After a (not so short) break...

 Yeah, it's been a very long time.  I haven't been entirely away from my torch but I haven't been at it as much as I'd like.  The above set is the result of a couple weeks of doing a couple beads here and there.  The base glass for this is Creation is Messy's Canyon de Chelly, one of my absolute favorite glasses to use.  Not only does it play nice in the flame, but it does some pretty cool stuff with other colors and techniques.  It is a striking color that changes color depending on whether it's just heated and cooled or heated, cooled, and reheated.  And then there's the size of the base bead, which makes a difference.  It's easier to get it to do the neat stripey thing on a large bead than a small one.  Shaping the bead with metal seems to give better effects, so the rapid cooling and partial reheating is key, and sometimes after the color strikes it unstrikes again, but unpredictably.  It doesn't seem to change color in the annealer, which I really dig.  What you see going into the annealer is what you're going to get.

The earrings on the right were my first stab and combining CDC with Double Helix Psyche.  I don't know how evident it is in the picture but there is a reaction on the CDC where the silver laden Psyche touches it that doesn't occur with DH Triton or silvered ivory.  I call that neat.  The central beads contain only CDC and Psyche.  The border on the dark Psyche is the reaction from the CDC.  It has to be melted in and superheated.  Notice in the top photo and the vessel that it doesn't always do this.

With this bracelet I was going for balance and similarity between the glass and the dyed freshwater pearls  I used in the earrings, since the pearls were too small for the bracelet.  The glass I used on the spacers is Vetrofond plum.  It does this neat metallic thing similar to Effetre silver plum when treated the same way, that is allowed to air cool until the glow is gone and reheated gently in the top of my hot head flame, but stays more purple, so call it light silver plum.  Note the beads three beads in from the clasp.  The base glass is yellower because it didn't strike at all, being CiM Stoneground.  I couldn't remember whether I used Stoneground or CDC on the earrings and the lack of reaction on these beads reminded me.  Hey, this bracelet is for my own use and with the weight on the clasp it stays right side up so no one will see them anyway.

 I had so much fun making this vessel I'm keeping the pictures big and showing both sides, so there.  I used a 3/16 mandrel and built the end on the end of the mandrel again so it was a pain to clean, but with a solid color vessel and not planning to sell this I went for the stability of having two base beads to build from.  This meant I had two ends to keep warm but for every flower a tear.  I didn't melt the Psyche in all the way but I was loving the way the CDC was striking and I wanted to leave it the way it was.  I also hate the way the camera washes out the reduction effect of the Psyche, but trust me, it really is there.  The handles and rim are made from an actual rod of Effetre Lace Agate I have been hoarding.  On the smaller beads I used silvered ivory, but it wouldn't do for functional handles, since I can't really pull stringers that thick.

I have missed working glass.  There have been compensations, like losing 50 pounds through diet and time at the gymn.  I hope to continue losing about 20 pounds to get back to my "feel good" weight, but the signs of diabetes that scared me, the blood clot that sidelined me and the limitations that my excess weight caused on my mobility are gone.  I recently acheived a time on a mile "jogging" (more of a fast walk, really) that I haven't achieved since I was 15.  Now I have to try to incorporate the things that I really like doing with the things that I need to stay healthy.  I'll never achieve perfection, but all I ask for is a fighting go.  I may even post a new profile picture if I can find someone who knows how to work my camera.

Off the Wagon

Have you ever gone to a wedding reception while you're on a diet?  Did you stick to it, and if so, how much fun did you have?  That's how I feel with new colors in the stash.  So, like any weight watcher I'm forgetting all about the diet for a day or two.  Have I mentioned I love purple?  Effetre plum silver is one of my favorite colors, because it is purple and because the dark goes all neat and metallic.  The problem with the dark is that it doesn't really show purple and the problem with the light is that it doesn't go all metallic.  Vetrofond has come out with a new color that I think fills this gap.  It isn't as purple as plum silver light, nor is it as dark as plum silver dark, and it does have an earthy reduction that I like but can see the limitations of.  So on to the beads.  All except the first have been worked, cooled slightly, then reheated gently in the top of the flame of my hothead.

Of the beads to the right, the top bead and the bottom one are Vetrofond plum.  With the top bead, I just wound it off and shaped it, working a little high in the flame perhaps, but not paying particular attention to striking it.  The middle bead is metallic black to show the difference between the sheens.  On the bottom, I worked it as described and was thrilled that it is still a visible color.

 Time to see what it does when you work it with another color.  I didn't try it with silver or clear, mainly because I wanted to produce these beads specifically.  I'll play with it some more when I'm off the diet.  All are Vetro plum with metallic black stringer.  On top, I deliberately only reheated the surface of the bumps.  In the middle I feathered some metallic black in and was pleased to see the black develop that rainbow thing it does, but less pleased that it doesn't show up in the photo.  On the bottom is an attempt at a shell with black metallic decoration.  This combination is so cool because you can easily see the difference and the colors compliment each other.
With this last group of beads, I wanted to see how Vetro plum stacked up against the Effetre line.  It is even a bit lighter than the Effetre light and browner.  It won't work for everything.  But it is definitely a color I will be buying again.  And it is less than half the price of the Effetre dark silver plum so I can afford to.