New Colours From CIM

Last week a little parcel dropped on my doormat from Tuffnell Glass it was full of exciting glass from CIM.   They are from top to bottom in the photo above : Gypsy, Cobblestone, Mahogany, Heartthrob, Tiger Lily, Poppy, Cinnamon, Mint Chip, Ginger (I think! The rod was broken and unlabelled so I will check but it looks like Ginger!) Whisper , Bubble Bath, Trapeze, Ice Floe, Corination Day and Primrose.

My first impression of the bundle was the beautiful opal colours of the Bubble Bath and Whisper.  The fantastic light purple of Trapeze, the subtle pastels of the Mint Chip and Ginger and the vibrant red of Heartthrob.

Next step to melt them down into beads to see how they behaved (From the right to left below the same glass as the list above)

The first glass in the flame was Bubble Bath which was abit shocky and spat all over my bench but after a gentle introduction to the flame it was fine.  This glass is opal in look and had a slightly mottled finish once it had been through the kiln process.

Whisper was another opal rod which produced a mottled finish once cool but with the same opal feel to it.  Primrose was another shocky rod but what a pretty pastel pink, not quite as intense as Gelly but lovely, another bead that might look lovely etched or tumbled and it  created an even colour once cool so I suspect it would be great in layered beads.
 
The Cinnamon Jelly also became streaky in the flame and has a streaky finish when cool.  Some people like this organic feel, personally I like my opaques to stay solid and clean so this one is not for me!  The other three red/orange colours were different, Heartthrob was slightly shocky but boy what a stunning red, a truly vibrant, rich colour my favourite red of the bunch and I will be needing more.

For those of you that like the oranges the Tiger Lily melted like a dream and has a very slight opal finish...I wonder what it would be like layerd, I suspect it would be slightly transparent.  The last red was the Poppy this glass also melted like a dream and like the Tiger Lily has a slightly opal finish when cool.  It is a shame I had no more time to test these glasses in layers but I will try and find time to do that and blog but Poppy I also suspect would be slightly transparent.

The brown glasses were all deep and rich, that is the Cobblestone, Gypsy, Mahogany and the glass I suspect is Ginger.  They all melted like a dream and each rod produced a solid colour bead.  I again want to experiment more particularly with the Gypsy which is an intense black which even under daylight lighting I can detect no blue or purple in there by eye.  The Ginger if that is what it is and I promise I will find out after the Bank Holiday was a beautiful colour perfect for a base colour and that and the beautiful Mint would look just fabulous etched I suspect.  The Mahogany made my mouth water it is almost the same colour as beautiful  rich milk chocolate and created a lovely block colour once cooled in a bead. (as seen above)

Let me mention at this point the Coronation Day (above),  I was excited to see such a deep purple, the rod has a slightly opal look to it and indeed when it was melted it became streaky and the bead created had a streaky look to it to.  A shame for me as I had my eye on it for some of my big layered beads but it was not to be!

Lastly the transparent Trapeze....what a fabulous colour and the Ice Floe.  Trapeze melts and stays as it is in the rod a beautiful very light mauve.  Ice Floe was a fascinating glass it created a finish that reminded my for the Foxs Glacier Mints of my childhood!  Lots of tiny bubbles within the bead almost like it has boiled....although usually I don't like rods that create an uneven finish when melted this one is an exception and I think it may have some use in my coastal beads as it does indeed remind me of ice/water.

Usually I would make a few beads layering the colours together to see how they behave when they are put together but I was very short on time and I thought I would do something different this time.  Opal colours in my experience can sometimes do lovely things with silver glass and that Trapeze was just asking to be mixed with some silver glass!

So the first mix I tried was with my favourite Kalypso which I applied over a base bead of Ice, lightly reduced and encased with 006 Clear.  The effect was not as dramatic as I was expecting....but that is the thing with glass isn't it when you expect something it doesn't happen and when you don't it does!!

Next I made a base bead of Whisper, this beautiful opal I was convinced would do something special, then I topped with Aion 2 and lightly reduced and encased in clear.  I still think there is something happening with this glass mix as you can see in the photo below and I will be testing it with other DH glass soon.

Last the star of the show I wanted to use my favourite colour in this batch which was the Trapeze but from experience felt it was to light to use as a base so I picked the other opal colour in the batch the Bubble Bath and made a small base bead.  I then encased it in Clio and very lightly reduced it.....rather than going for clear I used the Trapeze to encase the lightly reduced bead and then applied a layer of clear......006 which I now wish had been a DH clear but will do that next time!  The result was amazing......and completely by accident

The real difference was the application of a coloured transparent to the mix but this bead just glows I took it out of my photo set up which is daylight bulbs and popped it beside me on a bead mat and look at this......very little light at all and it is still glowing!!

So that is what I have discovered so far. The Swirl Technique you see in all these last beads is available as a tutorial in my Etsy Shop

I will pop up any further findings once I continue to play with these glasses but in the meantime race you to Tuffnell Glass to stock up on those opals and the lovely Trapeze and some Ginger and Mint and Hearthrob maybe!

