CiM Chalcedony and Triton

Thanks to a comment from sassyglassdesigns on one of my previous posts, I've experimented with more glass colors to see how they react with Triton. Here I've tried a blue CiM glass called "Chalcedony" and I got a sea green color!Triton scrolls seem to fume base glasses with a yellowish color, so I think it's a matter of how nice the color looks with yellow added as to how the beads will turn out.

Here is a photo of some plain Chalcedony rods, so you can see the before and after color difference:
And another photo of this set, available in my Etsy shop!

More New Sets on Etsy

I've been away from blogging and Etsy for a few days because I had to have some dental work done. I am a true dento-phobe, yet every time I leave the dentist's office after a visit, I feel great and realize it wasn't all that bad. What was I so afraid of? The dentist is such a nice guy! Well, heh heh, lets just say this last visit confirmed every dental fear I've ever dreamed up from the deepest of my twisted imaginings!

Luckily two days have passed, the pain is not so intense, the blood is drying up, I'm feeling better and the horrific experience is beginning to fade from my mind. Back to the beads! :-D

I've just listed these three sets on Etsy. This first set has a base of Terranova2 with 'threads' of Triton:This is a set of spacers made with Double Helix test batch M-232:And this set is a favorite of mine. It has a base of Triton with Kronos frit, encased with Aether. The bead holes have metallic glass around them, which you can see more clearly in the second picture:Hope you all are having a nice week! Don't forget to floss, trust me! :-D

Metallic Scroll Designs

I've made a few new scroll design bead sets, this first one with a base of Amber Rose and scrolls of M-232b or "Pinky Purple Luster," the Double Helix test batch:This set has a base of CiM Hades and scrolls of Triton:

A big Thank You to my Etsy customers for shopping with me this month!

Another big Thank You to my blog readers for visiting and writing comments, you really make my day and keep me inspired!

It's snowing here in northern Arizona. Stay warm everyone!

Translucent CiM Glass

Just a little sharing tonight of some beads made with translucent glass from Creation is Messy. Their translucent glass has a beautiful opalescent glow and it's very nice to work with.

This first set was made with a base of Kryptonite and a partial encasing of Effetre Pale Emerald Green. The scroll designs are Triton. Depending on the light, the beads look either jade, mint or lime green. The translucent CiM colors are really magical!This set has a base of Crocus and an encasing of Larkspur. They can look pink, blue or purple depending on the light.

Stringer Pullers

There are lots of ways to pull stringers. I used to grab the blob of molten glass with my tweezers and pull, but that was only occasionally successful since the glass usually slipped out of the tweezers, drooped down to the bench and gave me a very curvy stringer. My preferred method now is to melt two rods of the same color together into a blob and pull. However, when I don't have a second rod of the same color handy, I reach for my trusty "stringer pullers":They start out as a short of one of the stiffer 104 c.o.e. colors, usually clear (visible in the upper left corner of the photo), which I use as a punty to grab the molten glass blob. Then I just continue to use that clear punty as a stringer puller time and time again. It's fun to see the history of what colors I've used. The stringer pullers stay on my bench for years, sometimes breaking, but I just pick up the biggest piece and keep using it as a stringer puller.

The stringer pullers are so colorful now, they're inspiring me towards some bead design but I can't quite figure out how exactly to translate their random colorful-ness into beads.

Stone Ground and Pinky Purple Luster

Here's a set I made using CiM Stone Ground and Double Helix "Pinky Purple Luster": "Pinky Purple Luster" is the name for Double Helix odd lots M-166 and M-232b. The glass on these beads is the M-232b, but I've also used the M-166 and they seem to be identical. A gorgeous, light, bright gold with pink highlights. Similar to Triton in some ways, but a lighter gold color. One of my favorite glasses!

I love the CiM Stone Ground. It's easy to work with and has nice color. It's similar to the color of ASK Caramel Apple or Effetre Opal Yellow. On these beads you might be able to see that the M-232b fumed the Stone Ground and gave it a subtle purple iridescent sheen. Here's another photo of the set: These beads were inspired by Hayley Tsang.
Have a beautiful day everyone!

Pandora and Triton

Re-visiting Pandora again, these beads are a base of pure Pandora with Triton scroll designs. I love the purples and magentas in these. I annealed some for 5 hours and some for 3... the 5-hour Pandora definitely got more color, but the 3-hour was nice, too. I'm still figuring out what works best in my kiln. The best way to see the color in these beads would be full sunlight, but here are a couple of studio-lit photos:

Psyche Scroll Beads

Here's a set of beads I made for a customer this week. They have a base of Effetre transparent brown and scroll designs in Double Helix Psyche:I made a set similar to this for a customer a few weeks ago. She sent the beads to someone to string into a bracelet. When the bracelet-stringer saw them, she liked them so much that she ordered a set for herself! It's fun when things like that happen - you never know how a customer will find you!

Triton with Nyx

This set has a Nyx base with Triton scroll designs. I was making these beads as part of my eclectic sets but thought a group of them would work, too. I think they'd look good together in a bracelet.

More Silver Glass Sets

Here are a few more photos of the eclectic sets I've been making. The primary glass is Triton, but I also use Kronos, Nyx and Psyche.

I am obsessed! :-)

Terra and Dark Ivory

These beads have a similar webbing effect to the Triton and Dark Ivory beads in my last post. The glass I've used for the scroll designs in this set is original Terra. I think it's the high silver content of these glasses that causes the Ivory to react that way.

This set is etched, but the Terra designs stayed shiny since Terra is not easily affected by etching solution. It makes an interesting contrast in refelection and texture on the beads. This set is in my Etsy shop today.

Happy June everyone!

DH Odd: M-166

This test batch is one of my favorites. It's a color I hope Double Helix makes again as part of their regular line. I have been looking for a gold metallic 104 c.o.e. compatible glass for a long time, and this is it! The gold, silver, blue, green and rose colors that can be achieved by a few brief passes through a reducing flame are stunning. Here are a few of my test beads.

M-166 disks:

M-166 stringer on transparent purple and green hollow beads:

Some lampworkers use Kugler Iris Gold to get this gold metallic look. I have used it too, but with disastrous results. The Kugler c.o.e., which is 90 I think, is so far from the Effetre c.o.e. 104 that most of it cracked off my beads. Maybe I'm not aware of other 104 gold glasses that are out there, but this M-166 will be the one I use from now on.

Shiny Scroll Beads

I love these beads... they're made on a base of pale emerald green with Psyche scroll designs. The rondelle spacers are pure Psyche:

These sold in my Etsy shop.
These beads inspired me to make transparent hollow beads with Psyche scrolls. I've made a few so far but don't have pictures yet. They're coming out nice so far.