The Aging Process

I have spent the last few days, giving some shiny brass chains a whole new look....aged! I had recently purchased a whole bunch of vintage brass ball chains, but they were way to shiny and new looking for my liking. I had aged some chains before, with great results, so I decided to do it again, but to experiment a little more this time. 

 I started off with bright shiny brass chains:

I then poured some regular white vinegar into a bowl

 Inside  the bowl, just above the vinegar, I set a plastic colander with all of the chains piled inside. I then covered the top with plastic wrap, and let everything sit for a whole day and night. When I returned, the chains looked like this!






 The vapor from the vinegar had tarnished the brass chain, and it had started to take on a wonderful aged patina.

I rinsed the chains, and dried them thoroughly with paper towels, and spread them out on a parchment lined cookie sheet. I then set them in a 200F oven for about 15 minutes.

When I removed them from the oven, I took about half of the chains and decided to experiment even further.  The first batch were dumped into a bowl of Balsamic vinegar, for about 10 minutes, and they turned this light strawberry blonde color!

I sprinkled the remaining chains with some coarse sea salt, and put  them all into a sealed Ziploc bag along with a paper towel soaked in Balsamic Vinegar, I let this marinate for a couple of hours.

Again, I rinsed and dried the chains and was very pleased with this reddish color.

Then to add a bit of luster back to the chain, I rubbed each chain with some bronze guiders paste, and buffed with a soft cloth.

On this tray you can see the three colors that I achieved with this experiment. In this photo the bronze and strawberry blonde chains have been buffed with the paste, and the red ones are still quite matte, awaiting the final step.

I was really pleased how these chains turned out! I have lots of ideas for using these chains in my designs...so stay tuned!

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Canada...the true north, strong and free!

I saw this on Facebook and had to share this on my blog, for all my Canadian,  and non- Canadian readers!

(P.S.- I live in the "Cowboys" section!)

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Casual Glam

 Chandelier earrings are huge in fashion right now! This season its all about the "statement earrings". Vogue magazine calls chandelier earrings the "look changing accessory for Spring". Big, dangly chandelier earrings don't have to be saved for special events and evenings out anymore. I love the unexpected look of  mixing casual with a bit of glam!

Put on your favorite jeans, and a pretty boho style blouse, add some ear bling...and voila...you are looking stylish!  

 

I loved creating these opulent  chandelier earrings, which are currently for sale in at Chateau Country Lace, in Calgary.

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Tuesday Tidbits

This weeks Tuesday Tidbits:

-First the good news, I think Spring has finally arrived! Yes, it was a a sunny 26C yesterday (79F for my American friends), and I spent the afternoon reading and making jewellery on my deck.  The weatherman had forecast a fabulous weekend, and so on Friday, I dragged the patio furniture from its winter storage, and set everything up for Summer.

- Saturday was spent in the big city, coffee table shopping.  We found what we both loved, at Restoration Hardware... I love that store! The picture does not do this table justice. The distressed, reclaimed wood top is fabulous!

 -So now that we have a new coffee table, of course I needed to update the throw pillows on the two couches....keep in mind that I have not done this for 9 years, so it was due. So Etsy shopping I went, and found these! 

Pillows are from Gathered Comforts,  Jolie Marche, Designs by Nancy and Kindred Spirit.

-Our youngest son has reached the age where he is now very busy with friends on the weekends. My husband and I are getting more free time together...just the two of us!

-As the weather has warmed up, the crazy drivers have been released. On the way home from the city, which is a 30 minute drive, we saw FOUR cars, unsafely passing, where vehicles coming the other direction had to pull over on to the shoulder so the morons could pass. I don't think getting to your destination 2 minutes earlier is worth risking peoples lives for!

They say when it rains...it pours. I am not talking about the weather here, but about my little home business designing jewelry. I have been swamped lately with special requests and custom orders. Not complaining, but I think I am going to need a vacation soon!

- Satellite Man is coming this afternoon, we are getting a new service (same company) for our internet, which is supposed to be better and won't shut us down if we exceed our allowance. Oh, the joys of country living! 

-Not sure how long this weather will hold, I think rain is on its way! 

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Still waiting for Spring

Yesterday was a day full of wacky weather! The morning started off with wet flurries, yes more snow! By noon hour, it was  alot nicer, and by early afternoon, the sun was even peaking out amongst the clouds.

 However, late afternon, brought loud thunderous rumbling , and ....hail!

Yes, we were getting thunderflurries...and   thunder hail.

 So as I was  unable to get outside and do any gardening, I finished up a custom order, and was very pleased with the results!

 So, I am still waiting for Springs arrival. The weather man tells me that this weekend should bring wonderful, warm, springlike temperatures to our region. I cannot wait!


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Tuesday Tidbits

Its been awhile since I posted........ I know!

 Here is what has been going on in my neck of the woods.

- I have had computer tech guy investigating the issues we have been having, and he thinks it may be resolved. Last week we had practically no service for 2 and 1/2 days! So we shall see if it is fixed.

- Last week my husband accidently hit a deer on his way to work. After 9 years of living in the country, he had never hit one...and there are a lot out here! This one was actually close to the city, and when it darted out in front of his car he slammed the brakes, and narrowly missed it. However, right behind the first deer was a second deer, and sadly that one did not make it. The police officer had to put the deer down. My husband was very emotional about seeing that.

-The Spring Bling event last Saturday was a huge success! After preparing so hard for this party, I thought I would be able to take this week off. However, I now have several custom orders that I received from customers at the party, and as a result I am very busy, and will not be able to kick back this week as previously planned.  Oh well, I guess that is a good thing!

- Spring here still tends to be elusive! We are having nicer days mixed in with cooler snowy days. Today is lightly snowing.

-My husband, the pack rat, has been going through his collections of things in the garage. On the weekend he had another collector/retailer come out and buy a big group of his fossils, and collections. Yay...more room in the garage!

- Yesterday I went to my fitness class, worked out for an hour, and then went off to the grocery store to pick up a few things. When I got home, I realized that my exercise pants were on inside out! Yikes...hopefully no one noticed! And...hopefully that is not a sign of what the week will be like!

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Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!

   Don't eat too many chocolate bunnies!

FYI...these photos were taken LAST Easter in the garden of my other house on Vancouver Island.

 (Right now,  I still have snow on my property here !) Pin It

Mid week Tidbits

Yesterday, after reading my pal Lins post, at the DuckandWheelwithString,  on "ramblings", I decided to do a similar post on certain things that have occurred to me over the past week.  So here goes!

-My internet is driving me crazy! Being in the sticks, we are allowed a 500MB allowance per day, if we go over our internet slows down to a crawl for the next 24hours until it refills. Lately we have been going over like every other day, and I do not know why! Huge crazy downloads are eating up our allowance, and then we get shut down. I have a techy guy investigating!

- Lately I have enjoyed "unsubscribing" to many of the emails I get, most of them spam. Its so easy to just click"unsubscribe" and get rid of unwanted email.

- Just signed up for the next session of Get Ripped!

- Speaking of getting ripped, I am looking for a new sports bra...I hate the uniboob look!

-We went to Costco on Monday, we go about once every 3 months and stock up on toilet paper, household cleaners, canned goods, kitty litter etc. Its always a big haul, and then we always have to stop and check out the fun stuff like the clothes, books, DVDs, seasonal stuff etc.  2 carts later, and my hubby and I are standing in line waiting to checkout. There are 2 people in front of us, one woman has a box of squares and a bag of bagels, and the other guy has a package of salad, and some bread! Really???!! 

 So that's my interesting week so far, lets hope my internet stays up for a while so that I can catch up on some blog reading.

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