CiM - Creation is Messy - Buttermilk

CiM - Creation is Messy Buttermilk is an creamy opaque ivory that I sometimes struggle to use with anything other than silver glass. Silver glass will tend to fume the base glass and the true color disappears.

This glass is classified as a yellow, but in the rod it is really a neutral ivory.

In the set below, I decided to go the glass frit testing route and paired it with Glass Diversions Himalayan Rose mix. 
This no mess glass frit is a mix of gold, pinks and purples that look great with the CiM Buttermilk base glass.

The base glass stayed true and you can see the comparison in the photo below where the spacer beads are visible.

I picked up this glass at Nortel back during my visit early this year and I look forward to trying it again in a few more sets. Reach out to Jean if you are interested in snatching some up before it is gone.

Catching Up on Posts! and CiM Bing Poppies!

Wow, where did the last month go?
My day-time role gets busy with projects from time to time, but this past year has been unusual. We are coming to the end of a 16 month project and I have to admit that I am really looking forward to an attempt to get back to a normal life routine.

As a result, my time at the torch has been greatly impacted, I have several hundred bead sets all strung and ready to post online, but no time to sit at my laptop after long days behind a work PC. 

Every bead artist knows that the fun time is at the torch trying new techniques, testing new glass color reactions. I am very disciplined when it comes to documenting results, cleaning my beads and photographing the sets. But when it comes to measuring each bead and writing up the descriptions and posting online I set them aside for when I can focus on the "marketing" side of the trade.

Those of you that are following my blog here and my Twitter and Facebook posts have been loyal followers and I thank you for that and I plan the following events for over the summer months getting ready for the fall:
1. The www.pendragonfyre.com website nears an overhaul - maybe even a move to a new provider. This will take much thought and hopefully will provide a better user experience.
2. A decision on where to post new sets for sale - Facebook, E-Bay or Artfire. Please provide me feedback on your preferred channel to buy as the marketplace has changed greatly over the past 2 years.

I posted a few quick photos on Facebook recently and promised to provide details so let's take a look at those beads today.

I had some additional CiM - Creation is Messy Bing red in my stash. This was a color included in the Playground Fun sampler that Nortel is offering. Bing is a very bright red that appears to be sold out on their website, but Nortel may still have some stashed away if you are interested.

I decided to make non-traditional beads for a change and create a set of poppies.
The poppy on the right is a 2 hole button that would look great on a sweater as a focal button. Metallic highlights are Double Helix Helios silver infused glass.

It was my first time trying out the button mandrel and I look forward to trying out making more buttons in future after more practice. In the photo below, the button is at the top.

I was pleased with the clean holes, as those of us that make buttons, this challenge is real!

Til next post, thank you for reading and following my posts. Please comment and let me know that you want to see in the future!

Smiles,
D.

CiM - Creation is Messy - Sea Mist

Wow, where has the time gone this spring!

Although we had the typical spring snow and rain, my time was consumed by a project away from my studio.

As a part-time artist, I usually only get weekends to venture out to heat up the cold studio and get in some "kiln-time". These past 8 months have limited those days to 1 or 2 days each month. 
Between all my color testing and the glass I have stacked for new bead sets, I am looking forward to recapturing some lost time and stretching my creative skills again. 

I picked up some rod of CiM's Sea Mist on my last visit to Nortel and decided to see how it paired with some silver glass for my interchangeable beads. 

This glass is showing as Sold Out on the CiM website, so if you are interested in purchasing some, please reach out to Jean at Nortel soon before her stock is gone forever.

This glass was created in response to requests for a streaky blue. The rod itself is a core of clear glass, encased in transparent blue, encased in clear.

When making spacers, I did get the streaky look with a few bubbles which I thought kept within the sea mist theme. 

I tested it as a base and encasement of silver glass to see if it would fume or react.
I think the result is beautiful!

Here are photos of the two sets that I created:

Smiles,
D.

Playground Fun Sampler - Orange Crush, Poison Apple and Blue Arrow Frog!

