soap batter white and then the soap gelled. Can't imagine it? Here's a picture to show you:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYZUdwWysxRoyHYWg4ZhZz8X3BaDFYY6haqOr2o1QHp8mAcV5XmkVDocEMp5nylT-0xv9mQylPTgB8tNVHXJ04mK80xYGWqkayAw7DsXPQRIsvldJdO0kltxbDpmduinDuv02XIP4LWQ/s1600/P1070620.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJYZUdwWysxRoyHYWg4ZhZz8X3BaDFYY6haqOr2o1QHp8mAcV5XmkVDocEMp5nylT-0xv9mQylPTgB8tNVHXJ04mK80xYGWqkayAw7DsXPQRIsvldJdO0kltxbDpmduinDuv02XIP4LWQ/s1600/P1070620.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">Most of us trying very hard to avoid it. One of the trick is not to gel the soap. Another trick is not to use water dispersible titanium dioxide, instead, use oil dispersible version. If you don't like these 2 options, heavily discount your water when you make lye solution would work too.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">But, what if I want glycerin river?! Should be easy, right?! Not in this case!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I had this grant design idea to mimic the cracking of Arctic ice like this picture:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bIvpmvhSpMUsat5caFwj1gCZpwXPx4UNHLZ_VB_Q9KZKStkRpFRvFcy3amilCZk9bYFT9xhFZLy-nQyYu00W7KBsZECZwTkDJTKBeQfLfXo6FOpocDN0fPyZEaMGzEscN9TvnAQS5fM/s1600/10525931_10152216985550598_6478490052607143758_n.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="362" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2bIvpmvhSpMUsat5caFwj1gCZpwXPx4UNHLZ_VB_Q9KZKStkRpFRvFcy3amilCZk9bYFT9xhFZLy-nQyYu00W7KBsZECZwTkDJTKBeQfLfXo6FOpocDN0fPyZEaMGzEscN9TvnAQS5fM/s1600/10525931_10152216985550598_6478490052607143758_n.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">I soaped normally, didn't discount water, added descent amount of water dispersible titanium dioxide, even put it in the preheated oven to force gel. So, where is my glycerin river when I intentionally tried to make it?!</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDaInMRD-pSRI8iTFlmQtgBPaL8MopZq1ExobvT7VnfLS3b5jmyEPMqwDBI6iAg97-PBkO9zJnhU8CMtFJxsgkx7FzkWYRN8Np8cz1IwFRy9WrxIfSM65y78nrbcwtlBaddlUf0ZcTM8/s1600/snow-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsDaInMRD-pSRI8iTFlmQtgBPaL8MopZq1ExobvT7VnfLS3b5jmyEPMqwDBI6iAg97-PBkO9zJnhU8CMtFJxsgkx7FzkWYRN8Np8cz1IwFRy9WrxIfSM65y78nrbcwtlBaddlUf0ZcTM8/s1600/snow-1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCi2dWFL0JW8tVXK82T8BlvI4FbK0mXi_TDAoxAhVgNCfiAiDyw1ZHRdMaKaWxxCyjdTEVKP6ClMQ_ugTap4vNG_mmOBNc2_uF8gzXNlXLoHe-xlaxg_Zh39EAfdEnfQn2KnNU9q0II4k/s1600/snow-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCi2dWFL0JW8tVXK82T8BlvI4FbK0mXi_TDAoxAhVgNCfiAiDyw1ZHRdMaKaWxxCyjdTEVKP6ClMQ_ugTap4vNG_mmOBNc2_uF8gzXNlXLoHe-xlaxg_Zh39EAfdEnfQn2KnNU9q0II4k/s1600/snow-3.jpg" width="468" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaUU6IfK6b1YyE-wPYsRBXe4WPBsW2z_WKJpqqNfHO9j4YDt_ouTTyncLaFH_xp0q8-IZf1kLYex92ZrzIrnvRRsFqf7DKIoqThfbjM_5dUZs1Jz2Riuu2s3jUR5XPuOM820w4JAF0V0/s1600/snow-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="432" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQaUU6IfK6b1YyE-wPYsRBXe4WPBsW2z_WKJpqqNfHO9j4YDt_ouTTyncLaFH_xp0q8-IZf1kLYex92ZrzIrnvRRsFqf7DKIoqThfbjM_5dUZs1Jz2Riuu2s3jUR5XPuOM820w4JAF0V0/s1600/snow-4.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only difference is I also used transparent melt and pour soap to swirl the bottom blue portion for water effect. Could it be the melt & pour? Melt & pour soap does contain lots of glycerin that why it tends to sweat in humid area. Could that be the reason I'm not getting the glycerin river I wanted?! There got to be a reasonable logic to this right?</span></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7966887643137480357.post-85984883216419715262014-10-02T12:49:00.001-07:002014-10-02T12:49:18.520-07:00Pumpkin Cheese Cake Soap<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's the end of summer, school has started, meaning time to plan fall soap projects! Each year I would make pumpkin soap once, usually around this time. I made a recipe just for this soap, the only recipe that uses pumpkin seed oil. The virgin cold pressed pumpkin seed oil is rather smelly, not in a bad way, it's nutty and amber brown in color. When I tried to put in my order for more virgin pumpkin seed oil I noticed the shortage in inventory. The 2 suppliers I normally buy from had none this year. The other suppliers who still carry it have priced it higher than what I would like to pay for. For this soap I've used up the last bit I have left.