Bored Not Bored

Boredom is impossible. I've overwhelmed myself. The last thing I should be doing right now is blogging but here I am. Monday is my birthday and with no effort on my part, my week is absolutely FILLED. Tomorrow I'm going to a VHS Swap hosted by a friend, another really good friend I haven't seen in a while will be there so it's a must. I'm not really looking forward to the swap part. I don't have much I want to part with that isn't totally embarrassing. Anyone want my copy of Cruel Intentions? No? GOOD, I'm not bringing it anyway. I'll be sure to post pictures or at least the results. I have a feeling I'll be coming home with nothing but what I came with.

Monday, all kinds of stuff is going on. I have an all day outing and then having company. Which means I have to clean. I have to do that anyway because my Mom will be here in less than two weeks but I'm also on a dead line with this silent horror project. Of course, as these things go, I'm suddenly over-flowing with ideas and inspiration for various projects. Like seriously, I'm coming up with great ideas for jewelry, suddenly caught a whim to paint, my journal keeps speaking to me, all of this editing for the project makes me want to do something more personal, like a new "Tender Moments", I've been wanting to actively take pictures; meaning go out WITH photography in mind not just instagram filler. Weirdest of all I've suddenly got this itch to mess with audio in some kind of DJ-like capacity. I took music lessons for years but abandoned it in my mid-teens, it always seemed like a headache to pick it back up but I don't know, it must be because it's October, my most productive month of the year but I have ideas and it's frustrating that I can't spend time obsessing over each and every one. Amidst all of this I must CLEAN for company. AG-OH-NEE. I don't want to do that. What a waste of time. My place is a wreck. The other day I was hot so I literally plopped myself down on the floor with front door open, sat right in the doorway to make jewelry in the breeze. It was nice but of course I left all that crap there in front of the door because I suck.

All of this is going on and I keep forgetting that at some point I have to eat and then THAT becomes a big ordeal. Last night I was like "omg I want octopus rice", so I made octopus rice but I had to gut and clean them, I busted the ink sack and got it EVERYWHERE. I can't just have a sandwich I have to have Octopus because I am the Queen of Spain or some shit. Eating is a problem. SO many unfinished projects I just want to finish a THING. If I can get the kitchen and closet cleaned AND scan 2 more silent movies tonight I will be so fucking thrilled. I have watched a non-silent movie for days and I'm severely neglecting Atomic Caravan, both my movie blog and Jewelry business.


I moved some stuff around here. I don't know if it's clear to my like, one reader, whoever you are. I was sick of the old layout. Added some links to my other locations, I have an obnoxiously overstated web presence. I also added a last.fm widget so you can see what I'm listening to AS I'M LISTENING, YOU CREEP.

Well I'm going to get back to all the haaaaard work. I might open my last bottle of two buck chuck to make things more interesting, or at least a little more barfy.

Spriggets

I'm working on a media project for a friend's pop-up Speak Easy. I'm making a mash-up of various silent horror movies. I used to make movie highlight videos using my dvd recorder and vcr but this is my first time actually attempting this digitally. It's going pretty well but I can tell it's going to be pretty time consuming so I have to be disciplined on working on it every day.

Yesterday my one big goal was to paint my animal head pendents but I got an email that ACTS (local thrift store) was having a 40% off sale for three hours so I dropped everything and drove over. I already had a $10 off coupon so I was excited to comb through it and get some stuff. My favorite part about acts is that they bundle random art and craft supplies in bags for .79-$3 depending on what all is in it. I always end up with weird partially used supplies that I would normally never buy, but that's what makes them more interesting.

I had a dream last week that I was at this weird cheap grocery store, Not cheap in a questionable way, cheap in a totally unrealistic dreamworld kind of way. Everything in the store cost mere pennies. I bought a giant brownie from the baker for a few cents and she gave me a complimentary watercolor set, exactly like the one at the bottom of the picture. I've been wanting a dry palette like that, all my water colors are in tubes and I feel like I often misjudge how much I need and waste them. In that same dream I saw my Aunt. She was dressed kind of funny and wearing really shiny shoes. She was on her way to work so I went with her, which in my dreams was this place where Swedish inventions are tested called "Spriggets". It's like a stumbled into a Roald Dahl universe. It was nice, I'd like to go back.

Anyway, I got a whole bunch of stuff and wasted a huge chunk of the day shopping, which is the last thing I should be doing. So today my to-do list is massive. Starting with these bad boys...

Will post pictures upon completion.

Why do thrift store candles always smell like Chantilly Ass? Why do I buy thrift store candles. All the time actually. I usually have one nice ass target candle going in the kitchen and forty miscellaneous old person candles in the bathroom.

