Showing posts with label Cool new finds. Show all posts

I'm not a glass artist, nor do I make lampworked beads, but if I did, these mugs would be a perfect way to showcase a new bead. What a great way to give someone a gift featuring a beautifully handmade lampwork bead. I know I would love to sip a cup of coffee out of one of these mugs!!
These mugs are only $8.95 (minus the bead) from Heritage Glass.

New! Liver of Sulfur Patina Gel:

This new form of Liver of Sulfur from Cool Tools is my best find yet! If you patina your silver or other metals with LOS, likely you've run into the problem of the dry lump LOS going bad. It works great when you first get it but it has a shelf life-degrading when exposed to air. I just got my new LOS patina gel and am off to give it a try.

Here is what the maker Cool Tools says about their new product:
"Cool Tools Patina Gel is liver of sulfur in a stabilized gel form. Not only is it the most convenient, easiest way to use liver of sulfur, but amazingly it does not degrade in light and air the way the lump form does. Dry liver of sulfur is very unstable and goes dead in a few hours if left uncovered or exposed to light. Liver of sulfur in liquid form is even more unstable. Cool Tools Patina Gel is stable, so even if the lid has been left off, it will remain fresh."

Also, check out their video on how to patina your metal included at the bottom of the page for ordering this product.

Silver Metals- Defined
I was recently in a store and was asking if the store carried Argentium sterling silver. I am going to be transitioning to this type of sterling silver and needed a larger gauge that I had forgot to order from Rio Grande. Anyways, the store clerk told me that they don't carry it because it is a Rio Grande brand (which it is not) and is the same as Rhodium plated silver. I was pretty sure that this was way off the mark and came home to do some research. Here's what I found:

Argentium is a very innovative metal

Argentium silver, invented in 1996 by Peter Johns, like sterling silver is at least 92.5% pure silver. Unlike sterling which is 7.5% alloy copper, argentium has a small amount of germanium instead of copper. It is free from tarnish and firescale, more malleable, easily fused and fired with metal clay. Germanium is an element similar to tin and silicon.

Benefits of using Argentium sterling silver:

• Highly tarnish resistant
• Harder then regular sterling silver
  
• Firescale free (awesome if you will be using in jewelry fabrication)
  
• Purer
• Brighter then sterling silver
  

Places you can buy Argentium Silver: Rio Grande, Rings and Things, Fire Mountain Gems

Metal Definitions:

Sterling silver items are made of 92.5% pure silver and 7.5% copper or some other metal (or metals). Those proportions are set by law -- change the proportions and those beads aren't sterling silver. A clue that you've got sterling silver beads? Over time, sterling silver will take on an antiqued look (called a ''patina''). Most of the precious silver you'll see in the beading world is sterling silver.

Argentium™ silver is a form of sterling silver where some of the copper alloy is replaced by germanium. This creates tarnish resistance in the silver, without lowering the purity of the metal.

Rhodium is a rare silvery-white hard metal. Rhodium is a member of the platinum group, is found in platinum ores and is used in alloys with platinum. It is the most expensive precious metal. Rhodium is a metal very similar to platinum, sharing many of the properties of platinum including its white color. Rhodium plating is used to make white gold look whiter. The natural color of white gold is actually a light gray color. Rhodium is very white and very hard, but it does wear away eventually.

Fine silver is the highest and most pure type of silver available: 99.9% silver. This pure form of silver is used by the Hill Tribes of Thailand to create beads, chains and findings. In addition, Art Clay® is created from the fine silver particles reclaimed from recycled film, and can be used to create jewelry of fine silver.

Nickel silver (sometimes called ''German silver'' or ''Mexican silver'') is made of a blend of metals -- mostly nickel -- and looks much like sterling silver. Side-by-side comparisons show that nickel silver has a slightly greyer color tone. Nickel-plated items are also available.

Common Types of Silver
Fine silver	99.9% silver, .1% other metals
Britannia silver	95.84% silver, 4.16% other metals (usually copper)
Sterling silver	92.5% silver, 7.5% other metals (usually copper)
Argentium™ silver	92.5% silver, 6.4% other metals (usually copper), 1.1% germanium
Coin silver	90% silver, 10% other metals
Nickel silver	0% silver, 100% other metals (usually nickel, zinc and copper)

If you are like me you love to listen to music while you work! I have had a paid subscription to Rhapsody for years , which I love but recently found Pandora Radio and am seriously thinking of switching over. The huge attraction of Pandora is that it is absolutely FREE! Whoohoo, I also am a big fan of free.
So, you're thinking that sometimes free doesn't get you the quality that a paid subscription does. However, so far I have been very impressed with Pandora. The format of the two is different. Rhapsody does give you more listening options. You can listen to whole albums, create playlists, as well as listen to "radio" stations of your choice of music genre. Pandora is more of a custom radio format- geared towards your personal music tastes. Their website describes their service as the following:

"Pandora is a music discovery service designed to help you enjoy music you already know, and to help you discover new music you'll love.

It's powered by the most comprehensive analysis of music ever undertaken, the Music Genome Project: a crazy project started back in early 2000 to capture the complex musical DNA of songs using a large team of highly-trained musicians.

Just tell us one of your favorite songs or artists and we'll launch a streaming station to explore that part of the musical universe."

Try it our and let me know what you think!

How cool are these?? I just found these new coasters which are appropriately named, Spill and fell in love with them. It's too late to order them for Christmas but after Christmas, I might have to break down and get a set. This fluid shaped coaster provides a much needed place to rest your teaspoon or drinks stirrer. The sculpted surface draws any liquid into the center, ensuring any spillages stay where they belong. Added bonus- they are dishwasher proof!