The Story of Cherry Cola soap

Thought I would talk some about my Cherry Cola soap today. I went to the Bitter Creek convention 1 year ago and they had up a table with every scent they carry. I spent a good deal of time there smelling all of them and the minute I hit the Cherry Cola I was blown away by how great it was. As soon as I got home from the convention I placed an order because I had to have that scent.

I decided to make it into some soap see top picture, well I couldn't seem to sell any in that scent which was odd since it is so good. Well turns out that it was just because the picture was so bad most people didn't even pay attention to it the top picture is one of the early ones of the soap and still a better picture then what I had up for a long time. I also noticed that over time the soap changed colors and the lines got softer as the second picture is still the same soap as the first picture. When I posted the updated picture(pic 2) all of a sudden people were taking notice of this great scent and by picture 3 update it is fast becoming a top seller.

Well I am down to my last 2 bars so it was time to make a fresh batch again. 4th picture is the batch I made this weekend, I used the same colors as the first batch and once again it is similar to the coloring of the first picture. So maybe this soap is like wine and it gets better and better colors with time?!?! Will be interesting to see if this one changes to a more purple color with soft lines.

PS I learned that it really pays to have good pictures!

mess up batch round 2

Top picture is the after, bottom is the before picture

So if you remember a few posts back I cut a loaf of soap before it was set and I only had about 1 bar that looked good. Here is my attempt at giving that batch a new life. I do have to say melt and pour soap is much easier to fix problems with then the cold process soap.

Scented with Energy, Red Apple, Cranberry Sweet, Cranberry Fig

new soap mold testing

So I got a new soap mold and I tested out ways to make it look even cooler. Most people I notice with these kind of molds just pour one solid pastel color and call it good but that won't work for me so I am on a mission to kick it up to the next level.

So round one (left to right) I tried clear pink melt and pour mixed with some white solid melt and pour soap with a pink solid base. Next up was pink flowers with a white background which was better but still not it exactly. So I tried white flowers and I put a tad less in to coat so it might show the base color more then I did a darker base and that sure looked a ton better. Last round I did blue clear melt and pour with a white solid base but it really didn't pop like the one before. I still have a few more ideas I want to test but I am getting closer to what I want them to look like.

15% off sale this weekend!

------------------------ SAFETEAM'S HUGE WEEKEND SALE ----------------------
Soap Artisan Friends of Etsy Team http://safeteam.etsy.com/ is having a sale this weekend!
June 19-21 I am offering 15% off everything in my shop, discount will be refunded! Etsy is featuring the team's sale on the weekend deals post!!!

I managed to get pretty much all my soap pictures redone so stop by my etsy shop and see all the new pictures.
Now I can finally get back to shop making again after that long project.

Blog feature and soap sampler order

Tonight I had an order placed by a local person who is going on a trip and wanted some gifts to give out that were pretty and made in California. She ordered 9 soap sampler packs to take with her on the trip. So I spent the night busting those out, I even skipped working out(shhh don't tell).

Patrice from The Soap Seduction mentioned I was featured on the Handmade Guru so stop on over and check it out!

more new pictures

Amazing how much better some soaps look with new pictures! Have about half of them redone, more to go!

testing new picture set ups

I have the new digital camera that plugs into my lights so I am trying to figure out how I want my pictures to look then I am retaking them all. Testing just a few ideas right now, I have a few more set ups I haven't taken pictures of and I may redo these with a black background just to see that that looks like. Just thought I would let you see what I am working on at the moment....

Anyone have some favs so far?

My soap order from Bramble Berry arrived today so I am back in business on making melt and pour soaps. First up will be to fix that messed up batch that I cut tooooo early.

Basil Nectarine round 2

Top picture is round 1 and the bottom 2 pictures are round 2

As mentioned in my other post I wasn't pleased with how the Basil Nectarine came out so I did shavings of those bars and made a go at saving them with a clear overpour. At first I wasn't digging the round 2 of these but they might be growing on me. What do you think?!?!

So this weekend my computer decided to break guess the video card went out :( just can't catch a break it seems. But it has returned from the repair shop so we are all good now. I was even able to finally get online and place my order for more melt and pour soap from Bramble Berry! now it just needs to hurry up and get here :P

oppps cut the soap to soon

So look what happens when you start your batch of soap late at night and then try to rush it so you can sleep. More lessons learned! Guess this will be another batch I chunk up and try to make into something new. A few bars are decent(see bottom picture) but sad to say most of the batch was messed up. This is scented with a Bramble Berry blend of Energy, Red Apple, and Cranberry Sweet.

Review of Strawberry Cheesecake and Honey Coconut Mango Soaps

Stop over and check out a new review at Crazy K Bath and Body