February Flashback - Double Helix Glassworks - The Glory of Silver Infused Colors! Part 2

Closing off this month of February Flashbacks with another post sharing some of how I use Double Helix glasses.

Each of these sets are from the past and are not currently available for sale.

On a base of CiM's African Grey opaque glass, fine silver foil was melted in.
Shards of Double Helix Terranova 2.1 silver infused glass was added and
struck to bring out the amazing hues of magenta, blue and green.
The silver microdroplets have a stunning golden sheen to complete each bead. 

 

 
This set of 5 encased round beads were created on a base of Double Helix silver glass, Ekho. This glass starts as a beige transparent, but when each bead core was wrapped in 99% fine silver wire and reduced to create the dramatic hues of blues, golds, greens, ambers and cream. Each result was then captured under a thick encasement of Effetre clear glass.

 

This set of 13 encased round beads were created on a base of rare Double Helix silver glass known as Psyche Light. Each bead core was wrapped in 99% fine silver wire and reduced to create the intense variations in color. Each result was then captured under a thick encasement of Double Helix's clear Aether glass. Aether when heated just right transforms silver to a golden glow!
Enjoy the mystical silver glass in this unique and one of a kind set!

 

 

Starting with a base of Double Helix' Clio silver infused glass, a ring of silvered
ivory stringer was added, reduced to bring the silver to the surface and
encased under a clear glass encasement to magnify the glow from inside effect.
With hues of amber, pink, purple and blue, these are truly unique for your glass designs. 

 

Double Helix Aurae streams glitter on a base of Effetre Purple Red to create an oriental
feel to these 12 round beads. Add some glitter to your winter jewelry designs.

 

 

I hope everyone has enjoyed this month's posts and I look forward to March blogs to explore the new CiM 2023 colors as well as a number of CiM Restocks that are currently being offered and available at Nortel. 

 

#doublehelixglass
#nortel
#pendragonfyre

#creationismessy
#cimglass
@nortel_glassgirl  

Smiles,

D.

February Flashback - More Favorite CiM - Creation Is Messy colors!

CiM's Canoe Ltd Run is an opaque silver brown that changes tone as it is worked in the flame. This can create blushes of russet and red brown in the final beads. As shown in the photo below, each bead was wrapped with silver wire and the result was clean with no reactions.
It melted easily with no shockiness.

 

This mini set of Silvertrail beads were created on a base of CiM Peace, a pure white opaque glass. By wrapping 99% Fine Silver Wire around it bead, a reaction occurred to
fume a golden glow to the wire at the points were it adhered to the white glass.

This glittering set of beads was created with a base of CiM's Poison Apple green glass on which Double Helix Aurae Light was streamed with handmade threadlike stringers.
Each bead was then reduced to bring out the glorious metallic bling!

This glittering set of beads was created with a base of CiM's Halong Bay, a blue moonstone, on which Double Helix silver glass, Aurae frit was added and reduced to glittery goodness!

This set of 11 goddess series beads was created on a base of CiM's Marigold opaque glass. Each goddess bead was then layered with dots of Effetre Dark Ivory and a mixture of CiM's Hades and TAG Golden Emerald silver infused glasses.
The combination of the glasses create delicate storms captured under each clear glass portal. Double Helix OK 381, complete the metallic highlight droplets on each bead. Marigold spacer beads complete this set.

 

I have checked availability of these glasses as In Stock on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.
Reach out to Jean or Jennifer at Nortel to add some of these glasses to next glass order!

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#ciminstock
#cimcanoe

#cimpeace

#cimpoisonapple

#cimhalongbay

#cimmarigold
#doublehelixglass
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

February Flashback - Digging into the CiM - Creation Is Messy Archives - Part 4

More beautiful glass from the CiM Archives to flashback on sets of beads made with colors that are listed as Sold Out on the CiM website, but I have checked availability of these glasses as In Stock on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.

 

On a base of CiM's Azure, a rich transparent blue, Double Helix Triton silver infused glass frit, decorate each round bead. Triton spacers are included in this set.

The glittering shine from these beads is amazing!

 

This shard bead set is a base of CiM Larkspur with Double Helix Aurae silver infused glass shards. CiM Larkspur is a transparent glass color that shifts between blue and lavender depending on your lighting.Love it for winter as it is rich and luxurious...
The Aurae shards cast golden, silver and copper tones within each reduced shard.

 

This set of goddess series beads were created on a base of CiM Grumpy Bear, an opaque periwinkle blue with layered dots of Effetre Dark Ivory and mixtures of Double Helix silver glasses and Catalyst ES-404. Highlights of Double Helix's silver glass, Ekho, create the bling dots for this set.

