Landscape Soap

I saw this idea on the soap challenge at Great Cakes Soapworks blog. I didn't have time to participate because of school and all those pesky things teachers do at the end of the year, but I saved the ideas for later. I loved the idea of a landscape soap and I really wanted to try one.

I decided to make my Twilight Seduction soap a landscape soap. I wanted it to look like twilight over water. So, I studied lots of pictures of twilight, which isn't easy because most of what came up on the first search involved Edward and Bella. Not helpful! But, I finally found some pictures that I loved.

I decided that for my first try, I would use fewer colors than are generally associated with sunsets. I wanted the moon high in the sky, but when I made the batch for my moon, I didn't think about the fact that the sun is still present. Oh well, I'll do that next time. My fragrance is a blend of vanilla and mint. I didn't want the vanilla to discolor the entire soap, so I only used vanilla half of the soap. So, here are the steps I took for my masterpiece.

1. Make soap. This step is critical.
2. Divide soap in half. Scent half that will make up the water with a vanilla blend, add shredded soap to look like reflections, and color with a mix of ultramarine blue, violet, and black oxide (more next time.) Pout into bottom of mold.

 

3. Scent other half of soap with mint eo blend. Divide this into three equalish portions in plastic cups. Color one yellow (use brighter yellow next time). Spoon carefully on top of water. I liked this because it didn't break the other layer and added texture.

 4. Color other portion pink/orange (brighter next time). Spoon over yellow.

 5. Add white thin soap log that you spent a lot of time trying to make into a nice circle. Next time, don't let the embed soap sit so long. It was hard to make round.

 6. Color the last bit of soap blue, violet, and black (darker next time, but not as dark as the water). Cover pink layer and that pesky moon. Don't smooth it out. It looks nice like that.

 7. Wrap up nicely for gel or not as you prefer. Clean up the mess you made.

 8. Pull out of mold and admire. Then cut.

 9. Don't fret about sad looking water layer. The vanilla will make it darker. A lot darker I hope.

 10. Celebrate the discoloring power of vanilla, for once:)

Notes for next time:

1. Make the moon round, not oval.
2. Make the water darker. 
3. Add a setting sun.
4. Make the colors brighter
5. Make less of a mess

Have you ever made a landscape soap? If so, do you have any tips?