Messy testing - Cranberry Pink and Emperor ltd run

In my latest testing package there was a rod each of CiM's gorgeous Cranberry Pink and their gold rich purple equivalent called Emperor.

CiM Baked Alaska ltd run base
Left: dotted with CiM Cranberry Pink and CiM Smurfty
Right: dotted with CiM  Emperor and CiM Smurfy

I had a lot of fun yesterday making these dotty lentils for comparison testing over a trio of neutral base colours, I was particularly looking to see how each trio of colours reacted with one another.

Effetre Opal Yellow base
Left: dotted with CiM Cranberry Pink and CiM Smurfy
Right: dotted with CiM  Emperor and CiM Smurfy

 CiM Honey Mustard
Left: dotted with CiM Cranberry Pink and CiM Smurfy
Right: dotted with CiM  Emperor and CiM Smurfy

Each of the 3 neutral colours "pool" beautifully as small dots over both Cranberry Pink and Emperor.


Smurfy (and so likely most other turquoise and copper based green opaque glass colours) pool beautifully over Cranberry Pink and Emperor.

Interstingly Smufy does not appear to pool or react with Baked Alaska ltd run and only very sligtly over Effetre Opal Yellow. It  does show signs of a pooling reaction as dots over Honey Mustard though.

Thanks for looking, Jolene xx

Messy testing - Egg White, Lemonade and Baked Alaska ltd run

In this post I am looking at 3 of the neutral shades of CoE 104 glass coming out in a few weeks from Creation is Messy. The first on show is CiM Egg White ltd run. It is a white opal glass that has been designed to stay translucent. This is the second glass of this new type that I have looked at so far (see my post on Elixir) and it too seems to have a kind of inner glow to it. Egg White is a fairly stiff glass that is not reactive with either turquoise (Smurfy dots) or handmade Effetre silvered ivory stringer.

Lemonade ltd run is described as a misty opal, it looks to me to be the palest possible shade of yellow and has a lovely cloudy look to it. Another stiff and well behaved glass to work with. Lemonade also does not react with either turquoise or with my handmade Effetre silvered ivory stringer.

This picture shows a side by side comparison of Egg White rustic hoops (left) and Lemonade hoops (right).
The translucency of each is not created by striking in the flame or by tweaking the flame chemistry, this is exactly how each glass works up in a neutral flame.

Baked Alaska ltd run is a pale ivory cream opaque glass that contains silver. As you can see from this pair of little lentil beads, it does not react with turquoise glass. I have used Smurfy over Baked Alaska to test this out.

Baked Alaska is highly reactive with silver though. I have burnished these beads with silver leaf and decorated with large Effetre aqua dots and then vapourised the silver leaf in my torch flame. You get this gorgeous mottled sand effect with tiny glistening droplets of silver left behind on the surface of the bead. A gorgeous effect!

Happy melting, Jolene x

Messy testing - Elixir and Elixir Sparkle ltd run

Today I am writing about two new opal green glass colours from Creation is Messy. They are called Elixir and Elixir Sparkle and they will be available to buy in the UK in a few weeks time.

The lighter shade is called Elixir ltd run, a soft delicate pastel semi transparent green. It seems to have an inner glow.

The darker hearts are made with Elixir Sparkle ltd run. In rod form Elixir Sparkle looks the same shade as Elixir but with tiny gold glittery inclusions.  When I worked the glass it darkened up quite considerably to give this swirly forest fern almost opaque green shade.

These rounds are made with a base of Elixir decorated with stripes of another new green glass called Willow ltd run. Willow is a pretty opaque mid green shade, I'll talk about Willow a bit more in a later blog post.

Elixir is very easy to work with, quite a stiff glass to melt in the flame.

The large lentil here is made with a thin core of Elixir which has been encased with a thick layer of Effetre 006 Clear glass. Again I have decorated the surface with Willow stringers.

This next pair of rounds were made with Elixir Sparkle, decorated with teal blue green stringers pulled from a rod of glass called Troi ltd run.

As with the hearts above, these rounds look much darker than Elixir Sparkle did in rod form.