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Previously I had been making pumpkin chai scented typical bar soap. It's getting old and boring, time for me to revamp it this year. While looking online for idea I found this photo on Pinterest, it's actually a real desert, a </span><span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">frozen yogurt cake:</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakPAu10aC5_ikTyw9E_IDL9qa_6kJyWJxT2lGaWZWLyZ-HdgUsja8gXfGTIDeWNVelBliHDq1tI4YgnBEGRnwK2WGkT6StZLDVVVzG_o6kq6h_z4Wck5IvyWyzXw6IybDuWxfBpdSQ5A/s1600/c124bdf29d096fe38cf964aeffbc1bd6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiakPAu10aC5_ikTyw9E_IDL9qa_6kJyWJxT2lGaWZWLyZ-HdgUsja8gXfGTIDeWNVelBliHDq1tI4YgnBEGRnwK2WGkT6StZLDVVVzG_o6kq6h_z4Wck5IvyWyzXw6IybDuWxfBpdSQ5A/s1600/c124bdf29d096fe38cf964aeffbc1bd6.jpg" height="400" width="265" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It is not in a typical cupcake form, rather simple and elegant!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">If you are a soap maker you probably already know any pumpkin related fragrance contains a lot of vanillin (for smelling like vanilla) and that would cause soap to turn brown when exposed to the air, it's oxidation. I picked a pumpkin fragrance that's more like sweet pumpkin filling without heavy spice and less vanillin. How to work around the color is always the challenging part. Anyway, to not bore you with details, I present you my version of pumpkin soap this year:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Pumpkin Cheese Cake Soap</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziGZayezvS1_38KURsbB3kphP3FoALIouqkGJy2bI0eXnSSdOPzYxC4wqB26_3lTmEW-v2Ntxgxofww7eIr5TcqR1ly40HySKdHa69ncEUOFnD5nYfj2HxAOCORCnCzUtgLB3ZS0jLs8/s1600/cheesecake-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjziGZayezvS1_38KURsbB3kphP3FoALIouqkGJy2bI0eXnSSdOPzYxC4wqB26_3lTmEW-v2Ntxgxofww7eIr5TcqR1ly40HySKdHa69ncEUOFnD5nYfj2HxAOCORCnCzUtgLB3ZS0jLs8/s1600/cheesecake-2.jpg" height="640" width="524" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It's a rather time consuming soap to make, a 3 days project! Day 1, I had to make the cheese cake middle first, unmold it and cleaned it up to dry. Day 2, made the brown crust, put the cake back into the mold on top of the crust. Reason for this extra step is to cover the day one's ugly uneven soap top by placing it up side down into the mold to adhere with the brown crust.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B5xciC8NXDaUC81D6KLCMItOoO2rFBL0I0qPigUqJgE_TNF7twkr5GKx5roh_CENk1k-RZwwvMIxZU_CLNvF0bfzJ558-F7_S1o6HzYGdp8BLZp8C0F-DeGiVVBlOmBiJsOnN96VdsA/s1600/cheesecake-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3B5xciC8NXDaUC81D6KLCMItOoO2rFBL0I0qPigUqJgE_TNF7twkr5GKx5roh_CENk1k-RZwwvMIxZU_CLNvF0bfzJ558-F7_S1o6HzYGdp8BLZp8C0F-DeGiVVBlOmBiJsOnN96VdsA/s1600/cheesecake-1.jpg" height="600" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Day 3, final dress up, this is the part it didn't go as planned. Day 2's brown crust did not adhere to the cheese cake part well, it left gaps. I had to make extra soap batter, split it to make the brown crust again to patch up the gaps. By the time I was ready or the cream topping the batter got too thick to drizzle... sigh. Oh well, plan B is not unusually in my soaping kitchen.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy2mA4YCMdv8PeT6GO2hdhClp7_znfRVyb1LLcIL2m4VH3RhOAGDftIZmlSaNkqUVy9mo4KdpVIDmozTc_1nHNgo87BL8B_ep64j3e5qeI1PovAf79X6lT1qE4OYg8EA4jegRJHxLZi0/s1600/cheesecake-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOy2mA4YCMdv8PeT6GO2hdhClp7_znfRVyb1LLcIL2m4VH3RhOAGDftIZmlSaNkqUVy9mo4KdpVIDmozTc_1nHNgo87BL8B_ep64j3e5qeI1PovAf79X6lT1qE4OYg8EA4jegRJHxLZi0/s1600/cheesecake-3.jpg" height="444" width="640" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Dusting it with pearl white mica is like cherry on top, make it have this powder sugar look, totally realistic!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica Neue, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only problem is, days later the soap still turned brownish... sigh. I just can run away from browns...</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qM7NhMJoXyeRE015ExCdW80zds1NdFSNy5nNyahk8NNV_V2mZrPrpvgPI_-_wllQ_eSlkPzdJEGCwRKL53FqgVGvPw4_L2diqs9GGlT7QJLGdjJOzKmwKUYxGi_AxxQG3iQCiqGOgxg/s1600/10612629_960357413991234_7409483139636551400_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_qM7NhMJoXyeRE015ExCdW80zds1NdFSNy5nNyahk8NNV_V2mZrPrpvgPI_-_wllQ_eSlkPzdJEGCwRKL53FqgVGvPw4_L2diqs9GGlT7QJLGdjJOzKmwKUYxGi_AxxQG3iQCiqGOgxg/s1600/10612629_960357413991234_7409483139636551400_n.jpg" height="460" width="640" /></a></div>
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Shieh Design Studiohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15226775255371774677noreply@blogger.com6