Messy testing - Watermelon and Heather ltd run

Watermelon ltd run and Heather ltd run are a new kind of glass coming out from CiM soon.

They call them "cloudy transparents" and the rods contain pigments suspended withing clear glass.

It was a totally irresistible temptation to make these watermelon themed hearts, the glass is so aptly named!

This heart pair is made with solid Watermelon. I really like the bright juicy colour and semi transparent "powdery" look. The negative with this glass for me is that I like to add small dots of glass at a time to the faces of heart beads and press several times to build up the perfect shape. I am finding that the tip of the rod boils easily and leaves micro bubbles when I add the extra glass.

These are the same bead after they have been tumble etched, you can see how much more visible those bubbles are after tumble etching.

This next pair hearts are made with Heather ltd run. It is another of CiM's new experimental cloudy transparents in a glorious shade of lilac. So pretty!

As with Watermelon, the areas where I have added additional glass between presses are very apparent.

The next thing I would like to try with these colours is to see how it works under an encasing.

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 - 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

Messy Testing Inchworm and Chartreuse ltd run

There are two gloriously happy shades of  green opal glass coming in the next release of  new colours from Creation is Messy.

First up is a fabulously bright opal lemon green called Chartreuse ltd run. These hearts are Chartreuse with Reichenbach deep black spots.

Chartreuse seems to have a kind of inner glow of its own. The leaves here show the subtle misty opal effect you get when this glass is pressed thin.

This yummy bright opal green is called Inchworm ltd run. I love the misty semi translucence that this glass has. The colour just looks juicy and delicious like sour apple boiled sweeties.

Inchworm ltd run leaves, so pretty. I'm absolutely loving both of these colours!

Jolene x

Messy Testing - Cleopatra ltd run

Cleopatra ltd run is a densely saturated rich purple. I have used it to make candy striped core petal beads. Every shade of transparent purple that you see in these beads has been created with Cleopatra.

I have used it as a solid colour core under clear in the tumble etched spacers. In the rounds I have used it to create the initial core with white dots on top or or over a white core as tiny dots that have been further diluted with Effetre clear and stretched out to make pale candy stripes. The petals have been formed by adding tiny dots of Cleopatra over dots of either Effetre white or CiM Lapis. On the surface of these beads I have used Cleopatra stringer to create some darker purple dotty details by adding a second layer of Cleopatra to build up the colour intensity. All in all Cleopatra is a very pretty and versatile colour.

Jolene x

Messy testing - Dirty Laundry, Ladybug and Red Alert ltd run

Today I'm looking at a new shade of opal white coming out soon from CiM called Dirty Laundry ltd run. I have used Dirty Laundry as the base for the first trio of hearts in the picture on the left. Dirty laundry looks slightly creamy yellow in comparison with Marshmallow (middle set) and is much denser than Cirrus (trio on the right).
The heart below is also made over a base of Dirty Laundry.








The flower petals for all of these white hearts are made with  Emperor ltd run layered over Grumpy Bear stringer. For the Marshmallow set I have used Effetre yellow opalino also. All of the foliage is made with Ogre ltd run. The colour changing effects of Ogre are unpredictable but also adds a lot of interest.

I have also been looking at two new shades of opaque red, Red Alert ltd run and Ladybug ltd run. Red alert is the darker of the two and has beautiful striations. I pulled a fine stringer of Red Alert and used it to create these poppy petals. The colours variation mades them look shaded and gives them a lot of depth and interest. The hearts below were also made with Red Alert, you can see the colour variation much more clearly here.

The petals for the flowers on this second Glacier focal were made with new ladybug ltd run. It is a bright, vibrant and streak free strawberry red. Below are my test beads of Red Alert (top bead) and Ladybug (bottom bead) side by side.

Jolene x

Messy Testing - Emperor ltd run

There are some new colours coming out from Creation is Messy in the Fall, I think Emperor ltd run is my favourite of the ones I have had the chance to play with so far.



As a self coloured bead it is a rich plummy purple transparent but when used as tiny dots it has quite a bit in common with Effetre Rubino Oro in the way it spreads and some reactions. In the image top left I have used stringers of Rubino and Emperor over hand pulled Effetre pale Opal Yellow to create raked fern decorations. Both glasses spread beautifully, the Rubino turned orange/yellow over the Opal Yellow and Emperor stayed deliciously pink.
 

These flowers are made with stringers of either Emperor (fist column) or Rubino (second column) placed directly over some common reactive bases. Both glasses spread out a lot, with the colour pooling at the centre of the dots giving a place cream/white outline.

The top row base is hand pulled Effetre Copper Green, middle row is Effetre light Turquoise, bottom row is Effetre New Violet.


Jolene x

Messy testing - 50's Kitchen, Caboose and Butternut ltd run

Today I am looking at three beautiful opaque colours coming out soon from CiM. First up is a super pale green is called 50's Kitchen, it is quite similar to mint chip in many ways and looks lovely encased.

This pretty coral red is called Caboose ltd run' Caboose is streak free and every bit as bright and pretty encased.

Butternut ltd run is a beautiful autumnal bright buttery orange. And here is it under an layer of clear looking perhaps even more vibrant.





Jolene xx

Messy Testing - Frozen, Sakura, Nimbus and French Grey ltd run

In this post I am looking at four new colours that will be coming out soon from Creation is Messy. First up is Frozen is a new opal white ltd run  I made two Pisanka (Polish decorated Easter egg) style sets of beads from Frozen (at the front) and Marshmallow (at the back) for comparison. Frozen is more translucent and has a slightly blue tint when compared to Marshmallow.

This set of leaves and flower buds are made with a stunning new transparent pink called Sakura Ltd Run. I have swiped on petals of Sakura over Frozen for a very romantic combination of colours.

