A Quick Tutorial on Adding Patina to a Copper Ball Chain

I love the warmth of raw copper, it’s very similar to Rose Gold probably because Rose Gold picks up it’s rosiness from Copper :) and with todays  Gold prices copper is VERY affordable. Put a little patina on it and it takes on a calm earthy feel, put a lot of color on it and it takes on the appearance of a relic.  

Today’s blog post shows you how I added a little depth to the copper ball chain I used in last weeks Year of Jewelry post “Charmed I’m Sure”

1: Liver of Sulphur works best if warmed first so I always start by warming some water in the microwave.

2: The metal will take the color faster if it’s clean and warm too so before I add the LOS I drop the chain in the hot water while getting everything ready.

3: Pull the chain out of the water and add a drop or two of the LOS gel.

4: Give it a quick mix and drop your chain back in the LOS mixture. 

It won’t take long at all for the color to appear. 

5: Pull it out to check the color and dunk a time or two, or until you’re happy with it.

6: Rinse it off and buff back the high spots with a little steel wool - I’m using an SOS pad, but you can also use ScotchBrite or 3M products.

If you take it too far back, give it another dunk or two and and start again. Sometimes the color comes up first try and sometimes it takes a couple rounds until you’ve got the depth you’re looking for. 

That’s all there is to it, it’s really very simple. You can play with it some and get a rainbow of colors. I’ve found if you heat your metal and make a weak solution the colors are easier to manage, make sure you seal them once you’re happy though as the patina will continue to darken naturally otherwise.

Week 7 of Year of Jewelry: 

Still on a feather kick with a simple wrap bracelet this week. Turquoise from my favorite purveyor of turquoise MagPie Gemstones, more from my BFF  Moonie, and Coral from House of Gems. Silver hearts and feathers are repurposed from an estate sale find and are most likely plated or “toned”,  vintage seeds (I can verify their age as I bought them new lol) as well as new. A sweet look for an easy on easy off wrap.

Thanks for stopping by!

Dana

On Revisiting a Charmed Piece

Before: Charmed I'm Sure
Apologies, slightly under exposed here.....

Week 6 Already! Wow time is speeding right along! This week’s “A charm”  You might recognize the charms on the necklace. I made them for my loop tutorial found HERE. As you can see, I had put them on a leather cord but I was never quite happy with that. It just seemed too heavy for the dainty charms so I just set it aside.

I realized I had some ball chain hidden away that I thought would be a better weight visually for it and I think I’m much happier with it now!  The funny about this is, it’s pink. January’s prompt if you got stuck for an idea on making for the week was Pink lol but now that we’re in February, the color is red! Ever the rebel!

After: Doubly Charmed

The second choker takes the leather and the wooden bead I removed from the first and shortens it just a little bit for feathers. You might remember some of these from another blog post as well. I discovered them again while cleaning up my desk and really like the idea of them being charms. They remind me of my best friends and that makes me happy.

Speaking of happy, this was in my Facebook feed the other day.

I would decorate my domicile, dine on delectables, and discuss things with the Dalai Llama on a day trip to the Dutch Antilles and I could dot the landscape with Dahlias, Daisies, Day Lilies, and Daffodils…..

This was a lot of fun! It almost reminds me of the plan a day in your future life, but using only one letter instead of scheduling time slots makes it easier. I almost want to go through the alphabet just to see what I can come up with! Could be a fun pick me up on those days where you feel a little blah. 

Thanks for stopping by!

We'll see ya next week!

I Rocked the 30 Days of Infinite Possibilities!

Infinite Possibilities Project Week 5

Day 26 Put your skills to work. Manifest something - make your desire known to the Universe and then do your part. Want a smile from someone, put a smile on your face first and have a happy attitude - watch how quickly that brings smiles from others.

Day 27 Write an I Rock Because list. This sounds fun! Feel free to include things you aspire to rock at. Even more fun! So fun it became this weeks blog title!

Day 28 Look ahead 5 yrs in your life. Write a letter to yourself from there and tell yourself of all the successes you’ve had. How your life and the lives of your loved ones have changed because of it. What surprised you and what dreams do you aspire to now?

Day 29 What 5 things would your future self want you to know? example Be more forgiving, Spend more money, spend less money, Don’t be so afraid etc

Day 30  Look over your entries and reflect on the past 30 days how do you think this will help you in the coming months/year?  

A few of these I did off blog for a couple reasons, one my posts would be a mile long lol and two some of them required a little more thought and time than the quick line or two I had going on here and there are a couple I really think are worth revisiting.

This was a really fun way to start the year! I hope you followed along either informally with me or with the daily e-mails from TUT. As a reminder you can find all 30 days on TUT’s website along with Mike’s videos for each day.  

http://www.tut.com/index/infinitepossibilitiesproject

Year of Jewelry Project Week 5

While I was cleaning up my studio a few days ago I found the missing hollow bead from week 13 of last year 

My first hollow beads - well second and third. The first flew across the room when I was polishing. This time I left the pretty red patina or most of it

It was actually not across the room, just a foot or so away hiding in plain sight in Lola’s chair. I moved my old office chair into the corner and she curls up and naps there while I’m working. I probably never would’ve found it but I had set some photos on the chair while cleaning. Ha! Too funny! But perfect timing for me as I was scratching my head for an idea for this week. I have all my UFO’s pulled out as I intend to finish many (if not all of them) during Year of Jewelry. Including the heart I started several years ago! 

I'm trying to be mindful of what I make this year in that it can be worn with any number of other pieces I have already made. So far so good!

Speaking of mindful cohesion, this years Build a Line Master Class had their first hop this weekend. If you’d like to swing by the B’Sue badge on the right here will take you to Brenda’s blog where you can find this years participants. I’ve peeked at a few of their blogs already and I’m looking forward to the next two hops!

Well that makes for a busy post this week!! Whew! 

Thanks for Stoppin by!