Torch Session - Revisiting CiM Colors - The Green Palette

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s extensive list of colors to a new beadmaker may seem overwhelming. Beautiful colors with amazingly creative names.

The best resource to seem some time getting to know the color ranges is the CiM website.
Kathy’s organization by hue palette has allowed me to mix and match color families easily.
Over the next few weeks, I will continue to revisit some that deserve a second look.

Today’s post are beads from the CiM Green Palette.

Before I dig into the beads I made with a couple of the existing green colors, I wanted to alert everyone to the new greens that are currently under CiM's Preview.
I am anxiously awaiting my rods for color testing and will post those results in the new year, but take a look at the possibilities!

Click here to see all the new colors for January 2019!

First up, CiM's Oobleck. 
This color is an opaque vibrant acid green that really does remind me of the story books and movies that are so familiar with this name.

I had previously tested this glass with Double Helix silver glass, see that Jan 2018 blog post here.

In this set, I wanted to show it in a simple set with 99% silver wire. Oobleck stayed true with no dark reaction.

CiM's Peacock Green and Rainforest are colors that have been around for a while and I have used them in many sets before.

In this set I wanted to pair them up into one bead to test for any reactions.
Peacock Green is known as a milky green moonstone that allows light to transmit through the glass making the centre of this bead appear to almost glow from within.

The shoulders of the focal bead made from Rainforest  a green teal opal glass that is dense  and deep in it's hue. With 99% silver wire, the bead shines with no adverse reaction.

I have tested both of these glasses in the past and it is beautiful when combined with silver glass.
Here are a few previous blog post links:
Paired with DH Aurae fine frit - glittering goodness!

Dragonscale beads with silver foil and handblended Pendragonfyre frit

Last set for this post was created with a base of CiM's Limelight Ltd Run. 
This glass is a very pale transparent green that was similar to tints available from other manufacturers.
The two central beads were sprinkled with Double Helix Aurae fine glass frit and reduced to a glitter metallic gleam and cast a golden glow to the bead surface.
The spacers show the clean and clear green color of the glass itself.

I have used Limelight in many bead sets and love this glass as a base for multi-layered beads and mixing with various silver infused glasses.
Here are a couple of eye candy to close off this post today. 
Click here for the full blog post.

As we close out 2018, I want to wish everyone holiday greetings and look forward to 2019 and new glass discoveries!

Til next time,
D.

Torch Session - Revisiting CiM Colors - The Blue Palette

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s extensive list of colors to a new beadmaker may seem overwhelming. Beautiful colors with amazingly creative names.

The best resource to seem some time getting to know the color ranges is the CiM website.
Kathy’s organization by hue palette has allowed me to mix and match color families easily.
Over the next few weeks, I will be testing  new colors and revisiting some that deserve a second look.

Today’s post are beads from the Blue Palette

This focal bead was created with one half of the bead with CiM Limelight Ltd Run that was sprinkled with Double Helix fine Aurae glass frit.  Limelight is a great base for silver glass.
The other half of the focal along with the two spacer beads are CiM Blueyah Ltd Run. This transparent blue is showing as sold out on the CiM website, but it may still be available via Nortel glass.

CiM Jet Stream Ltd Run is a stunning rich blue. It is a beautiful base for silver glass as well as silver wire as shown in the simple classic set below.

The 3 central beads in this set was created with CiM Slate Ltd Run sprinkled with Double Helix fine Aurae glass frit and reduced to a golden glitter.

As  shown in the two spacer beads, this transparent slate blue stayed true and did not fume in the presence of the silver glass.

Here in this set, the same CiM Slate Ltd Run was complimented with 99% fine silver wire. 
Simple and elegant!

CiM Birthstone Ltd Run is an aqua blue transparent that is currently showing as sold out at CiM.
Check with Nortel as they may have some stashed away in their archives.
The focal cube bead was dotted with dots of Double Helix Light Aurae silver glass. 

CiM Seamist is a limited run glass that is currently sold out and I am hoarding my supply of it as it was created as a specialty formula of a core of clear, encased in transparent blue, encased in clear. The result creates unique beads with a cloudy look that is very pretty.
In testing the glass with silver, I did discover that 99% fine silver wire created a reaction that was most likely because of the outer layer of clear on the rod.
The reaction lends to an antique look that would also work well for natural nautical looks.

I
CiM Seamist and CiM Jet Stream Ltd Run were paired in the focal bead below.
You will notice that the silver wire was added to the areas that were predominately Jet Stream and the reaction that we saw in the previous set was less noticeable.
The two spacers are made with CiM Seamist.

