Tuesday, March 01, 2011

Ring a week - week 1

Yes I know I'm weeks behind but I plan on catching up! Honestly!

Here's my first ring of the week ... Only 51 to go!

These are two of a series of stacker rings I have been making recently. Not inspiring as rings by themselves but as one of a combination of rings I really like the look!





Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Still thinking PINK!

My pink rubino tests are almost done ... just one rod of transparent rubino and one rod of rocky rubino (that has some unabsorbed or melted raw material still left in the rod) that a very kind soul sent to me to try, still left to go!

Here on the left is the latest Effetre #456 Rubino glass, available from Frantz Art Glass. You'll notice a good similarity with the older #456 that I was using and that had compatibility issues... It's a tiny bit more raspberry but nontheless a beautiful color for a fuschia heart! I did add two layers of color over the white to enhance the fuschia color - It is my very unscientific theory that due to the price of ingredients manufacturers are using less of the color enhancing components. But no cracking on this small one!


CIM Cranberry - #926-2
This had a definite tendency to yellow on me. The encased spacer beads I made with it have a very unattractive orange/yellow tinge to them. I will have to remember to keep my oxygen level high when torching this color. No cracking though, and the color would be great for a strawberry!


Reichenbach 104 - Pink Lady #RL2015
Recommended by two people as an alternative to my cracking problems, I have to agree that this is a great match for Effetre #456. Just a smidge more raspberry and a tad more "flat" than the original but you'd have to see both beads side by side to notice the difference. Cheaper than the current cost of rubino too! I love this and am over the moon to have found another #456 alternative in the Reichenbach range!


Reichenbach 104 - Gold Violet #RL2012
Much deeper and more intense than Pink Lady or the original Effetre 456 and slightly more on the amythyst end of the color range, but nice to work with and gives a very rich feel... not as perky as I was hoping to achieve but definitely has it's place in the "fuschia alternatives" I'm exploring.


Now off to complete a ring for RAW (Ring of the Week - I'm behind on this) and conquer my Clio problems!