Soap like Food -- #3 Macarons !

I have had a love affair with Macarons for several years now. Ok, I am biased. I only crave for the ones from ET Artisan Sweets. They are THE BEST! The first time I tasted one of their G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S macarons during my dear friend's wedding back in September 2011, I was so inspired and soaped out some awesome soapy macarons! You can read all about it in this blog post - Merry Macarons ! These Macaron Soaps became one of my best sellers over the last few years.

I went to 'Macaron Heaven' when I attended a lil princess's 1st month celebration last month and I received this!!

Yummy goodies from ET Artisan Sweets! 

Oh-Macaron-Goodiness! This is what I soaped up for this week's Soap like Food!

Handpainted Mandarin Orange Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Mandarin Orange Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Valentine Heart Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Valentine Heart Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Rose Macaron Soaps

Handpainted Rose Macaron Soaps

Fancy some Macarons without the calories? These limited edition Macaron Soaps will be available soon at www.holyrosehandmade.com ! 

Soap like Food -- #2 Kueh Belanda aka Loveletters !

The Lunar Chinese New Year is just round the corner! All the shopping malls are dressed up in CNY decorations and shelves are overflowing with CNY goodies. Last week's Soap like Food! featured one of my favourite CNY pastries, the Pineapple Tart. The hokkien word for Pineapple sounds like the word for prosperity and this tart is thus considered auspicious to eat during Chinese New Year! Read about Soap like Food! #1 Pineapple Tart ! 

The traditional wafer thin Nonya biscuit known as Kueh Belanda aka Loveletters is another 'must-have' during this festive period. The Peranakan Chinese make these kuehs using molds that are etched with animal motifs such as fish and roosters that are considered to be auspicious and decorative.

Making Kueh Belanda is not for the fainthearted! It is very hard and hot work especially when rolling the fragile coconut flavoured biscuits into thin "cigar" rolls. My Loveletter soaps were made in a rather hot and fiddly fashion too. Both my palms were red and quite swollen after that!

Handmade Loveletter Soaps

Pineapple Tart & Loveletter Soaps

Online Soap Shop

It all started sometime in 2009 when I was faced with a dilemma -- to continue pursuing my career or to be a WAHM (work-at-home-mum) and the best mother I can be. I chose the latter.

I struggled to be both mum and dad to 2 very precious persons and to subsist on a meagre income. Some people got upset with my loss of financial income. Some turned abusive. In June 2011, I hit rock bottom.

Now when I look back, I dare say that rock bottom was good. It peeled away toxic people in my life and forced me to find ME again. Rock bottom showed me the few people who truly cared for me and that was enough. I found my yoga in soaping. It was therapeutic. Healing.

Last December, I launched my online shop www.holyrosehandmade.com. Due to my hectic schedule then, I only managed to make a quick announcement on Facebook. Setting up this online shop was a big step for me. I finally feel that I am ready to take my passion to the next level and to put a face to my business.

I want to thank everyone for your support through the last 5 years, for allowing me to share my passion with you. Thank you for your business! It is affirmation that my persistance to follow my heart has paid off. Most importantly, I am grateful to the beautiful angels for stubbornly refusing to pity me when I was lost, for believing in me and allowing me the time I needed to heal.

I have so many plans for 2015 and I can hardly contain my excitement! Please visit my online soap shop www.holyrosehandmade.com  and tell your friends and loved ones about it too! I hope to bring you much soapy joy and bubblicious love in this new year.

xoxo ... holyrose


P.S. I know I know... my name is out-of-this-world-unusual. My mum is the only person who can answer all your questions about it. Go ask her! ;)

Soap like Food -- #1 Pineapple Tart !

Singaporeans are most passionate about our food. I must admit that I get a lot of my inspiration from food. One of my resolutions for 2015 is to SOAP MORE. As Singapore is celebrating her 50th birthday this year (Golden Jubilee!), I decided to embark on my own soapy celebration project -- Soap like Food!

