Glass Testing - Cim Limited Run Colors: 720 Autumn, 719 Moccasin, 718 Indian Summer and 621 Emporer

Finally, another glass testing post! I haven't posted in so long - time flies when you're busy. :) I got another batch of gorgeous new Creation is Messy glass rods recently, and this post is about four of the new colors.

 All of the new ones are limited runs, and are supposed to come out sometime in the middle of September.

 Now, when I opened my lovely box of new glass colors, these four just jumped right out at me and insisted on being tested together. :) Sometimes colors have a mind of their own! I haven't been this excited by new colors in quite some time - these just make me feel good. You know when you look at a color and just can't come up with the proper language to describe how it makes you think and feel? This happened for me when I combined these four colors. So bear with me while I try to make sense out of all of that for you all.

What's interesting is that before I even got these rods in the mail, I bought yarn in this color combination because I was so taken with how these colors blended. Serendipity!

There are four colors in this post - two opaques and two transparents. The transparent colors are both striking colors, which CiM hasn't done often.


The first opaque is called Autumn, which is kind of a strange name for this glass I think, since it's actually a lovely peach color. In rod form it's a bit darker, which might lead one to believe it's a fall color, but it works up to be kind of a lighter version of Adobe.I love this pretty peach color because it's more dense and more saturated than CiM's other attempt at peach - Peaches and Cream. And it's not an opal color.

Spacers, along with a small faceted tab to show Autumn's color.

The one thing that does bother me about this glass is that when melting it there are a lot of little bubbles. It's kind of like Primrose that way - almost like seeded glass. However, once it cools off, the bubbles aren't really visible, so it's not that big a deal - it can just be somewhat tricky to work with - you have to just ignore all the little bubbles.

Autumn was also somewhat shocky, so either preheat it in your kiln or on a hot plate, or introduce it to the flame very slowly to avoid flying shrapnel.

Other than that, Autumn works up nicely, leaving you with a smooth, relatively stable color that is good for layering. Pale reaction lines happen when used as a base - pretty much like most light opaques. You'll see later that I used this color in a bit of an unconventional way, but I think Autumn will be a great base for Sakura or Peachy Keen for some pretty springtime color.



Next up is the weirdest color of the bunch - a transparent called Emporer. I have no idea why it's called that. :) In rod form, Emporer is kind of a pinky amethyst color.  I got two rods of this - one was darker than the other - and it did make a difference in the outcome.

Emporer is a striking color that kind of reminds me a little of Effetre Rubino, but not as bright, not as red. It's a lighter, plummy-er (is that a word?) color that spreads kind of like Rubino does. The nice thing about Emporer though is that spacers made from it don't go cloudy. It can be tricky to get the color to strike properly though.

You can see that in the batch of spacers I did. Some were washed out, some were a kind of grey color, and some struck nicely. The lighter rod struck lighter. The faceted tab I made struck just fine - it seems that Emporer will get darker the longer you work with it.

Emporer works up nicely - no bubbles or scumming, no shockiness.  Striking happens quickly - taking it in and out of the flame and letting it cool slightly helps bring out the color. 

When using Emporer as a plain color, it's a pinkish amethyst that doesn't have the brown tones that Effetre's amethyst purples do, which is nice. But I think this glass is probably better used as a layering color to expand your palette - because boy does it layer well!!

In this bead, I used Autumn as the base, put a layer of Emporer (the darker rod) down, and then encased it in clear. The effect is a gorgeous shade that sits between watermelon and kind of a muted fruit punch. Then I put down dots of opaque Dark Pink and layered Emporer on top and melted, for a sweet shade of pink.

Emporer spreads out a little, but doesn't feather like Rubino can, which made it easier to use for melted floral petals. And boy, does it make a pretty peachy rose color when used with Autumn in raised decoration. I'm buying as much of this as I can when it comes out. It's likely to be expensive, though. :)

Next we have the other opaque - a pretty tan called Moccasin. This color is pretty basic - a lovely shade of tan that is not unlike Effetre Sage.  It has less of a green cast though and is a little more caramelly, which I really love. Not as much of a caramel as Tamarind. It's the camel tan I have been dreaming of.

