Looking at Bullseye part 8 - Mint Green Opal, Teal Opal, Chartreuse

This first set uses Mint Green Opal and Chartreuse with a tiny sprinkling of pretty and glittery Blue Fairy Ocean Deep frit blend.

I'm loving the Mint Opal but am not so sure of the Chartreuse which in rod form looked much more light and limey. I;m on a real bright kick at the moment'
This second set combines Teal Opal with Chartreuse and some commercially made 1mm stringers which are fabulously time saving. 

Have a lovely day, Jolene x

Messy testing - Coronation Day ltd run

The last of the June 14 release limited run colours from CiM that I will be blogging about this week is called Coronation Day. The very first beads that I made with this glass (both sides of the same beads pictured left and below) showed heaps of colour variation - all of which are beautiful shades of dark lilac to rich purple - considering they were all made with a single rod of glass this variation had me intrigued.

To try to get to the bottom of what factors were at play to achieve this colour fading effect, I made a series of nugget beads in various different flame conditions, two each in an oxygen rich, neutral and propane rich flame. As you can see there is no obvious effect on the colour of these beads caused by varying the flame chemistry.

The hearts above were put thorough several heating and rapid cooling cycles in the process of their making. I work pretty hot (Mini CC on two oxycons) and used a brass press to shape them. The nugget beads above were shaped with a graphite paddle and were heated, cooled on graphite when being shaped and warmed through again only once.

 I did manage to reproduce the a similar effect again though in making this sweet set of tab beads. They were put through several cycles of heating and rapid cooling by using a heavy brass parallel press which seems to be the secret to teasing out the darker opal purple tones. The effect is so pretty!

Have a super day, Jolene x

Messy testing - Heartthrob ltd run

The next of the June limited run colours from Creation is Messy that I want to show you is Heartthrob. It's a gloriously rich dark red that looks fantastic with black details.

There are very subtle lines on these beads that show the joins between the wraps of glass I put down as I built up each bead.  That result is quite beautiful and gives this rich red a lot of depth and interest.

The black I have used on both of these sets is Reichenbach 104 dense black.

Have a super day, Jolene x

Messy Testing - Tiger Lily ltd run

This morning I would like to show you Tiger Lily ltd run. It's a deliciously vibrant orange opaque that is just so perfect for summer beads. It's awesomely bright!

I've found that Tiger Lily looks a touch paler under clear encasing. The set here was created with a Tiger Lily base, Elphaba twistie and a generous layer of Effetre 006 clear glass. The green and orange just zing against one another and a bright citrus splash!

Have a lovely day, Jolene x

Messy Testing - Bubble Bath ltd run

There are 4 new limited run colours from CiM (Artists preview page) that will be available in the UK very soon. I'll be popping up a little preview post about each of them up on my blog over the next few days.

This colour is my favourite of the four, a stunning semi transparent pale lavender opal called Bubble Bath. It is definitely on my shopping list!

Bubble Bath is one of only a handful of colours that I can think of that are just so pretty that they can easily stand alone without further decoration or detail.

In this set of olive shaped Bubble Bath beads you can clearly strands of delicate lace like striations in deeper lavender trailing the surface, a lovely quirk of this gorgeous glass.

Have a super day, Jolene xx

Messy Teasting - Sandy beach beads

I love making these ocean critter beads, the sandy beach effect is really pretty I think. I make this look by wrapping some of the neutral and beige type CiM glasses with silver leaf and then vapourising it in the flame.

Here is a very quick post and run gallery showing some of the sandy beach effect that I have found so far.

To the left is silver leaf over Vanilla Latte ltd run

Critter beads with silver leaf over CiM Ginger burnished on then vapourised in the flame.

Critter beads with silver leaf over CiM Sand Dollar ltd run burnished on then vapourised in the flame.

And last up Critter beads beads with silver leaf over CiM Butter Pecan ltd run burnished on then vapourised in the flame.

As you can see these neutral bases all produce similar but slightly different look, it's a lovely effect and one that I like a great deal.