This lentil below is made with a very thin core of Elixir Sparkle encased with Effetre 006 Clear and decorated with Troi stringers. The thin core of  Elixir Sparkle in this bead looks much less opaque than the solid Elixir spacers that sit next to it.

My test beads haven't manage to show any of the subtle sparkle you find in the Elixir Sparkle rods - I don't know if it is because the glass is becoming darker and more opaque when worked of if I was working too hot and burning out the sparkles and so I decided to try again the next day and work cooler. 

I chose to make these simple rustic hoops because I can work the glass quite cool and do not need to reintroduce the beads to the flame for shaping or decorating.

The results are interesting as the beads came out a lighter and slighlty less opaque shade than my previous Elixir Sparkle beads and spacers but I still couldn't see any of the sparkles.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Tahitian Pearl ltd run

This is the most perfectly named glass! Tahitian Pearl ltd run is one of the newest CoE 104 lampwork colours coming out this winter from Creation is Messy. Tahitian Pearl is just dreamy to work with, it is super soft and buttery when melted and it has the most subtle metallic silver shimmer even when worked in a neutral flame.

These leaves and spacers have been created in a neutral flame - I flashed the leaves in and out of the flame a couple of time once they were formed to create a little more silver surface shimmer.

To get an even more pronounced silver metallic finish you can waft your bead through a slightly propane or oxygen rich flame to add a deeper and richer patina.

The petals on these flower beads were swiped on to the blue base bead in an oxygen rich flame, the resulting silver patina looks like brushed pewter.

To create this striped lentil bead I swiped on thick clear Effetre 006 stringers over a base of Tahitian Pearl to mask and protect parts of the original soft smoke grey rod colour from reacting to the flame chemistry. I melted the clear lines down flat and pressed the bead in a brass press then wafted the bead trough a propane rich flame few times to bring out the metallic patina on the non masked areas. In a propane rich environment the patina comes out looking industrial and textured.

These sweet and simple rustic hoop beads are one of  my favourte styles of bead to create. In Tahitian pearl they look especially pretty.

Happy melting, Jolene xx

Messy testing - Venus ltd run

Venus ltd run is a lovely pale transparent peachy pink shade, it came out last autumn from Creation is Messy.

I have used Venus to create these little flower bud beads, the petals are Venus swiped over a base of CiM Heffalump. This combination of colours is so feminine and delicate.

Venus by itself it a lovely peachy shade. I find it easier to work with than many other translucent colours as it does not seem to mind being worked quite hot. There was very little in the way of scumming or micro bubbles due to boiling in a very hot flame.

Venus looks beautiful etched - these simple hoops have been tumbled with silicon carbide grit in a rock tumbler for a couple of hours to give them a matt finish. They look like they have some sort of soft warm inner glow to them.

Jolene xx

Messy testing Lilac and Camouflage ltd run

This set of beads has been made with a pretty new colour called Lilac ltd run from Creation is Messy. It became available in the UK a few weeks ago. It is sweet shade of palest lavender pink.

I have teamed it up with a lovely blue glass called Zachary ltd run and Effetre clear with Reichenbach dense black stinger details.

This green set is made with a lovely grey toned olive green called Camouflage ltd run. I've used this pretty green as a solid colour in the spacers and under a thick encased layer of clear glass to make the rounds. This green is just gorgeous, this shade looks like is would be equally at home as a swatch from a high end paint range - retro and modern at the same time.

Jolene xx

Messy testing Serengeti and Banana Cream ltd run

Today I am looking at Serengeti ltd run and Banana Cream ltd run glass from Creation is Messy. These  colours are available to buy in the UK right now.

These beads have been made with a base of Serengeti. It looks paler in rod form and becomes this lovely dark caramel shade when worked. There is some colour variation on the surface of these beads with dark striations and patches of warmer brown tones.

The complimenting glass colours in the beads above are Butternut ltd run and Maple.

Serengeti appears to have a limited reaction with silver leaf. This tiny goddess bead has been made with a base of Serengeti burnished with fine silver leaf and then wafted in the flame to vapourise the metal. Some of the silver has been left been behind in little patches and droplets and there are some very small darker fumed areas. This bead also gives a better an idea of the natural colour variations you can achieve in a sculptural bead made with Serengeti.

