How Do You Know Which Colour Is Which?

[2tumblingdragonz]

I'd like to know how you keep track of what colour is what. Just the base colour, not even getting into reactions.

Do you use a printed commercial color chart?

A home printed color chart?

do you make gathers flatten them and post them on poster board hung on the wall?

do you make leaves or wings or whatever on the ends of rods--I've been making leaves, but then how do you keep those so you can tell what's what? Like I have jars of rods with leaves on the ends, that are labelled but it's still a big mess.

Or how do YOU do it?

thanks

namaste
Rowyn

[nickandryan]

Hi Rowyn-

I guess I just know what each does, and I use them specifically for different uses. for example, I have 4-5 blacks. Effetre and Vetrofond for bases, Effetre Intense black on ivories for webbing, CIM Tuxedo for raised scrollwork and details, and Reichenbach (just discovered this black) for melted in fine detail (stays dense without webbing). I have them all together but labeled in my drawer. When they are on my work table, I do press the ends of the Intense black into a paddle so I don't accidently use it up as a base for a bead Other than that, I guess I just look at them as differnet tools for different uses. I do get my sky blues and turquoises mixed up all the time tho

I think a chart would definitely help, maybe 1" rods pressed into a paddle at the end? Laura

[Flonche]

I make a spacer with each new color that I get, anneal it, write the ref. # on it with a white paint pen. Label rods when confusion is likely (most transparent and striking colors, some opaques like corals, reds, black, whites, etc).

[jaci]

I keep a 3 ring binder with baseball card insert pages in it. Then I put the bead/rod piece/twistie/etc in the slot. You can seal the slot w/tale or glue dots or whatever if you want or just leave it upright on the bookshelf. It is easy to write a note about the color combo/effect/working tips etc on a small piece of paper and slip it in or stick a lable to the front or back of the slot too. I have one for a color chart, one for twisties and I think it's time for one more!! I have a poster glass color chart as well. It came with an order I placed. I have done the paddle thing, and it's helpful finding a color in my stash more than using it to identify it IMO.

[MelanieG]

I make test beads out of the colours, photograph them and then post them on my blog with the results of my testing. I find it really helps me keep things organized.

I have another blog, which is private so that only I can see it, where I post all of my colour combinations, cane recipes and other random thoughts about glass so that it's in an organized place. This lets me organize things easily by manufacturer, colour name, reaction effect, kind of thought (vine cane, murrini, colour combo, etc) so that I can retrieve them super-fast.

[Elizabeth Beads]

I memorize them.

[jamie lynne]

Ya'll make this way to hard, and I'm OCD. I label my rods. Each n' everyone. But that is as far as it goes.

[SilverRiverJewelry]

I label all of my rods too.

[BrownGirl]

Originally Posted by erose

I memorize them.

We know.

And we're jealous.

[BrownGirl]

Originally Posted by jamie lynne

Ya'll make this way to hard, and I'm OCD. I label my rods. Each n' everyone. But that is as far as it goes.

Me too. Every damn rod that comes into this house gets labeled.

[Elizabeth Beads]

What's a label?

[BrownGirl]

Originally Posted by erose

What's a label?

Now you're just showing off!

[Ravenesque]

Originally Posted by erose

I memorize them.

Same here, which is funny now that I think of it, all those colors!
And I forget why I walked into a room

[Lisi]

I make over 500 color combinations and they are all stored in my memory, believe it not! lol! I will forget what day of the week it is (a night shift worker problem) but then remember how I made a set of beads from years ago.

I will be adding about 200-300 more in the next year so I got an index card file for those. This is what I will write on the cards:

1) base color and rod diameter (diameter is important for sizing)
2) how many wraps and/or dots for the base bead
3) frit color or blend and vendor
4) the twisty I used and exactly how I made it
5) what sizes in the color combo I make - teeny tiny, mini, petites, 12mm, or focals
6) picture of sold set and page # in my Etsy's sold items, or file ID on computer

I get requests for remakes often and sometimes it's something I made just a few times and years ago for ebay. The customer will send me a picture to jog my memory, because sometimes the name of the set will slip my mind.

[Three Muses Glass]

Everything gets labeled except for the basic Effetre. I have boro, Bullseye and 104 and I'd be sooo lost without labels. I've even taken to labeling the 104 clears cuz there are so many of them now.

[Kalorlo]

I label nearly all my rods. Effetre black and white are unlabelled, so are the Effetre ivories, as I can tell them by eye. All the other blacks, whites and colours are labelled. (I put dates on them too, in case of batch problems).

[rosemarie23]

Originally Posted by Oenone

I have another blog, which is private so that only I can see it, where I post all of my colour combinations, cane recipes and other random thoughts about glass so that it's in an organized place. This lets me organize things easily by manufacturer, colour name, reaction effect, kind of thought (vine cane, murrini, colour combo, etc) so that I can retrieve them super-fast.

I never thought of this! What a great idea.

I label all of my rods, Manufacturer, Color, date and where purchased.

As for twisties or other reactions, I used to snip a piece of twistie and glue it into an index card with the recipe. After a couple of years, the twisties fell off the cards. I would not recommend this method.