Have a super day, Jolene x

My Etsy

Looking at Bullseye part 7 - Blue Fairy Bullseye Frit Blends

This week I have been playing about with frit. :-D It's been quite a long while since frit called to me but when I saw that Helen Clemons of Blue Fairy Designs has created some beautiful blends in CoE 90 glass I just couldn't resist.

To the left is a set using Helens's Storm Chaser blend over French Vanilla with Transparent Turquoise.

Here I have used Storm Chaser over Powder Blue and Mint Opal. I am afraid the learnt habit of using CoE 96 frit sparingly over CoE 104 glass for years has left its mark on my bead making and there is just the faintest sprinkling of frit over these pretty base colours. The results are very subtle and pretty.

I tried to be a little bit bolder with Berrylicious and added more frit over the base beads this time. It is such a novelty for me knowing that both frit and base are the same CoE! Berrlicious is a super sweet and girly blend of pretty lilacs, purple and pinks. Here it is over Powder Blue and Neo-Lavender Opal.

This blend was a lovely surprise, I hadn't realised when I bought it that there is a touch of pink in this lush green mix. The perfectly named Country Garden is really lovely and looks very pretty over Mint Opal and Neo-Lavender Opal too.

The last Blue Fairy blend that I have to show today is called Sprinkles. I have used it lavishly over a mixed base of French Vanilla and  Neo-Lavender Opal. It looks like there is a party going on on these beads.

You can find these 4 blends and a whole lot more in Helen's glassy supplies shop on Etsy here

Have a lovely evening, Jolene x

Faux turquoise Scarab bead tutorial in Beads & Beyond magazine this month

I'm really excited because I have just received my copy of Beads & Beyond for June and it has my Faux Turquoise Scarab bead tutorial in there :-D It is out on the shelves to buy already I think.

And my beads came back from Beads & Beyond all dressed up and ready to wear, a lovely extra treat for me.

If you would like to see my range of Faux Gem Scarab beads sets you can see them all here in my Etsy shop :-D

Have a super day, Jolene x

Mini Mo' May 14 - Tempting Teal and Passionate Purple

I absolutely love working with these sorts of lush blue green colours, CiM Moana, Vetro Dark Teal, Effetre light Turquoise 232 with Lauscha Dark Teal shards.

Tempting teal has a mix of starburst and spiral shards, show on this little collection of heart beads.

A super special floral heart focal showing tempting Teal canes as raised surface decoration.

A pair of trios using bands of Tempting Teal twistie over CiM Thunder Egg.

My second collection for May is another favourite combination of mine, deep purples twinned with bright green. I've used CiM Grape Ape, CiM Lapis, CiM Elphaba and Lauscha Olive shards.

Passionate Purple murrini over CiM Elphaba and CiM Eggplant.

CiM Elphaba and CiM Eggplant again, this time with a pretty Iris flower motif created using some of the Passionate Purple canes.

The last beads I'd like to show today are these gorgeous encased rounds and heart focal that have  Passionate Purple twistie cane cores.

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

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

Have a lovely day, Jolene xx

Mini Mo' April 14 - Sunny day and Rainy day

My first collection for April is sunny is sunny and bright. I've used Vetrofond Banana Cream, CiM Bing, Effetre Rubino Ora.

This super bright focal is made with CiM Alley Cat, Sunny Day shards and some lovely enamel murrini by Lori and Kim.

My next Sunny Day beads feature the murrini form this collection over Vetro Banana Cream, Effetre Baby Pink and CiM Flax. the whole set has been etched for a soft finish.

My last show for Sunny day is this decadent set of raised florals using  the cane to create all of the raised petals and leaves.

What would April be without a nod to April showers! My second collection, Rainy Day, uses CiM Glacier, CiM Electric Avenue, Vetrofond Dark Teal.

First up a collection of hearts, the transparent set uses Rainy Day murrini for a touch of detail.

This cute heart has a lovely little ladybird surrounded by blooms created with canes form the Rainy Day collection.

