The Skinny on Naked Soap & an Album Cover

I bought an archival scrapbook for my DIL, to give her for her birthday this year.. (I don't think she looks at my blog). Anyhow, I decopaged the cover with fabric scraps from the baby quilt & diaper bag, & embellished with some dry leaves that I bought 2 years ago, with the intention of sewing them into a lamp shade that I never got to. Also included are some bits of my painted cheesecloth, & a bluejay feather I collected at least 10 years ago.
The torn photo is a copy I made of a picture of me kissing my daddy when I was about 3yrs old.


I also added some crytals for sparkles. Click on the photos to see details.

Ok, here's the skinny on the naked vs. clothed soap. We like to use handmade soaps. I usually choose them for their scent. They are a bit softer than hard milled soaps, but have fewer additives too, & seem to be better on our skin. I started wrapping my soaps in wool, after buying a bar dressed like this from KC Lowe. KC is a Nuno felt artist here in Anchorage. She explained that the soap lasted longer when wrapped this way, & the wool gives you a soft loofa scrubber & built in wash cloth at the same time. After using that first bar, my DH & I agreed, that we liked the way the wooly soap worked & felt (oh that's a pun), when we used it.

So here's how it works. Wool, & soap.

Wet the soap a bit first.

Start warpping it in layers of wool. some one way, then some the other.

After I have a few layers on, & it's completely covered, I like to use my felting needle on it, to anchor the outer layers, & keep it from gnarling up when being used.

Here's how it looks when I'm finished & ready to start washing with it.

Now as an added bonus, when the soap is all used up, I throw the wool in the washing maching, & I end up with a ball of well felted wool.

I have made pin cusions, using pieces of the wool as the center base, & I have cut them up & used bits for embellishment on things like ATCs & Postquards, & a decorative egg.

So that's what the soap is all about!