The instructions specifically call for distilled water, and the jug of water I had in the pantry was regular–I thought it was distilled but I must have bought the wrong one. I accidentally discovered another super easy way to create a lovely patina on copper when I was electroforming some of my found objects a few weeks ago. I want to try to mimic autumn leaves with the natural color of copper and some red additions. If you wait a few seconds and then quench, it'll turn dark or black. Also, remember that you can make the copper turn and stay red if you quench it immediately after heating. You can keep doing this until you get an effect you like. It's random but fun and easy! You can give areas of your copper passes with a torch flame and see what effect that gives you, or heat the entire piece, quench, and check out your results. This piece was flame painted by Mary Hettmansperger in her wire-weaving DVD. I'm also a big fan of the beauty of raku-like rainbow colors that can appear on copper when you heat it just the right way, sometimes known as flame painting. That's it! Kerry recommends sealing the patinated metal with Permalac. Let the pieces air dry and brush off any excess sawdust with a soft brush. Submerge your metal in the wet sawdust, seal it, and set overnight (or just a few hours in sunlight, which speeds the process). One of Kerry's great ideas for creating a pretty verdigris green on copper and brass (her sample is shown on the left) is with vinegar and sawdust, the fine shavings of which she says gives 'an almost crystalline sheen to the surface of the metal that reminds me of The Emerald City in The Wizard of Oz.' Yes, please! Here's how: Put sawdust in a small resealable container, pour white vinegar on it, and mix until it's paste-like. I recently learned another great way to create a verdigris patina on copper and brass from Kerry Bogert (author of Rustic Wrappings, a great book with a wealth of homemade patina recipes using ammonia, salt, vinegar, and more). Verdigris stick, anyone? I also somehow managed to get a pretty verdigris using just water in my electroforming experiments (as shown here more on that below). They'll also give you that effect on other materials that you can paint with Swellegant colorants to look like copper first. I suppose I still am! The fastest and easiest way I've found to achieve perfect verdigris patina on copper is with Swellegant patinas. I was in love with the idea that such a pretty, almost unnatural-looking bright blue-green could 'grow' on metal like that. Maybe I just thought of it as tarnish or something like that, when I was younger.

Verdigris has caught my eye since before I knew what it was. Here are the most common solutions for creating patinas on copper and alternative metals like brass, along with some unusual household recipes for achieving them. Of all the alternative metals, copper is definitely my favorite. Oh, the things you can do to copper! Many folks love the warm hue of the metal as it is (me included), but it's also the metal master of disguise in the gorgeous patinas it so easily takes on. ✓ Let the Interweave Knits Winter 2024 issue transport you to a winter wonderland of cozy knits! This remarkable edition features 14 extraordinary projects to immerse yourself in the uniqueness of specially crafted yarns.

Patina bronze and patina brass