Some new favorite glass colors from CIM

Leaky Pen Background

I have to admit- I've been resistant to using Chinese CIM glass for many years. When the first few colors came out, I was interested, but had a few apparent compatibility issues and decided it just wasn't worth it. After all these years, I decided it was time to give some new colors a try- a lot of them just looked too interesting to keep ignoring. I found that Howaco Glass in Michigan sells single rods of glass (as well as all the usual), so picked out a few rods to try. And I have some winners!

Very Berry on top

Everyone already knows about leaky pen- a wonderful shade of dark teal like nothing Moretti makes. It seems a bit stiffer than most of the Italian glass, but also seems to melt and apply very smoothly. And the color is truly lovely and very saturated- a clear background will thin it out just enough to see it well.

Very Berry was another nice choice. It's a lovely saturated dark reddish purple. Similar to amethyst, but it seems to keep more of its purple color and it also seems a bit on the stiff side.

Crocus Purple

The big winner? Drum roll please.... Crocus. What a beautiful color of light purple. It reminds me of the old yellow vaseline glass- beautifully translucent. It is a little bit shocky, but not overly so as long as the rod is not too big around. It doesn't seem to scorch like the alabastro and opalino glasses, so is very easy to use. I worked it pretty long to make this little dragon and had no problems at all.