CiM Testing: Goji

Goji is the perfect name for this colour. It’s a goji berry orange-red that is not transparent enough to call transparent but also not fully opaque.

I didn’t strike the glass as such; I just made beads with it in my usual way so if there was any striking it would have happened while I was rounding up the beads and adding the spots.

These beads have a core of CiM Creamsicle encased with a thin layer of Goji. There are slight colour variations towards the holes where I moved the glass with a brass tool, and this normally occurs with reds, oranges and yellows, but they barely show. 

The glass was smooth to work with and it didn’t shock or bubble.

The spots on the beads are CiM Quetzal and the spacers are CiM Peacock Feather.

The beads were photographed outdoors on an overcast day.

CiM Testing: Sunset, Daffodil & Bing

I've been meaning to write this post for an age but life events (mainly involving a guinea pig) keep interrupting pretty much all my plans, but here I be now.

I've got three colours to talk about in this Creation Is Messy testing post - Sunset, a proper-proper orange, Daffodil, a bright, warm yellow and Bing, a transparent orange-red.

The photograph below shows Sunset and Daffodil both heavily and thinly encased with CiM clear and also as stringer.

Sunset is (in my head) what an orange glass should be. It's not streaky, it's not too bright and it behaves itself. I had no cracking issues when I encased it and like other CiM oranges such as the wonderful Creamsicle, it works wonderfully as stringer. You can't do stringerwork with Effetre orange. (I mean their actual opaque orange; not their countless 'corals'.)

CiM are also fab at yellow. I find the Effetre yellows to be either vile-looking or not opaque enough but Daffodil is just beautiful. It's a deep, vibrant yellow and again, it works perfectly as stringer and I had no encasing issues. That's right, a yellow that you can encase. I use CiM clear for encasing and have had no trouble encasing Daffodil, Hollandaise the Creamiscle-gone-yellow batch that floated about for a bit or Pumpkin. Some of those yellows are now no more but hey, those encasing funtimes were so good while they lasted.

Both Sunset and Daffodil etch really well too. The 'Chilli' set at the top of this post, and also the beads above, feature both normal and etched beads.

Now for Bing. There always seems to be a transparent red in the CiM testing batches and as much as I adore red as a colour, I find it to be awkward as a glass; the opaques tend to get dark streaks (which is why I almost always dust it with red enamel in order to disguise that and achieve a uniform colour), the transparents need striking which is just annoying and can produce inconsistent colour results, and as a general rule, red and encasing mixeth not. So yes, I'm always a bit oh-it's-another-transparent-red and generally a bit meh when I get a red to test.

So imagine my delight when Bing turned out to be a NICE red to work with! It's actually pretty easy to get consistent colour results with it. I didn't encase it and I didn't decorate it. I only had one rod and I spent far too long just making spacers, marvelling at how easy it was to get lovely results. Bing has a orangeness about it which reminds me of strawberry tea. I was also able to make hearts with it which is normally a no with transparent reds because when I add the 'lobe' part of the heart I usually get a visible 'seam' where the base glass and lobe glass meet but NO, not with Bing. It also etches well.

To achieve consistent Bing colour results, I made a bead, brought it out of the flame until all the heat glow had disappeared plus about five seconds, then reheated it in the top section of my flame until a uniform redness covered the bead. Same as striking CiM Sangre, really.

All in all, these three colours are fab. If you love no-fuss, warm, fiery colours then all three of these are a must for your glass stash but you'll need to grab these whilst you can; all three are limited runs.

Pretty simple, simply pretty

I know this 'Red' bracelet is a very simple one but sometimes simple things can be nice.

It's made in CiM Bing which is a rich orange-red. I'll have a bit more to say about this glass in my next CiM testing post which will be up in a couple of days.

I've currently got three of these bracelets, two are in the shop and I'm giving the third one away in a Facebook contest. 

I hope that the current weather isn't affecting you too much. If you're in one of the flood-stricken areas then I'm sending you my bestest wishes.

More hearts

I took this photo of a pile of heart beads and spacers this morning. They were having a little sunbathe during the seven minutes of sunshine that happened today. Anyway, I've made more 'Lub Dub' necklaces, heart sets and individual hearts. The hearts all went pretty fast last time so if you fancy any of these items, grab them whilst you can.

'Lub Dub'

'Lub Dub' is the term used in medical textbooks to describe the sound of a heartbeat. I decided to name these necklaces after it.

The bright red, glossy hearts are coated with enamel and each one is decorated with a tiny raised white heart. The necklaces are £17.00 each and would make super Valentine's Day gifts. They're available here.

If you fancy the idea of making your own wearable with the Lub Dub hearts, they are available loose, on their own (£6.50) or with a dozen matching red spacers (£9.50).

Thank you for all of the lovely comments on my last post. They're very much appreciated.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday!

Old favourites

Ah, red-with-white-polka-dots, how I love thee. You make me smile, you make me feel calm and you please my eyes. If they please yours, you may like to know that these lovelies are for sale in the usual place right now.

