Monday 8 May 2017

The Hunny Log - Story of how it was made



The Hunny Log
Voted Category Placed 3rd
The Story of how I came to Create the Hunny Log
Greatcakes Soap Works Soap Challenge 

May 2017


Great Cakes Soap Works Winners
http://www.greatcakessoapworks.com/handmade-soap-blog/index.php/announcing-the-winners-of-the-soap-dough-challenge/








 Hi, My name is Ronda Scorpio.  I started making soap August 2016.  I have since learned through trial and error to formulate my own Play Dough CP Soap for Sculpting Soap Figures.  I make soaps but my love is Soap Figures and expanding my skill.  When I learned about this challenge my first thought was, it is like coming home.  Finding like minded people 😃

I started out thinking that I would do the Dragon Eye.  Then I decided to Kick it Up a Notch with what I had be learning with my Soap Figures.  I would go with Winnie the Pooh theme.  I needed a bar of soap.  Okay, what or how am I going to incorporate a bar of soap with Winnie the Pooh theme.   I went on a search and looked at many pictures of Piglet & Pooh which had a tree, a log or a tree limb in them. At this point I was thinking that I had made my bar of soap too big,
I asked:  Amy To be Clear... The entry must be made in a bar shaped base or on a bar of CP Soap. There are no restrictions on size, weight, or height. It must be all CP Soap. We can use an embellishment. Have I missed anything?
Amy responded:   Sounds about right to me!  
Awesome I can go with the bar that I had in mind even though I thought it might be a little too big. Off I went to went to start creating ……..

I found a clips of art that I liked Winnie and Pigglet and found out that Winnie & Piglet  Loved each other very much.







Now that I have my bar for the base of my project, it is time to figure out how to the colour and texture of the tree bark on the bar.  The brown play dough I had made was a great colour; made with dark cocoa powder and Black Walnut Hulls.  It is a nice dark colour with darker flecks.  As I am applying the brown I am thinking that I am kidding myself.  How the hell am going to get it to look like the rough bark of a tree?  So, I blindly applied the brown and shifted  the Play Dough around trying to get a bark texture. 

The ends of the log were going to show.  So I decided to make an attempt at putting a light colour on the ends. I placed bits of grey and some of the brown flecks on it to add dimension.  Then I carved life tree rings into it. Repeat and did the other end.  I let the log dry over night. 

Good Morning 😃 Back to the soap challenge….do you know how to say, “addicted”. 😛
In the morning I was really happy as the colours of the bark had darkened.   The bark looked better than I had thought.  I have learn to walk away otherwise I have been known to mess it up and scrape it.
Day two and I realized my creativity was with me.  When I would start a painting with no idea what it would look like when I was done.  I would trust my creative intuition and it would come to me as I worked through my project; that is how, The Hunny Log, came to me.

Looking at the first sketch of Pooh & Piglet leaning over a log, (picture above) The next stage is to add create points of interest to make the log more authentic.  I added a knot hole and a broken limb.  

I decided to add grass for further interest.  I made grass with the extruder.  I used 3 different greens and a little black in the mixture, to create the grass.

I liked the flowers on the side of the log in the sketch.  So, for the first time I used my Blossom pressure cutter and made flowers.  First I had to check and see if the cutter would make small enough flowers that would work with my project.  I did have a plan B, which was make them by hand.  Gladly the small cutter worked. 

I was interested to see how I was going to do the Hunny pots.  I really wanted to be able to write Hunny on the pots but I was not sure if I could pull that off.  Back to the net and researched Hunny Pots.  The thing is I set my intention a little high and if it doesn’t work, go to plan B.  Plan B would be no writing on the Hunny Pot. I am fairly happy with the results.  I made  the Hunny Pots with one piece of Play Dough and I carefully work the word, Hunny.

I don’t usually make things with Play Dough that are so small that it will disappear in my fingers but, here it goes.  This time I went to Pinterest to find a Bee that I wanted to try and make.  What a challenge.   These tiny balls and now I have to wrap them with 2 thin black strips.  Oh Ya,  Dam I can’t let them go with out trying to make a face.  How the Hell am I going to do that.  I found a toothpick and started messing with the face.  Poke two eye spots.  Okay breath, Now I had to mess with like grains of black soap to make the eyes and get it into the eye holes.  Plus I want them to be reasonably matching.  Try, Try, Try again…I got it 😃.  With the tooth pick I created a a smile.  The other thing is I have no idea how the bees are going to used in the project.  Oh well that it well be revealed later…..

I had made a couple of Winnie’s before.  One I liked and the other well, not so much.  Back to the net to look at pictures of Winnie.  When it came time to start making Pooh the colour of Play Dough that I wanted to use was too soft.  Plan B, take a light yellow and add colour to it to achieve the colour for Pooh.  What a mess but, I did it. 😃  Now for the task of making Winnie the Pooh.  As I look at the colour I realize I like it and it is going to work well.  I start with making his body,  sweater, head and his face.  I wanted them to setup a bit before I handle them too much, getting him in place on the Log.  I have learned to do some projects in stages.  There is nothing worse that making an item which I like; then go to place it. While handling it an eyebrow comes off, an eye gets squished, an ear comes off or something like that and then I have to start over again.  

I had also made a Piglet before but the face was too round.  As I researched the pictures of Piglet I was determined to try and get the shape of the face and ears better this time.  It took a few tries until I felt I had an improvement on my first Piglet.  Piglets body I wanted to give a bit of bum this time.  Okay I am fairly happy with Piglet.  Time to move on.

I added the arms & legs to Winnie & Piglet when I place the Hunny Pots were placed on the Log.

Now it is time to place the Bees.  I decided to use a wire from a twist tie.  I have made 6 Bees.  I placed one using the branch stump sticking out on the end of the log just beside Piglet’s side.  The second Bee was place just to the side on Winnie’s Hunny Pot.  I really wanted to add more but I did not want to over due it, so it is 2 Bees.  

Taking pictures of my Hunny Log was a bit scary for me.  I take pictures of my creations regularly but,  most times they look better in person.  The picture doesn’t seem to caught the colour right or the details.  It was a beautiful day with a tree in the yard in bloom.  I took the Hunny Log outside and proceeded to see if I could get a better picture outside.  Yes, the pictures were much better outside.

Being that is was my first challenge I felt there was much to learn, beside stretching my soap sculpting skills.  I had to  write a short story about how I made my soaps.   I am a custom to making tutorials for creating Play Dough CP Soap Figures for my YouTube Channel.  I am not used to explaining and introducing myself.  

I researched doing a blog.  Holly, talk about stretch marks, I am out of my comfort zone.  I created one but I am not sure if it will be work? 

Facebook Group:  Soap by Kick it Up a Notch: 
YouTube Channel:  Soap by Kick it Up a Notch - Ronda Scorpio:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjldZbd2GwKzN4rqBTr6X1g

I decided to create my story for the Amy Warden’s Soap Challenge May 2017 in Evernote and make a quick video of the pictures of creating of Hunny Log for YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTKSUvDZItU


Thank you for your time and commitment to facilitating the Soap Challenge Club
and
Thank you for considering my, Hunny Log

Ronda Scorpio



A quick Video on how I made The Hunny Log









No comments:

Post a Comment