Glitter - A Little Goes A Long Way - Sharing New Experiments

In my last post, I shared my initial testing of a few of Lori Riley's dichroic strips.

On her site she describes these as "premium dichroic strips are fused and ready for flame. These prefused dichroic strips help prevent scumming and are much easier to use."

I was also blessed with some Lumiere Lusters glitters that I have only started to experiment with.

I wanted to share a few more focal beads that combined some various new glasses that I am trying out from Double Helix Glassworks with these various glittery treats!

First up, these two focal were created over a clear base with encased layers of Double Helix Oracle Violet Opal (I am not certain which one I have, but click here to review them)

Streams of Double Helix rare silver glass known as BE-462 Purple Luster was added along with Dots of Riley Dichroic Pink & Teal Crinkle strip. 

A final encasement of Double Helix Zephyr completely the bead before the final shaping.

These would be lovely pendants.


This next bead was created on a base of CiM - Creation Is Messy's Maroon, a dense maroon red. Streams of Riley Dichroic Pink Teal Crinkle and Double Helix TC663 test glass. 

Zephyr clear encasement was added to capture the glitter and the mother of pearl luster of the silver infused glass.

Finally, just a couple of first tries at adding Lumiere Luster's Ion Opal glitter to a simple bead base of CiM’s Midnight. 

This glitter is much easier to manage than the pixie dust of the "old days" of my lampworking beginnings.

I look forward to testing and trying to find the best way to use this glitter to it's best potential without adding any burnout or scumming that sometimes results from working the bead with too much heat.

Nortel Glass in Toronto has a wonderful selection of these little treasures, so definitely contact Jean or Jennifer to purchase some for your next bead making session!

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimmaroon
#rileydichroic
#lumierelusters
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

CiM - Creation Messy Color Tests for new Goddess Bumpy Beads

Today's post is sharing a couple of mini sets of my "bumpy" Goddess beads as I was testing out some other color combinations.

Starting on a base of CiM - Creation Is Messy's Lady of The Lake glass, I layered dots of CiM's Birchwood Ltd Run, a creamy opaque ivory with silver, CiM Barrier Reef Ltd Run, a transparent teal, and Double Helix Melia 2 silver infused glass.

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

                                   

Dots of Double Helix Melia 2 complete each bead.

This mini set of Goddess bumpy beads used CiM - Creation Is Messy's deep dense red Maroon Ltd Run.
Layered dots of CiM's Birchwood Ltd Run, CiM's rare Black Currant Ltd Run purple, and Double Helix rare unnamed silver glass coded as BE-462.

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

Dots of CiM's Black Currant complete each bead.

Although the CiM site notes Black Currant as SOLD OUT, it is always a good idea to check in with Jean and Jennifer at Nortel to check their "archive".

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimladyofthelake
#cimmaroon
#cimblackcurrant
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

Sharing Favorite Bead Styles - Goddess Portal Beads

One of my favourite style of beads to make is what I have named my Goddess Beads. 

Way back starting in 2010, I had a series of beads with unique combinations of glasses within the style of these “bumpy” portal beads. 

Each set was a unique combination of glasses with silver glass portals captured under clear bubbles each named after a Goddess name.
You can see these sets on my blog searching under the Goddess category or following this link.

I have recently revisited this style again out of the sheer pleasure of creating them.
This post highlights 2 new sets created recently.

This first set started on a base of CiM - Creation Is Messy’s Limelight, a light transparent green that is beautifully fresh green tone.

Layers of CiM’s Ra, a rare creamy opaque yellow laden with silver, and Eden, a dense transparent pine green with aventurine, were placed and capped with Double Helix silver glass named Chloe. 

The silver glass was stormed and reduced and captured under clear portals of Double Helix Zephyr.

The Chloe silver glass is a speckled silver glass that when reduced brings out various speckled mother of pearl reactions in shades of yellows, blues, pinks and purples.

To complete each bead, dots of silver infused OX-376 was added and reduced to a metallic shine.

Below, is a set of 3 Goddess beads started with a base of CiM’s Maroon, a dense maroon red.

I have created several other sets of beads with this glass and they are highlights on CiM’s website. This glass loves silver so it was a natural to try it out with the Goddess style.

Starting on a base of this glass, I layered dots of CiM’s Painted Hill, an opaque yellow, and CiM’s rare Black Currant, a very dark transparent purple that appears almost black . 

For silver glass, I used some rare TAG Golden Emerald from my archive stash. It is a great glass to storm and create various hues from blues to pinks. 

