Double Helix Thallo, Effetre Lilac Pastel, Dark Lilac Pastel, Navy Blue, Canyon and Sand

This week I was lucky enough to have some new glasses arrive from Tuffnell Glass  always a great suprise to find them on the doormat!  So I am writing this blog post to tell you what I have discovered about them.

Todays glasses are from the back in the photo above are Effetre Sand, Canyon, Navy Blue, Lilac Pastel and Dark Lilac pastel.  So the first thing I did was to make some small beads to see how the glass responded to the flame.

The most interesting were the Lilacs, the rods look grey but they transform into these very subtle lilac colours, you can see the two rods at the front - dark in front with the lilac second in the line up.

Then the Navy which I really like, it is a completely new shade of blue, for me, and it is a really useful addition for shading and dotting, next is the Canyon which is a turquoise blue.  Both of these blues behaved well in the flame, like all blues you have to be careful not to work it to hot particularly the Canyon or you will get 'burning' and a grey finish to the bead.

Last in the line up is the Sand which I was very excited about, you don't find so many pretty sand colours about and this one is a lovely deep rich sand colour and is my favourite from the batch.

I then made a small barrel bead and decorated it with dots to see how it behaved with some of the colours.  You can see that the Navy went abit streaky as I think I over heated abit, The pastels held the design but personally I am not so keen on the streaky finish on these two glasses but if you love that organic look these are great.

I then made one of my 3D beads with from the centre, Navy, Sand, and finishing with the two liliacs.  Please excuse the clear it was abit scummy!  You can see that the colours sat well together and the liliacs did not produce their streaky lines when encased but the colours look almost the same.  The tutorial for this 3D design is available in my Etsy Shop

I then sat down and made some of my decorative Raspberry Beads combining some of the new colours in with some old favourites....

The Canyon looks lovely finishing the dots on here....

And you can see the Sand working well in this one....

And this one to along with the Navy and the Canyon.....

Sand on those dots around the outside edge and some of the liliacs and Canyon in there to

Navy providing the darker spots on the outside edges of this one

And you can spot the new colours in these beads, the darker Navy providing a great contrast for the Sand and Canyon  on that bead on the left.

My opinion on them is they are great additions to the palette but as I have mentioned they do streak if you work to hot but I will definitely be buying some more of the Sand and the Canyon.

So excited to see some Double Helix Thallo in my parcel and some fine copper mesh to play with.
The Thallo is a beautiful transparent green in the rod form.  I started out as before with a couple of small beads to see how the glass worked in the flame.

As you can see they worked extremely well in a light reduction flame.  I kept on flashing the bead into the propane rich flame and it created this fabulous slick of colours.

I then tried encasing.... difficult to photograph but it turns this beautiful pearlised light green colour.

Below are a couple of cabs, the photograph on the left is photographed in studio lighting and you can see the translucent quality of this glass.  I have decorated with Effetre white stringer which transformed into this pretty gold colour in the reduction and the spots of white formed gold outlines.  The photograph on the right is photographed in daylight and you can really see what is special about this glass, it is spectacular in the light and changes colours as you move it around.   The photos are of the same cabs!

I then combined the  Thallo with the copper mesh.  I like to make windows so the mesh is a suprise element to the design.   The copper itself goes a disturbing soot colour when you add it to the flame, which is just a flash to warm it but don't panic, encase quickly and you will get this stunning red copper peeping out from your bead.

This one is with DH Kalypso....

So there we are....hope this has been of interest.  Thank you Tuffnell for giving me the opportunity to have a play with glass I might otherwise not get my hands on!!   If you are interested in this Swirl techinique that is also available in my Etsy Shop.   Happy Melting Everyone!

Not So Secret Testing for Tuffnel Glass!

So this morning an exciting little package arrived from Tuffnell Glass with the new colours from Effetre from the left above : Green Cave, Light Umber, Yellow Barlotti, Turq. Grey Pastille, Moss Green, Antique Green Pastille.  I was so busy making the larger beads I  ran out of mandrels so there are the two rods infront as well, Marc Pastille that beautiful mocha colour and Wood so 8 new colours in total.  You will be able to see those in action in the beads below!  My first observation was that the Turq Grey Pastille is a fabulous colour but it reduces quite heavily, personally I liked the slightly antique shiny finish that appeared but might not be for everyone and the Antique Green Pastille also reduced slightly too.

I usually use much brighter colours so to play the game, I limited myself to the 8 new colours and added white and clear to complete the palatte. I then created a range of beads with this restricted colour range.  I work quite hot and I was looking for crisp lines and in this instance all the glass passed that test apart from the Yellow Barlotti which had a tendancy to go blurry if used for small detail, but it is a fab egg yolk colour and you can see on the other beads where the  Yellow Barlotti is used to create lines and shading it behaves beautifully.  It was only as small dots like the ones on the wheel that blur but it was in the flame for a long time!   I loved the greens and the 5th bead in the row below was my favourite the colours all blend so beautifully together….You have a touch of the Light Umber then Moss Green, Antique Green Pastille, Green Cave and Wood, the base of the bead is Wood as are the bumps, Wood is a great cream colour and a lovely alternative to white.

All in all lovely colours and the Light Umber is a great addition to the brown palette as is the Mark Pastille both are rich tones and great to work with.   I will be updating on new glass that arrives at Tuffnell as and when they ask me to to show what they look like within designs so exciting.  Thank you for reading my blog and if you want to find out more about me do join my Facebook Page the link is on the right of the 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