The main issue with painting light bulbs is the need for non-aqueous paints (water-based paints won't adhere properly to the glass and will soon flake off).
I know Krylon makes a line of translucent spray paints intended for stained-glass, but I have not tried them; if the paint is able to resist the temperature of the bulb (shouldn't be too hot with #44s) it could be an easy solution.
I have experimented with using alcohol inks for this purpose with flasher bulbs. Bottom line is it's very easy to layer it on a light bulb and get good, saturated colors, but the coating is not particularly heat-resistant and deteriorates fairly quickly. I am still experimenting with various brands of ink (wife uses them in crafting) to solve the heat problem, but given that #44 bulbs run cooler it could work in your situation.
If you want frosted appearance, the silicone sleeves you mention are fine (and won't melt); the light quality is similar to the old frosted X-mas lights.
One thing to note which may save some frustration is the fact that it's almost impossible to get good blue or purple light out of an incandescent, regardless of the paint method used; the best you will be able to do is a somewhat washed-out bluish-white color (because incandescents inherently emit much less blue/purple light than longer wavelength red/orange/yellow).