Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Kalypso by Double Helix - And Merry Christmas to all!

I was so excited to get a batch of this new silvered glass at 75% off from Frantz!  This promo came at the perfect time for me to stock up on my color and get to try a silvered glass at an affordable price!  I'm still learning a lot about silvered glass but I think I got some pretty cool results for a newby.

All the beads except the last two in the row have Kalypso in them.  The last two I'm just trying a new light aqua I ordered for another bead order so they have nothing to do with silvered glass test - so we will ignore them today.

These three are the first ones I made.  I used Kalypso as a base rolled in Triton and Aurae frit in all 3 and used either random or specifically placed dots of clear and encasement applications in all 3.  The first bead received no reduction flame at any time - just a neutral flame all the time.  I heard Kalypso is both a striking and reducing glass so I wanted to test it in what is "my totally neutral flame" to see what happened.  Love it!  The other two beads had reduction flame at any possible time I thought it would be helpful to bring out colors and silver.  Way cool!

This bead has a base of Ivory with dots of Kalypso melted in and then center dots capped with clear dots.  It was only reduced at the end.  It does not show in the photo well but the color inside the capped clear dots has some cool pink tones.  This application has some potential but needs some more play time!


This bead is made on a base of Sangre.  Dots of Kalypso reduced then covered with clear.  Raised dots of decoration at the end are also reduced.  I think I am missing something in this application because the colors are "almost" coming up but not quite but if I can get them to come up then it's going to be a really cool bead!

These two beads have a black base.  The first one has random dots and stringger of Kalypso, clear dots specifically placed and was reduced where I felt appropriate.  I'm liking this bead!!  The second bead has center poked dots of Kalypso and the side dots were applied at the same time and melted flat then dotted again at the end to leave the small raised side dots.   Reduction flame used throughout where I felt needed.  Again I'm loving this bead too!

Okay this bead is ugly I know but I put it in for my records so I would know not to use it again because the application is actually one that seems to work pretty good for other silvered glass so I thought I would give it a whirl.  This is a base of ivory with dot's of Sangre then dots of Kalypso right before being capped with clear.  The side dots are also the same application only no dots of clear.  This bead actually looks better in the photo than it does in real life.

Another good attempt but not quite there yet.  Will be playing with this again though to see if I can make it do what I wanted.  Both of these beads have a Topaz base.  The first one has random dots and stringers of Kalypso, reduced then small clear dots placed on top, reduced again at the end.  This produced some nice pinks for sure.  The second bead I added some Psyche frit to the dots and stringer of Kalypso before adding clear dots.  Again this bead was reduced at the appropriate times.

Now this one I'm excited about the pinks that came through!  This bead has a base of Canyon de Chelly.  Dots of Kalypso are reduced then covered with clear then raised dots of reduced Kalypso are on the side for decoration.  Way cool bead!!!

 A lot of my customers like this style of bead so I tried it out with Kalypso and it works just as well as any other silvered glass using this application.  It's simply a black base with a raised stringer of Kalypso that is reduced.  I like an easy bead every now and then!


These are my FAVORITE beads of the day!  I had to give a couple different views because the colors are so cool on all sides.  These are made the same way as the fist 3 beads of today's set but I used Psyche and Triton frit and it produced some awesome purple and blues along with the pink and greens.  Yes I know it looks like I scorched the clear but the actual beads do not have those flaws so it must be in the reflection - but there are a few bubbles but these two beads are just little gems to look at in person.


Another two shot view to show all the different colors.  Black base with Kalypso randomly applied then rolled in Psyche and Triton frit.  Then I placed dots of clear after reducing the silvered glass and melted it all in and reduced one last time.  Pretty cool bead if I do say so myself.

This bead is a base of Kalypso rolled in Gaia and Aurae frit then made just like the beads in the first 3 of today's post.  Produced some really nice colors and would be great for floral backgrounds - if I made those of course.


Last but not least - and I shouldn't have saved this type of bead for the end of my session since it's not the easiest bead to make come out with nice sides when you are tired - but I had to show it because it is so cool!  Base is black and it's made with assorted silver frit that was still left on my marver at the end of the day and I also used dots of Kalypso.  Just made it with the typical disc application to create this type of striped bead.  Will make another one when I'm fresh and alert some day!

Overall it was a fun day working with silvered glass and I can't wait till I can buy some more.  Maybe Santa will bring me some?!?!? 

Speaking of Christmas, I won't be torching for a few days because of all the other holiday things on my schedule so I'll take this time to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! 




Testing the Odds - color that is.

I have had some glass that came with my original torch set up that was on major sale when I got it and I have never really known what to do with it so I decided to run some basic tests on these rods to see what they looked like, how they reacted to basic every day applications.  So this is a blog post mostly for my reference and not a blog with a bunch of pretty beads. 

