Sunday, November 28, 2010

Testing new colors!

 I have been wanting to try some color combination/comparison tests so that is all I did for 3 hours yesterday and here are my results.  I'm listing details of the glass I used for my own color log and any followers that are not lampworkers will probably just want to skip all the boring details and just look at the pretty beads!
Stats for my color log:
Beads 1 - 5 are 232 lt. turquoise base and a mystery blue that lost it's tag during the studio move.  I am fairly sure it's a messy color b/c of it's stiffness when working and if I had to guess it's probably French Blue.  Bead 6 is the same colors w/ a clear encasement between the base and decoration.  Bead 7 is the reverse of 1-5 and bead 8 is same as 7 w/ the clear encasement between the layers.
The three beads on the far right I used sky blue as a base just for a comparison w/ the turquoise.  The photos do not pick up much of a difference but I like the lighter feel these have too.
 Next up is my experiments with Hippo. 
Stats for my log:
The first bead is a base of Hippo, encased w/ clear then dots of mink.  Not a favorite.  Might look better if I tried backing the mink w/ white first. The second bead is a base of Hippo, encased w/ clear then dots of Adamantium.  The Adamantium is a little less dark, more chocolate than it appears in the photo and I do like this combo.    The third bead is a base of Adamantium w/ dots of Hippo.  Again this is a little lighter than the photo shows and this is a nice combo.  The 4th bead is the same as before just w/ clear encasing between layers.  Then I decided to see how it all looked w/ the French blue so the last bead is a base of French, dots of Hippo, dotted w/ French then small raised dots of Adamantium.  All but the first bead have potential for use in future pieces I think.
 More Hippo
States for my log:
All 4 beads have a base of Hippo.  First one is encased in light aqua and dotted w/ white.  I think I would like this look if the aqua was even lighter so I will look at other brands to see what I can find that is lighter than the one I used.  The second bead is encased in clear and dotted w/ white then the dots are covered w/ Aqua.  Third has lt. turquoise and Hippo dots.   I like this bead a lot!  The last bead is clear encased, white dots covered w/ lt. aqua on center dots, dark aqua on outer dots and center dots obviously poked and capped w/ clear.
 A little more Turquoise.  This time with purple and white.
Stats for my log:
All 3 beads have a 232 lt. turquoise base and are encased w/ clear.  Dots of white then the purple dots are 591058-LV Violet Ink Blue Light Prem. Trans.
Colors are much darker in the photos and these are really nice looking beads.

Friday, November 26, 2010

A few more encased beads

Thanks to watching an excellent encasing tutorial video by Laura Sparling, I have gotten much better at encasing my beads!  I've tried various techniques over time but this one seems to be the one that works best for me.  I love the look of encased beads!
 A set of encased Christmas beads that I quickly turned into a bracelet for a friend who LOVES Christmas more than any other adult I know - yes Becky, this is yours!
 
 A few more of my attempts at encasing, using the most requested color from my customers.

Happy with my encasing!

 I finally got some nice results with my encasing skills and that makes me a happy bead maker!



Just getting started

Hi, As soon as I get this blog "set up" figured out I will post photos of my beads along with my experiences of my second year in the lampwork bead making world.  I am still making jewelry and will post those creations as well.  See you soon!