Sunday Blues

In today's post, I am sharing two sets that I recently posted on Etsy.

First up is Effetre Cobalt Blue transparent with a wrap of silvered ivory stringer and 99% fine silver wire. These have a rustic antique look for silver jewelry designs.

I recently scored some old Vetrofond glass in a bundle purchase from Nortel in Toronto.

This bead set was created on a base of Vetrofond Dark Sky Blue with dots of white opaque.

These beads were tumble etched for a smooth matte finish.

I purchase my CiM glass from Jennifer and Jean at Nortel in Toronto. Reach out to them for your glassy needs.

#effetremurano

#vetrofond

#99%finesilverwire

#nortel

#pendragonfyre

#handmade

#handmadeincanada

@nortel_glassgirl

Rediscovering Effetre Colors - Spanish Leather 423

I'm excited to share with you one of my latest experiments with silvered ivory and Effetre colors. Silvered ivory is a wonderful technique that involves melting fine silver and Effetre ivory together to create beautiful stringers that can be used for decoration. In this post, I'll show you how I used silvered ivory and Effetre Spanish Leather to make a stunning set of beads.

Effetre Spanish Leather 423 is a rich red brown color that has a lot of depth and variation. It works well with silvered ivory because it contrasts nicely with the ivory and creates interesting patterns and effects. I decided to make a set of beads with different shapes and sizes, including a heart, flat tabs and round dotted beads. I also added some spacers to give more options for jewelry making.

Here are some pictures of the finished beads:

I'm really happy with how they turned out! The silvered ivory adds a lot of texture and hints of sparkle to the beads, and the Spanish Leather gives them a warm and earthy feel. I think they would look great in a necklace or bracelet, or even as earrings.

If you want to try this technique yourself, here are some tips:

- Use 99% fine silver wire or foil, not sterling silver, as it will react with the ivory and create unwanted colors.

- Heat the ivory until it glows, then wrap the silver around it and melt them together.

- Pull the silvered ivory into thin stringers and let them cool.

- Use a neutral or slightly reducing flame when applying the stringers to the base bead.

- Experiment with different angles and directions of the stringers to create different effects.

I hope you enjoyed this post and learned something new. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave them below. 

This is a another overlooked Effetre glass that is economical in price and currently in stock at Nortel in Toronto.

If you want to try this glass or any other glass that I use in my blog, I recommend you to order from Nortel. They have a huge selection of CiM, Double Helix, Riley Dichro and glass frit that you can choose from. They are very friendly and helpful too!

These would be great with an etched surface for a faux stone finish and tactile feel.

#effetre

#effetrespanishleather

#silveredivorystringer

#nortel

#pendragonfyre

#handmade

#handmadeincanada

@nortel_glassgirl

Rediscovering Effetre Colors - Tiger Eye

I will be starting a new series of overlooked Effetre colors that I recently began working with in new bead sets.

In today's post, I reintroduce you to Effetre Tiger Eye.

On a base of Effetre Tiger Eye 660, these round beads are simply decorated with silvered ivory stringer dots. 

These would be great with an etched surface for a faux stone finish and tactile feel.

The silvered ivory dots spread into lovely circular dots with so reaction to the base Tiger Eye glass.

Tiger Eye is an Effetre glass that is economical in price and powerful in their color saturation.

As always, I suggest you reach out to Nortel to place your glass orders. 

This glass is currently available on their online shopping cart at the time of this post.

Nortel also carries an extensive selection of CiM glass as well as Double Helix, Riley Dichro and glass frit.

#silveredivorystringer
#effetre

#effetretigereye
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
#handmade
#handmadeincanada
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

 

Sea Inspired Focals with Silvered Ivory

On the post today, the focus is to show how silvered ivory stringer can be used in a variety of ways with both transparent and opaque glasses.

When I visited Jean at Nortel back in April, she asked me to test a few Effetre glasses that she had in stock and needed to be highlighted to bead makers.

In this post, I used one of them paired with a favourite CiM - Creation Is Messy glass to create a sea inspired bead set of focals.