More 'Scarlet'

I reckon a lot of you are as taken with red-with-white-polka-dots as I am so I've made a whole wodge of them.  They're over in the usual place.

Bracelet & Instagram

While I was making beads yesterday I started to design a bracelet in my head.  I hardly ever make jewellery and it's even rarer that I make jewellery for myself but I just knew that I had to make this bracelet happen.

I was making lots of black and white polka dot beads yesterday (finally on the home stretch with my mountain of bead orders so if you're waiting for yours they will be posted within the next week) and I remembered that I had a plain red heart sitting in the kitchen window sill.  It was supposed to have a white heart on it but the postman rang the doorbell just as I was about to apply the white heart so I put the plain bead into the kiln and then forgot all about going back and finishing it.  (I'm sure you didn't want to know all that about the heart bead but now you do and I hope that this extra bead information has been of benefit to you!)

Anyway, my brain got to thinking that the black and white polka dot beads would look cute with the red heart so I made a few extra and then I also whipped up some red spacers at the end of yesterday's glass melting session.

I've strung the beads together with some sterling silver and the resulting bracelet is just how I envisioned it - very simple, quite bold, a little bit retro, a tad chunky but oh so me.  I like it!

Here is the bracelet again.  It's exactly the same photo as the one above but I've put a filter on it using my new favourite iPhone app - Instagram.

The same photo but with the Instagram 'Earlybird' filter applied.

Oh, how I am loving Instagram.  It's an amazing little piece of software that is making me want to photograph everything.  The app is free and you can twiddle about with existing images on your iPhone camera roll or you can take pictures within the app.  You can then apply various different filters to your photographs to give them a quirky, retro kind of feel.  But it doesn't stop there.  You can link your Instagram feed to your Twitter, Facebook or Flickr accounts so that all your friends and followers can see your groovy images. 

If you've already got Instagram or if you're off now to download the app (and you should because it's excellent fun) and you fancy following me on Instagram my username is, surprisingly, 'beadsbylaura'.

Right-o, it's time for some bead cleanery.  Have a great Sunday evening!

Lovehearts

These glossy red heart beads would be fab for Valentine's Day jewellery.

They're £8.00 each and are available here. 

'Strawberry'

I'd like to say a huge thank you to everyone who has left comments and sent emails and tweets about Buster.  Your kind words and thoughts are really appreciated.

I started making these red beads on Tuesday morning and I had to stop after the Buster news on Tuesday afternoon.  I carried on with them yesterday and they were really comforting to make.  I've told you before that I like making polka dot beads when my mind is preoccupied - their repetitiveness and regularity is quite soothing.  And of course you know how much I like red and white polka dots!

These three strands already have new homes but do check my Etsy shop tomorrow night as I'll be adding some beads to its virtual shelves then.

CiM Testing : Sangre

I'm kicking off my Creation is Messy testing at the beginning of the rainbow and the first colour I'm posting about is Sangre. This 'dense and saturated striking red' is an utterly gorgeous colour and for a striker it is pretty easy to work. The colour is as richly red as its name suggests - sangre is the Spanish word for blood.

Striking colours develop in the flame. By gently cooling and reheating the colour will become deeper and more vibrant. Some striking glasses are easier to strike than others and Sangre is one of the easy ones.

The beads at the top of the post include two plain Sangre beads - the one on the left is just straight plain Sangre and the one propped up at the back is a thin layer of Sangre over a CiM Peace (white) core. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the Sangre acts as an encasing glass.

But in my opinion the best way to show off this wonderful red is to use it in moderation and to let the light shine through it. The beads above have a core of Sangre which I've heavily encased in Vetrofond clear and decorated with polka dots in CiM Peace. As you can see I've got quite consistent results with the glass regardless of the fact it's a striker. I really didn't treat it any differently to a non-striking transparent and I went about my beadmaking business in a pretty normal manner. That's what I mean when I say Sangre is easy to strike.

Sangre, like most transparent reds, likes to be photographed in natural daylight or else it will look like it has a brownish tinge to it. The two photos above were taken in the early morning sunlight.

The photograph below was taken in the shade of the conservatory and shows one plain Sangre bead and one that is etched. The glass etches really well.

CiM Sangre will definitely be my 'go to' transparent red from now on. Love it!

Just a quick post .....

..... to show you this handful of loveliness. I made these polka dot gems yesterday and I've been out in the morning sun taking photos of them. Just off to sort through the resulting pictures now and I'll post again later on.

The Red Shoes

I first saw this pair of shoes while I was out shopping with Nicky a few weekends ago and I wasn't able to get their loveliness out of my head. I'm very wary of pretty lady shoes (I live in Cons) as I'm a size seven and am not the daintiest of people. I've never been able to wear a pair of high heels for longer than an hour without moaning about my feet aching or without developing painful ball-of-the-foot blisters. So when I saw these glorious red patent shoes in Schuh I immediately dismissed the idea that they would ever be mine.

