SOAPing

Haven't you tried to make handmade soap yet? It is not necessary to make a soap using different chemicals you have a chance to make gorgeous soap using ready product and your fantasy!

All you need:

• Soap - one piece (try to find not very odorant one. I prefer Nivea soft or Dove )
• Hot liquid - approximately two thirds of the glass (milk, for example)
• Vegetable oil - two tablespoons (I prefer sea-buckthorn or olive oil)
• Grater
• Moulds
• Two pots, one bigger than another to make a water bath
• Tablespoon

!!! Never use houseware for cooking after you made soap in it. It is better to buy seperate ones (only small pot, tablespoon and garter touches with the soap)


+ optional

• essences
• oatmeal/ coffee-grounds/ chocolate/ coconut shavings/ anything you wish to make your soap really unique

There sure will be another post on ingredients and recipes, but now let's start making the soap!

1. get prepaired

Take away all the food from the table in the kitchen. Grate the soap (if its possible, do it outside not to breah into the soapdust). Prepair some moulds (sand pie moulds/ food and drink packs - anything plastic with not very thick sides)

Grated Soap

2. Boil the water in the bigger pot. Turn the fire to the minimum after it started to bubble.

3. Pour the oil in the smaller pot and put it in the boiling water on a water bath.

Hot Soap Mass

4. After a few minutes put the grated soap and the warm milk in the pot. Now you have to be patient and keep on kneading this mass until no flakes are left. The soap have to be like pancake dough, speaking about consistence. (this process takes 10-30 minutes)



5. When the soap is ready you can add something interesting - coffee-grounds or oatmeal for scrub-soap, rose petals or few drops of essence for rich aroma...


6. Now it's time to fill the moulds with this aromatic soap-mass

7. The most difficult thing. now you have to put all these away (somewhere on windowsill) and leave for at least one week! If you have big pieces of soap you can take them out of the moulds after 2-3 days and cut into pieces at once. But don't try to pack up your fresh soaps untill you are sure all the excess moisture is vaporized.

Here it is!
The result is now here. Meanwhile, you can see my previous run - Tender Oatmeal Sponge (with recipe).
Good Luck in soapmaking,
Aliska Skazka

Domestic Ladybird

Domestic Ladybird master-class is here for you. Are you ready?

Let's take red and black felt, soapy water and a felting needle. Yeah, now we'll use both techniques - wet and dry. It's quite a simple and pleasant work. To start with we have to make ladybird's body using wet felting technique

STEP 1


Start making a sphere, like I showed you in the previous master-class It is easy to transform a sphere into a bug's body shape - just roll the felt between your palms about a minute and then rub it against a table or smth plain. Yeah, it will not be as dense as those felted beads were, but it's ok.

STEP 2


It's better to continue this work after the body is dried. Now we have to form little circles using black felt. Take one and put onto the ladybird's body. And now let's try to work with the felting needle. Stick it deep into the l's body through the black circle. Up and down, up and down... And so on till you understand that the circle is bound to the red felt. On the photo you can see the jaggies on the needle - they entangle red and bleck felt, and they become a comprehensive whole.

STEP 3


When the ladybird has her spots it's time to make a black head and a line to separate her wings.



And at last I have a pet. Who knows maybe my domestic ladybird will become a cosy brooch, a toy or just cosy decor element. Isn't she sweet?

See you,
Aliska Skazka

Trendy Felting Master Class

Peerless, comfy and trendy material - felt. It's even more than material, it's real wizardry.That's why today I'm gonna show you how to make the most simple felt accessories. Let's get prepared! We will need felt (coloured wool), boiling water, liquid soap (or your favourite shower gel) and a clever pair of hands. What about making felt beads? They are nice for making earrings, bracelets, brooches and many other things!

STEP 1

Take the wool and start tearing off little pieces, like those two fingers on the upper photo. You will need many pieces, it depends on the size of your bead.

STEP 2


When you think it's enough of material for your bead, put wool pieces together and form a sphere. Add a big drop of a shower gel on the top of it and pour some boiled water (there is no tequila in the glass, unfortunately). Be careful, if it is too hot don't touch the wet felt for a while.

STEP 3

And now it is time for the most important part - keep this sphere between your palms and start rolling it. It is very easy, just remember how you made balls from the plasticine, or from dough. The technique is the same. What's important - don't hurry and be gentle, especially in the beggining, when the wool is very wet and aerial.

How long does it take to make one bead? I measure it by VH1 Classic songs. And my felting speed is one bead per song.

Here you can see the felt transformation so-called "before & after". Now you can see how many felt is needed for one bead. Remember that it also depends on the quality of the wool and master's hands.

STEP 4 (The Creativiest One)

Now it's time to switch on your fantasy and use felt beads to create something useful and beautiful. Here you can see AliskaSkazka's heartmade earrings. Now it's time for you to try this pleasant and quite easy technique!