Our guest teacher for the November challenge was Leila Hazou of Mad Soaper.  She gave us a wonderful tutorial with tips and tricks for creating beautiful mosaic soaps.  The design pieces could come from previously made soaps or soap dough or from soaps that were created specifically for the challenge.  The feedback from members was that it was easier to work with fresh soap, but the option to make something new from older soaps was also appealing!

We had three categories again this month: beginner, experienced and the non-competitive bonus category.  Leyla Van Melle of Soap Fanatics (affiliate link) stepped forward as a new sponsor.  She has created an online course to help soapmakers market their soaps on social media, and has offered the following coupon code for anyone who would like to get 20% off: soapchallengeclub.  Additionally, she is giving prizes to the top three voted winners in the beginner and experienced categories, plus Sponsor’s Choice winners in all three (including the bonus category).

Anyone who has been making soap for more than a year and has made more than 50 batches had to add their submission to the experienced category.  (Beginners could choose to enter the experienced category instead if they wished.)  For this category, members had to create a pre-planned mosaic soap from an inspiration photo, and the batch had to produce eight or more full-sized bars. They could use one or more colors for the background soap between the mosaic pieces.  Would you like to see the winners in the experienced category?  Silly question, I know!

Grand prize goes to Tatiana Yaksick of Sud Scents in California for her gorgeous mosaic soap featuring a tree with fall leaves:

Blushing by Sud Scents

I love how Tatiana used different background colors to highlight different areas of her soap.  Her prize from Soap Fanatics is full access to all modules of the online marketing course!  Congratulations!!  The photo of Tatiana’s soap is linked to her Instagram post where you can see her inspiration photo and more photos of her process.

Second place goes to Whitney Schneider of Cheeky Goat Soapery in Florida!!  She was inspired to create a soap with cardinals to honor the loved ones she has lost since they are known as “visitors from heaven.”  The cardinals are made from soap dough, and the birch tree trunks were created from fresh soap made for this challenge:

Whitney also took advantage of two-toned background colors to add a bit of depth.  She wins a $35 voucher to be used toward the Soap Fanatics online course – hooray!  Get the full scoop on how Whitney made this soap, along with video links and her inspiration photo by clicking on the photo above.

Third place goes to Jana Sůvová Dolejšová in the Czech Republic!  She recreated a fantastic piece of artwork called “Picasso by Nora” using fresh soap and soap dough especially for this project:

Picasso by Nora by Jana Sůvová Dolejšová

Jana’s soap is a most excellent replica!  She wins a $25 voucher from Soap Fanatics for her efforts.  Check out her Facebook post with the inspiration photo, pictures of her progress, and information about where to find a video as well by clicking on her entry photo!

Leyla had a hard time just choosing one Sponsor’s Choice award in the experienced category, so she decided to have two!!  Congratulations to Amy Bautista of Elysian Acres Soap in Colorado and Yumi Mori in Japan!  Amy’s soap is also a replica of a piece of artwork, but it is one that her granny painted:

My Granny’s Painting by Elysian Acres Soap

Leyla’s response to seeing this soap: “Amy, your mosaic soap art made me emotional! Your grandmother’s painting is a great piece, and you totally did it justice. I’m impressed by all the extra shades you created to perfect the overlapping circles. Well done!”  Click on the photo to see Amy’s Instagram post with more information about this soap – including a photo of her granny’s artwork!

Yumi Mori created a Moroccan Tile styled soap for her entry.  Leyla was impressed with her soap as well: “Wow! Just wow! It was simply impossible to ignore Yumi’s hard work for her mosaic soaps, inspired by Moroccan tiles. I love the mold you created with a 3D printer and how you’ve documented your process, allowing others to learn as well. Also, I have a huge weakness for Moroccan tiles and the results are SPOT ON. I love it!”

Moroccan Tiles by Yumi Mori

As Sponsor’s Choice winners, both Amy and Yumi receive full access to the Soap Fanatics online marketing course!  Be sure to click on the photo of Yumi’s soap so you can see all the wonderful information and inspiration on her blog post.

Next, I have chosen several entries to receive Recognition Awards in the Experienced Category.  Choosing Best Technique was especially difficult as there were so many who did an amazing job on their soaps!  I have selected Katharina Hutterer in Germany to receive this award for several reasons.  First, I appreciate the many small fragments of soap that she pieced together to create such a well-designed mosaic with nuances of color and shading.  The segments are tight-fitting and well-placed.  Also, while it wasn’t a requirement to replicate one’s inspiration piece exactly, I found that Katharina’s version of her inspiration was quite incredible!

Zinnia elegans by Katharina Hutterer

Katharina has expressed her new-found love for this technique on her Instagram post about her soap, and you might find other mosaic soaps on her feed by clicking on the photo of her soap.  

For the Best Presentation Award I am very excited to give Angelique Heiligers in Switzerland the honors!  Angelique is a long-time member of the Club, and I have seen such an improvement in her presentation and photography skills!  I love that she took a different angle to her soaps that shows off both the tops and sides of her bars.  The lighting and focus are both excellent.  You can see that she has taken great care in cleaning up the bars so that they are the same size and fit together perfectly:

Moorish Mosaic by Angelique Heiligers

Be sure to click on the photo to see even more dramatic shots of Angelique’s soap on her Instagram post!

