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.

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.