Something About Aurae

So I used to hate silver glass. Why is that, when it's one of the most popular kinds of glass to use these days? Hmmmm - mostly because I tend to work cool and small, and the silver glasses tend to work very well in larger focals that have lots of glass layers and take a lot of heat and time to make.

I also had a hard time getting the really great reactions out of a lot of the silver glasses from Double Helix, TAG and more. Until now.

I finally broke down and bought some Double Helix Triton and Aurae after I read how easily they reduced with metallic effects, and after I read that Aurae would keep some of its metallic iridescence even when encased.

YEY! It's true - at least with Aurae (I haven't tried Triton yet). I found this glass incredibly easy to use - it reduces even easier than the Iris Blue I used in the beads in the last post. And the color is much lighter and more airy. Where Iris Blue reduces to a heavy silver, almost gunmetal color, Aurae goes golden and stays light. It has lovely reflective qualities, while still allowing some of the pale amber/rose to come through the gold.

The reaction is so easy to get that you almost don't have to do anything...just turn the oxygen down a little bit and make sure your flame isn't too terribly large or hot, and the golden glow quicky blooms over the whole bead. Add some clear to that gold and you have some lovely abalone shell iridescence. So. Pretty.

Here are my two first sets with it - and I plan on making more and more as time goes by. Next to try will be Triton - can't wait! :)

Comfort Beads

It's hot. That's not all that surprising given the fact that it's July, and in Washington that's essentially one of two or three months where we get hot weather here. I hate it though - who can make beads in this kind of heat? Man, I feel for people in places like Florida. Except maybe they like the heat, I dunno. Certainly the people who are going to the ISGB Gathering this year will have to deal with it! Not me. :)

Why am I talking about the weather? Well, weather can really effect my creative motivations. When it's hot like this, I barely want to think or move, let alone fire up the torch and create something pretty.

Soooo, I tend to fall back on colors and glass which are comfortable and familiar to me. Glass that I can practically manipulate and work on with my eyes closed. (Not really, Mom!! Metaphorically, of course.) And in the case of yesterday....that means pink and black! (I mean, really - did you expect any other color?)

The nice thing about these beads is that I added a little bit of spice in the form of metallic accents using a reduction color called Iris Blue. Iris Blue is a Reichenbach color that reduces a lovely metallic oil-slick sheen that goes well with the pink and black in these beads. It looks bright blue in the rod, but once you turn down the oxygen and bathe the bead in a little propane flame, you get that lovely silver.

The pinks are of course the usual suspects (see my auction for the list), so I had a fun time at the torch without having to plunge too many mistakes in the old water jar. Ahhhh pink. I love it!

I also got lucky and turned out some matching pairs for those people who have been asking for them for earring making. Matching pairs are sometimes hard - I can never get the sizes as exact as I want them to be. But this time, I got three pairs out of the deal, so those are in with the set. (not in addition to - there are 27 beads total, including the spacers).

These are on ebay tonight!

Rising Star: CiM 476 Olive

I'm always excited when a glass maker announces new colors - but this time I am even more so. Creation is Messy has several new glass colors just in time for fall beadmaking! Their version of olive green comes in two shades - the lighter of which I am talking about in this post. The darker is called Commando, which I hope to cover later on.

CiM Olive is a gorgeous opaque shade which has a nice, medium density and a lovely saturation. There aren't any colors I can think of in other glass lines that compare to this color - it's got less yellow in it than the Lauscha version of Olive, and slightly more than ASK's old Mediterranean Olive.

What I like best about this color is that it's a lot less reactive than most opaque greens in any line, and it also doesn't spread or bleed nearly as much. It encases really well and keeps its rich shade under a heavy layer of clear.

In these beads I paired the Olive with some Effetre Light Sky Blue. The clear is of course Precision Diamond. I love the crispness of these colors together.


Olive also goes very well with rose pink - shown here in these beads (on auction until tomorrow). A totally different mood comes out with this pairing.

More to come, soon!