Monday, April 27

CiM 2020 New Colors - Round 4

Let's dig into Round 4 of my CiM - Creation is Messy 2020 Testing. The new colors and types of glass was plentiful and it has been a pleasure trying new techniques and combinations with each new color.

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s new Sea Glass Ltd Run is a pale green misty opal that melted smoothly and worked well with Double Helix silver glass to create wispy flame like waves within this focal bead. The spacers are pure Sea Glass.



A bright misty opal blue, CiM’s new Goddess Ltd Run is a happy blue like Paradise, it’s translucent sister glass. Simple round beads with Grape Lolly shards from thepurplelilydesigns.

CiM’s Paradise Ltd Run is a perfect pair for Double Helix’s Aurae silver glass frit. The glass stayed rich and translucent. 

In this set of dotted beads, 3 of the new CiM - Creation Is Messy 2020 glasses were combined: Ice Mint, Summer Haze and just a bit of Heather. Each was dotted with Double Helix Oracle Black.  

New CiM - Creation is Messy’s Lemongrass Ltd Run decorated with mixed frit of hot colors. This glass melted smoothly with no issues. Spacers are solid Lemongrass which maintained it’s translucency in each bead

Another experiment with copper foil in these dragonfly beads. Base glass is CiM Peacock Feathers Ltd, an opal blue that stays transculent. Wispy streams of Double Helix OX 459 test glass were reduced and encased to complete these bicone barrel beads. Spacers are solid Peacock Feathers glass.



These crystal shaped beads were created on a base of CiM Witches’ Brew with Quazar shards and silver wire encased in clear glass. The spacers are pure Witches’ Brew. The shards had some reaction to the silver but the result is a rich deep bead set with lots of depth.

New CiM - Creation is Messy’s Persian Green Ltd Run decorated with Val Cox Fleeting Beauty glass frit.  This glass melted smoothly with no issues. Spacers are solid Persian Green which maintained it’s translucency in each bead.


This focal bead is a combination of CiM - Creation Is Messy’s new Sea Glass Ltd Run with a centre stripe of CiM Firedragon.  Layers of clear and Double Helix silver glass was added and encased to create the rich magenta pink. The spacers are pure Sea Glass.


CiM’s Watermelon is an interesting “cloud power” glass that is new from CiM. The rod that I was given to test had quite a few bubbles making it a bit shocky so prewarming it in the kiln was necessary to conserve the glass.
This set of beads used CiM Unicorn as a base with Watermelon encasement and CIM original Poison Apple ends. Note this is the older formula of Poison Apple that turns opaque after annealing. I am looking forward to re-testing this same style of bead with the reformulated Poison Apple released this spring to see it as a translucent. Dots of Double Helix Oracle Black created clean dots on each bead. Spacers are solid Watermelon and Poison Apple.

A core of CiM Firedragon Ltd run with layers of clear, silver glass and 99% fine silver wire created this flat focal bead. A crystal shape with similar layering was was decorated with Oracle Black dots.
So that is the Round 4 of test results. Check back next week for another post of glassy goodness!

D.

#creationismessy
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#copperfoil
#valcoxfrit
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
#cimseaglass
#cimfiredragon
#cimgoddess
#cimparadise
#cimpeacockfeathers
#cimpersiangreen
#cimicemint
#cimsummerhaze
#cimheather
#cimlemongrass
#cimwitchesbrew
#cimwatermelon
#cimunicorn
@creationismessy
@nortel_mfg

Sunday, April 5

CiM 2020 New Colors - Round 3

Happy to share today Round 3 of my CiM - Creation Is Messy 2020 Ltd Run color testing.

New CiM -Creation is Messy’s Lady of the Lake, a pale green opal that remains translucent, is decorated with Val Cox Geneva glass frit. I did find the glass a bit shocky, but warming it in the kiln a bit prior to introducing it to the flame worked perfectly. Spacers are solid Lady of the Lake.

New CiM - Creation is Messy’s Lovebirds is a lime green opal that also remains translucent. I tested it with another frit by Val Cox named Pink Lipstick. Melted smoothly with no reactivity issues. Spacers are solid Lovebirds.


