Color Mixing Glass

Perhaps it's my old watercolor painting influence, but I love custom mixing colors in glass.  Whether it's actually mixing the two together, or layering transparents over opaques, it's always fun to see if I can get an exact shade that I am seeking.  

I mingle Vetrofond, Effetre, CiM and even some Devardi into my mixes.  Some play together better than others.  It doesn't seem to depend on the brand, but more the actual specific glass color.

And since I do this so freely, I also am teaching a class on color mixing.  My first class was in Austin at Blue Moon.  It was designed for non torch users- like mosaicists and fusers who could translate it into use for their specific projects.  But I was surprised at the number of flameworkers who signed up too.

Just wanted to show you a few and ask you, if you mix glass colors or layer, what are some of your favorite combinations?  

Sally Is Selling Shells...on Etsy

I've just recently listed a couple more seashells, because we must be in the shell selling season. (Sally says say that three times fast).

They've been my biggest sellers recently and I know I'm ramped up wearing them as the weather has gotten hotter too.

So I wanted to show you two very different but similar shells. The top one was made with Bullseye Glass which has the COE (co-efficiency of expansion) of 90. So what does that mean? It's a little stiffer to work with compared to my usual glass, Effetre or Vetrofond. I love the color of the glass and how well it swirled together. Definitely, I'll make more out of BE.

My handmade bead is wound from my softer glass, Effetre- light ivory. It's gooey fun to wrap around the mandrel and just oozes where you want it to go. For non glass folk, its COE is 104.

I particularly like the look of the carnelian glass for the inside and ruffled lip. You don't always know what shade it will be or whether you'll need to strike it to bring out the color. Don't forget when striking glass, let it cool quite a bit, before reheating it and then repeat if necessary.

I've got a lot more beach, shells, and other aquatic items in my Etsy shop here.

Hope you're staying cool. See you tomorrow!