Aroma Art - Natural Soap Making In-Studio Class
Sunday, April 26, noon-3pm
Instructor: Lisa Gillespie
Limit: 10 students. All participants must be 15 years or older.

Class Details:

We were quite taken with these luscious natural soaps from designer Lisa Gillespie – especially since the marbled papers at Two Hands Paperie inspired some of her designs! Lisa is an experienced and award-winning artist who crafts soaps with simple ingredients that support the skin. The soaps are an eco-savvy alternative to commercial varieties, which can wreak havoc on the environment and your system.

This hands-on workshop covers the basics of making hand-poured, cold-process soap. It’s a traditional approach that produces higher quality soap than other methods. Selected base oils, scents, natural and/or cosmetic color, and lye are mixed together until they emulsify. (Note: Lisa is all about safety. You don’t handle the lye directly, and she reviews safety tips at the beginning of class.) Everyone works the mixture in order to gain hands-on experience with how thick the slurry should be and how to tell when it’s ready to pour. The fun part of the process is customizing the soap with color and embellishments. Simple techniques, which Lisa demonstrates, elevate the design and give the soap an artistic flair. You’ll practice the packaging techniques on bars of soap that have already cured.

The class is set up so that it’s easy enough for beginners but, for those who want to, there are options for diving in more deeply. Leave class inspired with simple soap recipes, a resource list, a bar of handcrafted soap, and – quite possibly – a happy obsession with a new pursuit that’s both creative and practical!

The class is held at the instructor’s studio in South Boulder. The address is emailed to registered students on the Monday before class.

An email will be sent to participants the Monday before the class. Classes with homework may receive pre-class info earlier. No email? Double check the email address you entered when you registered and your SPAM folder. Due to SPAM filters and inbox settings, we cannot guarantee you will see, read, or open these emails. Two Hands Paperie assumes no responsibility for non-attendance of a class. Contact twohandsclasses@gmail.com with any class questions and see our Class Policies page for more information.

Class Materials

Please bring the following materials:

Clothes with long sleeves/long pants/closed-toed shoes
Apron
Safety googles. (Can be found at hardware and paint stores.)
Mask (a precaution when working with high concentrations of essential oils)
Water and a snack for the short break

Class materials:

All soap making materials, plus embellishments for decorating the soap are provided
Decorative paper and wax seals to wrap the soap

Class Refund/Cancellation Policy

Cancellations made up to 14 days prior to the first class meeting will be refunded or, at the participant's option, used to pay for another class. Two Hands Paperie will retain a $10 processing fee for EACH class cancelled by a participant. After 14 days, there is no refund or credit. In addition, the fee for a class cancelled within this 14-day timeframe by a participant cannot be transferred to pay for another class. These policies are to ensure that teachers are compensated for their investment in materials and in time spent preparing for the class. We reserve the right to cancel a class if fewer than 3 students enroll 48 hours prior to the scheduled class time. If for any reason Two Hands Paperie cancels a class, students will be called at the phone number on file and refunded the FULL class fee.

Instructor Bio

The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off our souls. – Pablo Picasso

My soap does that, too! – Lisa M. Gillespie

Lisa Gillespie hails from the southeast corner of Pennsylvania, where she grew up in the midst of a lovingly animated and loud extended family that was fond of creativity, theater, and art. Like her dad, Lisa was curious and extroverted, with a talent for finding communities of shared interests. She moved to New York City to attend art school, majoring in media arts/animation. She stayed there and worked as an art director in an award-winning corporate communications studio before moving to Boulder with her husband.

After the move she continued in corporate communications work, but eventually tired of the unrelenting hours. Lisa wore several different hats in other fields and even had her own private practice as a massage and craniosacral specialist. She actively enjoys the outdoors, volunteers with Boulder’s Open Space and Parks, and still found time to visit over 260 (!!) National Park sites on family road trips. Her creative outlet over these years was designing costumes, themed parties, scenery for plays, and the like. She also studied pastel painting, which gave her a true appreciation for the play of color-layering.

Lisa eventually wandered into her artsy, natural soap odyssey as a spin-off in a challenge called 101 New Experiences in 1001 Days. She found a new love. Her ecologically savvy, wildly artistic creations won awards at the Denver County Fair, including first place several years running. Making far more soap than she could possibly use, Lisa started Courageous Soap and began selling at artisan markets and house parties. That adventure led in turn to teaching classes. Soap making, it turned out, was a natural amalgamation of her interests in art, natural ingredients (gleaned from her massage therapy practice), and teaching/leading groups.

Artistic and colorful designs with undertones of sly political commentary are a hallmark of her soaps, and Lisa donates a portion of her profits to voter registration and other pro-democracy non-profits. She continues entering soap competitions at the International level, still receiving awards and recognition for her unique style.

Lisa is thrilled to share her enthusiasm for soap making with students, and apologizes in advance if they end up getting addicted to this practical, creative hobby!

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Aroma Art - Natural Soap Making In-Studio Class Apr 26