[Cindy2]

Karla,

I'm using the Effetre striking red. I use the Effetre light transparent brown with the iris gold frit really cooked into the stringer. When you pull the stringer if the end of it (where it's thicker) doesn't look hazy like boro, then don't use the stringer, it won't come out like these beads.

I don't think the encasing is what is bringing out the pinks and purples, I can see the iridescence in the bead after I have laid down the stringer and melted it in - before I encase in the clear. If I don't see the iridescence, then the bead is a wash.

In person, these beads are darker like black cherries. I always put the pix through photoshop to lighten the background - otherwise the pictures are too dark. But by doing that, it lightens the whole picture slightly. This is what the beads look like when in the sunlight - I took another pix of them a little farther away so that the beads would look darker - as they are when you are not in the sunlight. These beads definitely have the same characteristics as boro in that they are darker in person. I tried to "lighten" by using a base of clear and then a light layer of the transparent red, but it's the stringer that makes them dark, not the base bead. Less stringer, a little less dark but still dark.

I've included a picture of a base of rubino - thought pink would be pretty - too bad they didn't turn out pink! But still pretty!

Hope that helps!
Cindy

PS - the beads that are on the outer edges are look as the beads do in person, black cherry is all I can think of. The oval bead in the center to your right, the one that looks lighter and red, is actually striking orange - it looks orange out of the sunlight - in the sunlight, you can see it's red-orange.