Messy testing - Chamomile, Chateau and Nectar ltd run colours

This set of floral beads was made with Chamomile ltd run and Vetrofond odd Candy Apple. I've not done any comparison testing at all for this colour as there is nothing at all similar in my glass stash to compare it with. Chamomile surprised me, in rod form it looked like it was going to turn out much darker than it did for me here. I really like the way parts of my beads have remained transparent whilst other parts have opacified more which looks especially lovely in  the leaves.

This bead kebab shows where about Chateau falls within the CiM palette, something quite close to (the now sold out) Fostoria ltd run from last year.  From left to right you can see Dusk, Fostoria, Chateau and Sepia.

This pretty egg focal and spacers shows Chateau ltd run off much better than my bead kebab does :-D  It's a very pretty deep golden amber brown transparent.

Last to show this evening is Nectar ltd run. This picture shows Nectar (with silvered ivory wraps) side by side  with  Peachy Keen (decorated with a silvered ivory fern). These glass colours could pass for one another but are named differently as they have different formulae.

Nectar is beautiful bright golden amber and it is also  beautifully well behaved in the flame, happy enough to be worked hot without boiling or pitting.

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Royal, Anchor, Frost, Aegean, and Royal ltd run colours

There have been a lot of requests in for new shades of blue and so CiM has been melting experimental batches for new colours :-D The First of the new CiM blues that I have been looking at this past week is called Royal. It's a rich gem toned mid transparent blue unlike anything else I have come across in the 104 palette before.

Royal is saturated enough to lend itself to making lovely stripe cored beads where tiny dots of colour are placed around the edge of a disc bead and stretched out (and the colour diluted) under layers of clear glass. It is both pretty and versatile.

These two sets show a comparison between Anchor ltd run and Leaky Pen under clear as stripe cored beads. Leaky Pen is at the back with Creamsicle detail, Anchor is at the front with detail using Key Lime. Anchor comes out much bluer than Leaky Pen.

Both Anchor ltd run and Leaky Pen are super saturated transparent colours so a little goes a very long way. Anchor really comes into it's own when used as tiny dots and diluted and stretched out under layers of clear as shown withing the stripes and petals of this egg shaped focal.

Next to show is Frost ltd run, here is a side by side comparison of Frost againts some other pale aqua colours. From left to right there is CiM Ice Floe, Vetrofond 038, Frost and Effetre 038.

 Frost is a lovely subtle pale aqua, very close in tone to Effetre 038 but somehow just a tiny bit brighter. The bubbles in the egg shaped bead here on the right were incorporated by my laying down fairly messy wraps when building up the body of my bead. Frost is a lovely clean colour that is not prone to scumming or boiling even when worked quite hot (as I tend to do).

I imagine it would look delicious etched or tumbled but I have not gotten around to trying that yet....

Last to show today is Aegean ltd run. It is a truly beautiful deep teal which looks like a light version of CiM's Great Bluedini (Bluedini sample bead on the left).

Jolene xx

Messy testing - Duck Egg ltd run and Tortoise ltd run

This past couple of weeks I have been lucky enough to have a look at, and a play with, the newest batches of glass from Creation is Messy. That will be released in the near future.

The two I am blogging about today are called Duck Egg and Tortoise and they are two of my favourite from this round of testing.

Duck Egg ltd run is like a blue toned version of Dirty Martini (see above, Dirty Martini on the left and Duck egg on the right).

The photo on the left here shows how Duck egg looks with Reichenbach Multicolour Dark detail on the surface. They make a fabulous colour combo!

This trio of hearts is made with Tortoise ltd run decorated with silvered ivory. The Tortoise has struck to various shades between warm grey and pale sage green with the several pressings in a brass press. This has given an organic natural look to the finished beads, like weathered stone (but shiny!).

This egg bead was also made with Tortoise and silvered ivory but it has been shaped with a graphite roller as opposed to being chilled with brass tools. The overall colour variation is much less than with the hearts above. Tortoise and Duck egg are both gloriously olde-worlde shades that will be totally new additions to the currently available Colour 104 colour palette. Love them!

Jolene xx

Blogtoberfest day 17 - Colourful Friday

Blogtobefest day 11 Upcoming Kumihimo class with Kat Newman at Studio 2

I'm so pleased to be able to announce that Kat Newman is going to be my very first visiting tutor over at studio 2 in Ruislip. If you fancy a day learning how to make beautiful Kumihimo braids please send either Kat or myself a message.

Have a great weekend, Jolene x

Blogtoberfest day 10 - Colourful Friday

Blogtoberfest day 9 - Home made play dough

The kidlets and I have been making play dough. There are quite few recipes available on the net and we plumped for this no cooking required one from instructables.com.

To make your own you will need -
2 cups flour
2 cups warm water
1 cup salt
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1 Tablespoon cream of tartar

We fudged the recipe quite a lot because of lack of tablespoon or a measuring cup so we mixed the flour/water/salt in a ratio of 2:2:1, added 2 glugs of veg oil and 2 heaped desert spoons of cream of tartar and it seemed to work out pretty well considering. After splitting the mixture into 6 we added a teaspoon of food colouring to each block and kneaded it into the dough to make loads of fun colours.

