Preparation: Make sure you have all of your ingredients with in reach (I even double checked our recipe on the iPhone Lye Application). Then line your mold with Freezer Paper (click here for instructions on lining your soap mold). Most importantly review lye safety guidelines.
TWO: To make your lye solution, add 7.4 ounces of lye to 15 ounces of distilled water (you can increase the water to 16.5 if you like a slower trace). Remember to always add the lye to the water- never add the water to the lye. Mix the lye water until the cloudiness clears and the temperature cools. The ideal temperature is between 125 and 135 degrees though some soapers soap all the way down to room temperature lye. I like 125 personally. Notice the water heats all the way up to 191 degrees when combined with the water and lye. Gloves and goggles stay on for the ENTIRE soapmaking process.
THREE: Once your oils are combined and their temperature stabilized under 135 degrees and your lye water has reached 125-135 degrees, slowly pour the lye water into your oils stirring at all times. Then stick blend the oil and lye mixture (approximately 2-3 minutes). Turn the stick blender on and off, making sure to mix the entire mixture thoroughly (up down, side to side, around and around).
FIVE: Add up to a full Tablespoon of titanium dioxide to the container with 1/3 of the soap and mix with your stick blender. This will keep make a lovely light contrast color.
SEVEN: Once the Copper Sparkle mica is fully incorporated, stir in 3 oz of Pumpkin Spice Fragrance Oil by hand. This fragrance slightly accelerates trace so be ready to pour once your fragrance is mixed in.
EIGHT: In your mold, pour in 6 ounces of the light colored soap followed by approximately 10 ounces of the darker colored soap. The pours do not have to be exactly 6 or 10 ounces - just eyeball it. Make sure you pour two layers of each soap base, alternating colors. Once your mold is filled to the top, swirl the soap with a spoon, spatula or chopstick. Repeat this step using the clear plastic mold. Your gloves and goggles stay on for the entire soapmaking process, even during the swirling part.
This one is really interesting to me. It is the "Pool Blue" Labcolor (middle layer on the left, bottom layer on the right). Look at what happens when you change the addition rate just slightly. The shade of blue is the same but the hue is much darker, deeper and brighter just by upping the usage rates.
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Patti swirled some of the micas into the soap directly and then mixed a teensy bit of oil in with some of the micas and swirled on top so that the colors would stay true on top of the soap, no matter what happened.
It took two days to unmold the soap to make sure that all that extra oil up on top would absorb back into the soap. But in the meantime, Patti peaked at the mixing bowl and noticed a few things that gave a preview of what the final bars might look like.
In the bowl, the Super Green turned to a light gold color - sparkly and pretty but not green. But, the Matte Yellow stayed the same nice yellow color. Even though the oil hadn't fully absorbed into the top, Patti just blotted at the top of the soap (leaving a lovely pattern), unmolded and cut.
The slices turned out wonderfully fall-like and beautiful on top.
It's pretty clear which colors are which. The Red Mica turned orangey peach, the Matte Yellow stayed totally stable yellow and the Super Green went a lovely yellow and definitely did not stay a pretty green when reacted with the lye. Patti used a fragrance that discolors a bit which is why the soap looks a little darker than you might expect.
Thanks for letting us all in on your experiments, Patti!
I've always wanted to make soap cupcakes but stopped at the frosting. Due to my own laziness, I didn't want to use many special ingredients, and I find pastry bags totally intimidating! So I decided to do a little experimenting and have come up with an extremely simple and fun recipe that requires 2 ingredients and no fancy frosting tips. I hope you'll give it a try! 
3. To make the frosting, melt the 4 oz of clear soap base in a medium mixing bowl. Stir in 2 tablespoons of liquid soap, a few drops of pink colorant, and any fragrance oil you like . Using a whisk or hand mixer, beat mixture until it forms soft peaks. Add 1 teaspoon of the Rainbow Sprinkles from the Sweet Treats kit. Mix until incorporated. 
4. Spoon frosting onto soaps (turn soaps upside down so you're frosting the backs), piling up as much as possible. Allow to air dry. It's totally touchable and won't crack! The frosting has a range of textures that you can achieve, from very soft peaks to dry, stiff peaks. It's kind of like shaving cream. If you have added frosting to your soaps and you don't like it, you can scrape it off, put it back in your bowl, and warm it up in the microwave again for 15 seconds. Mix again until you get a good texture. Try again and again - the frosting keeps re-fluffing! Sprinkle on extra sprinkles for added cuteness! Have fun! -Debbie, Soapylove
Soap Queen TV: Holiday Stamp Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
I was so enchanted by the comment left on the 'What's New at Bramble Berry' post that I just had to share (and can I just say that I wholeheartedly agree with Ayesha's husband's assessment?). Want to know what you're missing? Pick out your bar here.Anne-Marie,
I have been meaning to msg you about the ready-made CP soaps. I won 5 a few months back and I just started using the sandalwood one. I have to tell you, it was funny b/c my husband hunted me down at home and was like, ok we have to talk about the soap in the shower! it's awesome and where did you get it from? and he went on about the hardness and lather (both terms he learned from yours truly ;) ). So there you have, soap so good it makes a man stop dead in his tracks!!
-Ayesha
mosaicsoaps.com
Anne-Marie: Your packaging is adorable! How long did it take to perfect the look you were going for?
Anne-Marie: Where do you find your inspiration?
If the packaging isn't cute enough as is, the wrapper that comes around the soap is a set of instructions on how to reuse the bag. The instructions on my Sweet Orange Soap teaches me how to turn my cute bag into chicken shaped egg cozy. I haven't attempted yet but I'll let you know how it goes!
This company makes me extremely happy. And then I spend a lot of money. sigh... But I'm HAPPY about it! Thank you for your great service and selection. I tell all my students about you.
Anne-Marie: You're very philanthropic; how did you get get started with the Beautiful Survivor program? 
Bramble Berry's Fir Needle Essential Oil is natural and comes straight from Siberian Fir twigs and needles (native to Russia and Mongolia). The steam distillation method is applied to create a colorless to pale yellow oil. It has a smooth, fresh, evergreen aroma that is refreshing and harmonizing. This essential oil has top notes of pine, a sweet and fruity middle note with a woodsy finish.
In case you missed the tutorial on how to rebatch soap, you can find it here.
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