I found Serengeti very easy to work with, it melted smoothly without shocking. 

This mini set of beads has a base of Banana Cream ltd run decorated with Reichenbach dense black dots and stringers. Banana Cream is a very pale yellow. It is another well behaved glass, smooth to melt and no shocking.

Banana Cream does not react with copper based colours which makes it a wonderful alternative for Effetre pale ivory if those pesky reaction lines are not what you are looking for. The little beads here are Banana Cream with Vetrofond dark turquoise dots. The centre row of turquoise dots have been partially covered with Butternut ltd run. You can clearly see a reaction line between the Butternut and the turquoise and no reaction line between the turquoise and Banana Cream.

This little goddess has been made with Banana Cream with a touch of Effetre Ivory - they were next to each other on the desk and I picked up the Ivory by mistake!

Banana Cream and Effetre ivory both have a strong reaction with fine silver leaf. Vapourised silver leaf leaves little droplets and a golden fumed colour on the Banana Cream. The darker patches of glass and fumed areas around the outer edge of the goddess's tummy are Efftere ivory. Picking up the wrong glass was a happy accident in that here you can clearly see the difference in strength of the reaction with silver between these two glass colours.

Happy Melting, Jolene x

Messy testing - Amphibian ltd run

Today I had a look at Amphibian ltd run glass from CiM which has just become available in the UK. It is a sophisticated shade of opaque grey green. This first set of beads has been made with a base of Amphibian decorated with Ivory stringers. There is no reaction line at all between the two colours. I found the glass easy to work. It has a lot of striations where the wraps of glass melt in to one another when the bead is formed.

These nugget beads have all been made with Amphibian and Gaffer silver blue lustre frit. The first and last beads are made with Amphibian rolled in the frit. There is a tan halo around the frit where the silver content has fumed the Amphibian base glass. The second bead along was made with a base of Amphibian burnished with silver foil and then rolled in the frit.  The result is a lovely caramel base and tiny droplets of silver between the "windows" of blue frit. The third bead along was also burnished with silver foil and rolled in the frit but I have wafted the bead through a slightly propane rich reducing flame. The result is very interesting, organic and metallic with areas of oil slick rainbow colour that my camera couldn't pick up

Because Amphibian appears to be so  reactive with silver I decided to make some silvered stringer with it. These donut beads have been made with some silvered Amphibian stringer over a base of black glass. The resulting stringer looks golden tan and is wonderfully organic.

Happy melting, Jolene xx

Messy testing - Oobleck and Cotswold Blue ltd run

I had to look up the word Oobleck and when I did it made me grin from ear to ear to know that it's gooey green stuff that fell from the sky in a Dr Seuss book. How glorious is that! Just about as glorious as this stunning fun bright green glass new out from CiM very soon.

I am a huge fan of Oobleck ltd run, it is a truly zingy lime green. One of the lovely things to find is that along with being awesomely bright it seems to be very dense too which means that is equally bright and beautiful as tiny dots or fine stringer lines. Also it doesn't look very much paler under encasement than as a solid colour bead.

Oobleck also reacts with fine silver leaf, as shown with this tiny goddess bead. I have burnished small pieces of fine silver leaf on to the surface and flashed the bead through the flame. The heat has partially vapourised some of the silver leaf which has reacted with Oobleck to give a rich deep tan colour.

Cotswold Blue ltd run is another stunner of a colour, a delicious teal shade that sits in that special place exactly in the middle between blue and green. This glass gives a lot of striations - similar to those you see with CiM Mermaid and Quetzal ltd run.

Cotswold blue is not reactive with silver leaf at all. As you can see in this last picture, all that is left behind in the areas where silver leaf has been vapourised are the smallest droplets of silver and no colour change to the glass itself at all.

Jolene x

Messy testing - Sacre Bleu and Serenity ltd run

This beautiful transparent blue glass is called Sacre Bleu ltd run, it is a new glass colour coming out from Creation is Messy in a few weeks time.

