Dancing Leaves

I wasn't sure if I would get this in on time this month.  I had carpal tunnel surgery a week ago, and although I got the soap made before surgery, I was resigned to the fact that the carving would not get done.  However, with a week of inactivity, I found that fine motor movements did not hurt my hands.  So, with no restrictions from the doctor, I began on the journey of creating my intaglio soap and participate in this month's Soap Challenge Club by Great Cakes Soapworks.

I am planning for fall, needing to get everything made before the surgery, so of course the theme ended up being fall leaves.  This soap is scented with a combination of fig and cedar.   I poured the bottom of the soap in fall colors, tried to create a bright backdrop for the purple top, but it didn't really pan out exactly as planned.  As I carved it, I wished it had greater contrast. The purple top layer was about 1/8-1/4".  Could have been a little shallower, but it worked.

I found an image of all over leaves the right size for the project, placed it over the soap and traced the image hard enough so that there was an imprint on the top of the soap.  I then proceeded to carve, creating new kinds of leaves as I went.  It was fun to play with the various carving tools and discovering new shapes and designs.

I was afraid that the design would be harmed by the cutting, but the soap was still soft enough that it cut beautifully.  Otherwise, I'm sure I would not have made the deadline, as I was cutting these bars half an hour before it was due :) 

I'm really pleased with the way these soaps turned out.  In reality, after they were cut, the contrast was a lot better than I originally thought.  A lot of work for twenty bars of soap, but I really couldn't do any other soap related duties this week, so YAY! for trying something new!