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!

CiM Glass Testing: 525 Marine Ltd. Run and 425 It Ain't Easy Being Ltd. Run

More teals and greens!  Even though CiM seems to release a lot of these colors, I never get tired of using them, especially together.  Today we have two new colors - an opaque pale green and a transparent teal. Since there are so many of each of those, I am also posting some comparison pics.

Both of these are Limited Runs, like most new CiM colors lately.  I am hoping they do some colors that they will add to the permanent line soon.

First, we have It Ain't Easy Being, which is a play on the phrase Kermit the Frog uses - "it ain't easy being green".  I find the name somewhat odd, since Kermit is vivid green, and this color is really pale.

The closest color to this out there I think is Mint Chip, which is just a tiny bit less blue than It Ain't Easy Being. It's not as grey as some of the other pale greens, making it a nice base for transparent green.  I like that it has less yellow - sometimes you want a pretty, true light green that isn't yellowish, especially this time of year!

It Ain't Easy Being works up nicely.  It's not stiff at all, and doesn't bleed under encasing.  If you use it by itself, it's very light - especially under clear.  In some of these beads, I used It Ain't Easy Being as a base for Effetre Light Emerald Green, and it looks perfect - a nice summery green. It layers well and stays opaque in dots and when encased.

You will notice some striations when you use it as an opaque base, but those are light and muted, so it's not too bad.

It Ain't Easy Being is a good substitute for Mint Chip if you can't find it - they are not exactly the same, but close enough to be interchangeable most of the time.

Next we have another transparent teal color that fits right in with the other teals and blues that CiM has put out over the years - Marine.

Marine is similar to the Mediterranean Ltd. Run that came out last year - but Marine is a bit more vivid and just a hair darker. It's not as green as Tuscan Teal (not pictured), but greener and lighter than Trade Winds.

Marine is not too stiff, but is a bit more finicky than I prefer.  It has a tendency to bleed a little bit when encased, and spreads somewhat when layered in dots. It's not unworkable, though - just needs a bit more attention when using as decoration. The color is so lovely though, that it makes up for the extra attention needed.

In these beads, I layered Marine with Effetre Light Sky Blue - the perfect pairing. The color is a vivid teal that is just on the green side of aqua. I love teals and greens for summer, so Marine made an ideal addition to my ocean color schemes.

Glass Testing: CiM 210 Sunset Ltd. Run and CiM 614 Jellyfish Ltd. Run

Creation is Messy has a new batch of Limited Run colors up this month, so I put my two favorites together for this test.

First up is CiM Sunset - which was a happy surprise for me!  Almost

all of the coral/orange glass I have ever tried, which has usually been made by Effetre, has had cracking problems when encased in clear or even in light transparent colors.  It doesn't always cause the bead to crack, but it does enough of the time to keep me from wasting my time making encased beads with any coral/orange glass I have.

So, when I saw this lovely, dense, streaky orange rod from CiM, I thought to myself..."hmmmm I wonder if this cracks under encasing, too?"  The good news is that as far as I can see, Sunset doesn't have the cracking problems that all the Effetre 420 odd corals have.  But it does have the same lovely, juicy, saturated orange that we find in those Effetre coral oranges.


Sunset works up a little nicer than the Effetre coral oranges - not too stiff, has a tendency to streak and strike in the flame a little bit, but not as much the Effetre.  Also, Sunset doesn't have the rough texture that sometimes happens with Effetre corals. No pitting or air bubbles that I saw. No bleeding or spreading that I saw.

The color of Sunset is a true orange - it doesn't tend toward either red or yellow.  Encasing it in clear lightens it just a little bit.  For fun, I encased it in Jellyfish, and got a lovely watermelon orange which looks delicious.

I had no problem layering this dense glass - it keeps its color very well.

1. Sunset with clear encased Sunset scrolls. 2. Effetre Lavender Blue Pastel encased with Jellyfish, with clear encased Sunset scrolls. 3. Clear encased Sunset with Lavender Blue Pastel and Jellyfish dots. 4. Jellyfish encased Sunset with Jellyfish encased Lavender Blue Pastel scrolls.