I've enjoyed playing with this rich royal blue transparent, it is such a pretty colour. The real big difference with this glass and other transparent blue glass colours that I have worked with before is just how very well behaved it is in a hot flame. There was no boiling, scumming or micro-bubbles at all. These floral hearts are made with a solid Sacre Blue and decorated with twistie cane petals.

These tumbled hearts have been made with a small core of Sacre Bleu encased in a thick layer of Effetre oo6 clear glass. They have been tumble etched in a rock tumbler with silicon carbide grit for a couple of hours. The little heart imprints have created a glossy indent where the rich blue give a really interesting visual highlight.

Half of these Sacre Bleu hoops have been tumbled etched with silicon carbide grit in a rock tumbler to give them a sea glass finish. I like the matt finish but prefer the glossy finish in with this colour.

Sacre Bleu is a really close match for Neon Blue ltd run which came out in early 2014.

I just love this colour, I am a real big fan of bluey green and greeny blue and all things aqua when it come to glass and Serenity ltd run ticks the prettiness box for me! It is another brilliantly behaved colour in a hot flame which also suits me well. Not a sign of boiling of bubbles at all.
Both Sacre Bleu and Serenity are so easy to work with.

These hearts are made with a base of Serenity which I have decorated with swipes of twistie cane for petals.

These hearts have been made with a small core of Serenity encased in a thick layer of Effetre oo6 clear glass. They have been tumble etched in a rock tumbler with silicon carbide grit for a couple of hours. Serenity is a great colour for this technique, it looks really pretty.

Half of these Serenity hoops have been tumbled etched with silicon carbide grit in a rock tumbler to give them a sea glass finish. I have strung them side by side for comparison with the glossy ones, both look great to me.
 
Serenity is a very good match for the now impossible to find Breeze ltd run colour that came out in spring 2013.

Jolene x

Messy testing Merryweather ltd run

There will be a new collection of ltd run CoE 104 glass colours coming out this spring from Creation is Messy. There is a preview page here.

One of my favourites so far is this gorgeous opal blue called Merryweather ltd run. It is a light semi transparent opal blue glass which is very easy to work with in the flame. Like many opal colours it is quite a stiff glass. The flower bud beads shown here are made with a core of Merryweather with effetre clear petals swiped over the top. They seem to have some sort of inner glow to them.

This second set of buds are made with a core of Merryweather with CiM Sacre Bleu ltd run (more about this lovely transparent blue in a future blog post) which is a beautiful combination.

The floral button here shows how large dots Merryweather look when layered over CiM Freman. This takes away some of the transparency but gives beautiful depth to the petals.

The little flower button here was made with Merryweather dots over another fabulous new colour called Oobleck ltd run. This time the petals have not been layered up over another  colour and you can clearly see how the bright green is showing through the semi transparent Merryweather petals and giving them a greenish tint.

Last up, some Merryweather hoops that I have tumbled etched with silicon carbide grit in a rock tumbler. Many opal glass colours do not etch easily or even at all with Etchall or other commercial chemical etching products. I tend not to try that method any longer for opal colours and head straight to the grit! As you can see here Merryweather also looks great with a matt finish.

Merryweather ltd run is both a beautiful and versatile new colour.

Jolene xx

Messy Testing - Colour study in blue

A glass colour study in blue looking at pairs of colours layered up together. The base of these flowers beads is either an opaque or opal glass. The top layer of petals have been swiped on with either clear or transparent glass.
 


Left to right -
Effetre white with Effetre Clear petals
CiM Freman with Effetre Clear petals
Effetre white with CiM Jet Stream ltd run petals
CiM Fremen with CiM Jet Stream ltd run petals
CiM Mermaid with Effetre Clear petals
CiM Mermaid with with CiM Jet Stream ltd run petals

Jolene xx

Messy Testing - Colour study in purple

A glass colour study in purple looking at pairs of colours layered up together. The base of these flowers beads is either an opaque or opal glass. The top layer of petals have been swiped on with either clear or transparent glass.




From left to right
CiM Primrose with Enchanted ltd run petals
CiM Rapunzel ltd run with Enchanted ltd run petals
CiM Plum with Effetre clear petals
CiM Bubble Bath ltd run with Vetrofond purple 042 petals
CiM Plum Vetrofond purple 042 petals

Jolene xx