Rising Star: CiM 618 Simply Berry & 618-1 Simply Berry Unique

When it comes to introducing new colors into the soft glass palette, CiM has really been impressing me lately.  Simply Berry, and it’s little sister Simply Berry Unique, was CiM’s answer to a request by beadmakers for a transparent magenta shade.  Now, when you look at this color in rod form and melted into swatches and spacers, you probably don’t see much of a resemblance to the color magenta.  Neither do I.  But that doesn’t mean I don’t like it very, very much! 

At first glance, the one rod of the original Simply Berry that I had acquired to test appeared to be so much like Effetre’s 042 Medium Amethyst that I had a hard time telling the difference between the two. 

A preliminery melt however told me that the CiM version was stiffer and had slightly less of a tendency to go a dull shade of burgundy brown-ish when melted into spacers.  I still wasn’t all that thrilled though, and set the color aside, after telling Kathy of CiM my impression of it. 

 

 

 

Later on, I discovered that CiM was releasing another version of this color - Simply Berry Unique (a lighter version and later a darker version, numbered 1 and 2 respectively).  I was intrigued enough to check out the color again - and to ask what the deal was with the new Uniques coming out for some of the CiM colors, including Simply Berry.  Kathy had this to say about Uniques in general, and Simply Berry in specific, in some email exchanges we had.

“…I don’t keep stock on Uniques as they are usually just mismelts (Simply Berry that melted too light or too dark).”

“…What you said about Simply Berry Unique is fascinating because it is the same formula as Simply Berry.  The melt just happened to come out that way”

That’s pretty interesting insight into how glass is made at CiM - and how certain colors can really come out differently in each batch.  It’s worth noting that if you find a color you really love, and it’s not a production color that will be available forever, buy as much of it as you can.

Simply Berry in its original form worked out really nicely as a layering color - a pretty, slightly less brown/pink than the Effetre Amethyst.  You can see how I have used it and the Unique version together in this bead set, and how layering the two adds depth and clarity to the overall purple shade.

Simply Berry Unique (the light version, number 618-1) is an entirely different animal.  Even though CiM calls it just a batch mistake, I have to say that it is my favorite glass mistake EVER.  Yes, I even like it better than the Streaky Pink debacle.  Oh, yes.  People might not believe me - because of the huge deal I made over pink a few years ago.  But I am totally over that.  LOL  Love is fickle - and I am now in love with Simply Berry Unique.

This sweet color is quite a bit lighter and less pinkish than the original.  And the clarity of this light color is just absolutely amazing.  It’s saturated enough to work on its own as a base, but not too saturated.  It makes amazing spacers that are a color I just can’t really describe with accuracy, but I will try.  It works into a deep transparent orchid lavender shade.  If this glass were a liquid, I would want to drink it.  It’s a luscious blend of raspberry and grape.

Aaaaanyway.  Simply Berry Unique is relatively stiff like the original, and very, very nice to work with.  Both shades have a wonderful clarity when melting - no bubbles or scum have appeared for me.  The glass holds its color for both shades, and neither shade bleeds, reacts or sucks up other colors.  They are just straightforward and pure - perfect for layering with the various opaque pinks and purples - and even white.  I can’t wait to try this paired with my traditional fall favorites of coral orange, black and more greens this year.

I bought a bunch of this color, and will lament when it finally runs out, as colors like this tend to do.  Hopefully the formula CiM uses will mess up like this again.  LOL.  CiM in general is fast becoming my favorite glass manufacturer - first becasue they are willing to really listen to us beadmakers on color, and second because the colors they are coming out with lately are just really nice additions to the 104 coe palette.  Yey, CiM!!

Tried & True: Effetre 081 Dark Lavender

Ahhh the first color I fell in love with way back when. I was messing around with 081 and its sister 221 Pale Lavender Opaque even before I was messing with pink glass.

Dark Lavender 081 is a desperately cool color - and it does magic, too! The color came out around the same time I started making beads - and at first glance didn’t look that much different than the regular 080 Pale Lavender Transparent or the totally mis-named 082 Lavender Blue (it’s pink. I swear.).

In general, 081 is significantly more saturated than the other two colors - a deep, rich lavender that will enhance any color you layer it over.

The first thing you should know about 081 is that it turns pale blue under fluorescent lighting. Just like any other lavender in any of the glass lines that I know if. There’s something weird about lavender glass that causes that reaction - I notice it happens with lavender beads of any kind - seeds, Czech, you name it. If it’s lavender, and it’s glass, it will do this weird washed out blue thing under fluorescents. But under incandescent lighting, the lavender color really pops.

The second thing you want to keep in mind about this glass is that batch matters. With this color you really want clarity - and there are some batches of this color out there that are so scratched up and scummy, that you’ll want to pull your hair out. Do yourself a huge favor and try to find a way to hand-pick the rods, or buy from a vendor you really trust. Because if you get a crappy batch of this color, the rods will scum up and bubble like the worst of the aquas - and we all know how bad those can be. Same goes with the pale 080 version of this color.

Once you get the right rod of Dark Lavender, you can create the most gorgeous, varied purples with it. It’s a gorgeous color on its own, but really can make any shade of purple in the palette pop right out. Encase Dark Amethyst in this color and watch the brown overtones just disappear. Ahhhh purple. Encase Pale Lavender in Dark Lavender for a springy pale treat. Do the same with Pastel Ink Blue and you have a subtle lilac shade.

081 is the perfect stiffness for sculpturing and for encasing - and it works well with most every other color without reactions or striking woes. Encase stripes with this and they will have an ethereal quality to them.

081 isn’t a rare color anymore - most every vendor who carries Effetre has it at a decent price point - and some even give it away as a gift when you order a certain amount of glass. Just make sure you’re getting the rods that aren’t scratched and scummy. There’s nothing worse than gorgeous but unusable glass. And now, on to the eye-candy!

Rising Star: Effetre 039 Dark Violet Transparent

Effetre has been putting out new transparent purple shades quite a bit in the last
few years, and I think they finally hit on a definite winner with this deep,
saturated purple. It’s several levels darker than the relatively new Ink Blue
Violet (058V, supposedly an Effetre Odd).

I was confused when this color came out
(with its sister 041 Light Violet) - Effetre had released the Ink Blue line of
colors not too long before, and they are all really lovely. In fact, 041 Light
Violet is almost exactly the same shade as Ink Blue Violet. Confused? It gets
better, I promise.

I was actually very pleasantly surprised when I first got this color several months
ago, because it is really saturated - a spacer made out of this color would appear
almost black. But pull this gorgeous glass into stringer and you have purple at
its most royal.

This transparent color is relatively stiff - slightly stiffer than other
transparents in the same line. It’s got great clarity, though - I haven’t
experienced much bubbling or scumming at all. It also has no reactive or striking
qualities that I have seen. Just a great deep transparent color - deeper than any
of the other purples out there in anything close to 104 coe that I have seen.

Layer this glass over Pastel Ink Blue (aka Light Lavender Blue, #247) for a rich
purple. Encase that with any of the transparent lavenders or clear to lighten it
up for a great grapey base.

Effetre may be coming out with a gazillion different purples, but who cares when
they are all so gorgeous! This one is my fave so far.