Belladonna

[Beadbroad10]

Has anyone used Belladonna frit??? I have some and all I get are grey beads... Have read the info at Arrow Springs.... Still no luck. I WANT the colors to come up. Help! I use a minor torch. Thanks

[Angie09]

I'd be very interested in hearing how to use it also. I was very disappointed with the rods and now the frit is doing nothing special either. For me, it's DH all the way (except a little TAG and Precision .... What can I say...I'm a glass 'hore)

[silverlilly1]

I've not had great success with the small amount of Belladonna I have, except the black. LOVE the black.

[queenofsheba52]

I have some Teal-licious that plays nicely for me. I'm on a Minor with tanked oxy and natural gas. I can get a beautiful peacock sheen with just a whiff of a reduction flame.

What color are you trying?

--Helene

[glassactcc]

The Honey Glaze frit is stunning. I also have (I am terrible at glass names) the first one that came out and that is my favorite of all silver glasses.

I have had really good luck with it. Here is the Honey Glaze frit under clear on the top of the charm, and the backside is just reduced no clear.
You can get a few really good variations depending upon how much you reduce it.

Edited to add it's the Moody Blue that I have. I really like that one too.

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[Angie09]

I've not had great success with the small amount of Belladonna I have, except the black. LOVE the black.

Can you please tell me (maybe even pics) what the black does? It's the only one I haven't bought. Thanks.

[silverlilly1]

The black doesn't do anything, other than stay looking black and not web or shine up even when applied hair-thin.

I have moody blue frit. I can't figure out how to get the right kind of flame to make it do anything but a plain mirror finish. Anything different I do soots up the glass so much that it's ruined.

[Hayley]

Teal-icious is my fav! It yields so many different hues.

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[Donna Milliron]

So I see there are some questions about the BellaDonna glass and hopefully I can get to the bottom of the issue so you get the results you want.

The biggest problem I have found is with artists who use the same technique they use with Double Helix on BellaDonna Glass. Double Helix gets reduction results after the glass is completely cooled before reduction - BellaDonna should still have an orange glow on it when you hit it with the reduction to get results. If you reduce it too much or repeatedly without taking it all the way back to an oxidized full melted orange is another way you will end up with gray.

If you want a rainbow effect just gently lick the glass with the reduction flame for the briefest moment - for a full plated gold or silver effect hit if full on in the reduction flame. The most important thing is to make sure it is still a little hot before hitting it - a faint orange glow but not screaming orange hot.

Please list details on how you are using the glass and the problems you are having and I will be more than happy to help you figure it out. I want you to have fun with this glass and it is really easy to use if you get the steps laid out properly.

Donna - BellaDonna Glass

[silverlilly1]

Do you really have to use a full-out dragon's breath flame? Because that is what makes glass sooty on my torch. As soon as the orange reaches the end of the flame, not even when you actually get the entire flame to be a distance away from the torch face for a full dragon's breath. For DH glass I make the orange part about 2 - 3 inches long at the very most, sometimes as little as one inch.

[Mountain Snail]

I don't use the full out dragon's breath reduction and I am getting neat reactions. My favorite colors are tealicious, honey glaze, and dragon's scales.

[Hayley]

I use the same techniques with all my silver glass and it seems to work for me! ;-)

[glassactcc]

Me too what Hayley said.

[Listenup]

I love their Frits. I've tested them all for my frit charts (link in signature) The black diamond is great because it stays put and doesn't spread/feather. The purples & honey spread nicely. The Purplescent is my fav right now because I love the colors it reduces to.

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[Donna Milliron]

What I find is if I hit the frit with a full on dragon's breath flame I get shiny shiny shiny total metallic finish, silver, gold, copper and rose gold depending on which BellaDonna Glass frit I am using. like this:
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and if I "lick" the frit with just a reduction flame, or just barely in the side of the dragon's breath really super quick I get this:
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The Moody Blue and Midnight Magic work easiest for me to get this rainbow effect but I have seen amazing rainbows with Teal-icious from Hayley Tsang and also from Barbara Terrill using Purplescent. And further up here in this thread you can see some amazing colors from Honey Glaze from Cynthia Tilker

good toys are fun to play with! ;) some take more practice than others but are worth the try!

Donna - Arrow Springs - BellaDonna Glass - Dazzlings!

[catsarthouse]

Wow!

[28676bhe]

Donna, how cool/warm/hot is your bead when you expose it to the Dragon's Breath flame?

[Mountain Snail]

What I find is if I hit the frit with a full on dragon's breath flame I get shiny shiny shiny total metallic finish, silver, gold, copper and rose gold depending on which BellaDonna Glass frit I am using. like this:
289866

and if I "lick" the frit with just a reduction flame, or just barely in the side of the dragon's breath really super quick I get this:
289867

The Moody Blue and Midnight Magic work easiest for me to get this rainbow effect but I have seen amazing rainbows with Teal-icious from Hayley Tsang and also from Barbara Terrill using Purplescent. And further up here in this thread you can see some amazing colors from Honey Glaze from Cynthia Tilker

good toys are fun to play with! ;) some take more practice than others but are worth the try!

Donna - Arrow Springs - BellaDonna Glass - Dazzlings!

Amazing :shock:

[Terryd]

Donna, how cool/warm/hot is your bead when you expose it to the Dragon's Breath flame?

I would also like to know this. I just purchased some glass and frit. Not having much luck.

[2xMI]

Terry--

See Donna's post #9 below. Seems it needs to be at an orange glow.
So I see there are some questions about the BellaDonna glass and hopefully I can get to the bottom of the issue so you get the results you want.

The biggest problem I have found is with artists who use the same technique they use with Double Helix on BellaDonna Glass. Double Helix gets reduction results after the glass is completely cooled before reduction - BellaDonna should still have an orange glow on it when you hit it with the reduction to get results. If you reduce it too much or repeatedly without taking it all the way back to an oxidized full melted orange is another way you will end up with gray.

If you want a rainbow effect just gently lick the glass with the reduction flame for the briefest moment - for a full plated gold or silver effect hit if full on in the reduction flame. The most important thing is to make sure it is still a little hot before hitting it - a faint orange glow but not screaming orange hot.

Please list details on how you are using the glass and the problems you are having and I will be more than happy to help you figure it out. I want you to have fun with this glass and it is really easy to use if you get the steps laid out properly.

Donna - BellaDonna Glass

Mimi

[Mountain Snail]

Bell Flowers all made with teal-icious frit. :love: Love this stuff!

[jaci]

I've had some cracking issues with effete clear and moody blue.

[Donna Milliron]

Hi Jaci,

I test every single batch of BellaDonna Glass against Effetre clear for compatibility and none of it goes out if it is even a smidge off. Not sure what the cracking issues might be, let me know, send a pic to donna@arrowsprings.com, maybe I can suss out the problem.

Donna Milliron, Arrow Springs, BellaDonna Glass, Dazzlings! Frit Blends

[jaci]

Thanks Donna. I think I threw the beads out. I had made beads that were a effetre clear base with mb and 2 other bd color stripes (not overlapping) and dots that I reduced and encased with effetre clear. And single color w/clear beads as well. They were all test beads for me. And all had cracks in the middle of each dot or around the stripe edge. I had even redone a few just because I thought I somehow picked up another coefficient. But nope.. They all had the same issues. The stripes were not encased. Just the dots, for reference.

I think the three colors i have are moody blue the purple-ishious and the honey something.