Each of these flat tab beads would be lovely as a pendant or multiples combined into an amazing necklace.

Each focal bead was hand formed with waves of Effetre Storm Surge with a stormy sky of rare CiM Sea Mist Ltd Run. 

Sea Mist was created by CiM as a core of clear, encased in transparent blue, encased in clear.

A stripe of silvered ivory stringer creates crests of waves on each bead.

A few spacer beads of each of the glasses are included in this set.

I really love Effetre Storm Surge #784 and look forward to how to use it in another bead style.
Contact Jean and Jennifer if you are interested in purchasing some of this Special Buy glass as once it is gone... it may not be available again.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimseamist
#silveredivorystringer
#effetre
#effetrestormsurge
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
#handmade
#handmadeincanada
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

Simple Rounds with Silvered Ivory Stringers!

On the post today, the focus is to show how silvered ivory stringer can be used in a variety of ways with both transparent and opaque glasses.

As I am learning more each studio session how my new kiln works, I have been using the sessions to make as many beads as possible to understand the value of having the larger kiln.
This past session, I created 88 beads in one sitting... which I think it the most for a day yet.
I will share the beads over the next couple of blog posts and hope you enjoy seeing them.

Today, the simple silvered ivory stinger stripe on transparent glasses.

On CiM - Creation Is Messy Larkspur, a transparent color that shifts between blue and lavender depending on your lighting. I definitely suggest you check out the photos on the CiM website to better understand how this glass changes color under sunlight, fluorescent and incandescent. It is quite cool.

 

 

The next two transparent are Effetre glasses that Nortel gifted me when I visited last month.

Effetre Light Aquamarine 034 - such a lovely sea inspired color!

 

The next Effetre color was coded on the Italian sticker as Amethyst but in checking online it appears to be named Pale Purple 046. It is a very pretty purple  transparent that I previously used for encasing over white in my Love Sonnet beads.

 

 All of these glasses are economical in price and powerful in their color saturation.

Stay tuned for more beads coming in my next post!
As always, I suggest you reach out to Nortel to place your glass orders. They carry an extensive selection of CiM glass as well as Double Helix, Riley Dichro and glass frit.


#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimlarkspur
#silveredivorystringer
#effetre
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
#handmade
#handmadeincanada
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

Silvered Stringer - More Than Just for Ivory!

Happy Friday!

As I posted back last Friday, I enjoy creating beads with silvered ivory stringer.

Today's post, I have one more set to share as well as 2 new bead sets using a variation of silvered stringer.

I created the coral silvered stringer using CiM - Creation Is Messy's Phoenix glass and silver foil. These stringers are created in the same way as the ivory ones.

Silvered stringer gives beads a gorgeous organic look to them. Silvered coral on its own “webs” or “curdles” giving it a beautiful organic look.

Here are today's bead sets each created with CiM - Creation Is Messy glasses currently available to order.

On a base of CiM's Canoe Ltd Run simply decorated with silvered ivory stringer dots. These would be great with an etched surface for a faux stone finish and tactile feel.

 

 

Silvered coral stringer on CiM's Poi, an opaque grey toned purple. 

 

Smurfy, CiM's opaque turquoise blue is the base of this set of beads on which the Phoenix silvered stringer decorations are abundant in dots, streams and swirls.

 

 

Glass availability at the time of this post may be available through Nortel. Canoe, Poi and Smurfy are showing as available in their online cart.

I purchase my CiM glass from Jennifer and Jean at Nortel in Toronto. Reach out to them for your glassy needs.

#creationismessy

#cimglass

#cimsmurfy

#cimpoi

#cimcanoe

#silveredivorystringer

#silveredcoralstringer

#nortel

#pendragonfyre

#handmade

#handmadeincanada

@creationismessy

@nortel_glassgirl

Revisiting Silvered Ivory for a Spring Session to Relax and Restore!

As we hopefully anticipate spring in here New Brunswick, I spent a session at the torch revisiting a bead technique that I return to when I need to clear my head and relax and restore!

