Soap Swap Goodies

YEAH !! My 10 kg Fedex box has made a round trip and returned home on Saturday afternoon with soapy goodies from Bramble Berry's Soap Swap 2011. (see It's a S-W-A-P ! )

Apolok ( kiddo's petname for their beloved grandmummy ) was so excited and was the first to dig her hands into the packing peanuts to grope for the soaps ! haha ... we received 12 soaps from the pool of participating soap swappers ... let's see what we got !



Mr. Darcy Soap by Blushing Rose Handmade Soap



The first soapy goodie was a "Mr Darcy Soap". This is a goat's milk glycerin bar with a gorgeous soft creamy scent. It's a pity the name of fragrance oil used was not stated. 



Runner's Relief by The Paper Mermaid

This was THE scent that had me sniffing around the box when it first arrived :) I have not been able to run since I busted my knee-cap 20 years ago ... but I can't wait to run into the shower with this one !





Garden of Eden by Brooke LaFevre



Garden of Eden is my favourite from the entire lot. I so love the handpainted muslin bag ! I've yet to try soap-making the cold process method, mainly due to the lack of access to sodium hydroxide (lye) in Singapore; and I'm intrigued by the apple embedded in the soap ! ohh ... and ... mmm ... 'Red Apple' fragrance is yummilicious !

This 'apple of my eye' is now sitting proudly on Gege's shelf. Well, Gege is a jolly-good apple too ♥

Grass Stain Handmade Soap by mile high body care

This soap smells seriously of freshly cut grass ! ha ... wow for the 'Grass Stain' fragrance oil used. 

"I Love Flip Flops" by Christy's Creations

Did you know that Singaporeans LOVE their flip flops ? Seriously. We wear them everywhere :) I know that Apolok likes this piece of Raspberry 'n Violet glycerin soap ... how do I know that ? well, she was sniffing it deliriously ! LOL !! 



Fubble Bath is coming soon !

aawww ... when in need of a good drink ... SNIFF THIS ! I would consider using this 'Berrywine' fragrance in my soaps.

Passionfruit Rose glycerin soap by Soap and Suds

Island Coconut glyceirn soap by Soap and Suds

Buttercream and Snickerdoodle glycerin soap by Soap and Suds

I received 3 soaps from Soap and Suds :)  Lisa and Kim Burton are a mother and daughter team. So sweet !  These are good sized soaps, the pinkish one is scented with 'Passionfruit Rose' fragrance and the green one with 'Island Coconut'. I love the use of different textured materials in their packaging. The third one is scented with one of my favourite Bramble Berry fragrance oil - Buttercream and Snickerdoodle ! YUMMY !!

Inspired ♥ I promised Meimei ( she is all of 5+ ) that mummy will start teaching her how to make soaps during the coming school holidays ... looking forward !

Summer Splash By Nana's Artisan Soaps

If you are one of those who have a tough time getting up and ready in the morning, this could be your remedy. A truely wonderful blend of 'Rise and Shine' fragrance oil with Orange and Grapefruit essential oils.

Spring Time Shea Soap

Lovely pastel coloured shea butter glycerin soap with 'Grass & Lilac' fragrance oil. This piece of soap is really quite small -- nice things come in smaller sizes ! *giggle** There is no indication of the handcrafter or business name. Oops !

HaldeSoap by HaldeCraft

I ♥ dragonflies. Simple but elegant packaging; if only our weather in Singapore is not THAT humid. This beautiful goat's milk soap, scented with 'Kentish Rain' fragrance oil, almost soaked through the paper it was wrapped in. Hmm ... I wrapped my swap soaps in paper as well, I wonder how they are doing with their new owners ?

Okie dokie ... that's 12 ... but wait a moment ! Guess what surprise Meimei pulled out from the box ? She came to me with a package and said," there's a message for you mummy " ... and then her eyes went wide like a goldfish's LOL ! Thank you Amber ! Meimei insisted on taking her shower rite away ... with her new pet goldfish of course  *wink**

WAH ... this soap swap has truely been a learning experience. I am already thinking of the next one ... 



Things-on-a-Stick

As a kid, I loved things on sticks. Literally. Even better if they are yummilicious and I can gnaw and nibble off the sticks! haha ... so when I chanced upon cake pops several months back, the idea totally blew me mind away ! Ingenious !

Recently I became almost predictable. Everything and anything that I lay my hands on would result in Meimei asking, " Mummy ... are you thinking of making THAT in soap ?"

