Where'd all these ants come from?

So, who's ready for summer?  I am BEYOND ready.  So much so, that I've been working on a new installment of my soap "trios".  This being the summer edition.  BRING ON THE SUNSHINE!

One of the very first ideas that came to mind was watermelon.  Fresh, juicy watermelon on a breezy summer day.  What the heck is better than that?! 

I could've done a nice slab swirl or something, but I really want to try to do something extra special for this one, and maybe even replicate an actual piece of watermelon for this soap.  As we CP soapers know - you can do this all day long with M&P soap, but cold process requires a bit more planning and technique.  No disrespect to M&P soapers...I love all of those too!

So, the first challenge was seeds.  My first inclination was to chop up some soap bits & sprinkle them into a fresh batch, but I wanted to ensure that every single slice had a good, even amount of "seeds" in it, so I 86'd that idea.  Then, I decided on piped strips of soap made with activated charcoal, the entire length of the log mold. 

Bingo.

I poured a layer of titanium dioxide enhanced soap at the very bottom of the mold for the "rind", and the rest is watermelon colored mica with the piped "seed" strips.  I decided to brush on green mica to mimick the look of a mottled, green/white rind after cutting. 

Some lessons were learned with this first try, and when I make this again I know what I'd change.  I poured the first layer far to thinly and it didn't set up quite enough before I poured the second layer, completely killing any plan I had for a straight line, and I didn't end up liking the brushed mica idea.  It ended up being more of an arty suggestion of watermelon in the end, which I like anyway.  :)  But oh the plans for the redo! :)

Thanks for reading!  The Summer Trio goes on sale in May!