Goldstone/Aventurine help - where's my sparkle???

[squid]

I bought a bunch of goldstone in the bulk buy and have pulled stringers in various diameters from 1 to 3 mm from both the blue and the gold.

Blue - sparkly in stringer after pull, but no sparkle when melted flat into the bead - just looks blue

Gold - no sparkle in stringer after pull and no sparkle when melted either. I even made a clear bead yesterday and applied the stringer to that - not a hint of a sparkle.

What am I doing wrong? Is too much heat killing the sparkle? I have to get it pretty heated to pull stringer......

[JavaGirlBT]

Are you encasing your goldstone first?

If not, encase a chunk of goldstone with clear or any other transparent - dark amethyst looks cool - before you pull the stringer. If you don't encase it, the sparkle will burn off.

[JavaGirlBT]

Oh, and even while you're encasing it, work it cool. Heat burns off the sparklies.

[squid]

So it is the heat

yup - I am encasing it - I can tell that it doesn't love heat as I can see the sparkle "burning out" while I am getting it encased to pull.

I will give it another try.

What about melting it in - do I have to work it cool then too?

[JavaGirlBT]

I would. Try using a cold tool like a stump shaper and "pressing" it into the bead instead of melting it. It will also spread out less if you do it that way.