It seems to me that a lot of people are loving the aged look on their jewellery pieces. To get that overall appearance to a piece, it often becomes necessary to age the elements and make them look older than they really are.
Most of us do not have the time or frankly, the inclination to wait for them to age naturally.. in fact this could take weeks, months or even years in some cases.
On my previous patina post, I wrote how simple products like salt, vinegar and ammonia could create great effects on copper ( Copper was the only metal I did the experiments on at the time. )
This time around, I have had a bit of fun playing with a commercial 'ageing' product called 'Swellegant' by Christie Friesen.
This time, I applied the products to both copper and brass and I must say, it worked equally as beautifully on both metals.
I originally came across this product via a YouTube video made by B'sues Boutiques.
There are quite a few products in the range. The following photo shows the ones I purchased in Australia, from The Whimsical Bead .
Here are a few results..
These are the products I purchased. One is a metal coating ( Bronze). There are more base coats in the range but I chose the bronze one. The other containers are patina colours that are applied on top of the base metal (bronze) coating layer. The smallest jar is a clear sealant.
These 3applications are on copper bases.
Left: Two thin coats of base coat, gold-green verdigris patina applied on top.
The top third has no base just the patina applied directly to the copper.
Middle.. Base coat of bronze and darkening patina, top third straight to copper, bottom has a few dabs of Tiffany green/Rust. (where is the rust!!)
Right :The last piece has Tiffany Green/Rust straight to copper and the lower section applied on top of the bronze undercoat. I love the pretty, intense aqua reaction on the bare copper.
Left: Darkening patina on top of Bronze metal base on copper, lower section a dab of darkening patina straight to the copper.
Right: Tiffany Green /Rust on top of Bronze metal base, lower part applied directly to copper.
All leaves are made from brass and have the base bronze metal coat applied. From Left to right... Left:Tiffany gold/rust patina, Centre: Gold-green Verdigris on top of two heavy coats of the base.
Right: Darkening patina followed by Tiffany Green/Rust as well. I should have applied everything a little more carefully to the edges of the leaves!
Right: Darkening patina followed by Tiffany Green/Rust as well. I should have applied everything a little more carefully to the edges of the leaves!
Base coat of bronze follow by a coat of Tiffany Green/Rust on a brass filigree piece.
I do have to say, I am loving the gorgeous colour reactions. The only disappointment ( to me ) has been that the patina named Tiffany Green/Rust possibly did not live up to it's name. (In saying that, the filigree piece does have a rusty look to it.. just not the 'rust' colour which I had anticipated) I was expecting a rusty-reddish looking colour to be there as well...perhaps it might react with a different base metal coating. I will certainly get a few more to try.
I believe the patinas are meant to be applied on top of a base metal coating (in the range) not just to straight metal, however these pictures clearly show they do have a decent reaction without the base metal product application. I cannot say if the product will stay adhered to the metal that was not given the base coat application on it... time will tell!
There is also a clear coat product which can be painted on sparingly after the items have dried fully. It is recommended to wait until completely dried..6-12 hours, or better still, overnight before application of the sealant.
Well that's it for me today,
Hope you are enjoying yours..
4 comments:
I'm impressed with your results--great choices for the color combinations.
Looks lovely, really lovely!
I've been thinking of trying Swellegant, but haven't had the budget to do it yet (have another line of metal paints and patinas, though: magic metallics). This posts makes me want to try the Swellegant patinas and oxide-dyes even more.
I would guess you need steel/iron or iron paint (called coatings in Swellegant, right?) to get the rusty colour rather than verdegris as copper and copper alloys don't rust. Would probably look neat if adding some iron paint/coating in a pattern or just randomly dabbed on copper and then add the patina so you'd get both rust and verdegris. (Oh, darn... Shouldn't have said that because now I want to try it...)
Very interesting I have heard of these but don't know if I have seen them compared like this - very very cool! Really like the bare metal colored too it will be interesting tio see if these hold up that turquoise is stunning!
Great experiment, I am considering these products, have you any notes on longevity of finishes? Would love to hear any updates you have.
Mel
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