Cim Ginger v Effetre 255

Well following my last blog about my need to find a suitable replacement for one of my all time favourite glasses, I had another little glassy emergency.  My 'Ladies What Lunch' beads and my 'Betsy Bird Head' beads largely have faces made using CIM Ginger.  Now recently it has been in short supply here in the UK, and when Tuffnell Glass's last delivery didn't include any Teresa suggested a few alternatives - they really go the extra mile to help.  So I left Tuffnell's with the glass I had gone for - a lot that wasn't on my list and a new CIM Ginger alternative.

I was eager to test the Effetre Silver Pink 255 as my stash of CIM is at a pitifully low level of two and a quarter rods! When I first pulled the stringer I was surprised how pink the little gather at the end had gone, when compared to the colour in the rod.

The two beads on the right hand side are made with CIM Ginger and the two on the left with the Effetre Silver Pink 255.  It is a little paler as a fleshy tone when placed on white, but proved to be a suitable if not slightly subtler alternative.  I will continue to hunt for the CIM Ginger, but now at least I know there is an acceptable and hopefully more constant supply of an alternative.  I'd love to know what other people think of it, so do please let me know. Enjoy your melting.
Gay 

Falling in Love Again ....

I'm very lucky, very lucky indeed, I live only 20 minutes away from Tuffnell Glass http://www.tuffnellglass.com who supply all my lampworking glass.  I paid them a visit earlier this week, hoping that one of my all time favourite glasses would be back in stock.  My all time favourite glass (well this week at least) is CIM Stoneground - a very good warm neutral glass, it looks beautiful etched and is perfect for creating soft shoreline colours.  Unfortunately this glass is as rare as Hen's Teeth in the UK at the moment and although I have a little stash I wanted to secure some more (you just never know when these glass producers are going to pull the rug from under you and declare that a line is discontinued).

Seeing my obvious disappointment (I fell short of actual tears, but think my chin did wobble), Teresa and Becky rallied around offering me alternatives.  As Teresa handed me a bundle of Effetre Sand I think I felt something in the pit of my stomach - could this be love?  It is a beautiful smooth glass in the rod and looks very uniform in colour, whereas Stoneground has slight stridations or colour shifts within it.  I left feeling better than when I arrived as I always do - is it the glass or the chippy banter of the Tuffnell crew I expect a little bit of both, having promised to try it as soon as I could.

Here are the results of my first play with my new all time favourite glass (well at least for this week ;)), fickle?  Who me?  You can see that the lone heart here is made from Stoneground with silvered ivory shards melted in and then etched.  I have left the Sand unetched at the moment but plan to etch it later.  The shards on the heart I made with the Sand and silver foil, the two beads either side of the heart are covered in silver foil and the outer beads have Iris Orange frit on them.

I have to be honest knowing that I can get hold of this glass with relative ease and that is should be stable enough to encase (although I haven't tested this yet) has made my heart sing!  Yes I'm in love again and yes I'm in love with Sand!