I enjoyed testing Double Helix silver glass with CiM's new Firedragon. This was a melt of CiM's standard Sangre red which I have have made many beads with Double Helix glass. CiM chose to make this color a limited run as it is just a tad more orange. I really like it as it works beautifully with Double Helix glass and produces some beautiful beads. It works well using CiM Clear between the layers. Encase with DH Zephyr for best silver color reactions. 



If you omit the clear glass separating layer, the reaction will bloom with deeper blues and ambers making for a much darker toned bead. As a result, the Firedragon becomes more brown in tone.

Up next is CiM’s Andrew paired with Pachamama. Andrew is blue opal that is smooth and what I would say is a happy blue. Pachamama is a silver laden yellow glass with swirls of blues. Silvered ivory stringer and 99% silver wire completes focal bead.



CiM Pachamama Ltd Run is perfect to pair with Double Helix silver murrini and OX459 emerald green luster. I used Double Helix Zephyr to encase and capture the mother of pearl busters and pastel colors. Spacers are simply Pachamama.




These beads are a combination of CiM’s new Toothpaste opal green and Double Helix silver glasses. The watery blue is DH Kronos mixed with clear glass. Silver glitter adorns the Toothpaste ends to note beautiful compatibility between CiM and the silver glass. Loving these colors together for summer.


I also tried Andrew in simple frit beads with Val Cox Flaming June blend. Andrew melted smoothly with no issues but I think we have a compatibility issue or failure of the beadmaker to keep it warm enough. Spacers are solid Andrew.



CiM’s new Cotton Ltd Run is an opal white that remains translucent out of the kiln. I tested it with my Gaffer glass purple mix in water-colour stringers.
The plain Cotton spacers show the glass delivers on its opal promise.



We have many more colors to test and review, so stay tuned for Round 4.

D.


#creationismessy
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#cimcotton
#cimandrew
#cimfiredragon
#cimtoothpaste
#cimpachamama
#cimlovebirds
#cimladyofthelake
#valcoxfrit
#doublehelixglassworks
@nortel_mfg

Thursday, April 2

CiM 2020 New Colors - Round 2 Wrap up

The folks at CiM -Creation Is Messy continue to amaze with their new 2020 color selection! 
As these are limited runs of colors, these will sell fast. Canadian bead makers, please monitor the Nortel online store for when these will be offered.

This bead set uses a combination of three new CiM Ltd Run colors for 2020. Witches’ Brew, Unicorn and Goldfish are striped into crystal shaped beads with a sprinkling of Val Cox Coy Koiglass frit. 
The CiM working notes for Goldfish did say that it was it was a mismelt of now sold out CiM Clockwork orange that did not strike enough. 
My observation did find the same when using it, it took a lot of heating and cooling cycles to bring out the color. As I use a lot of silver glass in my beads, I tend to work cooler than other beadmakers.
The barrel bead is a centre of Unicorn with Witches Brew ends and frit. The spacers are solid colors of the three new colors.



CiM’s new Heather Ltd Run is a cloudy transparent magenta - a true purply-pink. In this set, it worked beautifully with Double Helix Helios silver glass. It melted smoothly with no adverse reaction other than a slight golden hue.



CiM’s new Onyx Ltd Run is a dense black with no major metallic reactions. But it was a happy accident to see that it did bring out some beautiful blues with I used my own hand blended Pendragonfyre frit. As Onxy is so dense, each of these beads have a CiM Clear core with just a layer of Onyx. This makes it an economical choice for using up shorts of clear as they are hidden in the finished bead.



CiM’s new Onyx Ltd Run black with Double Helix Psyche silver glass. The combination plays well!
The barrel beads are bases of CiM’s Summer Haze Ltd Run with blown shards of Onyx with Pendragonfyre frit!

CiM’s new Montezuma Ltd Run is a silver laden blue glass so in testing, I wanted to push the silver to the limit. The flat tab beads has Double Helix silver glass murrini reduced and encased. The barrel bead has the same murrain but with a sprite dragonfly copper foil encasement. As you can see from the spacers, this silver laden Montezuma yields blues and greens the more it is worked in the flame. Lots of potential in this beautiful glass!



So that is the Round 2 of test results. Check back next week for another post of glassy goodness!

D.

#creationismessy
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#cimmontezuma
#cimwitchesbrew
#cimunicorn
#cimgoldfish
#cimonyx
#valcoxfrit
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
@creationismessy