Glass Testing: CiM 555 Sacre Bleu Ltd. Run

Hey, everyone! Today's new color test is of Creation is Messy's latest blue - a transparent bright cobalt called Sacre Bleu. This vivid shade is actually a very easy glass to work with, if a bit tough to capture in a picture. It's very intense - even more so than Effetre Intense Blue or CiM's other cobalt blues called Neon Blue and Royal.

Sacre Bleu is probably closest to Royal, in my opinion, but if you put all four rod colors together, you might have a hard time telling the difference. It's a bit lighter and less intense than Effetre's long-standing basic Cobalt glass.

Sacre Bleu was very easy to use - only slightly stiff, but melts smoothly and evenly. It layers extremely well, with no feathering, bleeding, spreading, pitting, etc. I also didn't have any problems with the rods shocking.

I had fun layering this gorgeous blue on top of Effetre Periwinkle, thus lightening it up a bit while keeping the lovely saturation of color. Layering was easy, since Periwinkle is not as stiff as it's CiM counterpart Grumpy Bear. But you can probably use that in place of Periwinkle and not see much difference.

Sacre Bleu is an easy glass to use and love, but it is a bit hard to photograph. Like all cobalt shades, this one shows up lighter and less intense in pictures, and it takes some photo-editing to get it even close to the vivid deep shade of blue it is in real life. This is as close as I could get!

Here's a set of big hole beads I made with these colors, paired up with some saturated purples for an intense, summery effect. 

These beads are now available in my newly re-opened Etsy store!

Glass Color Testing: CiM 553 Poolside, 315 Buttermilk and Monarch 216

Three more CiM colors to chat about today! I used these three together, for a nice autumn contrast.

First up we have a pale, creamy opaque color called Buttermilk. This color is
so pale you might almost mistake it for white until you put it next to white. Then you can see the creamy yellow undertones. It's kind of like an eggshell with just a tiny hint of yellow if you strike it right.

Buttermilk is pretty well-behaved, but will spread a little bit if you don't cover it completely and carefully. It's not too stiff, but not at all soupy like other pale opaque cream colors tend to be. It also wasn't shocky, which was really nice.

Buttermilk might technically be a striking color - I did notice that it would blush slightly yellow when I pulled the sample petal, but honestly, that goes away when working the glass with other colors. I think it might streak a little when used as a sculptural base, but that's it as far as striking goes.

I like Buttermilk as a base for amber shades, but I probably will stick with the cooler/less yellow cream colors for layering browns and creams. Also, this color is too light to substitute for Opal Yellow or Painted Hills.

Next we have Monarch - a lovely striking yellow/orange opaque. Monarch is a striking color that goes a bit more yellow when worked - depending on whether it's encased or left as a base. In the rod, it's decidedly more orange and bright, but as you work it it transforms into a more subtle shade of orangy yellow. I just love how it brightened the amber I used with it.

Monarch is a really easy glass - no shocking, nice consistency.

 What I did notice was that I got a reaction when layering Monarch with Buttermilk and some transparent ambers (Indian Summer and Medium Topaz Effetre). I am unsure which color is responsible for the devit lines I got surrounding the melted in petals on some of these beads. I decided they were pretty, though.

When I encased Monarch it had no spreading issues, so I think any spreading would be more due to whatever transparent glass might react with it. This might be worth exploring a little further.

Last, we have a contrasting color - a gorgeous transparent medium teal called Poolside.

Poolside is a gorgeous shade that is lighter, greener and more vivid than the rest of the teals in the 104 palette. I think it goes perfectly on top of Quetzal, as it matches the tonality really well.

I had no bubbling issues with this color, but as usual if this shade of teal scums up on you, you can likely melt it off by gently continuing to heat your gather. The consistency of this glass is great - it melted smoothly and stayed stable.

The following beads were made with all three new colors, plus Quetzal, Indian Summer, Medium Topaz and Double Helix Helios.