CiM: Messy Color™ Luzern Ltd Run, A cloudy transparent pinkish purple.

Messy Color™ Luzern Ltd Run

511924 - Sold Out

A cloudy transparent pinkish purple.

"In general, I have found the Cloudy Transparent colours [including Luzern] to be a bit shocky. For the most part, this was quite manageable and well worth the effort, at least for the colours I've tried so far. Heather is the one that I've had the most trouble with out of this group. Another thing common to all of these colours [so far] is that they can be easy to boil, so you really have to watch your heat. This is true not only with fine stringer, but also when applying the glass from the rod to your bead. Work higher up in the flame and a bit cooler to avoid this problem. I have not specifically tested any of these for colour reactions yet. When I do, I might find out something interesting, but so far they do not seem very reactive with other colours." Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

Click here for other interesting Luzern Ltd Run discoveries.

Melanie Graham

Laura Sparling

Suzy Hannabuss

Jolene Wolfe

CiM Tester Feedback

Luzern is a cloudy transparent.

Luzern is named for the hometown of our illustrious and loyal CiM reseller crea-arte. This color matches their logo. Thank you, crea-arte, for your support of CiM!

Testers were divided on whether or not they liked the cloudy transparents.

"I like the cloudy transparents. Lots!" – Carol Ann Savage

"I didn't get on with the cloudy transparents. If you can add more pigment and they are not shocky, I think they would be good." – Suzy Hannabuss

"I found the cloudy transparent glass to be much stiffer than other glass so it was a bit hard to sculpt with." – Lori Peterson

"I had rods of cloudy transparent colors that were light as well as rods that were very dark. I made some beads with the dark rod of Watermelon and very little light came through the glass and the color was unappealing to me. However, the dark rod of Chocolate is a very nice brown. With such a huge difference between rods, I think it’s kind of a confusing sale if dark and light rods are presented as the same color." – Gloria Sevey

Many testers reported that our cloudy transparents were prone to shockiness or breakage. **Please pre-warm / pre-anneal rods accordingly.**

"In general, I have found the Cloudy Transparent colours to be a bit shocky. For the most part, this was quite manageable and well worth the effort, at least for the colours I've tried so far." Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

"I experienced neither shockiness nor boiling with the cloudy transparents. I did use a cool flame though. I’ve changed my method of introducing glass rods to the flame which reduces shocking considerably [almost non-existent unless there are holes in the rod]. I rotate the tip of my rod way above the flame for a short time and then slowly rotate it downward into the flame. It’s usually starting to melt by that time. That said, not everyone uses this cautious of a method and might have rods being shocky because of being put into the flame when they’re still cold." – Gloria Sevey

"In the new cloudy colors it does seem the thicker the rod the more saturated the color seems to be. I had zero issue with Heather, Morgan and Watermelon. However my beloved Pink Lemonade and Vintage Rose were super shocky even with kiln warming." – Michelle Veizaga

"Heather is a little shocky so a little pre-warming and careful introduction to the flame is all that’s needed. I’ve not had a lot of luck as Heather layered over Effetre White cracked [probably thermal] and when I tried over CiM Peace I got all sorts of crazy cracks. I found Chocolate a bit shocky, certainly more so than Watermelon which surprised me since they are both cloudy transparents and made in the same way. However pre-warming the rod seemed to help and the shocky-ness certainly wouldn’t put me off." – Heather Johnson

"I agree with the mostly-too-shocky." – Dwyn Tomlinson

"I made a clear base and encased with the cloudy transparents, but sadly the beads cracked." – Trudi Doherty

"I experienced micro cracks when combining several of the cloudy transparents with 96 COE frit." – Darlene Collette

"I didn’t have any problems with the cloudy transparents! They weren’t shocky or boiled, but I have to admit, that I work in a cold flame and very carefully to prevent any bad incident." – Claudia Eidenbenz

"I found them intolerably shocky." – Laurie Nessel

"I preheated all the testing rods in a Devardi rod warmer as it was particularly cold in the UK at that time and this is something I always do that time of year. By doing this I didn't experience any shockiness. I also used a very thin encasement of Effetre Superclear 006 before applying cloudy transparents as an encasement - no issues." – Juliette Mullett

"I found the cloudy transparents shocky, that they boiled easily in the flame which created micro bubbles on the surface of beads, and that under clear encasement some of them cracked." – Jolene Wolfe

Some testers reported that our cloudy transparents were prone to boiling.

