Lapis Lazuli Soap embeds

I got into a faux gemstone streak with soap dough about a month ago, and these were the second gemstones I made (the first were the turquoise, and soon I will publish the amethyst ones, those are easy, with MP soap)

I am at a loss thinking about which fragrance would go well with these.  But since they are blue, I am lately leaning to either an almond or a vanilla containing one.  (So that when the soap turns brown, the blue can make a nice contrast against it.

If you search for faux lapis lazuli, I am sure you will come with plenty results for polymer clay.  In a way, soap dough is like polymer clay, except polymer clay is harder in consistency, not in difficulty.

I started with navy blue soap dough, I had made it for  the yankees soap.   Ideally though, I think a royal blue would be best, different shades of it (which you can make by mixing it with white or black).

Making Faux Lapis Lazuli with Soap

Supplies and tools:

• Blade or knife
• working surface (silicone mat or ceramic tile)
• gold mica
• Dark blue, light blue, white soap dough  (you can make it or buy it from sorcerysoaps.com she gives out a free recipe when you subscribe, or can be found in her blog too).  I made mine and colored it with blue mica and activated charcoal.  Soap dough should not gel, so more colorant than usual is needed.

Process:

1. I started by mixing some of the navy soap dough with white soap dough to achieve a lighter shade of blue.  I also mixed some with teal but that did not seem to work.
2. I tore small pieces of all the soap dough shades I had.  A knife or blade would have worked too.  (to chop it like it you were mincing onions)
3. I put gold mica on top of all the pieces, coating them like chocolate truffles (what is up with all the food references??).  I did this by hand, the brush did not seem effective.  At some point I even threw them in the mica container.
4. I then pressed them together and rolled into a log  (if the pieces do not adhere to themselves, you can spray them lightly with alcohol)
5. I cut the log into slices
6. I washed the edge so it would not be gold, but that is optional
7. I put plastic on top and run my finger around the edge, to give it a smooth bevel look.
8. I rubbed them with a denim cloth to give them some luster. (After a week)

Here is a link to the video