Play dough is such good fun to play with and is the most prefect distraction on a rainy afternoon. My son likes to make turtles and much about with play dough suitable scissors.

And my Daughter makes cookies and other treats for her imaginary cafe.

The cream of tartar makes homemade play dough last for ages, months even, as long as you store in airtight containers so don;t go throwing away your old empty play doh pots!

Have a lovely evening, Jo x

Blogtoberfest day 8 - Monochrome

Yesterday I set myself a simplicity challenge, getting back to basics with a very limited colour palette of just black, white and clear glass. It was superbly fun few hours at the torch, concentrating on dot placement and stringer control and encasing. These beads are currently up for auction in two of the lively Facebook lampwork groups - I think you have to be a member of the groups to see the artists pictures and listings  but I shall share links to them here anyway :-D

https://www.facebook.com/groups/lampworkbeadmarket 

& https://www.facebook.com/groups/artisanlampworkbeadsforsale

 

Have a super evening, Jolene xx

Blogtober day 5 - Mini Mo' Oct 14 Carnival and Circus Circus

The first collection I have put together for the Mini Mo' club in October is a pure shot in the arm of bright colour! Reds, yellow and a smashing great dollop of juicy orange.

These beads turned out beautifully, encased carnival twistie hearts.

Next to show is a lush bright set using CiM Tiger Lily with Carnival love heart murrini.

And the last set I have to show for this  collection are a series of little donut beads made with encased Carnival twistie canes.

My second collection for October are Circus colours, bright blues and greens with a splash of red and orange.

This first heart trio has been decorated with Circus Circus murrini with a paisley twist over Vetrofond Pea Green.

Next to show are the silvered Glacier shards over Effetre mid aqua.

My last set for this post are encased hearts using some of the Circus Circus twistie cane over CiM Glacier.

 If you would like to join the Mini Mo' club them pop along to my etsy supplies shop for the full details and prices.

https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/FritNChips

Have a lovely day, Jolene xx

Blogtoberfest day 4 - Made to Order Hearts

After just squeaking in, just in the nick time on day 3 with a cheeky colour study post, today is going to be another quick post and run too as I am busy preparing for the Uxbridge bead show tomorrow.

I am trying something new for Etsy, and starting to create listings for made to order hearts in my most popular designs and in my very favourite colours.

 My first offering (above) is a collection in Reichenbach Ocean which is so lush and sparkly. Next up, delicious light transparent apple green........yum!

Stunning Bubblebath Opal lilac....

......and last but by no means least, in this stunning bright orange with both back and silvered ivory options.

You can check them out on Etsy :-D

Have a super weekend, Jolene xx

Blogtoberfest day 3 - Colourful Friday

Mini Mo'Sept 14 Iris Blue and Cornflower

My first Mini Mo' collection for September is called iris Blue. I've used Vetro Periwinkle, Reichenbach Iris blue and CiM Azure with classic Silvered Ivory shards

The first set I have to show today are mix and match tab beads that use some of the iris blue twisties over a base of Effetre lime green.

This heart trio has Iris Blue murrini detail with a paisley twist over baby blue.

Last to show for this collection, a trio of Fremen hearts with classic silvered Ivory shards.

My second collection is called Cornflower and uses Effetre Periwinkle, CiM Ink Blot and Effetre Trans Purple with Light Silver Plum shards.

Another bright set of Crazy 8's, this time using lilac twistie from the cornflower collection over Effetre Apricot.

A sweet little heart trio in dark lavender with Cornflower murrini.

The last set that I have to show today is this glorious set of azure hearts with shimmering Light Silver Plum shards - a low oxy rich flame brings out the lustre.

Have a great week, Jolene xx

Blogtoberfest day 1 - My new studio and International bead challenge day

So it is that time of year again, Blogtoberfest! I love this once a year project, it really helps me focus on my much loved but oft  neglected blog and gets me catching up on sharing glassy news and tutorials.
If you would like to take up the challenge to blog daily through October check out this linky...
shellsinthebush.blogspot.com.au/p/blog-page.html

So my big big news is that I moved out of my (dark, damp and spider filled) garage studio at the start of August and into a fabulous studio space in the Manor Farm heritage site at the top of Ruislip High St. My new beautiful, airy, light filled space is just a dream come true!

It has finally given me the space I need to be able to offer lampwork bead making tuition and host special events like the one we held on the 20th of September for International Bead Challenge day. Marlene Minhas, Heather Kelly and I spent the day showing some super special kiddos from the Beads of Courage program and their families how lampwork beads are made. We also made String of Strength bracelets with the kids which are a fabulous way for kids to be able to support other kids on the BoC program. The way String of Strength bracelets work is that each child and their siblings can each make two identical bracelets, one to keep and one to gift to another child on the program along with a short message of support. It's a very lovely thing.

Here are the beads we made on the day which have already been sent on to Be Child Cancer Aware along with the String of Strength bracelets. Hopefully they will bring strength and encouragement to some very brave kids :-D

That's it from me today, back to tomorrow with a Mini Mo' catch up post for September.
Jolene xx