Jellyfish under daylight lamps

Next, we have CiM Jellyfish, a pretty transparent lavender that shifts to lighter bluish in fluorescent light, just like other lavender glass out there.

This version of lavender is very close to the old CiM Count von Count - maybe just a touch lighter. Not as light as Larkspur, and not as pink as Purple Haze.  Not as muted as Tranquility. Compared to Effetre Dark Lavender, Jellyfish is just a touch lighter.

There's nothing that sets this glass apart from all the other lavenders that CiM has released over the years - it works up nicely, isn't too stiff, holds its color and is really pretty. It does scum up a little on the rod as you melt, but that goes away when worked into a bead or pulled as stringer.  It's not as scummy as Effetre versions.

I'm glad for the release of this color, because it's been difficult to find Dark Lavender, and the other CiM lavenders have mostly been discontinued (Except for Larkspur, which is lighter than Jellyfish).  As long as CiM keeps bringing out the lavender glass, I will buy it because I like the consistency better than Effetre.

I am hoping that Jellyfish doesn't turn out to be as expensive as Purple Haze was! Both of these colors are set to come out sometime this month.I'm looking forward to making pumpkins with Sunset and lots of flowers with Jellyfish.  They are limited runs, so get them as soon as you can, because I think they will sell fast. :)

Summer Sunset set, same colors as beads in the above pics.

A Beadmaker's Signature Color Scheme...

Sweetest Thing Sets - Feb 2013

We all know about signature designs in beadmaking.  Whether or not we agree that there should be such a thing, it's hard to ignore the fact that some beads just scream the artist's name.

Venus Flowers - Oct 2006

Is there such a thing as a signature color scheme, though?   I think so.  I'm not talking about exclusive rights, mind you - I don't think there can be a right to claim an entire color scheme as one's own.  That would be silly - there are only so many glass colors out there.

What I mean is that some beadmakers really identify with a particular color or group of colors.  They've worked so much with these colors that they really know the glass in and out. When looking at these colors, the artist feels at home, familiar, content and even joyful.  When people see those colors in beads, they might even recognize the beads as belonging to the artist - even if the designs are not as familiar.

Sweetest Thing Trio - Feb 2013

As an artist, I think I have one of those signature thingies. For years, I have loved making beads using a sweet combination of pink and yellow. I've called these beads a number of different names over time, depending on how they turn out, and on my whim.



It all started with the discovery of the nature of some of the handmade glass out there.  Particularly, an Effetre handmade color called Opal Yellow, an Effetre staple called Rubino Oro (a.k.a. Gold Pink) and an Effetre mistake called Streaky Pink.  I realized that these three colors together did something really special, and I immediately fell in love.

Pure Joy - Mar 2006

Throughout the years, the glass changed slightly.  Streaky Pink was no longer made, so I replaced it with various batches of Effetre 256 Dark Pink - sometimes a frustrating venture. 256 has changed so much over time, that it's hard to predict how that glass will turn out.  Sometimes it came in rich batches of pink (like the old Crazy Cane or Raspberry that I have run out of but still lust after).

Sometimes the batches were a lighter pink, but still struck slightly darker. Often, and more common lately, 256 is a lighter pink that shifts a greyer tone when worked. This means I have to work really hard to get what I want out of it.  It's a challenge I still gladly take on in order to get the lovely combination I still find intoxicating.

Opal Yellow has also shifted through the years - sometimes striking deep peaches, sometimes striking an almost mustard-y yellow.   Often staying lighter and even washing out. The same story goes for Rubino - a glass that's famous for being really unpredictable in its color and nature.

The one thing these glass colors all have in common is that they are striking colors that combine together to create an almost endless array of shades of pink, orange and yellow. They all layer so well and spread out to make glorious designs with an almost painted look. 

Sunset - Feb 2004

The love affair started with a set I called Sunset. It's hard to believe I started making beads in these colors over 9 years ago! These first attemps were when I had only been making beads for a year or two, so please be gentle. :) My flowers were atrocious, so I concentrated more on layering and twisting dots. I also vetured into the world of cubes, which I found to be a lot of fun. These beads were made when I was still using a larger mandrel for the hole, which is why the beads are less round and more donut-y.

