Great Cakes Soapworks Soap Challenge - Mantra Swirl

Great Cakes Soapworks hosts soaping challenges that I thought would be fun to join. Last month was the peacock swirl...which I really wanted to learn but couldn't join that challenge as it ran when our son was coming home from Afghanistan and I didn't want to commit and get caught up in his homecoming and not follow through.

Now this months challenge is the Mantra Swirl. I tried this technique years ago, but thought eh, it came out alright but no where near the beauty of the artist I saw do it in the Saponifier magazine...well come to find out you must cut these loafs a different way in order to achieve the final look...so this is a perfect chance to give this another go.

First step is to pick a slow moving scent. My original thought was our very popular Arizona Sunshine, but I wanted a more dramatic color choice so I was going to change scents to use charcoal for black colorant and white with a complimentary  color....then I read Oil & Butters attempt...whose soap came out gorgeous, but she mentioned the charcoal will thicken the soap batter and I figured I best go back to my first thought as I need all the help I can get...next up...line my mold and make a cardboard divider...

I am ready to soap, I have my cooled lye... the "sun" (yellow)... an empty container for the "clouds" (uncolored soap)...and the blue "sky" will go into the original soap pot... 

All 3 batters are traced and ready to pour in...

I poured on each side of the divider and then removed the divider...

I poured the white down the center...OK... I tried to pour down the center, obviously I don't pour very straight lol...

Then I took the handle of the spoon and made an S swirling motion down the center of the soap...I wish I had used a skinny skewer over the larger spoon handle...but maybe it will still end well....into the oven it goes to gel...

The next day this is what we have after unmolding...

Now here comes the technical part...to cut it correctly. Instead of cutting bars I am cutting them wider to have these large chunky bars...

So I have my bars all cut...now to cut them in half through the middle....wait for it...I have faith this is going to work....

TADA!!!! Do you hear the angelic harp music?? I do...I love that after all these years soap making I still get a giggle when something cool happens.

What do you think? I Love it!! Of course there are things I would change...like remembering to "burp" the stick blender after putting back in the soap batter to not have the air bubbles I got...but that is a small esthetic change. Maybe I would do a stronger contrast color down the center to make it pop? But all in all I love it and I loved the challenge!!

Now who wants to win a mini version of these beauties? The last cut came out smaller than intended so I have 4 small bars to give away.

Enter below (US only) and I will send one mini bar of soap to 4 lucky people.

http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/cfd0e22/