Soap like Food! will feature 52 soapalicious 'food-like' soaps, one for each week of the year. These soaps will resemble food that I love and are the result of my many hours of day-dreaming about soap. Ha!

One of my favourite bite-sized pastry is the Nonya Pineapple Tart, also known as Kueh Tair. These tarts are a must-have in most households during Chinese New Year in Singapore. Buttery and fragrant melt-in-the-mouth tarts with generous portions of slightly tangy pineapple jam...MMMMmmmmm

Baking pineapple tarts is a very laborious affair that requires lots of time and patience. Thankfully, soapy ones are easier to make ;)

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soaps

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soaps

Handmade Pineapple Tart Soap

Time to visit my favourite bakery for some authentic pineapple tarts! See ya next Thursday :)

Happy New Year !

Fireworks @ Punggol

Wow ... 2014 sped past me and I have landed in 2015 with a whoosh! Kiddos and I were invited to join a group of lovely friends on New Year's Eve -- our very first countdown party!! It was amazing to watch the fireworks blast off from several metres in front of us.

We were giddy with delight when we got to meet Kym Ng, a popular local celebrity. My kiddos were pretty star-struck when Kym, who is well-known for her bubbly nature and her ability to connect with her audience, gushed how cute MeiMei was! And Gege was all shy when she exclaimed "Wah! You very handsome hor!" Ha!

Kym Ng, MeiMei, Myself & Gege

We had an awesome time. Thank you P for the invitation!

I am all pumped up and have many plans for 2015. This is gonna be an awesome year. A big thank you to each and every one of you who have supported me throughout the years, good friends who have stayed by my side during my darkest moments. I am very blessed indeed.

May this new year bring you Joy, Love and Happiness!

XOXO ... holyrose

2014 Soap Challenge ! -- Spoon/Chopstick Swirl

It has been more than a year since I participated in an official soap challenge. When Amy Warden of Great Cakes Soapworks announced the Spoon/Chopstick Swirl for her December Challenge Club, I knew that this technique would be perfect for my holiday themed soap! 

I started off by making some soap toppers. Using a leaf piping tip, I piped soapy holly leaves. Initially I was a little disappointed when the olive green colour morphed to a pale green; but they looked quite pretty with the small soap balls that I had rolled and tossed in red mica. 

Handpiped Soapy Holly Leaves

I decided to do the spoon swirl with a drop swirl in 3 different colours -- Red, Green and White. My choice of fragrance for this soap was Cranberry Fig from Bramble Berry. I apologise for not having "in-the-process" photographs to share with you as I was so focused on working fast and have forgotten to pick up the camera (AGAIN). I really should consider making a video the next time.

The soap frosting was piped on using a separate batch of soap. I used a disposable piping bag and  simply snipped off the end instead of using a piping tip. Sprinkled some fairy dust and popped on the soapy Christmas decorations!

and YES! There is a little surprise in the soap!

I love how my "Wishing Star" soap turned out. Thank you Amy for this wonderful tutorial! 

Soapy Alphabet Challenge!

 Sometime last month, I was asked to create a very special gift for a wonderful lady. 

This lady had visited the 2012 Singapore Garden Festival and she left her contact number with a fellow vendor after seeing my soapy creations. I gave her a courtesy call several days later and the rest was history. 

As an artist, it is an awesome feeling when someone truely appreciates your craft and passion. As Lady Captain of Seletar Country Club, she gave me numerous opportunities to share my passion with her peers. For this, I am always grateful.

So, when I received the call from C, I felt honoured that these lovely ladies had thought of me when sourcing a gift for their dear Lady Captain. C told me that they wanted to present their Lady Captain with my soaps, sculpted in the alphabets of her name. I could not say no to this soapy challenge!

This was my sketch of the soaps that I had sent for approval ...

TADAH!! These made me really happy ... they turned out exactly the way I had visualised!

Handcrafted Soap Alphabets