Jan, I'm going to post a close-up of our Fire & Ice with the 2"x2" burnt umber glass added. This will help others get better idea what you're looking for.

I will also email my KD to see if she has any suggestions.

Jodi-

Thought I added the photo, sorry about that.

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I'm sure Oceanside Glasstile has a similarly colored 1x1 glass tile in either irridescent or non or even matte. Like Harvest, Amber or Henna? I've included a link below.

We have a custom mix of Oceanside glass tile in our bathroom that we love. Every time I'm in the tile store I try to convince myself that I can figure out a way to make it work in our kitchen too.

Here is a link that might be useful: Oceanside glass tile colors

Jan, I just called my HD and it appears you already talked to her. She worries that what she suggested might have corners that are too square.

Maybe Jeffrey Court could suggest something.

Jodi-

Well, after multiple phone calls, I tracked the 2X2 tiles down and want to share the information in case anyone else needs it. MasterTile in Anaheim, CA, still has approx. 1800 sq.ft. of the amber tiles; it has been discontinued but will be available until it all sells. Their phone number is (714)712-8210. The product ID is: INT-ILV-BURAMB. I ordered 2 sq.ft. for a total cost, including $15 shipping to Texas, for $50.00.

That is the good news. The bad news is, I found out late yesterday afternoon that the Fire and Ice is backordered until OCTOBER 31. I can't imagine waiting another 2 months for my backsplash to finally be completed, but I love the tile sooo much that I am willing to wait.

Thanks again for everyone's help!!

I've been waiting 2 months just to get a sample to see it in person.

I'm glad you found the tile you want. Just in case others are looking, I should have said above that Oceanside has the glass mosaic tiles in various sizes, including 2x2.

Jan, not to add doubt to your life, but are you sure amber is going to be darker than the darkest glass tile in Fire & Ice? (assuming you want something darker)

We referred to what comes with F&I as amber and our added (darker) pieces are burnt umber (a dark amber).

Jodi-

I wasn't specific enough, it is the burnt umber that I ordered from MasterTile. I will let everyone know when I receive it if is the right color. I have my fingers crossed!!!

I bet Jeffrey Court has been bombarded with orders for Fire and Ice since Jodi posted her pictures!!

Whew, thanks for the clarification Jan.

I do often wonder how much business or at least inquiries Jeffrey Court has gotten since I posted the photos last January.

Jodi-

Jodi, I think you've inspired plenty of business! I'm trying to figure out if this beautiful tile would work in my kitchen too.

Could I ask a few more questions? Do you think yours reads with any green undertones? Did you seal with an enhancer to deepen the color or just an impregnator that maintains the unsealed color?

After waiting for several months for a sample, I was finally able to bring one home today. We wetted it in the showroom and 2 people read green undertones along with gray, amber and gold. My 12 x 12 sample is more subdued than yours. I don't have any of the beautiful "tiger stripping". I would imagine coloration depends on what's currently being mined.

Boysrus2, a gal from the company we got our backsplash and flooring from came over today to take photos of our kitchen. I asked her what she saw as far as undertones. She listed everything but green.

There are certainly grays, golds and, as she put it, 'earthtones', but not really any greentones.

Just because you didn't get any tiger stripping on your 12x12 sample, don't think that is how every 12x12 will look. The gal that was over today told me that quartzite is as varied as a stone can get. It's just the luck of the draw when you start ordering for your backsplash or flooring. Had I known that going in, I may not have ordered it, since I'm not good with surprises. In fact, the reason we ended up with Fire & Ice is because the backsplash we had settled on weeks earlier (a silver tumbled slate) was coming out of the quarry blue by the time we were ready to order. Thankfully we were able to see what a new lot looked like right before ordering and saved ourselves a lot of grief.

Jodi-

I wouldn't say it has green undertones. There's a lot of different colors. I've taken some pictures (with flash) to show you what I have - from far away and up close. Also, this isn't grouted yet. We're DIY'ing the backsplash (very VERY slowly since we have a 1 year old and only work on it past 11 pm on nights we're not too tired), so we're not quite done yet.

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Thanks Gozalyn for posting your photos. It's interesting to see the actual Fire & Ice as it was meant to be (i.e., without added glass). I really like it either way. It works well with your cabinets and counters.

How did you find Fire & Ice, here or in a store display?

Jodi-

Jodi, thanks for the compliment. Of course, you were my inspiration! Since I didn't have dark cabinets like you, I chose not to swap out the glass. The store display board didn't do it justice. Thanks for posting all of your pictures.

