Messy testing - Wisteria ltd run and a look at more CiM opal purples

This new colour from CiM is an absolute stunner. Wisteria ltd run is designed to be a misty opal version of Crocus - misty opal means just a hint of opacity. This glass utterly delights me, the result is this precious looking glowing lavender purple.
Wisteria seems to have a very slight colour change/reaction with fine silver foil. These floral hearts have been decorated with encased stringers - Effetre white encased with Gypsy ltd run and Elphaba encased with Eden ltd run.

For comparison I have made a set of similar beads with the original CiM Crocus formula, a very beautiful opal glass which is almost completely opaque. 

This too reacts slightly with fine silver leaf to give small areas of colour change.





 

When I opened the drawer to find Crocus I rediscovered lots of other pretty purple opal/moonstone colours and it was an irresistible temptation to take out a few more to melt and include in this show and tell blog post.

This lovely pale blush pinky toned pastel purple is called Bubblebath ltd run. It's name is very evocative and this glass is so pretty it's own right that it doesn't seem to need much or any other decoration.

Plum is a staple in the Messy Color palette but surprisingly I have not created beads with it often over the years. It is much paler in rod form than as finished beads, a pretty mid purple that can be struck to a couple of different shades as you can see clearly in these heart beads. The subtle colour variation makes me think of Lavender Jade.

The last pretty opal purple I want to show today is called Byzantium ltd run. It is a rich dark purple semi transparent opal glass. CiM describe this colour as a purple moonstone and I can totally see why, it's lush.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Mantis and Eclectus Parrot ltd run and a look at Dark Velvet ltd run

Creation is Messy have been experimenting with the translucency of their opal glasses in their newest collection of CoE 104 ltd run colours.

Here we have leaves made with Mantis ltd run (left) and Eclectus Parrot (right). These lush greens are the same basic colour but Mantis give what CiM call a misty opal look - a barely there opal quality that seems to give these leaves an apparent luminescence.

Eclectus Parrot - henceforth known to me as EP is engineered to be a translucent opal - so an opal that lets just a hint of light through and gives these beads a kind of semi precious gem like quality.

Here are some heart beads showing a direct comparison between how the light travels through both greens. I have used Dark Velvet ltd run, another of those lush super dense purple glass colours that CiM do so well, to create encased stringers to decorate them with.

Mantis, on the left, is decorated with stringer made from Poi encased with Dark Velvet ltd run. EP on the right is decorated with a cane made from Glacier encased with Dark Velvet.
By switching up the core colour you can create some wonderful subtly toning stringers.

Again we have Mantis beads on the left, EP on the right, and some more ideas on what you can do with some lovely thin encased Dark Velvet stringers. The vines and leaves here were made with layered canes that have a core of Elphaba encased with Eden ltd run.

The lentil pair below are made with EP and dots of Glacier/Dark Velvet encased stringers.

These last beads I want to show today show what tiny dots of Dark Velvet over white look like inside an encased floral bead. Very delicate and pretty. The other glass colours I have used here are CiM Poi, Vetrofond light purple and Effetre clear with a bit of Elphaba/Eden layered stringer.

Happy melting, Jolene

Messy Testing - Bayou, Porpoise, Little Boy Blue, Peppermint Cream, and Eden and ltd run

In this post I am looking at 5 new colours that will be arriving in  the UK very soon including a densely saturated green called Eden ltd run.

Bayou ltd run, Porpoise ltd run and Little boy blue ltd looked quite similar in rod form. When used to make beads they are the most lovely green, grey and eggshell blue opaques. These colours are muted and lovely, like vintage paint samples.

The hearts on the left are Bayou decorated with a layered cane of white and Gypsy, and vine cane made of Elphaba layered with Eden ltd run. The middle pair are Porpoise decorated a layered cane of white and Cleopatra and the same vine cane. The pair on the right are made with Little Boy Blue decorated with a layered cane of white and Midnight and the Elphaba/Eden vine cane.

I've used these 3 colours again to make two tone hearts separated with a line of Elpaba/Eden cane.
Left we have Bayou with Glacier which is my all time favourite blue. The middle pair are Porpoise with Weeping Willow (also coming out soon).
The pair on the right are Little Boy Blue and Peppermint Cream ltd run which is a new super pale green

From left to right the bead colours are Peppermint Cream/Bayou/Porpoise/Little Boy Blue. These textured ammonite beads have been burnished with fine silver leaf. The only glass showing a colour change reaction from the silver is The Peppermint cream bead.

Eden ltd is a saturated deep green glass which looks close to black as a solid bead. I usually use CiM Loch Ness to make my layered vine canes but find I like Eden even more! It is an emerald green colour when pulled down into stringer over a core of vibrant green Elphaba. Eden looks black as a solid bead and so by way of giving a direct comparison I have made a solid bead and also put dots Eden over dots of Glacier inside this layered floral lentil to give the impression of big leaves behind the flowers (I have used Gypsy dots over Glacier dots to make the petals). With Eden, a little glass will go a very long way in adding pops of colour to your  beads.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Aiko, Troi and Weeping Willow ltd run

Today I am looking at a trio of new colours coming to the UK from Creation is Messy this spring. The first I want to show is called Aiko ltd run. It is a very pretty mid teal transparent shade.