Til next time, the next post will explore the Green Palette.

D.

Torch Session - Revisiting CiM Colors - The Purple Palette

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s extensive list of colors to a new beadmaker may seem overwhelming. Beautiful colors with amazingly creative names.

Although most beadmakers purchase their glass through their favorite distributors, the best resource to get to know the color ranges is the CiM website.

The site's organization by palette has allowed me to mix and match color families easily.

Over the next few weeks, I will be testing both new colors and revisiting some that deserve a second look.

Today’s post highlights some beads created from the Purple Palette

CiM Plum Unique #3 is creamy pale opal purple that creates unique striations in every bead.

In the set below, there are 2 plain spacers and one round bead with 99% fine silver wire. There is no reaction with the silver and allows the silver to remain bright.

The focal barrel bead has the additional streams of CiM Mulberry Ltd Run an opal purple  that on it's own can be quite dark. Layering it over the lighter opal creates more depth in the bead. The silver wire stayed truly bright. 

The resulting beads almost have an alabaster look to them.

I treasure the rods of these opal purples as it sold out several years ago. If you are looking for these shades, check with Jean in her CiM archive at Nortel.




In the photo below, this is CiM Mulberry Ltd Run, showing the deep and rich dark purple glass.

CiM Rapunzel Ltd Run is an opaque lavender pink that is bright and cheerful. In the set of beads below, the graduated spacers really appear as a light purple with a pink undertone. This color will shift to a more purple hue in sunlight.

An observation to note is when Rapunzel is paired with 99% fine silver wire, the wire takes on a golden tone and lightly fumes the base glass with a golden hue.




CiM Emperor is a golden transparent purple that is described by one beadmaker that in sunlight it "glows this wonderful deep cherry jam pink colour". In the beads below, it was tested with silver wire and the result was beautiful with no brown reactions to dull the color.




CiM Bashful Ltd Run is transparent greyish purple that is more on the grey side than purple. In the beads below, I tested it as a base glass with coarse Double Helix Aurae silver infused glass frit.  When the bead was reduced to bring the metallic shine with the surface, the Bashful glass took on a golden fumed surface which is complimentary to the golden shine of the frit.

Double Helix silver glass - Rhea - A Ruby Gem!

Ruby, ruby ruby.... everyone loves the shade of pinky red for their jewelry designs!

In glass, this color is illusive and expensive to produce. In the past, Rubino Oro or Ruby Gold required gold to be added to the glass to create the ruby tones. Check out this article on the color elements in glass making.

As beadmakers, using the traditional formula restricted us in combining the glass with silver glass as the reactions resulted in muddy browns which basically defeated the purpose of using it in the first place.

For Double Helix, this recent offering called Rhea was a welcome addition to the beadmaker's palette. This glass was developed as a "lead free gold ruby that plays well with silver colors and survives a reduction flame without discoloration".

Jean at Nortel gifted me a couple of rods for testing and I am pleased to share the details of the results.

First up, this big hole bead has ends of Rhea with the centre  created with multiple layers of Psyche and Zephyr. Each layer was reduced and encased to create depth in the dots that almost seem to be floating around the centre of the barrel bead.

A few wraps of 99% fine silver wire finished off the bead ends.

As you can see, the ruby glass stayed true to color with no brown muddy reaction.

Below are a few more beads from the session.

Left Bead: Barrel BHB with a base of Rhea wrapped in silver foil and encased with another layer of Rhea. Melted ends with scroll and heart decorations of reduced Aurae Light.

Middle Bead: Alternate view of the bead described above.

Right Bead: Zephyr base with wrap of silver foil. Encased in Rhea with end cap wraps of 99% fine silver wire.

Based on these results, I suggest everyone try out a rod or two of this ruby color. 

Reach out to Jean at Nortel to order!

Happy Weekend!

D.

Silver Glassy Goodness - Double Helix Combinations

Several weeks ago, I cleared off my torch worktable and spent an afternoon revisiting some Double Helix glasses that I had ignored lately. The bead in this post was one of the results of the "without rules" torching session.

This Big Hole tab shaped bead has twisted combinations of reduced Double Helix Psyche silver infused glass encased with Zephyr clear.  

The shoulders of the bead were created with Clio and streams of 99% pure silver wire wraps completed the bead. 

The silver wire has melted into streamed droplets for a tactile feel.

The result was stunning when it emerged from the kiln the following morning!

In natural light, the bead shows it's true brilliance!

Happy Friday Everyone!

D.

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.