Effetre Spring Willow

 I ordered this color with intense reservations, remembering my experience with Effetre mint green, which for me was just a variation of their copper green that didn't do anything special for me.  The picture on Frantz' web site looked very similar.  A little more yellow perhaps, with some streakiness.  As soon as I started heating it I knew this was not the case.  It went transparent the way the ivory shaded odd lots from Vetrofond did.

 The top bead is perhaps the worst lentil I've ever made.  Ignore the shaping and it is with silver melted in and reduced and encased in Effetre super clear.  This glass stays very soupy, and droops in the kiln a bit if it isn't set well going in.  It also strikes to the most delicate pink, which looks phenomenal with the pale green.  Melted in silver doesn't improve it, but that's OK, I like it just the way it is!

 Because it melted like Vetrofond biscotti, I tried it out with DH Triton.  I didn't get much reduction (my fault, not the glass) but the fuming is gorgeous.  Have a close up.  It's almost like another glass.

I didn't actually test this on ivory and I wish I had, but here it is with other colors.  It looks good with CiM tuxedo on the left on both beads.  The top bead has a core of spring willow and the bottom one is with other colored base glass.  Next up on the top bead is copper green, which gets lost.  Copper green is the middle right band on the bottom bead, and other than the spreading, nothing dramatic, so spring willow isn't an ivory.  Opal yellow is on the right end on the top bead and middle left on the bottom.  It so gets lost under the spring willow, both as stringer and as a base.  Peace was the last test color and it holds up a bit better than the opal yellow but bleeds a lot.

I like this glass and I'm thinking 1/4 lb. isn't going to last too long.  I want to do some plain beads just with spring willow to explore that blushing thing, and you can bet I'm going to see what it does with Psyche and a larger bead with Triton, probably doing a set for myself.