Troubled Soap

Last October (Wow how time flies), I made 3 batches of soap.  With every soap batch, I always keep few pieces for myself or friends.  All my soaps are cured for at least a month then packed in shrink-wrap. Here are some photos back then, Herb Zen(top), Rose Goatmilk(right):

Since then these soaps have been sitting on my rack(shrink-wrapped) for over 6 months now.  Yesterday I had a peek inadvertently then shockingly found these ugly looking things on my soap.  See that white mildew around a tiny piece of petal.... I'm pretty sure they were not there while packaging.  The reason for mildew is from moisture which could be hiding in that little petal piece or actually evaporated from the soap? 

I've never had such problem with my other soaps.  I cut open the soap cause I had mixed rose petal in there and it looks normal.  Soap still smells great.  But I do notice the inner still has a bit moist.  Maybe the soap block is too thick and the moist did not completely evaporated before packaging.  After a while, the moist was released and hits wherever the mildew spore might left with the petal piece and vooola here comes the mildew.

Now here is another picture of my Herb Zen Soap.  I did have soap dust on top of the soap slab (did not spray any rubbing alcohol after pouring to mold) and wiped them off before being packaged.  After 6 months I got these things on my soap bar:

Close Up picture:

Definitely a "low" moment of soap-making :(  
Good part is that these soaps still smell wonderful & lather as they should be, despite the tiny imperfection !!

New Batch of Swirled Ebony & Ivory (E&B)

Getting lazy or getting easy?  swirl soap in my new silicon mold....

White base soap

Swirl in the mold

2 days later

Beauty of making soap, I'd say waiting, enjoy watching & smelling everyday when they are on the curing rack....

An honor to be included

 

This made a perfect ending of the day for one of my items to be included in a such DELICIOUS party!!

My Berry Merry Lady Pie Soap

A residential project done!!

Almost 3 months, I was so occupied by a house project for a friend.  Am happy it's almost done by now and I can come back to my aroma-living dream.  This is a pretty custom project that a lot of trendy design & varied material were applied.

Hi Table, 45" Square by 36" Counter Height-bold looking with 3" build-up edge & 3" square leg.  It's finished with WilsonArt laminate black with wood texture. 

 

Close-up picture of table top.  With a 8"W boarder, diagonal jointed laminate.

 

A custom Mobile Tea Cart to match the bold fashion Hi Table, next to TV area. 

TV Backdrop & wall-mount cabinet below.  TV backdrop is 3-Form resin panel (Green Recycle material, 2 layer double decker) with real flower sandwiched to show the beauty of nature.  Framed with Black metal channel & square silver stand-offs.

 

 An oversized China Cabinet (10'x9'H)-Granite cabinet top. Upper cabinet with 1/4"thick tempered glass door(polished edges all around), heavy-duty hinges,  stainless steel door & drawer pulls.  Heavy-duty drawer slides to accommodate heavy table serving ware.

Custom Dining Table, oversized 69"D.  Again, a bold looking table with 3" build-up edge & 3"Thick custom shape base.

Close-up of the granite Lazy Susan-flushed to table top, with supper heavy duty swivel (850 Lbs capacity) to support the granite Lazy-Susan.

6' W Custom Shoe Organizer, high pressure laminate finish.  Genuine leather padded seat.

Upper drawer of shoe organizer-with adjustable dividers.

Garage cabinet.

Due to a limited space, the garage base cabinet is designed with bi-fold sliding door LeCassa mechanism which only takes 8" with doors opening. 

An oversized 8'Wx7'H Sliding Door(to divide two rooms) with glass insert(custom sand-blasted deco of Buddhist prayer) by a local artist.

Glass window insert with world map(custom sand-blasted glass).

Sliding door from master bedroom to master bathroom.  Again sand-blasted pattern assigned by owner, CRL Metal hanging mechanism.

Shower enclosure with sand-blasted pattern.

A 4-wall wrap-around walk-In cabinet.  A mono-color design yet fancy with its material combination.  Upper cabinet will have doors with genuine leather insert(white).

A display stand for owner's special collection.

There are few more items in this project for this month...... then I'm free!!

Moth Repellent Cake

A friend of mine, who just moved into their new house, asks me to make something for her closet, same function as a mothball would repel moth & insect.

The idea is to avoid the moth balls sold in the store that contains chemical, toxic & are potential carcinogens. 

To have something made of all natural ingredients but lasts, I use stearic acid, bee wax and essential oil blend of cedar wood, lavender, rosemary & peppermint.  To avoid a bored & maybe too strong to the nose, I mixed essential oils instead of only cedar wood and it came out good.  Packed in organza for hanging..... satisfied :)