"I did find some cloudy transparents could boil if you worked them too hot. I like to work them cooler and with not too much oxygen in the flame." – Trudi Doherty

"I had no issues with any of the cloudy transparents apart from a little bubbling in 1 or 2 of them." – Juliette Mullett

"Another thing common to all of these colours [so far] is that they can be easy to boil, so you really have to watch your heat. This is true not only with fine stringer, but also when applying the glass from the rod to your bead. Work higher up in the flame and a bit cooler to avoid this problem." Read more at Melanie's blog. – Melanie Graham

Testers were divided on whether or not they liked the wispy or streaky quality of the cloudy transparents.

"All but two of the new color strands sold and the two that didn’t sell didn’t get much attention [Chocolate and Heather, both cloudy transparents]. I think that maybe those cloudy transparents just didn’t have enough zing to capture the mood hopes of this moment in time." – Gloria Sevey

"There are lots of straight transparents. I'd vote for more cloudy transparents. If the glass is wispy then you can use those qualities to your advantage when making beads." – Carol Ann Savage

"I loved the wispy/streaky quality, for me that was a big part of the attraction." – Trudi Doherty

"I think the wispy/streaky quality is great for certain designs, but it's not something I prefer." – Laurie Nessel

"I quite like the wispy quality, but I do like the more saturated streaks." – Heather Johnson

"Some of my studio mates were unhappy with the color saturation in the cloudy transparents, particularly when making blown beads." – Janet Evans

"I thought the wispiness was an upside. We have lots of solid colours and very few wispy ones. My opinion is that the wispiness is a plus and fills a gap." – Melanie Graham

Special thanks to Suzy Hannabuss & Jolene Wolfe 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.

– Melanie Graham

"Luzern is stunning! I’m hoping this can be recreated. It’s a juicy, pinkish purple that is less transparent than Heather but, in my humble opinion, deserves a place in the Messy Color purple palette."

– Gloria Sevey

"Luzern is in really small quantities and will be hard to find. It is a slightly darker version of Heather. I really like it." Read more at DragonJools blog.

– Dwyn Tomlinson

"This cloudy transparent is called Luzern because its colour matches the logo of Crea-Arte who are located in Luzern/Lucerne in Switzerland. Crea-Arte will be the main place you can get this particular glass. And what a glass it is! I love it. It's a gorgeous, rich orchid pinky-purple and judging by its original number it's a variant of CiM Heather. It melted with no trouble and I only wish I had more of it to play with. Beautiful glass! The beads were photographed indoors in natural daylight." Read more at Laura's blog.

– Laura Sparling

"Another stunning cloud color from CiM, similar to Heather, but this one leans more towards the purple scale. On the left I've used it over white to show the wisps of colour, on the right is solid Luzern. This was only produced in a small batch, and will mostly be available at crea-arte since it matches their logo, and Luzern is the owner's hometown. Like Heather, I'm sure this will be one in demand. So I say to Kathy at CiM: 'keep playing and coming up with these fabulous colours, we love them.'"

– Trudi Doherty

"A beautiful streaky glass that has a wonderful wispy look and feel to it which creates layers of subtle colours that are wonderfully translucent with fine layers of strands of a heather purple. Not seen another colour like this and is more intense when used on its own, but has a mystical look when used with clear. A versatile colour that can be used in many ways. Less is more with this glass which brings out the beauty of the colour."

– Juliette Mullett