Yesterday I was sorting through my glass stash and I kept finding rods of glass that have been sat there for years. I looked at them and thought 'Why don't I ever use these?' and do you know, I didn't have a decent answer for myself.
Actually, that's not one hundred percent true. I kind of do know why I avoid certain glasses. Some of them do things that I don't like. Take Effetre Turquoise for example. I rarely use it and when I do it is in the form of stringer. I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've used it for base beads in my whole beadmaking life. It has a tendency to go a tad streaky and it also has a habit of developing a grey metallic sheen which can make the resulting beads look grubby.
But my reason was naff. Turquoise is a nice colour and many people love to wear it.
So I decided to make a set of beads out of plain, un-encased Effetre Turquoise and then I decorated them with some fine scrolly stringerwork in CiM French Blue. Yes, the turquoise went a little streaky. Yes, it got a grey sheen which I've now removed. But hey - those are some nice beads, even if I do say so myself!
These will be for sale on my website at 8.00pm UK time tonight. Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to dig out some long-forgotten glass and see what I can make with it .....