I pull out a few favourite CiM - Creation Is Messy glasses from my "favourites" shelf and pair it with one of my favorite organic “glass tools” and I like to create hand pulled silvered Ivory.
Silvered Ivory is either dark or light ivory glass rolled in pure silver leaf and pulled into tiny “stringers” of glass for embellishing beads.

Silvered Ivory stringer, or SIS, gives beads a gorgeous organic look to them. I have a preference of using silver foil and Effetre Light Ivory when creating stringers as I seem to be able to better control the dispersion of tiny speckles of silver with this combination.
Ivory glass on it’s own “webs” or “curdles” giving it a beautiful organic look. When you add silver not only does it react with the Ivory glass, but it sometimes reacts with the beads base as well!

I am always excited to sit down at my lampwork table and create because I tend to learn new things every time. I use this blog as my journal of my sessions and often look back at favourite combinations to plan new bead sets. Note: all glass is different. Each color has its own chemical make-up that may cause it to react differently with different glasses.

Within this post I have used this wonderful type of stringer with some of my stash colors of CiM - Creation Is Messy.
On a cores I have used dots and stream of silvered ivory stringer on both round and zulu shaped beads.

So pretty for summer jewelry designs. 

Let's see this week's sets!

First up, this set of round beads was created on a base of CiM's Lady of the Lake. 

 

This glass is a pale green milky opal that stays translucent after annealing- same hue as Sea Glass.

 

I wrapped a stream of silvered ivory around the centre of each bead on which 2 wraps of fine silver wire was added. 

The spacers of pure Lady of the Lake complete the set. 

 

 

This glass should be available for purchase through CiM Resellers.

CiM Mulberry Limited Run with SIS dots. 

 

 

Notice the micro-dots of silver in each of the ivory dots.. So pretty. 

 

 

The spacers are pure Mulberry.

I have noticed that when I use silver or silver glass with Mulberry, it will darken to a very dark purple which from some angles look like black so I assume it absorbs some metal through fuming.

 

CiM Thistledown Limited Run with SIS dots. 

 

This glass is a unique run of CiM's Plum opal which I tried many years ago as a limited run glass. 

 

 

It also will fume silver to it's base glass if silver glass is worked through several warming and cooling cycles. 

 

Within this set of beads, I kept the glass at an even temperature as I wanted it to capture the SIS dots along with the striations that this glass creates naturally as the bead is formed.

 

The spacers are pure Thistledown.

CiM Sea Mist glass was created as a limited run glass with a core of clear, encased in transparent blue, encased in clear. 

 

For this bead set I paired it with SIS streams and twists and shaped the beads in the Zulu press to create this unique shape. 

 

 

 

This glass also likes silvered ivory stringer. 

 

 

The round spacers are pure Sea Mist.

 

Each of the last 3 glasses within this post appear to be Sold Out on the CiM website archive. I primarily purchase my CiM glasses from Jennifer and Jean at Nortel in Toronto so I am not sure if they have any in their back stock.

You are welcome to reach out to them to check or they may have suggestions of similar offerings for your needs.

#creationismessy
#cimglass
#silveredivorystringer
#cimseamist
#cimmulberry
#cimthistledown

#cimladyofthelake
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
#handmade
#handmadeincanada
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl

CiM - Creation Is Messy 2023 New Color - Bear Hug Milky Ltd Run

This set of earthy brown beads was created on a base of one of the new browns for 2023 named Bear Hug.
In the set below, CiM - Creation Is Messy's Bear Hug Milky Ltd Run was paired with silvered ivory stringer.
Silvered Ivory handmade stringers are made by combining fine silver foil and Effetre Ivory. 

 

The stringer melted well into Bear Hug without any extreme webbing effects.

 

 

A very natural look for those "chocolate" hue jewelry fans!

Simple and delicious!

 

All the new CiM colors for 2023 are available through Nortel in Toronto through their online shopping cart. I suggest ordering some very soon before it is gone.


#creationismessy
#cimglass
#cimnewcolors
#cim2023
#cimbearhugmilky
#silveredivorystringer
#effetre
#nortel
#pendragonfyre
@creationismessy
@nortel_glassgirl