[Emily]

As a general rule for Effetre (Moretti) the transparents are stiff and the opaques are soft. If you put a dot of opaque on a transparent base, the dot will spread out. If you put a dot of transparent on an opaque base, the dot will sink in. Within each group, some colors are stiffer and some colors are softer. The aquamarines are among the stiffest of the Effetre transparent colors, if not the absolute stiffest. White and ivory are among the softest of the Effetre opaques. Don't forget that black is a transparent -- it may look like an opaque, but it's actually very dark transparent purple. (Vetrofond black is transparent blue.)

Some colors spread more than others. The greens are notorious. They spread like kudzu, and try to take everything over.

The classic "triangle" bead is a black base (a transparent) with white dots (an opaque) with dots of a couple of deep transparents on top of the white. Because the white dots spread, they carry the deep transparents with them. Of course, the white also makes the transparents show up more.

Either effect -- the spreading out or the sinking in -- gets more pronounced the more you heat the bead. If for some reason you want to use a transparent dot on an opaque base and don't want it to sink in, try to keep the bead as cool as possible to minimize the sinking. The more you heat the bead, the more the dot is going to sink. Likewise, the more you heat an opaque dot on a transparent base, the more it's going to spread.

To get the dots to press against each other and change each other's shape, you need to melt them down at the same time. The dots can't be touching each other before they're melted down, or they'll run together. If the dot isn't standing up straight on the bead before you melt it, it may melt down at an angle (unless the way you heat it straightens it out) and give you a misshapen spot on the bead.

So much for basic dot technique -- if what you want is magic color reactions (which color placed next to which other color will make the first color separate), I haven't a clue. I'll be watching this space too!

(The general rule of transparents being stiff and opaques being soft pretty much holds true for any of the 104 glass. I can't think of any exceptions right now. Bullseye I think is entirely different, and I haven't a glimmer of an idea about Reichenbach.)