Thursday, December 18, 2008

100 Pounds of Love at The Nova Studio!

Lori Nova, who I met directly on Twitter, is the owner of The Nova Studio where bath and body classes (and non b&b classes, too!) are held in her beautiful Point Richmond shop. I packed up my family and we drove over 8 hours north so I could accept Lori's invitation to teach 2 Soapylove classes this past Saturday: Bubbly Holidays and Sweet Treats. It was such a great experience!

First, for Bubbly Holidays, we had 4 projects lined up. We made Glittery Glass Ball Soaps, Fancy Ball Ornaments, Sugar Plum Ornaments, and Frosty Vintage Tree Soaps (all tutorials are available in my Soapylove shop if you'd like to try some at home!). There were many m&p newbies in the class, but everyone took to it easily and made some truly gorgeous soaps! The marbling of the Sugar Plum soaps was probably the highlight since it was a team effort and it's really fun to swirl!

Next, after very quickly cleaning up, setting up again, and grabbing a bite to eat, we started the Sweet Treats class. Again, we had 4 projects on the agenda: PB&J soaps, Peppermint Soap Bark, Neapolitan Loaf Soaps, and Mint Chip Soapwiches. Each of these projects required a LOT of soap and our amazing helper, Joan, and Lori frantically cut and melted brick after brick of soap. The crock pots did their best! It was so fun unmolding and packing the soaps as they were finished. Here's a pic of me cutting up the Mint Chip Soaps.

After 8 projects in 2 classes of 14 students each, we blew through almost 100 pounds of soap base! Many students got new supplies to make more projects at home, and literally BAGS of finished soaps to share with their friends and family.

Lori has graciously invited me back, despite the frenzied pace of the classes, and I can't wait to teach there again! We'll be making a plan soon which I will announce as soon as it's confirmed.

If you attended either class, I'd love it if you posted your own comments here. Thanks so much!

11 comments:

Anne-Marie said...

Yippeeee! It looks like so much fun. I wish I could have been there. =)

Tammy said...

Oh Debbie it sounds like so much fun, I wish you were on the east coast :)

Anonymous said...

Debbie's class was the best!! She really guided us and taught us all her great tips for making beautiful looking soaps. It was fun completing so many projects and meeting other soaping enthusiasts. It was also great to find out about Lori and Nova Studio. What a treasure for soapmakers!

Lori at The Nova Studio said...

yes - we had a blast and will definitely do it again if debbie is up for the trip. i don't think that much melt & pour soap has EVER been made at The Nova Studio in one day. definitely a soapy record. i just emailed everyone from the class the blog posting so they can see/read about it too.

Anonymous said...

I participated in the Bubbly Holidays class with my two sisters and my niece; we all had a really great time and learned a lot about techniques to use with melt and pour soap. I would encourage anyone who's interested to take a class at the studio and/or with Debbie. She knows her stuff.
Thank you both, Gina

Anonymous said...

Debbie's classes were so much fun! We all learned some great techniques. What a great way to spend the day making loads of soap at The Nova Studio in beautiful Point Richmond. I'd be happy to help out again!

Jessie said...

That sounds like so much fun!! Too bad it is too far away for me to go!

Anonymous said...

This is so great, Debbie. Wish I were there with you!

Monica said...

Thanks so much, Debbie, for such a great class! The Sweet Treats were very easy to make, and they looked so professional. I made another Neapolitan loaf on Friday (more gifts to give!) and it turned out beautifully. So thanks again, and Lori, thank you, too!

Lori Stoia said...

I missed your classes at Lori's studio because of a prior commitment. I hope to see your classes offered in the future so I can take them.

Unknown said...

What a beautiful first edition. I love it and can't wait to try some new techniques. The packaging section is fantastic as well! I am looking forward to future editions. Thanks again!