Batches from left to right are:  Moss Agate Pale Odd 791984, Lichen Dark Odd Pastel 791987, Green Olive Dark Odd Pastel 791966, Moon Rock 791811, Green Tapenade Odd Pastel 791963, Swamp Moss Odd 791808, Topaz Odd Transparent 791989,  Lace Agate 91709, Painted Desert 791977

 
Moss Agate Pale Odd 791984.  From left to right: alone, clear encased, clear encased, on a base of Ivory, rolled in Triton frit, rolled in Triton frit and clear encased.  My impression:  A good choice when I want another option for black - not very excited but maybe I'm missing some reaction that could be achieved that I'm not aware of yet.

Lichen Dark Odd Pastel 791987.  From left to right:  alone, clear encased (very poorly encased but it's just a test bead so I kept it,) rolled in Triton frit with clear raised dots.  Impression:  I think this has some cool potential for me.  Also wanted to point out in my records that another bead blogger got a very different result in her test on this glass - so much that I wonder if one of us has it labeled incorrectly or if we messed up our notes (see DJ Sept. 07)

Green Olive Dark Odd Pastel 791963.  From left to right:  alone, clear encased, rolled in Triton frit.  Impression:  I think it has some potential in my organic beads.

Moon Rock 791811.  From left to right:  alone, clear encased, rolled in Triton frit and clear encased, rolled in Triton frit.  Impression:  Clear encasement will be used again!  Also wanted to point out in my records that another bead blogger got a different result in her test on this glass.  Hers had a richer, deeper color so it could be the batch of actual glass or fuel mixture but I liked hers a bit better (see DJ Dec. 07)

Green Tapenade Odd Pastel 791963.  From left to right: Alone, clear encased, rolled in Triton frit and clear encased, silvered Ivory stringer around the center.  Impression:  Way cool application for my organic beads!

Swamp Moss 791808.  Left to right:  Alone, clear encased, silvered Ivory stringer around center.  Impression:  I think it has potential for my organic beads but not totally sold on this one yet.

Topaz Odd Transparent 791989.  Left to right:  Alone, clear encased (DO NOT clear encase this glass as it will crack every time as also noted in DJ Sept/Oct. 07 blog,) rolled in ocelot spots frit and dotted w/ clear, base of ivory with dots of 791989 melted flat then accent dots of black - had to get a little creative in case this bead turned out cool.  Impression:  I like it in a base alone but am concerned about additional layers so am not sure how much I will actually use this glass.  On the last bead the dots of it on the ivory show dark blobs so to be honest this bead reminds me of those candy suckers with odd things inside like scorpions and aunts - so it kind of grosses me out a bit.

Lace Agate 591709.  From left to right: clear encased, alone, rolled in Triton frit.  Now this one I am the most excited about!!!  LOVE this glass all alone for sure!  Has great base potential and is beautiful alone as spacer beads for my organic sets!!! (DJ Sept/Oct 09 also reviews this glass.)

Painted Desert 791997.  From left to right:  rolled in frit (can't remember if it's triton or ocelot spots) then dotted w/ clear, clear encased, alone. Impression:  Not sure yet because another bead blogger got a different result in her test on this glass.  Hers had a richer, deeper color so it could be the batch of actual glass or fuel mixture but I liked hers a bit better (see DJ Dec. 07)

Overall this was a good test day even though the beads are not that exciting to look at.  There are several I want to test some more before I decide if they are going join my "go to glass" categories for certain applications.  And believe it or not, I didn't get through all the "Odd glass" that I wanted to test today so this will be continued after Christmas.  Oh darn, guess I will have to make some more beads ;-)

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Going Commando and Simply Turquoise Necklaces

Since I love the Commando beads and I haven't made any jewelry for myself in a while I decided to treat myself.  I'm pretty happy with this simple style.


I also made a necklace that is for sale on my facebook business page with another set of beads I made recently.  Simply Turquoise Necklace:

Friday, December 10, 2010

Going Commando!

I LOVE this color and the glass itself just feels like silk in my hand.  It's CIM 511475 and I hope they never discontinue this color.

These are my current favorite beads!  Simple with just three colors of glass: commando, light ivory and black.


These show them in more detail. 

I just got a creation station for an early Christmas present from my wonderful hubby and it has helped steady my hand for more intricate dot placement - photos below show the side detail that is now so much easier with this new tool!!!!



I also tried a few beads with Coral La Mesa 591420-LM using this same sort of simple application.  I kind of like them.


And last but not least I tried another new CIM color, Sherwood 511492 and I like them with the light ivory but didn't really care for them with the turquoise.


