Sunday, 29 June 2014

A Day at the Beach (or how I take my soap on a field trip)

It's officially summer! Fortunately it doesn't get too hot here, but even more fortunate is that I've been in the office by myself so even if I am a little sweaty after my walks at lunch, there's no one there to smell me. :D

Last week, a dear friend came for a visit and gave me a present, a very a propos for this time of year: sand dollar mould! I know Cee made some sand dollar soaps a while back (I wasn't copying, honest!) and I hope mine turned out half as nice as hers.

I used some left over light blue clear soap with glitter for the star, and for the rest of it, I used a white based soap and put in a bit of brown to colour it lightly. For the scent, I had been making some soap with litsea EO and so rather than washing out the bowl I'd been using, I just melted the white base in the same bowl and added some Energy FO as well. I think it smells divine!

As always, I took photos of the finished soap in the photo box, but for a change of pace, and because I am close enough right now to the beach, I thought it'd be a nice change of pace to do some outdoor shots.




Hope you're enjoying your summer!


14 comments:

  1. It's gorgeous! I think the second and third pics really shows it looking like a real sand dollar. Lovely!

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    1. Aww, thanks Teresa! I can see why people like to photograph with natural lighting but it doesn't always work that you have a nice day when you take your photos. Unless you live in Hawaii. ;)

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  2. Looks gorgeous, but I dont know what a sand dollar is? I think the setting is great as they look like star fish

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    1. Thanks Veronica! I just googled it and they're also known as sea biscuits or sea cookies. Well that's what the internet tells me anyway and I believe everything I read on line. :P

      you're right though, they are a relative of a star fish which would explain the family look. :)

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  3. I love it! It's so cute and fun. Love the pics too. :)

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    1. Thanks Silvia! Yeah it's a great mould. My friend who got it for me said she figures it's a very female thing to have seashells and such on the back of toilets in the guest bath.

      I enjoyed having a good excuse to spend some time down at the beach. :)

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  4. You're sooooo fun! Alone at the office? So, you can do whaever you feel like, singing, taking your shirt off, take a shower.....,lol!
    I also didn't know what 'sand dollar' was, but, as usual, Google was a great help. What the heck dollar has to do with those little sea creatures?
    However, your soap looks exactly like the real sand dollar and having placed it into its real living ambience, it could be easily mixed with the living ones! Great job, Monica!

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    1. You're hilarious Maja! I'd scare the neighbours if I took off my shirt and tried to shower in the little bathroom sink. :D

      Google is great for looking up all sorts of things. I'm guessing at some point some country somewhere had really big coins? Or it was easier to call it a dollar than giant circular thing with an interesting pattern on it.

      That's such a nice compliment! I think when you can make a soap that blend into the environment its in, that is a major accomplishment.

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  5. It's so beautiful and nicely done, Monica! The pictures are great, too!

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    1. Thank you Nat! This was a nice soap to make because it fits in so well with this time of year.

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  6. Isn't it such a great mold? I love the way your soap turned out, and I love, love, love the beach pics! How lucky are we to live so close to the ocean?!

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    1. It's super adorable Cee! I'm so happy to be working close to a beach again vs. in the middle of downtown where you can maybe see mountains and ocean if you hang out of the 35th floor window while hanging by your toenails.

      I'd imagine you're a lot closer to the ocean where you live. :)

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  7. Oh, how pretty! I love the cute little starfish. It's nice that you were able to take some beachy outdoor shots of your sand dollar soap. It's perfect for summer!

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    1. I'm so glad the weather's been holding up Jenny, it does make for much nicer pictures this way. The mould is great fun and allows for so many different colour combinations.

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