Mini Mo' August '14 - Ocean View and Coral Reef

My first Mini Mo' collection for August is called Ocean View. I created the glasswork elements Effetre Turquoise, Effetre Ivory and Reichenbach
Dense Black.

I have included a twistie cane which has been pulled down for the original murrini gather which would be great for adding little coloured dots and creating interesting detail embedded in twists.

This first set is made with Reichenbach Multicolour Dark, over of me favourite glass colours of all time. I have decorated the largest 3 hearts with Ocean View murrini and given the murrini on the focal heart a little twist.

This heart trio uses Ocean View ribbon cane as a wrap around the bead.

My second collection for August is called Coral Reef. I've used Effetre Coral, Effetre Ivory and Reichenbach Dense Black.

I have included a twistie cane which has been pulled down for the original murrini gather which would be great for adding little coloured dots and making interesting detail embedded in twists.

My first beads to show are made with Effetre light turquoise and Effetre coral to match the coral reef murrini.

My second set were made with a base of Vetrofond Odd Banana Cream wrapped with Coral Reef twistie cane and encased with 006 (Effetre clear).

My last Coral Reef bead is this chunky heart focal made with Coral reef shards and twistie cane (and used the twistie created with the murrini  over Vetro Odd Banana Cream. I've etched the whole bead to give it a soft matt finish.

Jolene xx

Mini Mo' July '14 - Gypsy and Beach Hut

I've named my first collection for July Gypsy, after the beautiful purple glass that I've created many of the canes with. This Mini Mo' is made with CiM Gypsy, Effetre Orange Special, Effetre Dark Emerald and Effetre Light Turquoise. 

This first set of beads is made with bases of either CiM Gypsy or Effetre Orange special under 006 clear. I've used some of the Gypsy and orange canes inside the focal heart.

My next set teams Gypsy up with Effetre light turquoise and makes use of the Gypsy and turquoise canes.

This sweet and simple heart trio is made with Vetrofond Odd Banana Cream with one of the orange daisy murrini chips added to each side.

My second collection for July is called Beach Hut. I've used CiM Holladiase and CiM Cornflower with a touch of R3eichenbach Dense Black.

This focal shows how some of the canes look under encasement and also has Beach Hut murrini and shards on the surface too.

The last beads I have to show today are made with CiM Holladiase and CiM Cornflower and so perfectly match the murrini, very summery!

Have a lovely day, Jolene xx

Messy Testing - Poppy and Cinnamon Jelly ltd run colours

Good morning, today I want to show you the last two Messy Color ltd run colours that will be available a little later in the year. They are both gorgeous reds. First up is Poppy ltd run, a stunning bright ladybird red opaque.

Both of the heart sets here and the barrel beads below are made with Poppy teamed up with Reichenbach dense black.

Poppy ltd run is really well behaved in the flame and it gives a solid, bright and streak-free finish with no sign of how and were individual wraps of glass were added to the mandrel.

The last new colour I have to show is Cinnamon Jelly ltd run which is a rich dark berry red. This set of hearts has a base of Cinnamon Jelly decorated with Black and Effetre Apricot. I've not tried making fruits and berry beads before but I suspect this shade would be perfect for creating summer strawberries and redcurrants.

Have a super day, Jolene x

Messy Testing - Whisper ltd run and Primrose ltd run.

CiM Whisper ltd run is a sweet pale opal lilac that gave some lovely subtle webbed surface effects when I used it with my brass heart press. It is a little paler than Thistledown and more opaque than Bubblebath.

For comparison, the hearts in this first picture are (from top to bottom) Thistledown, Whisper and lastly Bubblebath.

These flower bud beads are made with a base of Ink Blot ltd run and tiny swipes of Whisper ltd run to create the petals. There is no trace of the webbing/striations that you can clearly see in the hearts above so I suspect that the webbing effect has been brought out by the repeated heating and cooling cycles that the glass goes through when I worked it with the brass press.

Next I want to show you Primrose ltd run, it is a delicate and pretty shade of pale opaque pink. I have used Reichenbach Dense Black and  Effetre Apricot to decorate these Primrose hearts.

These layered flower buds have a base of Primrose followed by a layer of long Reichenbach Gold Violet petals followed by a layer of short petals made with Whisper.

Primrose is a very natural looking shade - it puts me in mind of the neutral pinky colour that you often see on the inside of seashells.

Jolene x

Messy Testing - Cobblestone ltd run

Today I am looking at Cobblestone ltd run, one of the next release of colours coming out soon from CiM.

Cobblestone is a warm looking opaque dark grey. In this first set I have teamed it up with Effetre dark steel grey (088).

These beads are a side by side comparison of Zombie ltd run (black detail) and Cobblestone (black and white decoration). The Zombie hearts are much paler. I really enjoyed working with Cobblestone, it has a really industrial and urban kind of feel to it that gives some striking results.

Have a lovely day, Jolene x