That is it for my color testing for a few days.  My goal is to get some jewelry made so I'll be away from my torch a few days - at least I'm going to try and stay away for a few days ;-)

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Red Copper Green, Pheonix, Coral Sunburst, Coral La Mesa & Commando

I've been wanting to try Red Copper Green for a while now but have to say it wasn't really anything special - at least not for my skill level.  Maybe with time I'll figure out if there are any tricks to using this color. 

First bead is a base of Copper Green Red Premium Opaque 591219-R with light ivory dots.  Second bead is encased in clear and this one turned out pretty nice and I can see some potential for future beads using this application.  The third bead has a base of light ivory with the dots of CGR capped with clear.  The 4th bead has a base of Pheonix and the 5th bead has a base of Coral Sunburst - neither of these thrilled me with the CGR.  The last two beads I added Ocelot Spots frit and then encased and the CGR seems to bring out some nice colors/reactions in the frit.





 Instead of using turquoise I decided to try dark Blue Sky 791228.  The first bead has ivory and CIM Phoenix 511277 which sunk into the blue quite a bit.  The second bead has Coral Sunburst 591420-SB and this glass stands up against the blue a bit better for edge definition.  The third bead is just ivory and the dark sky blue and the 4th has white dots instead of ivory and the white is clearly defined.  The fifth bead has a base of ivory and dots of Coral La Mesa 591420-LM and both light and dark turquoise.  Beads six and seven have Coral La Mesa bases.  Six has light and dark turquoise and seven has black dots and both of these beads turned out really nice.  The last two beads are Coral La Mesa and Ocelot Spot frit w/ clear encasement and especially the last bead turned out nice.




 CIM Commando 511475with a variety of applications. 
This fun bead was made with commando base, ocelot spots frit, silvered ivory stringer and black.

Well that's it for today.  Next blog entry will be all about going commando because I love this glass!!!

Turquoise, Tamarind -1 and Dark Ivory

I usually use light ivory but I decided to use dark ivory because the batch looked pretty light and I wanted to save my light ivory for something I had planned.  So this is what I came up with.  It was a fun day at the torch because I had not specific beads to make and I could do whatever I felt like doing - I love this way of creating for sure!




 The Tamarind used in these is CIM 511773-1

Found another purple to test

Forgot to test CIM Eggplant 511655 the other day so I gave it a go today.  First bead is just encased in clear and dotted with pink bubblegum.  Second is dotted with turquoise.  The last 4 beads are used with light ivory. 

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Testing new Purples!

Yesterday I made 17 beads using what I thought would be all purples - as you can see "Razzleberry" was pink, not purple.

I'm trying out two different purples here.  Let me know which set you like best.  The next photo of these beads may show the right set a little more true to the color of the purple in them.
Color Info:
3 on the left all have a base of Evil Queen.  3 on the right all have a base of Thai Orchid.
The first bead in each set is encased with clear and has dots of light Turquoise.
The second bead in each set is encased with lavender Pale Transparent 791080.
The third bead in each set is encased with Orion 591724.
Can't really tell a difference between the encasement layers on any of these beads so might as well use clear all the time.
Same sets in bright sunlight, showing a more true color on the right set.  The smaller bead on the far right is just a test I did to see what Orion would look like over a base of white.  It has a purple blue cast to it but barely noticeable.  I decorated this bead w/ large dots of Thai Orchid and small dots of Evil Queen.
Bead on left: Thai Orchid base w/ lt. and dk. turquoise and white decoration.  The bead on the right is a base of lt. turquoise, lg. dots of TO covered w/ dk. turquoise, and small raised dots of EQ.

These are the "Razzleberry" beads I thought would be more purple - ooops.  I took photos in bright sunlight so I could see more detail.  Razzleberry tends to bubble/cook easily even when working in a cooler flame as noticed in the covered white dot on the first bead.  I think I can find some good applications for this color though.
Color Info:
First bead is a base of white, encased in Razzleberry, dots of white covered w/ Razzleberry.
Second bead is just pure Razzleberry.
Third bead is a base of clear, encased in Razzleberry - not much difference from the second one.
The last one is a base of clear, dots of white covered w/ Razzleberry.
Just playing around w/ both EQ and TO bases and dots along w/ ivory, white, lt. and dk. turquoises. 


On this last bead I wanted to see the two purples side by side and their interaction w/ SIS.  The lighter side of the bead is EQ and the darker side is TO.  I think I could get some nice effects w/ either combo.

That is it for now, it's a beautiful day in FL so I'm headed to the beach instead of the torch today.  It is supposed to be cooler most of this week so I think I'll get plenty of torch time in the next few days and will test out the rest of my new colors!!!