Well, I seriously think I have a thing for soaps on sticks !

... overflowing with ideas really ... made a few and showed them to my kiddos and the expression on their faces was priceless ! Gege is usually alittle more reserved with his compliments. Approval from this young man comes in the form of - "gee mummy ... can i eat them ?" ; whilst Meimei simply declares "I want them in my goodie bags on my birthday !"

Introducing my "Things-on-a-Stick" collection ...





lil Kitty-on-a-Stick -- handcrafted soap





pokeAball-on-a-Stick -- handcrafted soap


gee ... if only I can eat them ...

Cyber-Shot !

I am so blessed. I received an SMS one day (about 2 weeks ago.. i think) from my bf asking if I had a camera ? er ... yes ? the one that comes with my handy I replied in short message.

"Okie ... I'm gona give you a good one" bf texted. WAHHH ... so good leh ! My heart was fluttering ok!

A week later, bf popped by after work and presented me with THIS ...

YIPPEEE !!!!

F-I-N-A-L-L-Y I have a proper camera to take all my product shots. I am so touched ♥  *melts**

Thank you for your friendship, love, honesty ... thank you for your unwavering support - all these years. Thank you for not giving up on me when the rest of the world seemed to fade away. Thank you for being YOU and for accepting me for who I am.

I cannot say this any other way ... I love you BEST FRIEND !!!  XOXOXO

It's a S-W-A-P !

My soaps have just reached Bellingham, Washington as I am writing this post. SUPER EXCITING !

I am taking part in my very first soap swap ! Soap swaps are great opportunities to showcase our soapmaking skills and to savour soaps made by other soapmakers in the soapmaking community. There are some 140 Swappers this round and they are from different parts of the world ... a truely international experience !

To participate in the Bramble Berry Soap Swap, we were required to indicate via email whether we were submitting Melt and Pour or Cold Process soaps, as well as our choice of Bramble Berry fragrance oil used. We were to submit 12 pieces of soap per entry by 2 May 2011. Amber is in-charge of the swap this time and she is wonderful, keeping everyone updated on the progress and with reminders :)

I, of course, selected the Melt and Pour category and "Energy" fragrance oil was my choice with its stimulating blend of Grapefruit, Lemon, Lime; with hints of fresh Cucumber and Jasmine, and a touch of Pineapple, Blackberry and Champagne. I felt that it truely represented our tropical climate and the energizing buzz of a cosmopolitan city.

Well, my lil project didn't go as smoothly as I had anticipated and it was a sharp learning curve for me. I wanted my soaps to shout " S-I-N-G-A-P-O-R-E " ... and uniquely so.

I decided to make my own mold for this lil project and started work more than 2 weeks ago. All went well until it was time to unmold my soap. It was a total disaster ! Every piece of soap came out - warped ... smashed ... very badly scratched ... with parts broken off ... *sigh**

With only a week to go, I made yet another mold, only to yield the same dismaying results. Then, Mummy shared with me how her dad ( who was a well-known Shanghainese tailor in Singapore ) used to snip his form-fitting cheongsams all the way up the ladys' hips so that the ladys could move in them. A-HA ! idea leh !

I CUT UP my mold ! really ... I did just that so that I could release the soap from the mold and then I would painstakingly "tape" the mold up before pouring the next piece of soap. I was so determined to deliver this project that I worked round the clock literally - with one piece of cut up mold. I am LOONEY ! haha ...

But seriously, it was quite an experience. And this is my lil masterpiece ...

** IMPORTANT - these pieces of soap were made in participation of Bramble Berry Soap Swap and are not for sale.

Merlion Soap - left view

 

Merlion Soap - right view

Merlion Soap - details on lower portion, left view





Merlion Soap - details on lower portion, right view

 

Merlion Soap - details on the back

All packaged ... and ready to go !

 

Friday 29 April 2011, I was wrapping the last piece of soap and daddy was helping me to pack everything into the box when the Fedex van pulled up in front of our house at exactly 1400hrs. PHEW ! Made it in time to catch the night's flight ! As assured by Fedex, if all goes well without delay at customs, my parcel (a healthy 10 kg box) should reach Bramble Berry on 2 May 2011 by 1030hrs. *fingers crossed*

Now I've to remember to purchase "the return ticket" and I am looking forward to share with everyone the soapy goodies I would receive in exchange. Follow my blog lah !! *Grin**