The Best Use of Color award was also a tricky one to select!  The nature of the mosaic challenge left color and design choices wide open and I was so impressed with the results.  Ultimately, I have decided to give this award to Pamela Johnson in Washington State for her Tumble Blocks design that relies completely on color to create the 3D effect in her design:

Tumble Blocks by Pamela Johnson

The great part about Pamela’s colorful soap is that her inspiration is actually a quilt with simple black and white fabric patterns.  Click on the photo for more information about her soap and to see her inspiration on her Facebook post!

Time to announce winners from the beginner category!  Only those who have been making soap for less than a year or less than 50 batches could enter this one.  They did not have to create a pre-planned design, work from an inspiration photo, or create more than 4 soaps from their batch.

The grand prize winner in this category is Michele Barbalet in the US!  Michele’s version of Van Gogh’s Starry Night painting translated beautifully into her mosaic design.  The colors and pieces are quite evident of this famous work:

Starry Night Soap by Michele Barbalet

Michele has done such a great job on her third challenge ever!  She wins full access to the Soap Fanatics online marketing course!  The photo is linked to her Instagram post about her soap where you’ll find more of her process.

In second place we have Sabina Allegretti in Italy who has also replicated a famous painting in the style of Mondrian!  The precision of her work is truly amazing, which is why I had to also give her the Best Technique award.  Sabina says, “The geometric shapes and colours create a balance. Each rectangle, if cut correctly, forms the picture as a whole without having almost any waste.”

Mondrian’s style by Sabina Allegretti

Sabina wins a $35 voucher toward the online marketing course!  For more information about this incredible soap, just click on the photo above to see her Instagram post.

Third place goes to Emily Milbauer in Colorado for her Fall Leaves inspired soap!  The colors and precision of her design are also impressive.  I love that she has used subtle swirls to enhance the look:

Fall Leaves by Emily Milbauer

Emily’s prize is a $25 voucher from Soap Fanatics!  The photo is linked to her Instagram post if you’d like to see more photos of her process as well as another soap she made for the challenge.

The Sponsor’s Choice award in the beginner category goes to Sayani Biswas in Texas for her soap: Lighthouse by the Sea.  Leyla says, “I had to double check if I wasn’t looking at the experienced section, that’s how much I loved this soap! It reminds me of vintage children’s books. I love the simplicity and playfulness, great use of shapes!!”

Lighthouse by the Sea by Sayani Biswas

Sayani enjoyed bringing her idea for a stained glass lighthouse soap to life.  She wins full access to the online marketing course!  Click on the photo if you’d like to check out her Instagram post with more information about her soap.

And now, the rest of the Recognition Awards are next.  Best Presentation goes to Amanda Ayre in Australia for the beautiful photo of her Northern Lights soap!  She did an excellent job arranging the soaps in an interesting stack, allowing for plenty of light and white space around the soaps.  They are beautifully beveled as well:

Northern Lights by Amanda Ayre

The photo is linked to Amanda’s Instagram post if you’d like to see her process and more information about what inspired her to make this soap.

The Best Use of Color award goes to Rachel Turner in North Carolina for her amazing Sunny Days mosaic soap!  I loved that she used so many different colors for her mosaic pieces, and the majority are actually single colors.  Rachel relied on the shape and placement of those bold colors to create her design, and the black background soap just makes them pop even more:

Sunny Days by Rachel Turner (photo not linked)

Finally, for the bonus category, the Sponsor’s Choice award goes to Wan-Ting Gonzalez in California for her Retro Beach soap!  Leyla says, “I love how Wan-Ting used various patterns and created a bright, cheerful composition.”  It truly is a unique and beautiful soap with the mustard yellow background color:

Retro Beach by Wan-Ting Gonzalez

Wan-Ting is another recipient of full access to the Soap Fanatics course!  Click on the photo to see her post on Instagram with more information as well as her inspiration photo!

The rest of the entries for the Experienced, Beginner, and Bonus categories are at the bottom of this post!

We are taking a week off to celebrate Thanksgiving in the U.S. Registration for the December challenge will open on Monday, November 30th.  We will be doing lollipop swirls, with categories for beginner and experienced, as well as the noncompetitive bonus category once again.  This technique was created by Mater Sam last June, and she is excited to see the beautiful designs that you will produce for the challenge!  Here is the soap I made for the video tutorial, and I have lots of ideas and tips for you to make your own lollipop swirl soaps:

Lollipop Swirl by Amy Warden

Our sponsor is Majestic Mountain Sage.  Family-owned and operated, they have been a full-service supplier of raw materials to the handcrafted soap and cosmetics industry since 1996!  Check out the Current Challenge page for more info about the December challenge and to sign up for notifications!

The rest of the Bonus category submissions can be found HERE.  Check out the Experienced and Beginner submissions in the order they were voted below:

Experienced Category

Beginner Category