SkinZen by Kim

Location Themed Soap Challenge

Texas Blue Bonnets

     For this challenge, I was inspired by my first spring living near Texas Hill country.  I had always heard about Texas Blue Bonnets and the spring wildflowers here, but could never have imagined their beauty until my eyes beheld it! Simply stunning landscapes here almost wherever you go.

     I attempted to use the pointilism soap technique in an effort to capture wisps of blue, yellow and white mixed among a landscape of spring green.  If you use an Impressionist interpretation, maybe you can see it?!

     Since blue bonnets don't really have much of a fragrance, I needed to choose an alternate floral scent, which made me nervous, given my history with rapid trace in almost every floral soap I have ever made.  But to my delight, I discovered Crafter's Choice True Lilac to work like a charm ~ plenty of time to work with all of those pesky squirt bottles.  

SkinZen by Kim

The DNA Helix Swirl

Scented with a fragrance and essential oil blend of Fairy Garden from Nurture Soap Supplies with a touch of rosemary and lemongrass, this soap smells divine!  With spring not far away in Florida, my color choices reflected my eagerness for winter to end here ~ a nice bright yellow (fizzy lemonade from Brambleberry) for the base and Nurture Soap Micas for the swirls (orange & purple vibrance and hunter green).  I have yet to master those perfect inverted S curves, but nevertheless, was pleased with the end result.   

Here are the cut bars:

Below is my initial attempt at this technique.  Different color scheme and much less control over the darned S's!  But that's the great thing about this technique.  Your finished product is still going to look pretty cool even if you mess it up.  Pretty much fool proof!

Butterfly Swirl

SkinZen by Kim

The Butterfly Swirl

This technique was indeed a challenge, but so much fun!  Here's what I used to create my beautiful butterflies:

• Crafters Choice White Tea & Ginger FO, (a personal favorite!)
• Base Color: Crafters Choice Coral Oil Locking Mica Shimmer mixed with Brambleberry's Peach Shimmer Mica.
• Swirl Colors:  Titanium dioxide; Brambleberry's Sienna Mica Shimmer & Aqua Pearl Mica; and Crafters Choice Blue Oil Locking Mica Shimmer.

         Noteworthy:  The base color ended up being a bit too dark.  I absolutely love the color, but it made the aqua pearl and sienna shimmer a bit difficult to see - not enough contrast.  If the swirl colors had been as vibrant as they are on top inside the soap, it would have been perfect!  But, alas, that's how we learn.  Also, I should have waited to bevel the edges.  The inside (body of the butterfly) would have been more visible if I hadn't beveled it off.  Oh well!

Thanks, Amy, for another great soap challenge!