[sweetiedog]

Now that is something I would totally love to "hack" into and take a few peaks at ...

Originally Posted by Oenone

I have another blog, which is private so that only I can see it, where I post all of my colour combinations, cane recipes and other random thoughts about glass so that it's in an organized place. This lets me organize things easily by manufacturer, colour name, reaction effect, kind of thought (vine cane, murrini, colour combo, etc) so that I can retrieve them super-fast.

I'm still trying to figure out a system. Right now I just have everything in bundles the way it comes from the supplier ... but the minute I pull a rod out and it ends up on my bench I go from memory and hope to heck I don't remember wrong.

[Polgarra]

I label them if they aren't already. If I am really lazy and they aren't already labeled then I just rubber band them together with one labeled.

[rosemarie23]

Originally Posted by Polgarra

I label them if they aren't already. If I am really lazy and they aren't already labeled then I just rubber band them together with one labeled.

Another warning - rubber bands can deteriorate and have a complete failure way faster than you can imagine. If you have say, Hades, Effetre Black, and Vetrofond Black together in a slot, but separated by rubber bands - you can quickly have a mixed batch of black. You can guess how I know this. It's possible to figure them out, but, yuck, who wants to do this?

Maybe it's just my studio...

Glue-B-Gone and Rubber Band Particles. Yep, that's me.

[Leslie Dana]

Originally Posted by SilverRiverJewelry

I label all of my rods too.

Me too.

[Elizabeth Beads]

I use pony tail elastics, the metal-free ones, to hold my bundles. They do lose their stretchiness over time, but they don't turn to cement or fail completely like rubber bands do. I use two per bundle and replace them as needed.

One thing I do have is separate sections for different vendors, so all my CiM glass is in one section and all my Effetre is in another. No chance of 064 cross-pollinating with Hades.

I do mark my bins with the maker and the CoE, silver glass, etc. but that is mostly for "in case something happens to me, don't sell the Z-99 or the Double Helix for $5."

[BrownGirl]

Originally Posted by erose

I use pony tail elastics, the metal-free ones, to hold my bundles. They do lose their stretchiness over time, but they don't turn to cement or fail completely like rubber bands do. I use two per bundle and replace them as needed.

One thing I do have is separate sections for different vendors, so all my CiM glass is in one section and all my Effetre is in another. No chance of 064 cross-pollinating with Hades.

I do mark my bins with the maker and the CoE, silver glass, etc. but that is mostly for "in case something happens to me, don't sell the Z-99 or the Double Helix for $5."

This made me snort. I just know that if something happens to me, my husband will have NO IDEA what stuff in my studio is worth. I'm scared.

[Pia Kaven]

Ok, I am super excited of my stepdad building a storage system for me right now... Hopefully that will keep my glass in some sort of order...

I dont keep a track of combinations or other stuff like that other than in my head, but I keep book of all the colors I have, I have this handwritten version of book keeping, and it is kinda sucky, but it gives me strange satisfaction to make lists, and have them written out. It would be much better on the computer, but I cant see myself writing forever those numbers and names for the rods. Yikes.

But how I keep my rods from mixing up with other stuff? I have only two rods labeled. The one I am using, and also one in a bundle that is stored. When my rod gets too short to use, I melt the new rod onto it, and dont need relabeling. That said, it doesnt save me from the batch problems, or variations between the batches, but I couldnt make the stashmaster labeling system to work on my computer at all, no idea why, so this will do now.

What I am curious about is how do people keep inventory of their glass? Is there a place where you can upload to your computer the spread sheets, so you dont have to hand type all the millions of glasses to your computer... and then end up with bunch of mistakes? Anyone have any they would be willing to share with?

[krisb16]

StashMaster Database. (It's at the top of the Tips & Techniques thread.)

[Pia Kaven]

Oh wow, it has it all... I really wish I could get it to work. I need to try one more time!

[Elizabeth Beads]

Originally Posted by BrownGirl

This made me snort. I just know that if something happens to me, my husband will have NO IDEA what stuff in my studio is worth. I'm scared.

Haha! It's sort of like the person who only puts $2 of gas in the car at a time, in case something happens to them (which is so not me). But really, once we are gone, is it really going to matter?

Still, I look at glass as in investment (or maybe I rationalize it that way). I'm a glass collector as well as a beadmaker. So if I am spending my kids' inheritance on glass, someone might as well have a clue what is what, at least in a general sense, like 90 from 96 from 104 from boro.

As far as inventory, now that the weather is nice, I have thought about pulling my glass out, washing and weighing it and making a list. I'm just a little bit scared to know exactly how much it really is. And besides it will only get dusty again anyway.

[demcc2]

I've been labelling mine. Well, most of mine. There are still some DH rods that aren't.

Duane

[Lisi]

On labeling rods - When I get a glass order in I label all of what needs to be right away. All of the colors that look the same like black, ambers, pale transparents, just to keep from mixing COEs. I use return address labels, cut in half.

[SuzyQ]

I have a lot memorized and can identify a past set to remake. I think it comes with experience. I do have my rods labeled. I have 4 coe's and some glass that is only compatible with itself.