 

CiM Tardis is an opal blue that I paired with a basic frit and formed it into cubes.
It is a muted blue base and flowed beautifully as a great background for Valerie Cox’s Sunflower Fields artisan frit.

 

 Reach out to Jean or Jennifer to add some of these "archive" glasses to your new CiM - Creation Is Messy glass order. 

 

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimarchive

#cimazure

#cimlarkspur

#cimgrumpybear

#cimtardis

#doublehelixglass

#nortel

#pendragonfyre

@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl

February Flashback - Double Helix Glassworks - The Glory of Silver Infused Colors!

I was very fortunate to have discovered Double Helix Glassworks early in my glass beadmaking career.

Over the years, I have used many of Jed's silver infused creations along with many test glasses that he offered.

I am still working through a couple of "garage sale boxes" that were offered in the past as I continue to experiment with color combinations.

The sets within this blog post as just a few of my favorites.

 

This set of encased round beads were created on a base of Double Helix silver glass, Psyche.
Each bead core was wrapped in 99% fine silver wire and reduced to create the intense variations in color. Each result was then captured under a thick encasement of Double Helix's clear Aether glass. Aether when heated just right transforms silver to a golden glow!

 

This unique set of beads were created with a combination of Effetre Clear glass and dewdrops of Double Helix silver glass, Terra 2.
The silver glass was added, struck and reduced to mother of pearl shine and then encased to create the colourful droplets of colour of the silver infused glass.
The result is gentle hues of amber, palest pinks and blues in each encased bubble.

 

This unique set of beads were created with a combination of Effetre Clear glass and dewdrops of Double Helix silver glass, Psyche.
The silver glass was added, struck and reduced to mother of pearl shine and then encased to create the colourful droplets of colour of the silver infused glass.
The result is gentle hues of purples, creams, greens and blues in each encased bubble.

 

This set of encased round beads were created on a base of Double Helix silver glass, Clio. Each bead core was wrapped in 99% fine silver wire and reduced to create the subtle variations in color. Each result was then captured under a thick encasement of Effetre clear glass. 

 

 

#doublehelixglass
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
@nortel_glassgirl 

 

 

February Flashback - Goddess Series Glass Combinations -Walk down Memory Lane!

In this post I am revisiting some of the goddess bead sets that I have created over the years.

The first couple CiM glasses used for the bases of these sets are showing as Sold Out on the CiM Website but I see that all the CiM glasses are showing as "In Stock" on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.
Reach out to Jean or Jennifer at Nortel to add some of these glasses to your new CiM - Creation Is Messy colors for 2023.

This set of 13 goddess series beads were created on a base of CiM's Desert Pink with layered dots of Effetre Dark Ivory glasses. Double Helix silver infused glasses, Aurae and rare KA-357 glow under each clear glass portal.
This set also includes 6 spacer beads of transparent Effetre Rosata Extralux.
Highlights of DH Aurae silver glass create the bling for this beautiful portal beads!

 

On a base of CiM's Raindrop, portals were created using layers of Dark Ivory, drops of Double Helix's luster silver glass, Ossa creates the watery portals. Each portal was encased in clear glass and dots of Double Helix rare test glass, HE379 were added to bring out the shine of each highlight dot.

 

 

This mini set of 8 goddess series beads were created on a base of CiM Mojito with layered dots of Effetre Dark Ivory & CiM Hades glasses.
Double Helix test silver infused glasses, OK-380 created
storms under each clear glass portal.
This set also includes 4 spacer beads of CiM Mojito.
Highlights of DH Aurae silver glass create the bling for this beautiful stormy beads!

This set of 13 goddess series beads was created on a base of CiM's Sangre red glass.
Each goddess bead was then layered with dots of Effetre Dark Ivory and CiM's Hades black. Double Helix silver glass, Psyche Light was added and its storms were captured under each clear glass portal dots.
The Sangre Red base glass has been fumed to a deep dark maroon and the Double Helix Aurae completes the highlight droplets on each bead.

 
This set of 9 goddess series beads were created on a base of CiM Pulsar glass with layered dots of Effetre Dark Ivory & Double Helix ES-404 silver catalyst glass. Trautman Art Glass silver infused Zeus creates the swirls in each storm portal. Highlights of Double Helix OK-381R silver glass create the bling for this beautiful storm portal beads! Four CiM Pulsar spacers complete this set.

