New Bead Releases Released

I just tried two new bead releases - one from Frantz Art Glass - no name on it but I will get you the name - and the other is called EZ bead release.

Both of them performed just fine. The Frantz release is a dark grey, and interestingly enough, takes on a pinkish colour when you hit it with the flame. The other is whitish bead release. Both of them have reasonably good holding power. They are a little harder to pull the beads on than my current favourite, which is the Dip n Go - which has been my fave for about 4 bottles worth now. I love the Dip n Go - which really can be flame dried, not quite out of the bottle, but close. For comparison, I also like the Sludge Plus (I particularly like the pretty green flame when you first introduce it into the flame, but as that has absolutely no impact on performance . . . )

I have also tried and liked the Foster Fire. For the specialty mandrels, curved mandrels and such, you just can't beat it. But, I find that once it starts to crack - it goes. The Dip and Go you can sometimes see a crack appearing in the bead release, but it might not spread all the way.

I have also tried the Bucket o Mud - which was my old favourite, until the Dip n Go came along.

I have also used the Fusion bead separator - which is cheap and comes in a large bottle for long dips, but I don't find it robust enough for sculptural work, and it does NOT make it easy to pull beads. However, it does go down in a nice thin layer, which means it's not making your bead holes a lot larger, like some of the thicker releases. I don't use it personally any more, but it's fine if you are just making regular round beads and not pushing the envelope. I have had more beads permanently welded to the mandrel with it than all the other bead releases combined.

These new releases are fine, but I still prefer my Dip n Go. I'll probably use them if I run out of the other and need release in a hurry.

Pinks & Purples - CIM Cranberry and Simply Berry Uniques

Here's some colours that are so dark - they really need to be diluted - use over white or clear or pull into stringers - these colours are so strong - using them by themselves is just not an option.

These are, from left to right,
CIM Cranberry Pink Unique 1 (926-1)
CIM Cranberry Pink Unique 2 (926-2)
CIM Simply Berry Unique 2 (618-2-1)




But, layered over white - they almost glow.
From the ends of the bead, Cranberry 1, Cranberry 2, and Simple Berry 2 in the middle.










This is the Simply Berry 2, just over white. Nice color!


















And this is the Cranberry Pink 1 over silver foil. The Pink reacts with the silver to produce a rich gold colour! Stunning!
















The Lighter pink on the left, with the striped bead, and the dots are the darker pink. As w Moretti - turn the oxygen up to prevent black swirls.

Nice bright shades of transparent pink in the cranberry family.

The Simply Berry 2 seems very similar to the original Simply Berry, a nice, useful colour. I personally prefer the blue purples myself, but not a bad colour!

Peace, Man! CIM 835

Peace man! This is the White, by CIM. Nice to have a basic white in their line up.

A nice opaque pure white. It does do some interesting things as a silvered stringer - much like the Morettie/Effetre Anice white does - the silver reacts with the white and gives you a yellowish colour. I'd show you a sample, but I sold it before I shot a picture!

Another Elphaba Unique 430-2

Another CIM Unique - this is Elphaba Unique 2 - and not at all like the other Elphabas - which are more of a witchie-poo green. This is a dark sagey colour. Streaky and handsome - not really in the same colour family as the other Elphabas.

Nice colour though.

Candy Coloured Cane from CIM

Candy coloured cane with heart shapes!

Two new "colours" from CIM - both have a coloured core. The core is Heart-shaped!

One is an opaque light pink with a white core, and the other is clear core, with a cranberry coloured layer, and then a light pink on top.

Tres kewel. I'm sorry, I don't have product numbers or names for these - I'll have to add them back in when I get them.

These are really pretty. The lighter bead on the left is the pink over white (as is the rod on the far left), and the other is the tri-colour clear/tran. dark pink/translucent light pink - on the right.
These work up into fun streaky beads.

You can see the heart shape in profile here. Can they be cut up and used as murrini as well? The pink and white doesn't really have enough contrast to show well, the darker one does, and works up reasonably well - I won't show you my attempts, as I rushed them and they look fairly bad, but that's not the fault of the glass - I'm not a murrini person.

I love streaky, interesting colours, with lots of variation - so I think these are really cool. I would definitely buy more of these.