Moccasin has a really nice density, and layers really well. It keeps its color, so even though it's a light opaque, it can hold its own. Moccasin wasn't shocky at all when I melted it, and didn't bubble up like Autumn did.

There's not much else to say about this color - it's stable and consistent.  It does show light, ghost-like reaction lines when layered, not unlike Dirty Martini, but these are attractive. Striations all but faded away when I made spacers.


Last we have the other transparent - a hue that sits somewhere between topaz and caramel. It's called Indian Summer, which seems to be a perfect name for this striking color. I got two rods of this as well - one darker and one lighter. I hope when these colors come out we get to choose the tonality, because it does make a difference.

Indian Summer is a gorgeous shade for fall I think. It's not as bright as other amber/topaz shades, and can strike darker or lighter depending on how long you work it. It's not a vivid striking color, though - the variations are subtle. It kind of reminds me of iced tea and honey. Or beer.

I have to tell you, Indian Summer is one of the easiest transparents I have ever worked with. It has a wonderful clarity to it, and has no scumming or bubbling issues. It seems to be the perfect consistency, and is really easy to strike. And as you can see from the pulled petal sample, it would be wonderful for making leaves! I adore this color.

Layered on top of Moccasin, the effect is kind of a spiced shade of caramel that is just dreamy.

So I have gushed enough about these new colors and will just show off the beads I made by combining just these four, along with clear for encasing. These are called Desert Spice. I hope you love them too!

Comfort Beads and New Discoveries

Sometimes, when I am down in the dumps (which is so often the case around the holidays), I feel the need to just make beads that are comforting and which make me happy. These past couple of weeks I have really fallen back on those most-practiced color schemes and designs.

Pink and brown is one of those color schemes that I have done so many times I can almost do them in my sleep. The colors bring up rose petals and cappuccino in my mind. I hope they never go out of style, because making them always puts a much-needed smile on my face.
I put black in there for some variety, and because lately I have been putting black in almost every set I have done.

Black is the color I use when I am looking to really highlight the other colors. It really makes everything pop right out. Also, when I use a lot of black, it's usually reflective of my mood - dark and introspective.

Last week I stumbled on a really pretty glass pairing that brought out the most gorgeous shade of liquid gold - metallic and delicate.
Opal Yellow encased with a bit of Double Helix Light Aurae, reduced just a little to bring out the metals. You can bet I stuck these colors right on black for a set of classic beads that I think would go with anything. I've never been able to get such a pretty shade of gold before - and I am not much of a gold lover when it comes to metals.

That kind of discovery on my own makes me happy, especially since I am not usually a silver glass user - I tend to shy away from those glasses. The Double Helix Aurae shades are a definite exception, though. Someday let's hope they do a pink one, so I can have both comfort and newness in one set of beads!

Oh, yeah - these are all for sale on my website - click the pics to see them.

Something About Aurae

So I used to hate silver glass. Why is that, when it's one of the most popular kinds of glass to use these days? Hmmmm - mostly because I tend to work cool and small, and the silver glasses tend to work very well in larger focals that have lots of glass layers and take a lot of heat and time to make.

I also had a hard time getting the really great reactions out of a lot of the silver glasses from Double Helix, TAG and more. Until now.

I finally broke down and bought some Double Helix Triton and Aurae after I read how easily they reduced with metallic effects, and after I read that Aurae would keep some of its metallic iridescence even when encased.

YEY! It's true - at least with Aurae (I haven't tried Triton yet). I found this glass incredibly easy to use - it reduces even easier than the Iris Blue I used in the beads in the last post. And the color is much lighter and more airy. Where Iris Blue reduces to a heavy silver, almost gunmetal color, Aurae goes golden and stays light. It has lovely reflective qualities, while still allowing some of the pale amber/rose to come through the gold.

The reaction is so easy to get that you almost don't have to do anything...just turn the oxygen down a little bit and make sure your flame isn't too terribly large or hot, and the golden glow quicky blooms over the whole bead. Add some clear to that gold and you have some lovely abalone shell iridescence. So. Pretty.

Here are my two first sets with it - and I plan on making more and more as time goes by. Next to try will be Triton - can't wait! :)