Polka dot question!

[cbeadies]

I have been trying to make a set of round polka dot beads, white effetre 004 dots on bright coloured beads, but my dots don't look as good as I had hoped. 
They seem to 'disappear' into the bead a bit and look a bit 'faded' instead of nice and crisp and white looking.
Should I try a different white glass? Or am I melting the dots in too quickly - tho' I am on a Hothead and it seems to take ages to melt them down.
Lots of you seem to have fab polka dot beads on your websites - please tell me the secret of the perfect polka dot!
Thanks,
Jill

[Funky Cow]

Generally, white 'sinks in' or 'frays at the edges' on opaque glass (dontcha love my techni-speak  ) Have you tried it on transparent? I bet you'll find it behaves differently  

edit to say: don't forget that effetre black is also a transparent - white polkas on black look good  

[Lloki]

Generally, white 'sinks in' or 'frays at the edges' on opaque glass (dontcha love my techni-speak  ) Have you tried it on transparent? I bet you'll find it behaves differently  

edit to say: don't forget that effetre black is also a transparent - white polkas on black look good  

Ditto - white dots on transparents works very well (lovely lesson from Laura ) also, if you still want to use them on a bright opaque, why not try making a base bead in desired colour, thin layer of clear encasing and dot on top of that? Lovely effect with loads of depth?
If you really want to still put them directly onto an opaque, I've been advised to work cool and gently marver them in immediately after placing, to help set them and stop them spreading!
Good luck with your quest

Cerri

[Trudi]

definately better on tranparents. But I had problems with effetre white dots-I now use CIM's Peace and it's much better (except on a base of Leaky Pen for some reason!

[helbels]

White dots on transparents, then etched are GORGEOUS - all frosty and yummy and lovely.  See Lush Julie's beads in this month's Beads and Beyond for examples...

[Mary]

Oh, where did my reply go? Oops!
Effetre white can disappear, it spreads too thin. CIM Peace seems more dense, so you might have better luck. But do try being more gentle with the Effetre, heat it slowly and don't blast it, you should get better results.

[sublimekate]

COloured dots on effetre white work great though :0)

K xx

[cbeadies]

thank you so much for all these very helpful replies - I shall be trying out all the suggestions as soon as possible.
Just wish it was a bit warmer in my garage this evening!

Jill