I adore the next two colours, a pair of soft looking opal grey melts. This first colour is a lush dark grey called Nimbus ltd run, a name that suits is very well.

The last new colour that I have to share today is called French Grey ltd run. I absolutely adore the way that white stringer (Effetre white) looks feathered at the edges over French Grey.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Aladdin ltd run and Loch Ness ltd run

CiM have been making some absolutely glorious new colours lately. This deep opal purple is called Aladdin ltd run and it's deliciously plumy and yum!

This next colour, Loch Ness ltd run, is a super saturated green which looks almost black in this little self coloured leaf bead.  Held up to the light though it is clear to see how well Loch Ness will work in canes and as fine stringer to give a bright vibrant olive green.

I tried Loch Ness up against Slytherin and Slytherin Unique-2 as fine stringer and it falls somewhere between the two in density of colour. In the picture below from left to right, these decorated egg shaped beads use Slytherin, Loch Ness and Slytherin Unique-2

Slytherin over Peace

 Loch Ness ltd run over Peace

Slytherin Unique-2 over Peace

I think I am going to enjoy using Loch Ness is my beads a great deal, especially in beads with striped cored under deep encasement.

Jolene x

Messy testing - Frangipani

CiM Frangipani is one of the most curious colours that I've seen in  quite a while. It is a sweet lilac opal shade that becomes more opaque as you work it longer in the flame. It also develops random striations in a slightly darker shade of purple too. This glass was originally named Unique Crocus 511660-2. I am quite taken with the cloud like effects that this glass can give you all on it's own and think these simple nugget beads are so pretty.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Valentine, Radio Flyer and Bing #Blogtoberfest13 Day 18

Today I am looking at three delicious shades of red glass. The first is a real favourite of mine CiM Valentine, which is part of the Messy Color regular line. It is a delicious dark red opaque that keeps it's rich colour and opacity as fine stringer work and as tiny dots.

Next up are two of the newest ltd run releases, Radio Flyer and Bing. Radio Flyer is a glorious bright mid toned red. In the solid heart bead (pictured left) you can just see a small amount of transparency left after all of the repeated heating, cooling and pressing to form the heart shape.

Bing is a lovely shade of red that tends a little towards orange. It is much brighter than Radio Flyer and it has opacified much less in as a solid heart bead.

Next I wanted to check out how the reds looked as different size dots. Valentine, the only opaque, kept it's colour beautifully. Radio flyer came into its own when used in tiny quantities for dot work, it looks even more vivid, almost Scarlet even, over Effetre white.

Bing looks very different when used for dots, the orange tone is more apparent and the results are very pretty, like strawberry jelly.

Next I made an ocean bead with three baby red mud crabs, the left one is Valentine, the middle Radio Flyer and the last is Bing. The Radio Flyer crab has became semi opaque whilst the Bing one remained much more transparent (the Bing crabs claws are semi opaque and were worked longer in the flame than the body). I found all three of these lovely reds easy to work with, smooth to melt, hard to boil and neither of the transparent glasses needed to be struck.

 Jolene xx

Messy testing - Antique Lace, Cake Batter, Daffodil, Alley Cat

I've been revisiting an idea from last summer, beads in a cave painting style, and it was an irresistible temptation to head straight towards my test rods of some of the newest CiM colours, Alley Cat in particular which is a glorious bright orange ochre opaque.

The plan was to make tab beads and then burnish on patches of  silver leaf to vapourise in the flame. I wanted to try this over some of the new ivory-ish, yellow and orange shades to see how much of an organic "ageing" effect I could give the glass colours.

The picture above shows my finished beads and cabochons which have been lightly etched with Etch All Dip'n Etch liquid. To the right is a picture of the back of each of these beads which shows the organic effects of the silver leaf before etching.

First up I would like to talk about Alley Cat ltd run. Love at first sight for me it was for me with this colour, it looks so bright and happy.Where the silver touched the bead there is a strong reaction which looks almost bronzish in places and the silver seems to fumed areas of Alley Cat adjacent to the silver giving a deeper shade.

Next up, Daffodil, not a new colour but new to the UK. I've used  Daffodil ltd run once or twice before and so already knew that it works up much darker than you would think when you see it in rod form. It reacts strongly with silver leaf leaving an finish that looks something like an antique mirror finish before it was etched. It is a cheerful sunny colour that is a couple of shades lighter that Alley Cat. Both are fab, well behaved glass colour with a retro feel.

Antique Lace also has a strong reaction with silver though without the hoped for patchy organic patterns than I got from either of the orange glasses. It was fumed faorly evenly from a light almost grey toned cream to a really pretty deep beige colour. The bright orange you can see on the front on my Antique Lace bead is Daffodil.

The last colour to mention today is Cake Batter which in rod form is the palest shade of pastel yellow. It behaved similarly to Antique Lace in that the whole surface area of the bead was fumed by the silver leaf when I vapourised it in the flame without distinct areas where the silver leaf had been touching the bead. In this case the colour change is striking, I got a deep almost distressed looking sandy brown, the lovely sandstone effect I had been hoping for.

Jolene x

A fab feature!

Good evening, I've had a lovely feature today, some of my work has been showcased in the latest Creation is Messy (CiM) newsletter. There are some pretty pictures of my beads and murrini and links to my blog posts about them and also some links to where my glassy things can be found online.

If you would like to be on the mailing list for news of new CiM glass colour releases, glass testers information and more then check out the Creation is Messy Artists registration page.



Also just a little note to let you know that today is the last day to enter my Caramel Creme lampwork bead Giveaway. I'll do the draw and give the winner a shout out on my blog tomorrow.

I hope you have all been having a lovely all Halloween,
Jolene x