For the August Challenge, I asked Tatsiana Serko of Creative Soap by Steso to be our guest teacher again to show us how to make the Dancing Funnel technique. She and Jelena of SoapTechniques put together their version of a funnel pour that looks like drops of soaps with perfect little outlines. The outcome is just stunning! We also divided the challenge this month between the soaps that were made with all natural colors and scents and those made with synthetic ingredients. Majestic Moutain Sage is our sponsor for the all natural category and Rustic Escentuals is our sponsor for the synthetic category. Between the two categories, we had exactly 100 entries!

My deepest gratitude goes to Tatsiana, who not only taught the tutorial, but also made herself available to answer questions on our Discussion Board and one of our Virtual Meet & Greet sessions! Huge thanks also goes to our lovely sponsors who make the challenges incredibly rewarding!!

Let’s start with the winners in the all natural category. Grand prize goes to Holly Shelton of Kapia Mera Soap Co in Tennessee, for her outstanding Charcoal Mint soap:

Holly has always made outstanding soaps with all natural colors and scents, so it may not come as a surprise that she has come out on top with this challenge! She has won a $100 gift certificate from Majestic Mountain Sage – congratulations!! Be sure to click on the photo to see Holly’s blog post on how she made her soap.

Second place in the all natural category goes to a brand-new member: Aruna of Suffuse Super-Natural Soaps in Bangalore, India! Aruna’s Dancing Nemo soap demonstrates how vibrant natural colorants truly can be:

Aruna wins a $75 gift certificate from Majestic Mountain Sage! Congratulations!! Click on the photo of her soap to read more about how she made it, as well as two other soaps with the dancing funnel technique.

In third place, Helene Glemet of Chez Helene in Quebec, Canada created a lovely Bubbly Blues soap, colored with indigo and alkanet:

Helene is the winner of a $50 gift certificate from Majestic Mountain Sage – woo hoo!!! Read more about her soap on her Facebook page by clicking on the photo.

The Sponsor’s Choice winner chosen by Majestic Mountain Sage is Renee Chiang in California!! Andee Howard of Majestic Mountain Sage says, “Showers are part of my evening unwinding routine and Renee’s soap reached out to me. This soap makes me feel relaxed just looking at the calm colors and smooth flow of the design!”

Renee wins a $25 gift certificate from The Sage – yippee!! Check out her blog post to see the process of how she made it!

For the synthetic category, the grand prize winner is none other than Claudia Carpenter of Om Nom Soap blog in California!! Claudia’s soap is unique in that the size of her drops are smaller than everyone else’s, thus her Dancing Bubbles soap is aptly named:

Rustic Escentuals is giving Claudia a $100 gift certificate to their store, plus 6 fragrance samples and 6 mica samples! Congratulations!! Click on the photo to read Claudia’s blog post about how she made her soap – and almost didn’t enter the challenge!

Second place goes to Michelle Rogerson of My Handmade Heartland in Iowa for her Native American inspired bold & stunning Dreamcatcher soap:

Congratulations to Michelle on your first challenge club win!! Michelle receives a $75 gift certificate, plus 6 fragrance & mica samples from Rustic Escentuals. Be sure to click on the photo of her soap to read more about her inspiration and how she created her soap on her Facebook page.

For third place, we have a TIE. Congratulations to Toni Watt of White Milk Soap and Candles in Australia, and Teri Endsley in Indiana for their gorgeous dancing funnel soaps! Toni created this amazing white and purple soap with orange outlines:

Teri’s magnificent soap looks like translucent river rocks:

Toni & Teri both receive $50 gift certificates, plus 6 fragrance & mica samples from Rustic Escentuals. Click on their photos to see more about their soaps and to watch Toni’s video!

Amy Coker of Rustic Escentuals has chosen Argelia of Firefly Soaps & Such in Texas as their Sponsor’s Choice winner! Amy says, “I adore this soap for a number of reasons! The name matches perfectly with the colors. Color choices were perfect and they enhance each other very well. I also find her take on the technique visually appealing with having different sized circles without the soap looking inconsistent and messy. Well done on a delightful, gorgeous soap!”

Argelia wins a $25 gift certificate, plus 6 fragrance & mica samples! Congratulations!!

Because I know you are dying to see the rest of the entries…they are located HERE.

The way the calendar falls this time, we actually have an extra week off before registration opens for the September Challenge. Thanks to those who have contributed ideas for the Piping Challenge!! I’ve finally made my first practice batch with the Russian piping tips, and here is the result:

This challenge will NOT be limited to the Russian tips or cupcakes only, and it will be divided between newbies (have been making soap for less than two years and/or less than 50 batches) and experienced soapmakers. Bath Alchemy Lab is sponsoring the newbie category, and Nurture Soap is sponsoring the experienced category. Registration will open Monday, August 29th. You can sign up for a notification for registration, as well as the notification when the dancing funnel tutorial is available here: