Practice, Practice, Practice Creating Hollow Glass Beads

As I continue my "Practice, Practice, Practice" work with hollow beads, I have some results of recent work to share with you.

The technique I used was creating the two sides of the bead on a 3/32" mandrel and then connecting the two sides and closing the gap. Shaping the bead in the heat and allowing the internal air to heat up and inflate the hollow resulted in the bead sets below.

First up, This hollow features CiM Bewitched. This glass is a "streamer" glass with a clear base with indigo and purple streamers. 

It created the hollow and shaped it into the sphere and then added the dots of Double Helix Kalypso.

 Just a touch of reduction brought the multiple hue metallic shine to the surface of each dots. The spacer beads are CiM Bewitched.

I was lucky to get a CiM Seconds rod bundle back in April at Nortel and I have started to try a few of the rods in this selection. 

The first unlabelled rod in the bundle looks like possibly CiM Nymph or Persian Green.

This is a simple hollow that shows the misty color so beautifully.

This next hollow was simply made with with the same as above with some streams of CiM Amazon Misty and Double Helix Melia. 

The striations of the silver glass created a pretty mother of pearl reaction that has just a hint of a sparkle when it is closely observed. 

It is unfortunately that it is very difficult to capture in a photograph. 

The spacers are CiM Aiko, a vivid transparent teal green that compliments the hollow focal bead.

The next bead set is simply CiM Aiko. I am pleased with this hollow!

It is such a beautiful vivid transparent teal green. 

The spacers are also CiM Aiko.

The next rod I tried in the CiM Seconds Mystery bundle created these hollows sets below. 

As the rods are not labelled, I am guessing that it may be related to Cerulean or another CiM transparent aqua blue.

A lovely trio of hollows with matching spacers!

This glass does have some micro bubbles suspended in the glass... like little bubbles in the ocean!

Finally, a bead set with a single hollow with 2 spacers on each side.

How do you think I did with my session of hollow bead making?

These will be going up on Etsy over the next day or so.

It looks like CiM Aiko, Cerulean and Nymph are not currently available. 

CiM Bewitched is showing in stock in the online shopping cart at Nortel.
Reach out to Jean or Jennifer at Nortel for your glassy needs!

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimmysterybundle

#cimseconds
#cimbewitched
#handmade
#handmadeincanada
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

Silver, Silver and More Silver!

Today I am showing you another style of Pendragonfyre beads using silver glass and 99% fine silver wire.

I find this method of capturing the reduction of the silver glass under the clear encasement allows the colors and mother of pearl shine to be magnified tremendously.

The first set is made with CiM - Creation Is Messy's Eel Grass as the base glass. This is a lovely transparent green that reminds me of nature.

I added a stripe of Double Helix Psyche silver glass in the middle and wrapped some 99% fine silver wire around it. Then I reduced and encased the bead to bring out the amazing blues, creams and purples. 

The silver wire melted and formed little drops and streams of silver under the thick layer of Zephyr clear glass. The spacer beads are pure Eel Grass.

The second set is made with CiM - Creation Is Messy's Burnt Sugar as the base glass. This is a warm transparent brown with a peachy tint.

I used the same technique as before, but with Double Helix Kalypso silver glass instead of Psyche. The result was stunning, with rich blues, creams and purples. 

The silver wire also created beautiful patterns under the clear glass encasement.

The spacers are pure Burnt Sugar.

As a final bead, I used the same glasses as above and created a hollow focal bead.

I am still practicing the technique of hollows. 

This one was created on a puffy mandrel and I am pleased with the result.

As always, I hope these beads inspire you to create something beautiful in your world!

Both CiM and Effetre glasses are available through Nortel in Toronto through their online shopping cart. I suggest ordering some very soon.

Til next time,

D.

#creationismessy

#cimglass

#cimeelgrass

#cimburntsugar

#99%finesilverwire

#doublehelixglass

#psyche

#kalypso

#zephyr

#pendragonfyre

#handmade

#handmadeincanada

@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl

@doublehelixglass

CiM - Creation Is Messy 2022 Color - Inca Rose Ltd Run Part 2

As I noted in a previous post, CiM’s new Inca Rose Ltd Run is another new cloudy transparent pink for 2022.

It is a lovely color that I definitely will want to order more. Even though it can be shock, pre-warming it solved any issues with this glass.

With Inca Rose as the base for each Goddess bead, I used layered dots of CiM’s new Cafe Au Lait Ltd Run, CiM's rare Black Currant between the silver glass layers.

 

Clear portal dots of Double Helix Zephyr were added to capture the stormed reaction of the silver glass.

Each portal turned into reduced storms of purples and pinks as a result of the reaction between the two silver laden glasses. The base glass of Inca Rose stayed true and kept its pinky peach hue.

Dots of DH Kalypso complete each bead.

As an extra test, I created a flat back focal bead with layered swirls of CiM Peace, DH Kalypso with an encasement of Zephyr. 

Inca Rose stayed true and really is such a lovely glass color.

#creationismessy

#cimglass

#cimtesting

#cimincarose

#cimcafeaulait

#cimblackcurrant

#cimnewcolors

#cimglass2022

#nortel

#doublehelixglass

@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl

CiM - Creation Is Messy 2022 Color - Inca Rose Ltd Run

CiM’s new Inca Rose Ltd Run is another new cloudy transparent pink for 2022.

