Creation is Messy

Courtesy of Kevan Aponte

Courtesy of Vonna Maslanka	Courtesy of Manuela Wutschke	Courtesy of Susan Sheehan
Courtesy of Bonnie Roof	Courtesy of Pat Frantz	Courtesy of Lucinda Storms

Customer Experience:

Cirrus is a striking color.

• Cirrus strikes by cooling and reheating in the flame. If you leave Cirrus in the flame continuously, it is likely to just stay transparent. By cooling and reheating you can strike Cirrus to the level of translucency that you desire.

• As you strike Cirrus, it becomes more translucent but is unlikely to return to its transparent state.

“Striking glass, as you see on the bottle, handles are much lighter and more clear.” ~ Elasia

• Cirrus is less likely to strike on smaller beads (especially anything under 15 mm), or on flat thin pieces, though if you spend enough time you can achieve a bit of translucency.

• Cirrus’ translucency level looks the same when you take it out of the annealer as when you put it in. (This is difficult to compare, of course, if you follow our recommendation to put the bead in the annealer hot.)

• Cirrus was engineered so that you could get it as milky as you want it to be through repeated striking for use in a number of different applications. If you work fast, Cirrus is less likely to strike. Take your time and be patient.

Cirrus does not etch in the same way as other 104 colors.

“I use a product called Armour Etch and I use the cream form. I have to admit, they probably sat with the cream on them longer than instructed, but it has not seemed to cause a problem with the beads." ~ Jan Keeton

“Cirrus etched with Etch-all liquid but you have to leave it in longer. I left mine in for 30 minutes.” ~ Tina Lamasney

Cirrus, when reduced, turns yellow or brown.

“Reducing it produced a scummy yellow bead that was not attractive. “ ~ Janice Laster

“Reducing it will turn brown.” ~ Teri Wathan

Cirrus is a temperamental glass.

Cirrus, Peacock Green, and Halong Bay were specifically formulated because we had many requests for glasses similar to the rare and difficult-to-obtain moonstones. We were successful in engineering a glass that could be worked in the torch for long periods of time and annealed properly that would still maintain translucency (as opposed to just turning opaque).

These three have proven to be the most temperamental of all Messy Colors. We noticed that a number of Messy Color testers described Cirrus with phrases like: tricky to strike, shocky, boils easily, sensitive to reheating, difficult to make focals, frustrating, etc.

However many other Messy Color testers (especially those working on Hot Heads) found Cirrus easy to work with.

We collected the following tips from our testers. Please email us if you’ve found any other tips that you think may be helpful in working with Cirrus, Peacock Green, and Halong Bay.

• Work hotter.

“One thing I have noticed with Halong Bay, and this might be true with Peacock Green and Cirrus, but it likes to be kept warm, more than the other CiM colors.” ~ Melissa Villadiego

“The handling characteristics of the opal glasses is "stickier" and heats more slowly and cools more quickly.” ~ Tim Gottleber

• Put your beads in the annealer hot.

“They become REAL sensitive to cooling before annealing. I do several beads on one mandrel, usually. I lose about 1% of them to cracks when I anneal them. With Peacock Green, Halong Bay, and Cirrus, I lose between 8 and 10%.” -Tim Gottleber

• Adjust your annealer. (The recommended annealing range for Cirrus is 970-1040° F / 520-560° C.)

“Can be shocky, likes to be worked hot, and I do anneal hotter than usual, normally with this glass around 1000 to 1300.”- Elasia

• Stick to smaller mandrels.

“It is much easier to get the effect you want with the Cirrus using a smaller mandrel. Working on a big hole mandrel you will need to use your brain power and start back to basics with heat control. Like any new glass color rod, shard, frit, you have to be willing to experiment, to push your limits to broaden your spectrum.” ~ Vonna Maslanka