More Handmade Soap

I thought I would try out a new recipe which uses all natural ingredients again. This time I made the basic cold pressed soap recipe used previously for goats milk and almond butter soap but omitting the almond butter, goats milk and the essential oils, instead I replaced those ingredients with wheatgerm oil, calendula petals (dried marigold petals) and orange essential oil and mixed all together.

Here are the ingredients for making a moisture rich soap.

Here's what it looked like after adding some of the petals and orange oil.
Smells yummy already!

What I've been doing.... Commissioned tiles and rustic plant markers



These large tiles are a commision for a fire place
that I am doing currently, they are nearly at firing stage
now, its been a long old wait as its been so damp lately and because
of their size they have to be dried really slowly and weighted
to stop them curling.



Smoothed and sanded. I am going to single fire these tiles in a long slow firing up to 1260c.The glaze I will be using is a
strong charcoal with verdigri tones and eats into the clay leaving a subtle raised surface pattern. (more photos to follow)

Here are some of the tools used:
wooden bats to help keep the tiles the same thickness
surface decorators and rollers
old indian printers block
various knives

Plant markers at leather hard stage, I am stacking them to keep
them nice and straight until the firing.




Weighting down at each end with surplus tiles to prevent curling.

 

A collection of stock wrapped with labels and raffia ready for dispatch.