This is trippy, this blogging thing, because you can look back at what you did a year ago (or more, I suppose, if you've blogged for more than a year) and see what your beads were like, what you were focusing on, and in the case of this blog post, the results from some other testing you did that you now want to reference. Fun!
1 - Plain, 2 - Plain (reduced), 3 - w/ Silver Leaf, 4 - w/ Silver Leaf (reduced & encased), 5 - w/ TerraNova2 Frit, 6 - w/ Silver Glass Frit (reduced), 7 - w/ Tuxedo, 8 - w/ Copper Green, 9 - w/ Opal Yellow, 10 - w/ Ivory, 11 - w/ White
In this case, I was looking back to my test results with CiM Mermaid to see the differences between Mermaid and this newer colour, CiM Mermaid Unique #1. I posted my Mermaid results in December 2009, so the format of the post is much different from this one, and my beads have improved quite a bit since then, so that is also evident when you look at the two sets of results. I should go back at some point and re-do my Mermaid testing, but I have a lot of other colours to get through first.
Mermaid Unique #1 is both darker and bluer than original Mermaid. It is also less streaky, and does not go red when you reduce it the way original Mermaid does. Silver glass is GORGEOUS on Mermaid Unique #1. This is another one of the CiM unique lots that sold out so quickly that it made my head spin, so there isn't any more left. I only ever had a few rods of it -- just enough to tease me and get me all wound up about it.
Silver on Mermaid Unique #1 turns sort of greenish. In the bead on the left, the silver seems to have migrated towards the centre of the bead and webbed out a little. In the bead on the right, the colour of the reduced and encased silver leaf seems mottled with a greenish colour, pink and a yellowish orange competing for space. When I used silver with Mermaid, the silver seemed to discolour the Mermaid and yellow it a bit, but I didn't see this effect with Mermaid Unique #1.
I got gorgeous colour out of my TerraNova2 frit on top of Mermaid Unique #1, and the reduced silver glass got interesting colour too, although I like the TN2 bead much better.
Tuxedo on top of Mermaid Unique #1 bleeds a little, and looks all smeary. On top of Tuxedo, Mermaid Unique #1 developed a shiny, silvery outline. A lot of colours seem to do this on top of Tuxedo, I'm noticing. This reaction did not happen between Effetre Black and Mermaid.
Something in the Mermaid Unique #1 makes Copper Green sheen up with a pinkish grey patina. This isn't unattractive, but the colour doesn't really work well with the Mermaid Unique #1. This didn't seem to happen between Mermaid and Copper Green, although my Copper Green batch might be slightly different now than it was then.
On top of Opal Yellow, Mermaid Unique #1 gets a faintly darker line and dot in the middle of the stringer lines and dots. Mermaid Unique #1 bleeds into Opal Yellow, so you can see a petroleum green-coloured stain seeping into the Opal Yellow from the Mermaid Unique #1 side of the bead.
I think I'm using a different batch of Effetre Ivory now than when I tested Mermaid, and that might account for the CRAZY marbling that was caused in the middle of this bead. It also might be that Mermaid Unique #1 is more reactive with Ivory than regular Mermaid is. Either way, this reaction is way cool, and I like the dark line reaction between the Ivory and Mermaid Unique #1 too. The dark line reaction is more pronounced in this bead than in the test bead I made with Ivory and Mermaid.
Like with Opal Yellow, Mermaid Unique #1 bleeds into White and gets a concentration line/dot in the centre of the stringer lines and dots placed over top of it.
Here are some fun beads with Mermaid Unique #1. So sad there won't be any more.