Unfortunately, Trautman Art Glass (TAG) appears to no longer be in business, so I will cherish and hoard my stash as a result.

If you are seeking out this glass, check with Nortel in Toronto or google suppliers in the USA.

Clear portal dots of Effetre clear were added to capture the stormed reaction of the silver glass.

Dots of Double Helix Hyperion complete each bead with hues of purples and blues.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimlimelight

#cimeden
#cimmaroon
#cimblackcurrant
#cimra
#cimpaintedhills
#nortel
#doublehelixglass
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

Queen's Court Sampler - Part 3 Results

This post will cover the last of the test beads using the CiM - Creation Is Messy glass colors within the Nortel Queen's Court Sampler pack.

This first set of crystal  and barrel shaped beads were created with stripes of the following Limited Run colors:
Ocher, an opaque yellow
Monarch, an opaque yellow orange
Budgerigar, a misty opal kiwi green
Oobleck, an opaque vibrant acid green
Each bead was sprinkled with Val Cox rare Purple Rose made with Z-99 glass frit. 
I rarely use my small supply of this frit as it is no longer available for purchase.
A few beads got a wrap of 99% fine silver wire which was melted in for a tactile feel.

These fine silver wire wrapped beads were created on bases of CiM Butter Pecan, a creamy non reactive opaque beige and CiM Maroon Ltd Run, a dense maroon red. 
The glass melted smoothly and there was no adverse reaction against the silver so colors stayed true.

These mini beads were created on bases of CiM Red Alert Ltd Run, a bright red and CiM Blue Arrow Frog Ltd Run, a bright opaque blue. 
Simple dots of CiM Peace for a classic look.

The next few posts for this blog will review some colors within another Nortel Sampler named Bountiful Harvest as well as previewing new 2020 CiM color releases!

Stay Tuned and thank you for following Pendragonfyre Tales!

Smiles,
D.

Nortel's Queen's Court Sampler Testing

Just a quick post to show a couple of new sets of beads using base glasses from Nortel’s CiM glass sampler named Queen’s Court. 

You can order this sampler of 17 colors that are both new and former favourites via Nortel’s new online shopping cart here.

First up - CiM Clockwork is an amazing orange that reminds me of Orange soda pop.  I used it as a based glass encased in clear on which I streamed Double Helix Clio Dark. The hot pinks, blues bloomed over the orange. Very cool result that shifts in iridescence shine from every angle. This glass is showing as sold out on the CiM - Creation Is Messy website, so definitely contact Nortel to order it while it lasts.

When I saw rods of CiM’s Eggplant, Maroon and Monarch, I immediately paired them with silvered ivory stringer to create a rustic bead set that reminded me of of the Queen’s Court in medieval times. The patterns and colors are complimentary and allowed for many bead shapes. 
























Both these sets were made on 3/32 mandrels and perfectly fit on new sterling silver chains that I ordered online over my Christmas holiday.
Looking forward to a few more sessions at the torch to complete the testing of the samplers I have from Nortel. 

Stay warm, til next time.

D.

#creationismessy
#nortel
#QueensCourtSampler
#cimclockwork
#cimeggplant
#cimcmaroon
#cimmonarch

A Missed Set - CiM Maroon, Pistachio Ice Cream and Hades

Somewhere along the way I missed posting this set from my Spring 2017 CiM - Creation Is Messy color testing.

These colors are an awesome combination for multi-dotted beads.

The deep red is CiM Maroon Ltd Run mixed with bases of CiM Pistachio Ice Cream Ltd Run with highlight dots of CiM Hades black stringer.

Pink Cream and Maroon

I had posted a few weeks ago that I had gotten 20 pounds of Double Helix silver glass recently. Some of the glass was not labelled and that is always an adventure to experiment and determine what reactions will result in a bead.

I was really happily surprised with this one. The rod resembled a tan brown with a dark centre. Simple beads of the glass were struck and reduced and the reaction captured under a clear glass encasing. The veining is pink with touches of caramel within a cream bead.

Very interesting set with each bead a unique creation.

While we are in the pink/red side of the color spectrum, I have a new red glass from CiM - Creation is Messy to share testing results for - Maroon Ltd Run. This glass is dense, dark and cherry hue rich. 

The main beads show the base glass with metallic armour created with Double Helix Triton shards. The two glasses were meant to be together like a romance with the silver glass producing shades from gold, pink and blue.

The spacers are simply Maroon. A rich deep red.

Simply beautiful!