Tools - Pi Divider

Well - this is pretty darn cool.

Effetre 238 Navy Blue

I reviewed this before - and totally forgot about it. As before - I don't really consider this to be "Navy Blue," more of a Confederate Blue.

And, as before, it tends to get a metallic dull grey sheen on it.

However, unlike before, this time I etched it ...











And what I got was a lovely slate blue-grey.

This is definitely a colour that responds well to etching.

I like it a lot better now. ;-)

Desert Adventures

Jean at Nortel has been putting together CiM sample packs, new colours, or coordinated colourways, so that you can try different colours without committing to a full pack of each.

She put one together (at my insistence) that is called Desert Adventures. It looks like a pack of brownish neutrals - hence the desert part of the name, but is made up of CiM colours that can do tricksy or interesting things. Primarily - I wanted to be able to test the different colours - so there might have been a wee bit of self interest in my urging. ;-)

If you want to explore a pack of neutrals/browns/naturals/earthtones for animals, landscapes, or just earthy inspired images - this is a great way to go.

Here be dragons:

Top row, from the left:  CiM 722 Canyon de Chelly - etched, with dots of Effetre 238 Navy blue. Next, CiM 313 Painted Hills - turned out surprisingly light. Next, CiM 719 Moccasin, with turquoise in the base bead, and last in the top row, CiM Canoe, etched. This is my new favourite colour.

Bottom row, from the left, CiM Phoenix. What a great dragon colour! and finally, CiM 727 Van Dyke Brown.

There are more colours in the Desert Adventures, but as you can imagine, making a dragon is non-trivial and takes a lot longer than a simple spacer. ;-) And I wanted to let you know about this colour pack, cuz I think it's cool.

Val Cox Frit: Viola Blue

Another new frit colour from Val Cox - this is Viola Blue. I was drawn to the blues and purples in the mix, and it does not disappoint.

Again, one of the colours makes pits in the glass, so you will not get a mirror smooth finish unless you encase it.

This is over a base of black, with a couple of streaks of white, and then rolled in the frit, melted in, and mashed. 

 This is just over a base of white. Both are very nice. I think I see the face of a baby donkey in the frit in the bead above (in the top left corner.)

Val Cox Frit: Jellyfish

Picked up some new Val Cox Frits - from her collection of new colours. This is Jellyfish, and it's pretty cool.

This little square tab is a core of clear, and Jellyfish on top. 

This larger focal is a core of white, with an opaque dark grey at each end, and jellyfish all over. 

One of the colours in there definitely makes pits in the glass, so you won't get an all-over smooth finish. I think I like the clear base one better, but that could be because I happened to get a nice blobby swirl of turquoise and purple.