leopard spot technique | Blossom & Twig

Give up! No, not really. Well, maybe sometimes. But not on this.

You see, I’ve been participating in Amy Warden’s soap challenges (she’s the soapmaker at Great Cakes Soapworks). A few months ago, she challenged us with several new techniques. They were so popular she’s launched a new series of challenges, this time with a significant prize for the winner of each challenge. But that’s another story.

Anyway, one of the earlier challenges was to create a soap using the Leopard Spot technique. If it was done correctly, the cut bars would reveal colorful spots with smaller spots of a contrasting color at their centers. You know, like the spots on a leopard’s fur (naturally). And some truly amazing soaps were submitted for the challenge. Alas, mine was not one of them. In fact, it was such an epic fail I didn’t even submit it!

My idea was to create a soap inspired by poppy flowers: a beautiful red-orange “spot” with a black center. I planned that soap so carefully, even experimenting with combinations of micas and oxides to get a nice red-orange. The bottom third of the soap was to be green (the “field”), with a soft brown mica line separating it from the pale yellow soap above (the “sunshine”). The poppies were to be scattered throughout the yellow portion. And the top of the soap would be sprinkled with — what else? — poppy seeds. But something went terribly wrong in spite of my careful planning. I think I resized the recipe for a different mold than the one I actually used, because the soap was only half as tall as it should have been. And the poppies, instead of being spots, were long thin lines. So I reworked my recipe on my Soapmaker 3 software, printed it out, and back to the workshop I went.

Only something went wrong. Again. Did I print out a copy of the first recipe by mistake? Did I resize it for the wrong mold again? Am I crazy? Because the second batch turned out exactly the same: half as tall as it should be. And even though I had increased the amount of red-orange batter for the poppies, I still ended up with thin lines. Damn! So I fumed about it for a week or more, and had more or less decided to give up gracefully.

But here’s the thing: I hate to admit defeat. There’s a stubborn streak in me, inherited from my Dad’s side of the family, no doubt. So about a month later, I reworked my recipe (including a change from starlight green mica to golden green), printed it, and then double-checked it for accuracy (duh). And this time – success! It’s the correct size, and there are actually some reddish spots with black centers. There are still some thin lines, too – but hey – there are spots! And the green is much prettier.

So without further ado, I give you Bad Poppies and Good Poppies!

And here’s a better look at Good Poppies, which has now been renamed Field of Dreams. It’s still far from perfect, but it’s such a huge improvement that I can’t help but be happy. The criss-cross pattern on top makes me smile, too. And it will be available in my Etsy shop at the end of July.