Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Sunset Pastel

Yesterday I played with Sunset Pastel glass from Effetre (591206).  It's a pretty pink in rod form, with concentric lines of orange and darker pink in the core.

By itself, it ranges from coral pink to orange either with or without swirling.  The spacers in this photo were wound straight on the mandrel, the larger beads were swirled on. You can see the range of colors that come up both ways.

 As you can see in this spacer, there is some devitrification when exposed to too much heat. This one was the first of four on the mandrel.

When encased in clear, this color seems to run more toward the orange end of the spectrum. Which is really intensified when used over black.


When encased in CIM Blush, the color really leans more toward a purple tinted pink.


And when mixed with ivory, blown into shards and layered over effetre black the color also appears as a swirly coral with some crazing where it meets the ivory.


All in all, a color I will continue to play with, and probably even re-order.

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

New Glass!!

I was fortunate to be able to spend the weekend at the Frantz Bash, an annual event hosted by Mike Frantz that always includes demos by fabulous artists, great sales, camping, camaraderie and he feeds you. :)   I met some great glassy people, learned a lot, and of course bought way too much glass!  The picture below shows all the new (or at least new to me) colors.  I left out the pounds of clear, but we all know what that looks like!


I ended up comming home with: Fire Lotus from TAG; XX386, HE379 and Aether frit from Double Helix; Metalic Black, Golden Harvest, Sunset Pastel, Carribean Sea, Coral Sunburst, Alexanderite, Dusty Lilac and Apple Blush from Effetre; Gunmetal, Poison Apple, Glacier, and Razzleberry from CIM; Magic from Reichenbach; Purple Plum, Mauvelous, Biscotti and Pale Pesto from Vetrofond. And of couse a few basics from all of thee above.

I'm really excited about all the new colors, and I promise to post pictures and what I've learned from each of them! (This should give me plenty to blog about so I'll be able to post more regular updates.)  :D

Off to light the torch and see what kind of magic happens!

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

The Dark Side

That's how the glass world fondly refers to using boro ~ and I'm thinking of crossing over.  I make happy little beads.  They're little, bright, technically acurate, but they aren't spectacular.  Every time I feel pretty good about where I am with my beadmaking, some boro boy comes along and tells me "if you would just practice a little you could be as good as I am.  I've been doing this for 6 months!"  Thanks.  So you're telling me that several years of working with soft glass was a waste of time.  In a way, perhaps they're right.  My happy little beads, in all honesty, don't hold a candle to their 4 inch marbles, wine glasses, 8 inch pendants, bracelets, etc. the list goes on.  I would need a MUCH bigger torch, all kinds of new glass and tools, a bigger kiln; essentially doubling the investment in my business.  But I'm tempted, and I hear they have cookies.