Fired, Brushed, Tumbled, Tarnished & Polished

tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5898714130690518965.post-86846309312401196092008-03-27T15:39:00.018-04:002008-05-04T03:55:20.838-04:00Fired, Brushed, Tumbled, Tarnished & PolishedHere are 45 of the charms I finished today in all of their imperfect handmade glory. "Finished" as in, fired, brushed, tumbled, tarnished and polished. Now comes the real fun part - matching them up with beads and wire wrapping each one to attach to my moo cards for ArtFest trades. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6S0Cgf7I/AAAAAAAAARM/k6W7GPd0Llk/s1600-h/IMG_0680.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6S0Cgf7I/AAAAAAAAARM/k6W7GPd0Llk/s400/IMG_0680.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182510997333639090" border="0" /></a> First thing I did after making coffee this morning was set up my Ventilated Patination Station. That's what I was calling it anyway. It's actually just small dishes set out on the back porch with Liver of Sulphur and water. I had it set up from right to left: hot water to heat the silver, then the LOS in warm water to patina the silver and finally, a cool bath of water to stop the chemical process. I used a piece of wire and dipped each charm in all three dishes. Some I left lighter than others. The darker ones were dipped a few different times. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp2.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6dUCgf8I/AAAAAAAAARU/5kb29EM11fU/s1600-h/IMG_0621.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp2.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6dUCgf8I/AAAAAAAAARU/5kb29EM11fU/s400/IMG_0621.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182511177722265538" border="0" /></a> I was so excited and jumped right in to the patination process that I almost forgot to take photos of the shiny charms before they changed colors. Here are a few of the shiny ones with some I had just tarnished. They are bright and shiny because I put them in the rotary tumbler with mixed steel shot last night for about 40 minutes. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6zkCgf9I/AAAAAAAAARc/95136wGVogg/s1600-h/IMG_0635.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v6zkCgf9I/AAAAAAAAARc/95136wGVogg/s400/IMG_0635.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182511559974354898" border="0" /></a> More tarnished ones. I like how some of them got that iridescent mixed color. I don't know what it's called but it sort of looks like the top of oil in a parking lot after it rains. You know the look I am talking about? Is there a word for that other than iridescent? <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp3.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v7VkCgf-I/AAAAAAAAARk/_mivVMK3xUU/s1600-h/IMG_0644.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp3.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v7VkCgf-I/AAAAAAAAARk/_mivVMK3xUU/s400/IMG_0644.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182512144089907170" border="0" /></a> Here's a handful of them after I had polished the high points with a very very very fine steel wool. I would have used my Sunshine Polishing Cloths if I could have found them. Yes, my studio is still a mess! Reminds me of a cross stitched pillow that my mom has: "A Clean House is the Sign of a Misspent Life." <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp1.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v_EECggAI/AAAAAAAAAR0/hk53AxlMCag/s1600-h/IMG_0659.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp1.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-v_EECggAI/AAAAAAAAAR0/hk53AxlMCag/s400/IMG_0659.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182516241488707586" border="0" /></a> I realized that I didn't have anything in these photos to show size relationship so here's a shot my husband took of me laying them out on a stool outside. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-wBKkCggBI/AAAAAAAAAR8/OxPvDUcQ9Gc/s1600-h/CRW_1909.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_u0IPsOn1dxI/R-wBKkCggBI/AAAAAAAAAR8/OxPvDUcQ9Gc/s400/CRW_1909.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5182518552181112850" /></a> (Pssst...BIG, one of your photos made it onto my blog! Thanks for helping me. You're the best husband but I won't let it get around to your friends. ;-) )Jamiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14787515321978905710noreply@blogger.com