Glass Testing: CiM 912 Lilac and 557 Serenity

Happy weekend, everyone! Next on the docket we have two new CiM colors that I really loved.

First up is Lilac, a pale opaque lavender-pink. When I saw these rods I have to admit I wasn't all that impressed. After all, we have lots and lots of too-pale pinks and lavenders in the color palette, and one more wasn't going to do much for me. This is for two reasons - one is that most of these pale colors are just too pale for me when worked alone - especially when you don't layer them. Second is that the majority of the really pale pinks and lavenders are not as opaque as I need them to be - they're opalescent, which makes them hard to layer because they don't keep what little color they do have.

If it sounds like I'm picky - well, I am. Pinks and purples are tough cookies in the glass world!

Lilac is very, very pale - almost icy - and not really pink or lavender, but somewhere in between. However, it makes up for those things by being quite opaque and just a dream to melt. It's not as stiff as more opal glass, and doesn't lost it's opacity when layered. That means you can put darker transparent colors over it and it won't wash out or go see-through. When encasing it in clear, it does go lighter, as you might expect.

So for me, Lilac is a perfect color to layer with things like Rubino, Double Helix Rhea (as seen here), transparent Dark Violet and other saturated pinks and purples. Lilac holds its cool, icy tone well, shifting the reddish fuchsia in the Rhea to a colder hot pink fuchsia - perfect!

Lilac melts really nicely - I didn't have any shocking, which is a relief, since lots of glass seems shocky these days. There also wasn't any pitting or spreading or bleeding - just nice, smooth, opaque, pale color. The viscosity is pretty nice - not too soupy or too stiff.

Tiny little purple striations appeared in the pulled sampler of this color, but no striations appeared in the spacers or in the beads where the color is left bare. I imagine that using this color for sculptural work will lead to some striations.

(Below: Lilac is covered in Rhea on these beads - you can see that it holds its opacity well, even in the encased stringer.)

Next we have Serenity - a medium transparent teal. Now, CiM has done a lot of batches of transparent glass in the blue-green spectrum. Like, a lot. But I'm not mad at that. I love the variety of color. This particular shade sits right in the middle - it's bluer than both Aegean and Poolside, and greener than Zoe, Pulsar, Blue-yah! and Birthstone. It's medium in saturation, making it a lovely color to layer - my favorite thing to do!

There's not much to say about the workability of Serenity - I experienced no bubbles or scum (a nice departure from most transparent blues and greens), no shocking, no spreading or bleeding and no pitting. It's not too stiff, and doesn't seem to react to much - it's just your basic, easy glass.

In these beads, I layered it on top of Fremen, which is a light sky blue. I thought the outcome would be lighter, but I was pleasantly surprised at the lovely, vibrant shade of turquoise-teal that I got.

Serenity fits right into its own spot in the kind of crowded palette of blue-greens, but for me - the more the merrier, because I adore these colors!

**One note on the photography - the lighter the color, the tougher it was to photograph, and Lilac was one of those colors that my camera just hated.  Also, Serenity appears slightly washed out to me on camera - but all blue-greens do to me. They never, ever look the same in real life as they do on the screen - even in anyone else's pics. What I see is always more brilliant and multi-dimensional in real life than in a picture. My husband and I both think I can see these colors differently than other people, so I try to get the pics to be as close to what I think everyone else sees as I can. It's possible that I am a tetrachromat, but who really knows. Please do let me know if my pics ever seem way off - thanks!

(Below: Serenity is layered over Fremen, yielding a gorgeous turquoise)

More to come!

Glass Color Testing: CiM 544 Aloha and 444 Pixie

Two more lovely Creation is Messy colors reviewed today!

This has so far been the most fun batch of new CiM color I've tested. All these lovely blues and greens have been relatively easy and are just so pretty. I know I've gushed over CiM colors a lot lately - believe me, if I get a color I am not fond of, you guys will know!

Both of these are of course limited runs, so get them asap if you love them.

 First off, we have Aloha - a really nice bright opaque aqua/turquoise. While Quetzal (see post from two days ago) was slightly on the green side of Effetre's turquoise, Aloha is slightly on the blue side and a bit brighter. It's also a shade darker than CiM Fremen, and a bit bluer than Smurfy. It's not really an exact match of any other color that I am aware of, so it's a wonderful addition to the palette.

Aloha plain and encased with clear

What I really love about Aloha is that it's not as reactive the Effetre turquoises. There's no silvery patina on the finished beads, and there's not a lot of striation - just a smooth, consistent bright aqua.