I was able to find it at a local tile store in Oakland with no shipping charges for $13.65/sheet of tile, so I'm quite glad it wasn't too expensive.

When I was trying to decide on my countertop (Silestone Capri Limestone), everybody thought I was a bit odd to make my countertop selection around my backsplash selection. They thought it was a bit backwards.

Gozalyn -

Your backsplash - is that the Jeffrey Court tile (fire & ice), just without the amber glass that jodi used? It makes a bigg difference. Love them both!

Wow that fire and Ice is beautiful stuff!

Sorry to hijack but, Gozalyn what color sink strainer did you install with your anthracite sink? thanks

Thanks for the compliments. I have to say, I like my backsplash too! Thanks again Jodi for the inspiration.

Yes, that's the Brick Quartz Fire & Ice with no replacements on the glass.

I actually have the Cafe Brown silgranit sink. I'm not using a sink strainer, just what came with the Insinkerator. Not that you asked, but I still have to go find the air switch button in Oil Rubbed Bronze.

Gozalyn, your Fire and Ice looks great! I too am planning on using it without glass substitution. And, like you, I love this tile so much that I am basing my countertop decision on my backsplash. My backsplash will go to the ceiling, and I think it will be the wow factor in my kitchen. You were really lucky to be able to find F&I as cheaply as you did, and no shipping to boot. Well done!

Please tell-- does the mesh backing show through the glass tiles, especially the clear ones, after the tile has been set?

Boys- are you sure you got the quarzite Fire and Ice? I do not see any greens in the sample I picked up today. Perhaps they sent you the slate version of Fire and Ice?

I LOVE that Fire and Ice. Once again though....a backsplash that I could not possibly use because my granite is very busy. I am sure enjoying seeing it in everyone elses kitchen though!!

Gozalyn, wow, you indeed did get a great price! I think the average price is $16-$18.

I see nothing at all odd about choosing your countertop based on your backsplash when it's something like Fire & Ice!

Jan, the gal we got our Fire & Ice sample from was over last weekend to take photos of our kitchen for her album. When I told her that it was backordered until October 31st she didn't believe me. Monday she called her distributor and was told indeed it was backordered until the end of October. She believes the shortage could really be linked to the first photos I posted to the forum last January. :-)

I want to see more photos of your kitchen Gozalyn once you're all done. And step back a bit when you take one of the pictures so we can get a look of the whole kitchen.

Morton5, you too! Take photos and post them here please. I love to see Fire & Ice in other kitchens.

Jodi-

Many thanks Jodi. You're so kind to answer my questions!

Gozalyn, your backsplash looks great! It was helpful to see the backsplash without any tile substitutions as I was planning on using it as is too. My cabs are caramel color, so I think the lighter glass is perfect.

Morton5, I don't know what they gave me. I wasn't given a choice of quartzite or slate. I'm going to call today to see what I've got. That may explain a lot.

Well, I just confirmed that I do have a quartzite sample. The green undertones come out when the tile is sealed with an enhancer. We saw this when we wetted the tile. I'm told I'll be o.k. if I only use a tile impregnator that will not deepen the colors.
FYI for others, my quote is $15.03 sf + $100 or more for shipping to Georgia.

Looks like the price is coming down! Great news.

Boysrus2, the enhancer could be the reason you are seeing greens I suppose. We only sealed the backsplash, no enhancer. I would love to see a photo of someone using enhanced Fire & Ice though.

Jodi-

Boys, I wetted the sample I picked up today, and the greens do come out. It looks nice, though, and won't clash with the rest of my scheme. Jodi or berryberry if you are out there, did you apply enhancer? I'm not sure if this is an enhancer or natural differences in stone issue.

I like the tile both ways (enhanced and not). It will be tough to decide whether to use enhancer!

We did not use enhancer, only a sealant.

Jodi-

Oops, sorry Jodi, I see you said that above.

I will certainly take more pictures once we're done. I didn't step back so you wouldn't see the mess on the counters and the window that's not trimmed yet.

We did use the Miracle Seal & Enhance. Perhaps it looks a little lighter since I took the pictures with a flash. We'll probably apply another coat after we grout it. The bottle does say it can take several applications to get the desired effect.

As for seeing the mesh behind the glass. That was totally a problem! I asked berryberry what she did since she was a DIY'er too and she had the same problem. What we ended up doing was cut out all the glass tiles, remove the mesh and then put them on. We called Jeffrey Court and they were surprised that was the case, but they also said they are not installers, just manufacturers.