Anyway, better "Start" my "day".

Etsy.

I just realized that I've never posted a link to my Etsy here in the magical world of wizardry and wonderment. I don't have nearly as much as I'd like right now. I still have the movie business and a regular job *pukes*. But now that we're settled into our apartment in Old Towne Pasadena, I should have more freedom for ma' jew-ray!

Patina Love

I think I figured out a patina solution from household products that doesn't suck. I've tried sooo many different things, with little to no avail. The only patina that remotely worked for me was an expensive store bought chemical treatment from Michaels. It's about $7 for a small bottle. Sure, it works pretty well, but goes super fast. I knew I could save a shitload of money if I could just learn this magical alchemy that so many crafters have conquered.

What HASN'T worked for me? Vinegar. I dont get it. I've tried a dozen different vinegar methods without so much as a tint. If anything it made my brass look brighter and shinier since it's a natural cleaner. Woo hoo, so there you go. If you want to do the OPPOSITE of patina, try vinegar.

The first thing you need to do is clean your pieces. I use dish soap and a toothbrush (or vinegar, whatevs). You gotta get all the oils and factory dirt off. Rinse, pat them dry with a paper towel and set them aside. In a well venhilated area set up your ammonia station. Take a container with a lid (Tupperware is fine but don't use it for storing food after doing this, duh!) and fill it a couple of inches with household ammonia, I used clear but as far as I know it doesn't matter what kind you use. Cut a piece of wire and string your findings so they're hanging ABOVE the ammonia, not touching it. If it touches it, the affected area will turn black. You may decide later that you want that but if you want an even color make sure it doesn't touch.

Snap the lid on so the wire is sticking out on both ends holding the pieces in place. I haven't taken pictures of myself doing this but I did a search and found someone elses (beadfx.blogspot.com) to give you a visual.

The original article I read on this said that leaving it overnight was plenty of time. For good measure I gave it a full 24 hours. I noticed definite oxidation. The brass had a greenish white film over it and the copper was significantly darker. Come to find out it can take up to 10 days to get the full effect of "ammonia fuming", so I was misinformed and jumped the gun a bit.

I decided to mix up a few other tricks and methods on those same pieces while I waited on the next batch (since I have such a long wait)...

First, give them an ammonia/salt water bath. Heat water up just before the boiling point and pour it in a small bowl with 3 or 4 tablespoons of salt. With craft tweezers alternate the pieces between the ammonia and the hot salt water. Back and Forth (forever, jk) I did this about 5 times. The heat, then the chemical is supposed to make the metal more willing to accept color. With the ammonia being the last one, lay the pieces out on a paper towel. Before they dry sprinkle salt, dried cilantro and the secret ingredient, a drop of Mrs. Stewart's Liquid Bluing on the pieces. Let them sit for at least 3 hours, or overnight. Lightly brush of the excess and you'll have a beautiful rustic patinaed piece. Spray it with a clear matte coating to ensure the durability of the colors.

All of these ingredients I bought at the dollar store with the exception of Mrs. Stewarts Liquid Bluing. I got that at the grocery store for a few bucks. I had no luck finding it when I lived in Florida so if you have this same problem try using blue food coloring. I haven't tried it myself but based on the consistancy of Mrs. Stewarts (basically just a blue dye) I have a feeling it would work. Now I'm curious about other dyes and colors that may work as a substitute. Maybe using yellow Rite dye would make the object a brighter green? Also, why stick to just cilantro? Any dried green herb spice should work. I wonder what metal would look like with pepper sprinkled on it along with salt? Experiment is the mother of invention so once you master the oxidation part, play around with the colorization aspects. The possibilities are limitless!

and just to brag, here's my newest toy I got at the Pasadena Bead and Design show...

Gilders Paste! The amazing wax based product that covers metal, glass, plastic, wood, leather even upholtrsy! It's the funnest stuff ever, I got this color....

Doesn't have the charm of natural patina but it's still a lovely green and I know I'm going to have a blast with it!



~ ~ ~ EDIT! EDIT! EDIT! ~ ~ ~

Ok, so after putting this technique to practice for a more substancial period of time I decide to report back on the results. After four days of fuming multiple pieces of both brass and copper, here are the results...

They turned out more of a blue than green! I'm happy about this because I always thought blue patina would be hard to achieve. I'm wondering if the fact that I put so many pieces in one container effected the color. One clue to let you know that the pieces are about ready is the color of the ammonia. If you start with clear ammonia then after the 3rd day it should start to have a bluish tint. This is an indication that it might be ready.

have fun!