This set of 7 goddess series beads was created on a base of CiM Phoenix opaque glass. Each goddess bead was then layered with dots of Effetre Dark Ivory, CiM's Hades black,
DH silver infused glasses RE-391 catalyst and Kronos. The combination of the glasses create the multi-hued portals captured under each clear glass dot. Double Helix Aurae Light completes the metallic highlight droplets on each bead.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#ciminstock

#cimarchives
#cimdesertpink

#cimraindrop

#cimmojito

#cimsangre

#cimpulsar

#cimphoenix
#doublehelixglass
#nortelinstock
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

 

 

February Flashback - Digging into the CiM - Creation Is Messy Archives - Part 3

With the hundreds of colors that CiM - Creation Is Messy has created in their extensive palette since 2006, so many colors are small batch offerings that I know many lampwork artists cherish and save in their collections for those perfect opportunities to use them in their designs.

In this post, I am highlighting a few more of my favourite CiM Archive glasses that I have used over the years, have still a few rods in my collection and I encourage other glass artists to explore them.

Each glass is showing as currently available through Nortel Glass in Toronto, as well I am sure may be readily available online outside of Canada for USA customers.
With the USD$ dollar exchange rate, I still lean toward Nortel as my supplier of choice.

As a CiM glass tester, my tests usually pair new glass colors with silver. 

I use 99% fine silver wire, foil and silver infused glass from Double Helix.

In all my blog posts, I document each glass combination testing notes to use an archive of information that I am willing to share with fellow artists.
I have been blogging each and every bead set I have created since back in 2008 as a newbie to glass art.

Now let's get to today's beads!

This set has a base of CiM Candlelight Ltd Run, a lovely transparent yellow, with these lovely shards created subtle patterns.
Hand-blown glass shards of CiM’s Chocolate Ltd Run with silvered ivory. Chocolate is a cloudy brown transparent that is true to it's name.

 

In response to requests for streaky rods, CiM - Creation is Messy created a new limited run color named Yangtze with "a core of clear, encased in transparent yellowish green, encased in clear."

 

 

The description doesn't sound all that exciting, so I was not sure what to test with it. When this happens, it is always better to go simple - less is more. So I paired it with 99% fine silver wire.
There was just a slight reaction to the silver with small trails. There was some scumming and micro-bubbles, but I encouraged it from the glass as it gave an antiqued sea glass glow even though I left them with a shiny gloss finish.
The result is a simple yet elegant set of beads that would be awesome in a ivory bridal set of silver jewelry.

This set of beads was created on a base of CiM Ltd Run, Frangipani, very pale opal purple. Double Helix's Aurae frit was generously sprinkled and reduced the glass to a golden sheen and metallic shine!

 

CiM's Indian Summer Ltd Run is a transparent brown that strikes to a rich color. In the middle bead below I simply wrapped some 99% fine silver wire and the glass color stayed true with no adverse fuming or color change in comparison to the spacers.

Reach out to Nortel to order these glasses before they are gone.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimarchive
#doublehelixglass
#nortelinstock
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

February Flashback - Digging into the CiM - Creation Is Messy Archives - Part 2

More beautiful glass from the CiM Archives to flashback on sets of beads made with colors that are listed as Sold Out on the CiM website, but I have checked availability of these glasses as In Stock on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.

 

Reach out to Jean or Jennifer to add some of these glasses to your new CiM - Creation Is Messy colors for 2023.

 

CiM's Circus Tent Ltd Run with it’s color streamers suspended within the clear glass. I capped the ends with Double Helix Aurae silver glass.

 

These 2 beads were created on a based on CiM Serengeti. This is an opaque earthy brown with red undertonesI made hand-blown glass shards of a Double Helix test glass named DH OX459. These shine beautiful when added to the Serengeti base bead.

 

 

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s Rosaline Pink Ltd Run is a pale cloudy pink transparent that was very shocky to melt. Double Helix's Kalypso silver glass was added to create wispy flame like waves within this focal bead with a few copper dragonfly encased in clear Zephyr. The spacers are pure Rosaline Pink.

 

This focal bead was created with CiM Jetstream. This transparent blue is a hue that can be compared to a deep sapphire blue which you can see in the spacer bead.

 

 

I paired it with some Double Helix Triton silver glass as well as a wrapping of 99% fine silver wire. After I shaped it into a barrel, I decided it needed more bling. 

I created the ruffle and dipped it into Triton fine frit. After multiple meltings and reductions, the silver metallic shine came through.

 

 

 

This is definitely a unique bead and I am pleased with how it transformed.

