I thought I`d show you my first dabblings into the amazing world of boro!
I bought a few rods of the TAG Purple sable, which not surprisingly didnt turn out too great! Nevermind.... Rome wasnt built in a day and all that! Although, when I annealed them again in the kiln last night (well I wasnt going to lose much was I?!) I was pretty chuffed to say the least. the blues had become much more vibrant and there were now even pinky amber tones coming through. this glass is amazing! Can`t say I`m in love with it yet - it takes a massive amount of skill - I am totally in awe of what the pros can do!
Before:
After: 
(Believe me its not just the lighting!)
If you would like to know more about borosilicate glass please visit: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borosilicate_glass - it is massively detailed and more than you ever need to know.
From a lampworking beady point of view it is much harder to work with in the flame (imagine REALLY hard toffee rather than syrup) but can produce amazing earthy beads with fantastic colours. Oh yeah and the glass is much more expensive!