It appears to be just a shade darker than CiM's Ballet Slipper.
Cloudy transparent are prone to stockiness so pre-warming is recommended.

As a base for my Goddess style beads, this glass melted smoothly as each bead starts with a small base in each bead.

 

Layered dots of CiM’s new Cafe Au Lait Ltd Run which has some silver content and Double Helix Kalypso silver glass. I played with layering on these beads and ended up with a bit of change in each bead.

One of the beads has a layer of rare CiM's Black Currant between the silver glass layers.

Two of the beads has a layer of CiM's Gypsy between the silver glass layers.

The bead on the right below was just layered with Cafe Au Lait and Kalypso and produced more pink as a result.

 

Clear portal dots of Double Helix Zephyr were added to capture the stormed reaction of the silver glass.

 

Each portal turned into reduced storms of purples and pinks as a result of the reaction between the two silver laden glasses. The base glass of Inca Rose stayed true and kept it's pinky peach hue.

Dots of DH Kalypso complete each bead.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimtesting
#cimincarose
#cimcafeaulait
#cimnewcolors
#cimglass2022
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

CiM - Creation Is Messy 2021 Colors - Jacaranda Ltd Run

Jacaranda Ltd Run is a new 2021 CiM - Creation Is Messy is a vibrant transparent purple. 
This bead set was created using Jacaranda Ltd Run as the base glass. Layered dots of CiM Black Currant and CiM Simply Berry was layered with Double Helix Kalypso, a silver infused glass. 

Clear portal dots of Double Helix Zephyr were added to capture the mother of pearl reduction shine of the silver glass. Some beads have metallic highlight dots while others were dotted with CiM Black Currant.

The spacers:
Four are CiM Simply Berry and two are Jacaranda.

This is a beautiful purple glass that melted smoothly and it a beautiful addition to the purple palette for this year.

D.


#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#cimjacaranda
#cimblackcurrant
#cimsimplyberry
#cimglass2021
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

CiM - Creation Is Messy 2021 Colors - Bird's Nest and Orangezilla Ltd Runs

In this post, I am showing two new 2021 offerings on the CiM - Creation Is Messy palette. 
I spent one torch session working on a new skill of hollow beads. I definitely need more practice but I am quite pleased with my progress so far!

The first new "streamer" in this post is named Bird's Nest Ltd Run. These three hollow beads are a great way to really see the streamers within the glass. The streamers stayed true and the glass melted smoothly and consistently in order to create these hollow rounds.

A new orange from CiM this year is Orangezilla Ltd Run. It is a bright orange that becomes vibrant in the flame. 

The hollow round has stripes of Bird's Nest. 

The spacer beads are pure Orangezilla. 

The barrel bead in the photo below is a core of Bird's Nest with end caps of Orangezilla. 

Bird's Nest spacer beads complete the bead set.

As a final test, I create a bead to test the orange glass in a layered silver glass bead. 

This flat tab bead was created by layering Double Helix Kalypso silver glass over a core of Orangezilla with a clear glass encasement.

It is important to ensure a thin layer of clear glass is placed between the 2 layers to protect the color of the core. I added copper foil dragonflies, reduced the silver glass and encased in Double Helix Zephyr. Creamy pinks and blues resulted with peeks of the juicy orange shows through. 

Have a great day and hope these brighten the corner in your world!

D.


#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#cimorangezilla
#cimbirdsnest
#cimglass2021
#nortel

#doublehelixglass

@creationismessy
@nortel_mfg

CiM 2020 New Colors - Round 6

The number of new colors for 2020 CiM - Creation is Messy were immense. 
I have loved the opportunity to try out each new color.

This will be Round 6 of testing with an expectation of another couple of blog posts to complete the full review of all the beads I have created.

CiM - Creation Is Messy’s new 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 heart bead has a base of Rosaline Pink with streams of CiM Peace and Double Helix Kalypso encased in Zephyr clear.

This focal bead has the same combination with the shine of silver glass ruffles on each side.

Within this batch of test glass, Kathy at CiM created 2 colors that included micro pieces of dichro sparkle. They don't have fancy names as they were coded by number.  I wanted to share the photos of the results. Hopefully Kathy will continue to try out these sorts of formulations as I enjoyed trying them out.
Here is a sneak peek of the first one, I will post more about this one in my next blog post.
The sparkle is definitely there!

The second sparkly glass is in the set below.
A bright misty opal blue, CiM’s Surf's Up Ltd Run is a happy blue like Peacock Feather, it’s translucent sister glass. These barrels combine this opal blue with a limited test glass by CiM that has micro pieces of dichroic glass sparkle within the teal transparent glass ( CiM Poolside with sparkle). A wrap of 99% fine silver wire completes each bead.

This heart uses the same combinations.

CiM’s Shamrock Ltd Run is a perfect pair for Double Helix’s OX459 green silver buster glass. The glass stayed rich and translucent in each of these beads.  A few cooper foil decorations were added to one of the focal beads. The spacers are pure Shamrock Ltd Run.

So that is the Round 6 of test results. Til next post!

D.


#creationismessy
#cimtesting
#cimnewcolors
#copperfoil
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
#cimrosalinepink
#cimshamrock
#cimsurfsup
@creationismessy
@nortel_mfg