I am coming to the end of sharing results of three more glass colors contained in the Playground Fun Sampler pack of CiM - Creation is Messy colors from Nortel. 

These sampler packs are great for artists that:
- want to "try" a new color without the commitment of purchasing a minimum 1/4 pound of a specific color
- want to create multi-colour beads from a coordinated set of colors.

This CiM sample pack contains a spectrum of crayon-like colors:
- Poison Apple
- Limelight
- Frozen
- Bing
- Orange Crush
- Blue Arrow Frog
- Ocher
- Rainforest

I usually don't work with combinations of bright colors within one set, so I set out to create a set that used the same technique and switched in 3 of the main colors of the set.

I created surface "rivets" of Double Helix silver glass with Psyche and Aurae Light.

These beads are on bases of Blue Arrow Frog, Poison Apple and Orange Crush.

Just for fun, I made a few "playground" beads while testing some color mixing.

The tri-colored beads, made from Frozen, Blue Arrow Frog and Bing reminded me of the ice-pops I would buy at the park for my kids. 

The other beads are my "caterpillar critter beads" created by mixing Frozen, Poison Apple and Orange Crush with dots of Blue Arrow Frog. 
Those made me smile.

As always, I encourage you to reach our to Jean at Nortel to pick up a sampler or two.

Smiles,
D.

Playground Fun Sampler - Limelight and Frozen

In this post, I concentrating on testing CiM - Creation is Messy's pale green transparent named Limelight.

Described as "a clean, cool green with no hints of yellow with a tendency to develop micro bubbles". I did see this in the plain spacers, but when I used it to encase, the bubbling was not as noticeable.

It is a beautiful pale tint to encase silver glass reactions. 


In these beads below, I used Limelight as a base and an encasement for Double Helix's Psyche, it's newer Skiron and rare Aurae Light.

First up, the "recipe" was Limelight base, layer of silver glass, encase with more Limelight and scrolls/dots of Aurae Light. 
This green is pure and clean, I really like the result!

Next up, a simpler look of the encased silver glass reaction. The Double Helix Psyche glass was reduced and then encased with Limelight to capture the blues/ pinks and amber hues.

Last but not least, Limelight was tested with Double Helix's newer Skiron which is a silver striking rainbow glass. 
I am always challenged with striking glasses versus those that react with a reduction flame.  I may be due to the fact that I tend to work in a cooler flame, but I thought I would try the same test with Limelight as I did with the results already described above.

So same recipe as the other beads above, but I substituted Skiron for Psyche.
I got more amber than rainbow, so I definitely will need more practice with this new glass.

I paired with bead with Aurae Light spacers and a CiM Frozen bead with dots of Aurae Light. 
Frozen is a opal white that when silver glass is applied turns the surface a pretty golden tint that compliments the silver glass droplets.

Til next post, have a great day!
Smiles,
D.

Playground Fun Sampler - Rainforest & Ocher

This week I am sharing the results of the testing of the glass colors contained in the Playground Fun Sampler pack of CiM - Creation is Messy colors from Nortel. 

These sampler packs are great for artists that:
- want to "try" a new color without the commitment of purchasing a minimum 1/4 pound of a specific color
- want to create multi-colour beads from a coordinated set of colors.

This CiM sample pack contains a spectrum of crayon-like colors:
- Poison Apple
- Limelight
- Frozen
- Bing 
- Orange Crush
- Blue Arrow Frog
- Ocher
- Rainforest

First up for testing, this set of silver wrapped barrels made with a combination of Rainforest and Ocher. 

Rainforest is a greenish teal opal and Ocher is a opaque yellow with a mustard seed undertone.

These two glasses kept their true color with no change in reaction to silver creating a earth based set of beads. Both glasses melt smoothly with no stockiness.

As always, I encourage you to reach our to Jean at Nortel to pick up a sampler or two.

More color results from this sampler coming up in new posts this week!
Stay Tuned.