Thank you for reading my blog and if you do make beads using this recipe I would love to see them and hear your thoughts you can post me a photo on my FB Page

The end of Summer.....

I am not sure where the year has gone but it is vanishing before me and it won't be long before the buckets and crablines will be set to one side and Appledore will resume its leisurely pace once the hustle and bustle of the visitors is behind us.

I love the buzz of the summer and the studio has been busy to despite the horrendous summer that we have been having in the WestCountry and I would like to take a moment to thank  all those visitors for their custom.   The weather also meant that I increased the amount of 'taster' lampwork sessions that I was giving as the visitors tried to find new ways to beat the weather and keep entertained.   So I have set a few more out on their own glassy journeys and the suprise and smiles on faces when they come to pick their beads up never ceases to please me.

In terms of this years work I have been working on my large Mandala Wheel Beads

And so the challenge was to work bigger and thinner in diameter.  I have booked a course with Anita Schwegler Juen later in the year and I am in awe of her work, her work is just beautiful!

This is the thinnest so far and the widest!

I also have been experimenting with my Mini Marble Paperweights.  They have proved really popular in the studio and I hope to develop them more during the winter when the studio is quieter...

And looking at that swirl effect brings me onto the Swirl Design that I sell as a tutorial in my Etsy Shop  I have been doing some Swirl Beads

I have also at last mastered my 50mm lentil press and got some great swirls in there too!

There is also a Silver Glass Swirl tutorial in the pipeline.

So the year draws to a close and I have enjoyed my glassy adventures and am excited to be doing courses with Anita in October and this month with Bronwen Heilman who knows where these artists will direct my glassy adventures.

And so to close we are so sad in our house to have lost one of our morning dog walking pack, Harvey passed over Rainbow Bridge on Sunday aged 13 and leaves a huge whole in Milly's circle of doggy friends.  Run Free Harvey Bear x

April Showers!

My May Blog post has arrived early. The grizzley weather in the UK and a day off mean that I have time to sit down and tell you my news.  

First things first... I would like to say a big thank you to everyone who has bought from me during April, I had a crazy month and it was so exciting to feel that people where liking what I am creating and are not being detered in buying by all the doom and gloom that our various ecomonies are heaping on us.  A few colourful beads is what everyone needs to cheer themselves up and I have been buying some too!!

So what news..........

Prior to my trip to the US earlier in the year I made myself a lovely big necklace with big chunky beads in lots of lovely colour that all measured in the region of 35mm in diameter (3.5cm) so it made a real statement. 

 I was asked so many times if it was for sale that I sat down when I got home and started making similar beads to sell and the option of buying a bespoke one in colours of your choice.  My first commission one was black and white which was a hard one for me....I love colour and most of my work is full of colour so this pushed me to the limit, but I really enjoyed it as I had to think much more about pattern than I sometimes do with colour and I was really pleased with the result.

 

I then had a customer who wished to make her own up so she bought beads over the course of a week as I uploaded them.  I found this really interesting as some I would have chosen for a bespoke random colour necklace but some I would not have so it showed me an entirely different combination of beads to my own.  These beads and the ball chain necklace are going to be a permanant fixture in my Etsy shop as they are proving really popular.  I am going to endeavour to upload a few a day which means that there will be ongoing choice for everyone.

 I have always loved creating big mandala style glass wheels and have up untill recently always tried to stick with colours that don't react against each other or bleed or web as I felt that comprimised the design.

I have tried experimenting with colours that actually react together and can cause some interesting effects and these new wheels have also proved very popular......

I love the way some glasses react creating lines that almost look like they have been painted or drawn onto the bead and the slight smudgy effect which also looks like it has been painted on rather than being created in the flame.

I also had a delivery of cupcake murrine.  A Facebook friend of mine had a beautiful Airedale Terrier who sadly passed away after a battle with illness.  At the end of her life the only thing that she could be tempted to eat was cupcakes so when I saw that Lori Peterson had created some cupcake murrine I bought some straight away and made my friend a 5mm pandora style bead to have on her bracelet as a reminder of Ruby.  

 

I had a few murrines left over so decided to do something abit mad with it and this big P!nk Sputn!ck was born!!

So there we are I have written far more than I usually would...I hope you are still with me?  So onto Milly my Lakeland.....she has to feature in my blog each month it has become abit of a tradition.

So we have had the UK Flame Off in April organised by Tuffnell Glass It is a great place to meet other flameworkers, buy lots of glass and watch some international and uk artists demonstrate their skills.  One of those artist was Claudia Trimbur Pagel who makes the most lovely beads with meticulous stringer work (fine lines of glass) and she makes great DOGS!!  I had to have one and this one just reminded my so much of my Milly!

 I think it is the ears!!

Thank you for reading my blog and Happy Melting to all  you Flameworkers out there :0)