Our installers told us the mesh disappears if you use a particular quickset or whatever it's called. I think it has to be white for the mesh to disappear.

Jodi-

We did use white thinset, which is what the installation instructions said. Maybe we were doing something wrong since we're DIY'ing and this is our first tiling project. FYI - Berryberry used grey thinset, in case others want to see what that looks like. Her pics are in the finished kitchens blog.

Jodi or gozalyn -

Do you find that there are too many iridescent pieces in your backsplash? Does it sparkle too much?

Jodi - Are your burnt umber tiles iridescent or regular?

I'm considering Fire & Ice, but my husband thinks it's too sparkly.

gozalyn, would you mind sharing the name of the tile shop?

Thanks very much.

Coliseum Stone & Tile - found them from the Jeffrey Court website and called all the stores in the area to compare prices. They were the cheapest.

Well, the glass tiles would certainly sparkle a lot more had my husband not have "Enhanced & Sealed" them when he applied it to the backsplash. I haven't figured out a way to get the enhancer off of the glass tiles yet.

Also, FYI - each sheet of mosaic has 3 or 4 glass tiles to it. I don't think it's too many, but that's a personal opinion.

im a bit colorblind.. and i mean that seriously.. but jodi your tile looks different and more like the picture on the jeffrey court website than gozalyns tile.. is it just the lighting? or are their multiple fire and ice offered? I only saw the one..

Thanks, gozalyn. Much appreciated.

Jodi and I have the same tiles - the quarzite brick Fire & Ice. The difference is partially due to lighting. Either my kitchen's too dark or my camera isn't good enough to take the picture without a flash. But, I think the main difference is because her countertop and cabinets are dark and she added the dark umber glass accents to her backsplash. Also, her backsplash is grouted and mine isn't yet.

I think that's the cool part of this backsplash is that it picks up the surrounding colors since it does have both dark and light colors. Since I have lighter colored counters and cabinets with brown tones, it appears to look different, but if you look closely you can see the same tiles within her backsplash.

Just to provide another reference point, check out berryberry's kitchen. One thing to note is that she used grey thinset, whereas Jodi and I used white.

http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/kitchbath/msg071909356546.html

Neverdunn, I took a very close look at our glass pieces (i.e., from all angles) and cannot answer your question about iridescence. Yes, there is an iridescence on the glass pieces but not all show up as such.

I don't find it distracting or too sparkly and either does my husband.

It's a difficult backsplash to photograph well because of the glass and might explain why each kitchen photo you see using it looks different. Lighting (ambient, under counter, camera), or the lack of, makes a big difference on how it looks in photos.

Jodi-

jan01tx: Did you install the Fire and Ice backsplash? We also have typhoon bordeaux granite and are now looking for backsplash ideas. Thanks, Robin

jan01tx - ditto to robinfromphila's question. I'm looking forward to seeing your backsplash and kitchen!

jodi - I have been looking for pictures of your kitchen but not having any luck. Do you have a link to your pictures? I'm sure it's here, I just can't find it. What I see above, I love your fire and ice and I'm sure your whole kitchen is beautiful.

gozalyn - have you finished yet? I've saved your kitchen as an inspiration, but would like to see more. I love the countertop with the F&I and the ORB faucet and cafe silgranit sink. BTW, what are your cabinets? I know you mentioned it is slow going because of your little one and having to work on it late at night.

morton5 - I saw your fire and ice on your post about removing some tiles. Your kitchen is very beautiful and I like Jodi's suggestions.

I think I'm totally addicted to this website. I don't know how I'll ever incorporate in all the things I love into our future kitchen!! Tough choices are obviously ahead.

Lyno, I haven't posted any photos to the Finished Kitchens blogspot site yet if that's what you're looking for. If you plug Jodi Fire Ice into the Kitchen forum search box, lots of posts with photos of my kitchen should come up.

Jodi-

Is there a place on the internet that you can buy Fire & Ice? I went to the Jeffrey Court website and there aren't any stores near me.

Hey Guys (Jodi/Jan01Tx/Everybody),
I am trying really hard to find the Dark Amber tiles (to replace the while ones in Fire n Ice) in Dallas area but havent had much success. I found some at Daltile, but they are 2x2 in size. To be able to exactly match, they have to be 1 5/8 x 1 5/8 instead. Has somebody found any option lately since Morena #39 isn't there anymore? Is cutting the tile an option?

Please help.