Sugar & Spice - Mar 2004

Pink Fire Focal - Feb 2004

Burst - Oct 2006

Over the years, I got better with my design work, but never lost my love for these colors. As you can see, my photography skills changed over the years, too - as well as my actual camera. Some of these pics show a real change in these colors, but that sometimes had more to do with lighting and such than the actual glass I used.

Dawn Flower - Jun 2007

By 2006, I was working on the smaller mandrels, and rounding out my beads a little more.I tried surface florals in these colors, but found that the spreading of the Rubino made the flowers distort more than I liked. Leaving the flowers slightly raised looks much better.

Pink Carnival - Mar 2006

I tried different shapes at that time, and found that pressing these colors sometimes yielded really pretty results. Etching them, however, wasn't as attractive. Rubino can sometimes etch unevenly, leaving a rough texture.

Sunshine - Jul 2006

Flame Tabs - Jun 2008

 As time went by, I got the hang of these glass colors and their little idiosyncracies, refining the designs to bring out the shades' natural beauties.

These days, this color scheme is what I do when I am in need of comfort. When my mojo is off, and my muse is on vacation, I can always count on this scheme to come out at least somewhat nicely.

Flame Cubes - Jun 2008

Well, they look nice coming out of the kiln, anyway.  Taking pics of these colors has been a serious challenge.  Opal Yellow can look green-ish or more mustard-y in a picture than it does in real life.  And the pinks can be washed out or even purple-y.  Fine tuning the color in the photo-editing program (in my case, Paint Shop Pro X) requires a delicate hand and a sharp eye, or the pic can come out looking over-processed, as some of these do.

Fields of Joy - Jun 2008

I hope the more current beads look better in pictures, but the fact remains that they look infinitely better in the hand - at least I think so. The very last pic here is one of the batch of trios I just listed on Etsy yesterday. I made them earlier this week, and still found bliss while at the torch. I hope you enjoy looking at all these pics, and that you had fun strolling down memory lane with me.

So, how do you feel about signature color schemes? Do you gravitate toward any one color combo - and can you think of any other artists that have one?   I'd love to hear about it in the comments!  Have a great day, everyone. :)

Bliss - Jun 2012

Joy - Aug 2013

CiM Glass Testing: 411 Sprout Ltd. Run

Man, time flies when you've got zillions of new glass colors to test!

Originally, I had planned on testing and reporting on a gorgeous new CiM color called Cardamom several months ago. I obtained some of this pretty green at last year's Gathering, along with a bunch of other colors that still haven't made it to my torch.  However, when I tried to work with Cardamom, I found that it was so incredibly stiff that I just couldn't make it work with the kind of beads that I make.  Smaller work with a lot of layering and encasing really does need glass that moves.  At least in my experience.

Soooo, I traded my precious pound of Cardamom to Kimberly, for some DH clear and moved on.  I was sad - Cardamom really is such a pretty light green that would be great for springtime beads.

Happily, a couple of months ago, I got another test batch from CiM, and included with it was a rod of pale green that seemed to be pretty close to Cardamom! 

This dense, opaque color is called Sprout, and is almost ghostly in appearance, without the grey tones of Dirty Martini or the yellow tones of Key Lime Pie.  It's slightly lighter in shade than Cardamom.....and much less stiff!  I would call this color a true mint green.

For my purposes, Sprout makes a lovely base color and is nice for layering with transparent greens.  The only drawback I can see is that encasing it with clear (as you can see in the spacer picture) causes it to fade to almost white.  Therefore, I recommend encasing with pale greens - such as Effetre Pale Emerald or CiM Appletini.



In the sets below, I used Effetre Light Emerald for layering, and the result was a pretty, sparkly light green that reminds me of the tropics. There wasn't any striation or any bleeding/feathering. The color stayed put where I wanted it for all layering.

As you can see, using Sprout as a base for the encased floral yielded a very pale color that doesn't come through as much as I would like, because clear was used for the encasing, and the green washed out.

Beyond that, though, Sprout is a lovely color perfect for spring and summer beadmaking!