This first set of beads have been made with a core of Aiko encased with Effetre clear glass. I then used a diamond saw blade to take little nibbles out of the surface of the beads and tumble etched them for a couple of hours to give them a matt finish.

The body of these pretty flower bud beads is made with another gorgeous new colour, Troi ltd run. It looks like the perfect opaque version of Aiko to me and these colours work so so well together. Both colours are a pleasure to work with, Troi melts smoothly and has a buttery texture and Aiko does not scum or bubble even when worked quite hot.

Another Troi/Aiko combination, this time with a wrap of silvered ivory stringer to separate them. Troi seems to give some streaks and striations depending on how you layer it but I like the additional detail this can give to a  bead and I don't consider that to be an unwanted quirk in the slightest. There are no effects of fuming from the silver in this stringer on either colour.

This lentil was made with a core of Trio encased with Aiko then decorated with Troi stingers. The  dots and stringer lines have darker pooled areas of colour giving the illusion of that a second layer of dots and lines were placed on the bead.

The larger round bead shown here has a core of Aiko encased with Effetre clear and has been decorated with Weeping Willow ltd run stringers. As fine stringer, Weeping Willow is very close to the same shade as it appears in rod form.

This pair of heart beads are a Weeping Willow/Aiko combination with a wrap of silvered ivory stringer to separate them. As with Troi, you can see some striations and streaks that give clues to how additional glass was added to form the shape. I think it looks very pretty!
Weeping Willow does not seem to be affected by fuming from the silvered ivory stringer.

This colour would be perfect for making little glass leaves!


16.1.19 Edit to add one last picture, some Weeping Willow leaves...

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Cerulean and Cerulean Sparkle ltd run

Creation is Messy are bringing out some experimental glass this January by adding aventurine sparkle to this gorgeous aqua blue glass called Cerulean ltd run. These two sets of hearts may look the same - they are from the same melt but the pair on the right are made with Cerulean Sparkle ltd run which has been given tiny sparkly golden inclusions. The effect is very subtle and doesn't show up very well in a photograph but does show with movement when the beads are outdoors in the sun. I am looking forward to working with other glass like this in the future and hope CiM experiment more with blingy inclusions in the future.

This pair of little textured heart beads show what Cerulean looks like under a layer of clear encasement.

Happy Melting, Jolene

Messy testing - Your Majesty and Amethyst ltd run with Cleopatra and Midnight.

This post looks at the two new purple transparent colours that will be coming out from CiM soon and also two super saturated purple ltd run colours that are already available to buy.

These two pairs of hearts have been made with Your Majesty ltd run, a mid purple transparent that looks quite similar to Effetre mid purple 042. On the left are solid Your Majesty hearts and on the right are hearts with a core of Your Majesty encased  with Effetre Clear.

I have decorated these hearts with flowers made from handmade encased stringers.

CiM have a great selection of super saturated glass colours in their palette which are just perfect for making stringers and murrini that don't look washed out.

The flowers on the surface of these hearts have been made with thin stringers created with Cleopatra ltd run layered over white. The vines and leaves have been made in two ways - the solid colour hearts have vines made with CiM Goldenrod ltd run encased with CiM Loch Ness ltd run (though any bright yellow opaque glass under Loch Ness will work just as well). The vines on the encased hearts are made with CiM Weeping Willow ltd run under a layer of Loch Ness.

To give another example of just how much you can dilute Cleopatra and still see rich purples I have made this stacked dot lentil bead. It had a core of Your Majesty encased in clear and then 4 alternating dots of Effetre white and Cleopatra which have been melted flat to let the dots spread. The lighter spacers are Your Majesty, the darker ones are Cleopatra.

This next two pairs of hearts have been made with Amethyst ltd run which may be a lighter version of Your Majesty and looks quite similar to Effetre light purple 040. On the left are solid Amethyst hearts and on the right are hearts with a core of Amethyst encased  with Effetre Clear.

The petals on these hearts were swiped on with a layered stringer that I made from a core of Effetre white encased with CiM Midnight ltd run. I used the Weeping Willow/Loch Ness cane again for the vines.

I can't quite make up my mind if Midnight over white is giving me grey or pale violet petals, either way they are very pretty.

These encased floral beads have a core have a core of Amethyst encased in clear glass and flowers made by covering dots of white with dots of Midnight. The top spacers are Amethyst and the bottom spacers  are made from Your Majesty

This stacked dot lentil shows a few of the lavender/grey shades you can get out of Midnight. These photos have been taken in doors under daylight light bulbs.

This lentil has a core of Amethyst encased in clear and then 4 alternating dots of Effetre white and Midnight which have then been melted down flat to let the dots spread. All of the spacers are made with CiM Amethyst, two were tumble etched to create a matt finish.

Happy Melting, Jolene x