Aloha makes a nice layering companion with any of the transparent aquas CiM has - In the beads below, I layered it with Zoe.

Aloha melts easily and smooth - not stiff at all. I didn't have any shocking issues, and the glass doesn't bubble, scum, bleed or spread.

 

 

 

petals are Aloha with Zoe on top

Next up we have a fun shade of opaque blue-green called Pixie. It's hard to classify this color, because it's kind of green, but not real green. If that makes any sense. It's too dark to be called Celadon, (in fact, CiM's Celadon glass is lighter.) It's kind of sea-foam-y. It's gorgeous, and I love it.

Pixie plain and encased with clear

Pixie is a perfect layering match with CiM Aloe Juice, which sadly I can't find anywhere anymore. But you can also use Effetre Light Teal or CiM Appletini if you want a color to layer on top of Pixie.

Pixie worked up pretty much like Aloha - no problems so far. Pixie striated a little bit more, which showed through the layering, but not enough to be annoying.

Both colors did really well making encased stringer - they hold their shade nicely and don't wash out when melted in. Both were smooth to melt and had a really nice consistency while working.

I love that CiM is filling holes in the 104 color palette - I just hope these don't sell out too fast!

Glass Color Testing: CiM 546 Quetzal, CiM 313 Painted Hills, and CiM 548 Barrier Reef

Hi, everyone! It's been quite a few months since the last test, but the good news is that Creation in Messy just sent a huge batch of new colors for me to try out and blog about. There are a whopping 20 new shades of glass in the batch - all of which are limited runs (which I think will be the trend for the forseeable future). I'll try to get to most of them, I think.  There is only one opal color in the batch, which excites me because virtually all the new colors are ones I can really use and layer with.

CiM went a little nuts with the blues and greens this time - there are a ton of new shades that are great additions to the 104 palette that we don't usually see.

So first off, we have Painted Hills - an interesting light creamy yellow that really reminds me of the lighter batches of Effetre's famous Opal Yellow.

Painted Hills is a striking color - tending toward the lighter, almost washed out side when encased with clear, unless you strike it by cooling and reheating a few times. When used as a base, you can get blushing creams and yellows with a hint of rosy ivory at times. 
The longer you work it, the more color you can get.

The glass does behave somewhat like Opal Yellow in the flame as well - it can spread, especially when layered with a transparent color, but not to the point of being unusable. I really like this color as an alternative to Opal Yellow, because it is lighter, and because it doesn't have the air bubbles and holes that Effetre's handmade colors tend to have. So it doesn't have a shocking problem, and is pretty well-behaved.  If the price is right, I might completely replace my Opal Yellow with Painted Hills until they run out!

Next up are two teal shades called Quetzal and Barrier Reef. I used these two together because they complement eachother really nicely.

Quetzal is an opaque medium blue-green that sits somewhere between turquoise and teal to my eye.

Barrier Reef is a super intense dark transparent teal that can really only be seen when layered or encased - otherwise it looks almost black.

Encase Quetzal with Barrier Reef and pull into stringer and you have a magnificent deep rich teal that I just love!

Quetzal is very well behaved for a turquoise - it doesn't pit, doesn't striate nearly as much as a lot of greenish opaques, and is a lovely consistency.  It also doesn't go silvery like the Effetre turquoises. It will lighten a bit when encased, but still stays a lovely color. There's no shocking with this one either. It will bleed a little out the sides when making stripes if you're not careful to cover the edges well.

Barrier Reef is slightly stiff and very, very dark. It also turns really green in the flame, so don't let that surprise you - it goes back to teal when cool. Use it in thin layers to bring up the color - especially when using it as a base. Layer it thinly over a lighter opaque and then encase with clear.  I had no problems with bleeding, scumming or shocking.

In the beads shown here, the three new CiM colors are used with CiM Indian Summer, which is layered with the Painted Hills for a range of colors from light rosy amber to deep rusty amber.

you can see the Quetzal bleeding on the edges just a little

lovely shade of teal is made by layering Barrier Reef over Quetzal, then putting a small amount of clear on top.

scrolls of encased stringer make lovely teal striations under the pale flowers.

Painted Hills makes a wonderful base color for layering ambers and oranges.

Painted Hills can create lines of tiny bubbles when layered and melted in on top of clear, so watch for that.

Barrier Reef over Quetzal makes a wonderful dark teal stringer. Indian Summer over Painted Hills yields a soft rosy amber.