My last show for Rainy day is this trio of hearts made using Effete Opalino colours and Rainy Day canes (and chops from the ends of canes to create murrini detail).

I hope you are enjoying your bank holiday weekend, Jolene xx

Looking at Bullseye part 6 - Egyptian Blue, Peiwinkle Special and Pale Sky Blue Transparent

a quick post and run this morning to show you the latest Bullyeye colours I have been playing with.

Periwinkle Special is a sweet baby blue, it is an odd lot and may not be available for long and Pale Sky Blue transparent is a yummy mid blue. The darkest shade in the trio of blues is called Egyptian Blue opal, a really lovely intense electric blue colour and by far my favourite of the three.

Have a lovely day, Jo x

Looking at Bullseye part 5 - Powder Blue Opal, Turquoise Opaque Opal, Aqua Blue Tint Transparent, Light Aquamarine Blue, Emerald Transparent

This week I've been looking at some more Bullyeye glass colours, bluey turquoisey greens.

To the left a mini string of hearts, from right to left there is Aqua Blue Tint Transparent, Light Aquamarine Blue and Turquoise opaque Opal.

The heart trio to the right have been made with Bullseye Light Aquamarine Blue and decorated with fine stringer and dots (Stiff Black Opal and French Vanilla). This glass is so beautiful and clear that I'll definitely be buying it again.

As you can see from the picture here,Turquoise Opaque Opal suffers a great deal from that dirty  looking grey surface patina often seen with Effetre and Vetro Turquoise. There is no benefit in choosing it over the Italian 104's for self coloured beads as a result.

A 5 minute soak in limescale remover (followed by a very thorough soapy scrub) and you get to see the real beauty of Turquoise Opaque Opal.

This large two tone heart is Emerald Transparent at the top and Aqua Blue Tint Transparent at the bottom. Both are stunning colours. I do so love the clarity of these Bullseye transparent colours and both will make it on to a future shopping list.

Last to show today is Powder Blue Opal, a very pretty colour indeed. The French Vanilla dots are not easy to see over this pale baby blue and there seems to have been a reaction (? needs more testing to be sure) between this and the  dots of Turquoise Opaque Opal.

These are all fab colours that work together beautifully. Have a great day Jolene x

Looking at Bullseye part 4 partial encasing, Dusty Lilac Opal

To the left are beads made with Dusty Lilac Opal and Striking Pink. This kind of partial encasing over an opal / moonstone / alabaster / opalino type of glass is a trick I have never managed to pull off without some sign of cracking with CoE 104 glass, possibly because of the big difference in stiffness of the opal colour and the transparent encasing glass. I'm really happy to be able to do this kind if two tone bead making with Bullseye!

Here is the same idea again but using Dusty Lilac Opal and Coral Orange tint. It is such a simple technique but oh so pretty.


Jolene x

Frit N Chips lampwork supplies Kitzbitz Art Beads

Mini Mo' March 14 - Sunrise and twilight

My first collection for March is called Sunrise, it is a bright mix of Effetre Apricot, CiM Phoenix, CiM Clockwork, Vetro Banana Cream odd

This first focal shows how the canes look when they are used to create raised floral decoration.

My next picture shows how the canes and murrini can be melted in flat to create lots of color and detail on the surface of a bead.

Last to show for Sunrise is a large pressed tab using the multicoloured shards for detail/

My next collection for March is called twilight. I've used CiM Lapis, Vetro Periwinkle and Effetre New Violet.

T

The first beads Id like to show used the Twilight canes over CiM Alley Cat.

Another very detailed set, this time over CiM Dirty Martini. Ive used the canes, murrini and also chips from the ends of the canes to create starbursts.

Last to show, another sculptural floral bead using all of the pretty blue and violet canes from the Twilight collection.

If you would like to join the Mini Mo' Club then you can via my Etsy supplies shop. I offer 3, 6, 9 or 12 month long subscriptions. Please check out my shop link for more info Frit N Chips lampwork supplies.

Have a lovely day, Jolene x