Whenever I've bought lady shoes in the past I've always needed to buy them in a size eight (and once in a nine) as my feet are quite wide so for a comfy-as-possible fit I go for the next size up. The thing is, not many places stock size eights and above. It's normally a case of 'We can order them in for you' but to be honest you want to try the shoes on before you pay for them and you want to try them on there. In the shop. Plea to shoe shops - please carry size eights and above. Most of you have them in storage somewhere but please don't be feetist against the larger footed ladies!

Anyway, after spending too much of my life thinking about The Red Shoes, last week I Googled about and discovered that they are available in red, black and navy blue but they only go up to size sevens in the red. I nearly ordered them online but I wanted to make sure that a seven would fit. So at the weekend I dragged Chris into Schuh in Cambridge and showed him The Red Shoes. Sensibly he said that the black would be more practical and would go with more things. I reluctantly agreed, knowing that they didn't have an eight in the red anyway so I asked the sales assistant if I could try on a seven and an eight in the black.

About five minutes later she reappeared carrying a pair of the red ones and said to me 'We haven't got any sevens or eights in stock in the black but you could try these red sevens and if you like we can order the black ones in for you?' so that is what I did. I was wearing striped socks (very attractive while trying on lady shoes) and even with those on The Red Shoes fit me. I looked in the mirror and instantly fell in love with them. Chris gave me the thumbs up and the sales assistant nodded with a big grin on her face! It was like in the movies when the lady tries on the absolutely right wedding dress and everyone just knows it's perfect. Yes, it was like that but with shoes.

And that was it. The Red Shoes were mine. And they're a size seven. And they don't have a high spindly heel but a slightly chunkier one instead so I shouldn't get blisters. I wore them on the walk home from town to Chris's (that's quite a walk) and only had minor, normal new shoe rubbage. They do up with satin ribbons which makes me think of tap shoes. I always wanted to do tap dancing as a kid but Mum said no as I think she knew that I only wanted to do it because of the shoes. But the best thing of all is, and you can't see this in the early morning light of the pictures, they have a very fine, subtle copper-coloured glitter in them which gives them a beautiful shimmer. Amazing!

'Cherry'

These shiny red beauties will be for sale on my site tonight at the slightly earlier than usual time of 7.30pm (UK time).

'Big Red Heart' Focal

It's big. It's red. It's a heart. Not just a clever name!

I'm going to have to make myself one of these. I quite fancy one on a long chain.

It's a very clean and simple-looking bead - one of those ones where the shape and colour does the talking as opposed to any surface design.

It'll be for sale in the normal place at 8.30pm tonight.

Ooooh!

Tesco shopping can be mundane so imagine my joy when I happened upon this little red and white polka dot case. Isn't it just so sweet? I don't yet know what I'm going to keep in it. All I do know is that as soon as I saw it I knew I needed it in my life.

Sock-Making : Getting There

Hang on a minute - there seems to be a bit of a red thing happening on this here blog! (Note to self : Next photo post must be of something not red.)

I'm still knitting away like some kind of sock-obsessed freak. I think Chris was quite perturbed when I produced my knitting from my bag on Friday night. He said he didn't know if he could have a girlfriend who knits. Nice!

I finished the first sock. It's a tad big so I'm making the next size down for the second one. Also, I knitted the first one with a 'common' heel and I'm making the second one with a 'short row' heel. (Picking up the lingo. Me speak Sock.) I much prefer the way the second version is looking so I'm going to finish that and then I shall embark upon creating my first actual matching pair of socks. I don't think they'll be red either. I need a break from red wool.

I'll be back later with beadiness .....

Whole Lotta Love

Gorgeously glossy little red heart-shaped beads. These were shaped by hand. Well, not literally with my bare hands. That would be both dangerous and very silly. What I mean is that I didn't use a bead press or a mould.

Strawberries

There are only two of these strawberry beads because I used up the last of my red glass making them but at just 12mm high wouldn't they make the sweetest earrings?

Red Beads Past

Oooh, I've had a hectic couple of days! I went to London on Tuesday and I had a good old wander around the British Museum. I've never been there before but I've always fancied going. So many interesting things to see - the famous Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies and fabulous Japanese stuff. There's also loads of ancient jewellery. The Greek gold jewellery was beautiful and there were some Egyptian carnelian and stone beads that were seven thousand years old!

I did try making beads yesterday but the change in weather seems to have seriously affected the performance of my oxygen concentrator and it took over three hours to get working properly, by which time I was more than a bit miffed with it. I think I'm going to have to get a new one as this one really is on its last legs.

Nicky came to visit today! It was so nice to see her. We spent the day chattering and catching up. I haven't seen her for six weeks so we had lots to talk about!

Okay, bead talk. Because I don't have any new beads to show you I've put together this photo mosaic of red beads. I've had quite a few emails recently asking for red beads. I've only got a little bit of red glass left (must place a glass order soon) so I will make some in the not-too-distant future but in the meantime you'll have to make do with photos of red beads past!