 

Have a wonderful weekend and stay tuned for more February Flashbacks until the end of the month.

 

D.

 

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimarchive
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy

 

 

February Flashback - Favorite CiM - Creation Is Messy colors paired with Double Helix!

I have checked availability of these glasses as In Stock on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.

Reach out to Jean or Jennifer at Nortel to add some of these glasses to your new CiM - Creation Is Messy colors for 2023.

First up is CiM Vampire Ltd Run is an opaque red that I knew would work amazingly with Double Helix striking silver glass. This set started with a base of Vampire. 

Streams of Double Helix Terra 2 was struck and reduced, copper foil oak and dragonfly inclusions were added and each bead was encased in clear Double Helix Zephyr glass. 

This set has a variety of round, barrel and flat tab bead shapes to complete a set of beads just waiting for the perfect jewelry design.

Next up:

Starting with an inner core of CiM Hades, a darkest black opaque glass, these beads were generously sprinkled with a custom blend of Double Helix silver infused frit.

After reducing the beads to bring out the beautiful colors of blue and green, each bead was encased in Effetre clear to capture the opal-like shine of the silver glass and was shaped into the flat tab shape.

To bring out the true bling of these beads, hand-drawn dots were scattered on these beads and reduced to bring the golden shine to the surface.

CiM Limelight is 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.

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!

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

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.

 

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#ciminstock
#cimXXX
#doublehelixglass
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl

February Flashback - Digging into the CiM - Creation Is Messy Archives - Part 1

Over the next couple of weeks, I am digging into the CiM Archives to flashback on sets of beads made with colors that are listed as Sold Out on the CiM website, but I have checked availability of these glasses as In Stock on Nortel Glass' online shopping cart.

I am a bit of a "spreadsheet nerd", so I created a chart to cross reference what rare colors are still readily available from Jean & Jennifer at Nortel.

Why a chart? 

I see so many "destash" groups on Facebook lately where our glassy colleagues are auctioning off larger quantities glass and in many cases the prices being paid are higher than simply purchasing the same glass from one our favourite distributors.

Nortel works so closely with our various glass creators that I really prefer to support them in order to keep our glass industry going!

In this first post, we are looking at glass pairings of CiM - Creation Is Messy with Double Helix silver glasses.
Each of these bead sets were featured in previous blog posts, so enjoy this stroll down memory lane.

This gleaming set is a base of one of my favorite glasses, CiM's Pink Champagne. In natural light, it is a rich pink. In other lighting, it can cast hues of a pinky purple.
In any light, it is simply gorgeous!

Shards and dots of Double Helix Aurae decorate these beads. Lots of variety in the shapes to allow for lots of art glass design options.

This gleaming set was created with a base of CiM's Sepia, a rich light brown amber.
Shards, swirls and dots of Double Helix Aurae decorate these beads. Lots of variety in the shapes to allow for lots of art glass design options.

This abundant 20 bead set was created with a new released color named Oz.
This rich green base by CiM is a true emerald green.

Hand pulled stringers of Double Helix Triton create the hand drawn scrollwork on each bead. The Triton was reduced to a glittery goodness of gold and silver blue.

This set of 9 goddess series beads were created on a base of CiM's emerald transparent glass, Oz, with layered dots of Effetre Dark Ivory and a mixture of silver glasses. 

Double Helix's Kronos and Olympia Rain silver glasses creates the multicolored portals captured under each drop of clear glass.

Oz green transparent spacers (4) are included in this set.

In checking CiM's site just before posting this blog, I do see this glass is readily available and it is one of my favorites with silver glass. It is a fresh spring green that we need in the dead of winter!

On a base of CiM's Appletini, dots, scrolls and streams of Double Helix golden Aurae silver infused glass, decorate each round bead.

This glittering set of 10 beads was created with a base of CiM's Appletini transparent green glass on which hand drawn streams of Double Helix Aurae were added and reduced. 

Each bead was then reduced to bring out the glorious metallic bling!

Glittery Goodness - CiM - Creation Is Messy Cleopatra

Just a quick post to share... It has been a very cold February after such a mild start of 2023.

This set of sparkle beads was created on a base of CiM - Creation Is Messy’s Cleopatra Ltd Run, dense and saturated transparent purple.

This is another glass that is so dark, it appears black in most applications as a base glass.

Each bead was generously sprinkled with Double Helix Helios glass frit and reduced to sparkly goodness.

#creationismessy

#cimglass

#cimcleopatra

#nortel

#doublehelixglass

#helios

@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl