CiM: Messy Color™ Leaky Pen, An intense transparent ink blue.

Messy Color™ Leaky Pen

511508 -

An intense transparent ink blue.

"One of my favorite colour combinations – Leaky Pen on top of light turquoise. Leaky Pen is a SUPER saturated dark blue that just pops when put over light turquoise." See more at Two Glassy Ladies' blog. – Amy Houston

Click here for other interesting Leaky Pen discoveries.

Manuela Wutschke

Kimberly Affleck

Sky Blue & Ocean Green encased with Leaky Pen

Melissa Villadiego

Sarah Hornik

Trudi Doherty

Messy Leaky Pen & Simply Berry with effetre white & iris gold stringers

Darlene Collette

Messy Leaky Pen with effetre white & pale turquoise

Karen Baildon

Messy Tester's Feedback

Leaky Pen is too dark to make solid beads from – it needs to be layered over white or clear.

"Leaky Pen is such a saturated and gorgeous color - and I really love that about it. It doesn't fade out when used with lighter opaques - like many of the dark transparents in 104 COE glasses tend to. I also love that Leaky Pen is not a color that is close to anything else in the same COE - it's a brand new shade. It also seems to play really well with other brands - I have used it with Effetre, Lauscha and Vetrofond with absolutely no problems. It encases well - I have encased it with clear and with other pale transparent colors. It doesn't bubble, and melts very smoothly." – Kandice Seeber

“This is my favorite of all Messy Colors. I love intense transparents that I can use layered over white to make encased beads. This color holds up to making designs over white.” – Gail Witt

“To get the blue color to look anything but black, I found that I had to put it over another color. I liked it over both white and clear. When placed over a white core, the bead took on an opaque multi-toned midnight blue color. When placed over clear, the bead became more transparent.” – Jan Whitesel-Keeton

“My favorite of all the CiM colors. I love this shade of blue and found myself reaching for it the most. Silver glass loves Leaky Pen! It is very dense and needs to be thinned out by applying over a lighter color.” – Janice Laster

Leaky Pen should be worked cool.

“Like most blue colors, I had to work it really cool, or it would boil. I had to take my time but the results were worth it!” – Gail Witt

“I didn’t have a problem with Leaky Pen boiling when I used chemo-lene. But when I made beads with it once I converted to propylene, I couldn’t keep it from boiling. I tried working it higher in the flame, but then it just didn’t get hot enough to use with the presses.” – Stephanie Risberg

"It boiled similar to aqua though once on the bead it seemed fine if not worked too much.” – Stephanie Risberg

"If you are having problems with Leaky Pen use an oxidizing flame. That will keep the sparklies down. The sparkle spots didn't effect my finished beads. They still have a nice smooth texture." – Genea Crivello-Knable

Some Messy Color testers reported that Leaky Pen can be stiff.

“It didn’t seem to marver as well as some of the other colors. I used a graphite marver. It worked well with a brass bead press.” – Gail Witt

“Even though the glass is stiffer than the rest to work with, it produces wonder beads. I did have trouble pressing this glass as it is so stiff.” – Jan Whitesel-Keeton

“I did marver the glass with both graphite and brass marvers. It was somewhat stiff, but that is expected of transparent glass.” – Stephanie Risberg

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

“It etched well. I use it over clear and etching made it less noticeable where the clear was on the ends.” – Dianna Trout

“It did etch well, but just looked black. I did not try etching beads that had a clear or white core.” – Jan Whitesel-Keeton

“Etches if left in for 30 minutes instead of 15.” – Tina Lamasney

Special thanks to Debora Cox, Teri Wathan, Kimberly Affleck, Elasia, Sue Stewart, Tina Lamasney, and Carol Oliver for providing the photos in this section.

See beads Darlene Collette created with Bordello and Leaky Pen on ivory.

Darlene Collette used a base of Leaky Pen, Effetre sage & dark ivory, with various silver glasses.

Check out Darlene Collette's beads made with Olive & Leaky Pen.

Check out Liz Long's bead made with Dirty Martini, Peacock Green, Stone Ground, and Leaky Pen.

Visit the Fritipedia Wiki CiM Page for more information about Leaky Pen.
See Kay Powell’s Leaky Pen frit testing samples.
Browse Serena Thomas’ color gallery.

– Amy Houston

"There's some fun to be had with Seashell Swirl and Leaky Pen. Around the blue stringer and dots, an outline of pink formed that is at odds with the rest of the bead's streakiness. This is sort of cool, and worth remembering." Read more at Melanie's blog.

– Melanie Graham

"Leaky Pen is a really dark, very saturated transparent glass, I had heard it works well over top of something else but is too dark on its own." See more beads made with Leaky Pen at Two Glassy Ladies' blog.

– Amy Houston

"Leaky Pen goes metallic when reduced, with colors ranging from silver, to blues/greens, to pinks, and then to a copper red. The more you reduce the more the metallic fuchsiaish red comes out. The more or less you do this is how you go through the color phases mentioned above."

– Elasia

"Leaky Pen is a very saturated transparent color - almost black looking if you’re not paying attention. It’s a pretty stiff glass to work with - it reminds me a little of Lauscha in that regard. It can also get a little bit scummy - but that scum tends to burn off quite well." Read more at Kandice's color blog.

– Kandice Seeber

"This is the color I’ve been looking for! It makes beautiful flowers and pairs well with Montana Blue Swarovskis.”

– Dianna Trout

Gail Joseph uses Messy Leaky Pen frit to create 104 compatible frit blends. Find more blends at GG Glass.

Creation is Messy

Messy Color™ Leaky Pen

Messy Tester's Feedback