CiM plum again

By Jove, I think I've got it! For me, at least, CiM plum can be thickly encased but only over a core of clear. For a link to CiM's website and to see what others have done with this amazing color, click here http://www.facebook.com/?sk=messages#!/profile.php?id=100000449052869 The beads I posted yesterday were dismal, but these were fine. I wound up making half a dozen or so, even though I only have two on this string. I love the way the plum shifts color under the encasement with the copper leaf. The bluegreen specks add a bit of interest. Sometimes tiny bubbles are visible as well, but I didn't get any on this batch and am at loss to explain why it happens sometimes and not others.

I haven't listed this set yet, nor will I until I've given them a chance to knock around for a few days and crack if they are going to, but I have high hopes. With the last batch, they cracked soon after cleaning.

I can say that building these over a core of clear does cut down on the intensity of the purple as well as lightening it, but in a color that is supposed to be opal, this isn't a bad thing. It doesn't bleed much and I'm going to see what happens when I do an encased floral next. I love the way the coppered plum combines with the minty dirty martini.

So if I'm not listing these yet, what did I list? The necklace on the right, which I'm calling Talisman, is the latest addition to my Etsy and Artfire shops. Oh, heck, one more thing I have to do, put my Artfire shop up on the blog. I'll get it. My life is a work in progress.

The Talisman necklace at the right was designed with a Southwestern theme to be comfortable, casual, and an easy pick for jeans and t-shirts. I wanted the color to be the main emphasis, and my favorite beads are the ones with color upon color layered over each other. To keep the lucky theme going, the necklace had to have 13 beads in 7 different styles.