CiM Glass Testing: 608 Tranquility Ltd. Run

Although it may seem so, not all lavender glass is created equal.  Lavender shades (whether transparent or opaque) almost always do color shift - from pale blue-ish in fluorescent lighting, to bright lavender purple in sunlight, to soft pinkish-lavender under incandescent lights.  This new color from CiM, called Tranquility, is no different in that regard.

What does make Tranquility a little different than the other transparent lavender shades in the 104 COE line is its consistency.  Tranquility is nice and smooth - melts evenly and doesn't burn, scum or bubble as easily as the other lavenders I have tried.

As for the hue - Tranquility is one of the lightest lavenders - lighter than CiM Count Von Count (discontinued), CiM Purple Haze, and Effetre Dark Lavender.  It's probably closest in shade to CiM Larkspur (which is also no longer available). However, Larkspur tended to wash out easier and was slightly stiffer in my opinion.  Tranquility is a bit darker than Effetre Pale Lavender.

CiM's transparent lavender shades tend to have much more clarity than Effetre's shades - light transmits through them really well, making them appear smoother and shinier.

However, as with all purple glass, photographing Tranquility can be a challenge.  Different lights will change the color slightly, and sometimes getting it to appear correctly can take some editing skills.  This difficulty increases when you pair the lavender with other colors such as green or blue.

Because Tranquility is so smooth and well behaved - and not as stiff as some other shades, it makes a great encasing and layering glass.  I like how it transforms the sometimes dingy opaque violet shades into sweet purples.

Shown here are some tests - I used Tranquility to encase (from left to right) Effetre White, CiM Heffalump, CiM Grape Ape, and CiM Thai Orchid. Plain spacers are also shown.

Above, Tranquility is layered with my favorite opaque purple, Effetre New Violet, to make a subtle medium purple.  It's combined with navy blue (CiM Inkblot over Effetre Periwinkle) and white for a wintery look.   These beads are slightly brighter in person, but soooo hard to photograph.

All in all, Tranquility is a wonderful replacement for the discontinued CiM lavenders, and is easier to work with than the Effetre versions.  A worthy addition to the line! 

***New Info as of Feb 1st.... according to Kathy at CiM, Tranquility was a limited run miss-melt, and it has already sold out.  I don't think Frantz has any more either.  I have asked if they have any plans to remake it or something similar.  I will post again, if I hear back!  So sad!!

CiM Glass Testing: 510 Ink Blot Ltd. Run

I've been waiting for years for someone - anyone - in the glass manufacturing biz to release a navy blue color - in opaque or transparent.  Effetre or Vetrofond (I can't remember which one) came close a bunch of years ago with an opaque Denim Blue - a color which, sadly, I cannot find anywhere anymore. 

 A couple of months ago, CiM released Ink Blot - a limited run transparent color that is as close to navy blue as I have ever found.  YEY!!!

Ink Blot looks very saturated in rod form, and if you hold it up to the light, it is a dark purply blue color.  However, when melted, worked and annealed, it loses all the purple and a lot of the saturation, and flirts with blue/grey and navy.

By itself, as a spacer, it stays very dark.  When encased, though, it sparkles with a lovely quality I can't quite describe.   I would say that Ink Blot is most like CiM Midnight in color - although maybe a shade lighter.

What makes me happiest about this color is that it isn't stiff at all, when you compare it to colors like Midnight, which is gorgeous, but very, very stiff.  Ink Blot melts like a dream, and layers very nicely, with no bleeding or feathering at all. 

Ink Blot can be used as a blue/grey or as a navy blue, depending on which color you layer it with.  I have used it with several shades of neutral grey, and also with Periwinkle and Dark Periwinkle.  The navy blue comes out best when Ink Blot is layered with Periwinkle and encased in clear.  In the beads below, left to right, Ink Blot is shown layered with various colors and encased in DH Aether; alone; with Effetre Pearl Grey; with Effetre Periwinkle; with Effetre Dark Periwinkle.

When used as decoration, Ink Blot lightens a lot and works really well as a neutral color, adding variety to any neutral palette, in my opinion.

 In the sets here, with green, called Echo, Ink Blot is used as a grey, layered with Pearl Grey and clear.  It works well as an encased stringer as well - a nice, light neutral grey.

The  center beads, as well as the left bead in the lower set all use the Pearl Grey/Ink Blot/Aether encasement, and they stay nice and dark.

In these blue and cream sets, called Winter Lace, I used Ink Blot with Periwinkle to bring out the navy. This makes for a lovely wintery blue.  (The spacers in the pic seen here are CiM Zachary, a shade lighter than Periwinkle).

You can see how well the Ink Blot layers in the dots on the left bead in the last set.  Very even and clean.

I am very impressed with the consistency and workability of this color, and very happy we finally have this shade in our 104 COE palette.  Thank you
Creation is Messy!  :)