CiM: Messy Color™ Elixir Sparkle Ltd Run, Elixir with gold aventurine- the color ranges from a light lime to a swirly forest green, depending on how it is worked.

Messy Color™ Elixir Sparkle Ltd Run

511486 - Sold Out

Elixir Sparkle Ltd Run (511486)<br />Elixir with gold aventurine- the color ranges from a light lime to a swirly forest green, depending on how it is worked.

Elixir with gold aventurine- the color ranges from a light lime to a swirly forest green, depending on how it is worked.

"Elixir Sparkle, which doesn't sparkle, or match Elixir, so not sure what to say about that. It's a pretty cool colour, actually, the poor thing just looks drab in the company of all these other juicy greens." Read more at DragonJools' blog. – Dwyn Tomlinson

Click here for other interesting Elixir Sparkle Ltd Run discoveries.

Alexis Berger

Jolene Wolfe

Kathy Dodson

Melanie Graham

Gloria Sevey

Laura Sparling

CiM Tester Feedback

Elixir Sparkle is Elixir with gold aventurine frit. Testers reported that the sparkle in the rods burned out when worked. Testers also reported a mixed forest green color when Elixir Sparkle was used on its own.

"My test beads haven't managed to show any of the subtle sparkle you find in the Elixir Sparkle rods - I don't know if it is because the glass is becoming darker and more opaque when worked or if I was working too hot and burning out the sparkles and so I decided to try again the next day and work cooler. The results are interesting as the beads came out a lighter and slightly less opaque shade than my previous Elixir Sparkle beads and spacers but I still couldn't see any of the sparkles." – Jolene Wolfe

"Elixir Sparkle boasts an array of reactions from caramel apple green to a light lime with dazzling gleam. The variations in color are easy to develop through quick working or repeated heating/cooling/tooling. A quick bead will deliver a bead similar in color to the rod. Encasing a base bead in clear will yield a sparkling delight. Prolonged heating, cooling, tooling with a mold will develop a deep caramel apple color." – Heather Sellers

"Once the glass is melted the sparkle is pretty much invisible. This isn’t a case of me working too hot and burning the aventurine out because I work very cool and very slowly. The only other sparkly glass I have used in the past is Vetrofond Pineapple Sparkle. That was absolutely loaded with aventurine and it glittered like Liberace in a Las Vegas mirror ball showroom. When I used Pineapple Sparkle I did nothing fancy to retain the sparkliness. It was just there - you could see the glitter in the glass in rod form, while you were melting it, while you were making your bead, and after it was annealed. Elixir Sparkle has a fraction of the aventurine of Pineapple Sparkle and I think that’s the issue - it needs a lot more aventurine in it. I couldn’t really see the aventurine while I was melting the glass and I tried my strongest macro lens on the finished beads and I saw no glimmer." – Laura Sparling

"Elixir Sparkle, oh how I wanted this to be the color it was in rod form but alas I couldn't retain the sparkle no matter what I did." – Caroline Davis

"I didn't really like this color, it looks too murky and I didn't get any sparkle." – Suzanne Cancilla-Fox

"I didn't see sparkle in any final product that was from a rod of 'sparkle' variety. I was bummed." – Marcy Lamberson

"For me there is not enough sparkling." – Claudia Eidenbenz

Special thanks to Pati Walton, Heather Sellers, Renee Wiggins, & Suzanne Cancilla-Fox for providing the photos in this section.

Join Trudi Doherty's FB group Lampwork Colour Resource Sharing Information for a catalogue of color study.
Claudia Eidenbenz’s "Vetrothek" (glass library) is a great resource for color comparisons.
See Kay Powell’s frit testing samples.
Browse Serena Thomas’ color gallery.
Check out Miriam Steger’s CiM color charts.
Consult Jolene Wolfe's glass testing resource page.

"Here you can see Elixir [left] beside its cousin, Elixir Sparkle [right]. I found that Elixir Sparkle was not actually sparkly because the aventurine melted as I melted the glass, but it does end up an interesting streaky colour, quite a bit darker than Elixir-no-sparkle." Read more at Melanie's blog.

– Melanie Graham

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"Anole, Elixir, and Elixir Sparkle all started out as the same hue. Anole is a light green opal that stays translucent after annealing, Elixir is a misty opal, and Elixir Sparkle has gold aventurine in it, which changes how it looks depending on how it is used. It can go from quite light to a swirly forest green. Honestly, I wasn't able to coax the sparkle out of Elixir Sparkle. It did change colors a bit for me, but the aventurine wasn't too apparent in my beads. However, I did love the basic color." From Marcy's article in Glass Bead Evolution Volume 7- Issue 2, 2019.

– Marcy Lamberson

A comparison of CiM greens.

– Laura Sparling

"For me, Elixir Sparkle went a bit more olive than it seems that other testers got. It was also rather shocky for me. It is still a nice opal olive- it still retains its translucency- but no sparkle."

– Caroline Davis

"Elixir Sparkle is the same glass as Elixir but with added gold aventurine, in the rod you can see the sparkle and it is reasonably close to Elixir. Once it's worked in the flame it becomes much darker and intense [my beads are only 13mm] and you can see striations. Sadly the sparkle is not visible in these beads, but I still love it for the colour it gives!"

– Trudi Doherty

"It's hard to believe how different Elixir Sparkle is from original Elixir! It's a lot more green, a lot more dense in opacity, and has hints of swirly sparkly brown, thanks to the aventurine. The sparkle is very subtle, however. You can see it better in strong light, but not so much in regular lighting. I think it's a very unique color, and would be great for making seaweed or used in aquatic designs."

– Renee Wiggins

"The darker hearts are made with Elixir Sparkle. In rod form Elixir Sparkle looks the same shade as Elixir but with tiny gold glittery inclusions. When I worked the glass it darkened up quite considerably to give this swirly forest fern almost opaque green shade." Read more at Kitzbitz Art Glass' blog.

– Jolene Wolfe

"Elixir Sparkle is CiM Elixir, a misty opal, with added aventurine. In rod form, Elixir Sparkle is quite a yellow-green and the aventurine is visible and the colour darkens to a not-so-yellow green in the kiln. I assume this is due to the aventurine. As a glass, it’s fine. It’s easy to use, fuss-free, and a very nice shade of soft green which has that translucent milkiness thing going on. It’s just lacking sparkle. The photographs were taken indoors in natural daylight." Read more at Laura's tumblr.

– Laura Sparling