Review Beadsmith's Liver of sulfur gel

Hello all! I decided to post the review I did over at TAFWT! Enjoy :)
I hope you are all enjoying the start of 2011! Today I am going to review BeadSmith's Liver of Sulfur oxidizing gel. This is a product that I use quite often in my jewelry designs. Creating jewelry with the oxidized or antiqued look has become quite popular and many suppliers even sell oxidized chain and findings now.



Liver of Sulfur is an agent made with potassium sulfide and turns metals brown or black depending on how long metal is left in the solution. Liver of sulfur usually comes in a rock form which you break into smaller pieces and dissolve in hot water. There are many downsides to using the rock form. It has a very short shelf life, is flammable, and poses inhalation hazards from the dust that is created when breaking the rock form into pieces. There is a more organic method that can be used to oxidize metals but one would need to use quite a few hard boiled eggs and results vary. The egg method requires heating hard boiled eggs and placing them in a bag with the metal. This method can be timely and creates a mess from the egg yolks that would need cleaned off.
Because of the drawbacks of the other methods I decided to use Liver of sulfur in a gel form. With the gel form the shelf life is much longer and there are no risks of flammability or inhalation hazard. The main problem with using the gel is the nasty rotten egg odor that permeates the air when mixed with water. As long as you use the gel in a well ventilated area there shouldn't be too many issues.






To achieve best results with the gel make sure that the metal you are using is cleaned with a method that doesn't leave behind a residue or it will effect the process. If metal isn't clean first sometimes the piece you are oxidizing will have different shades and won't have a uniform patina. You can play around with the formula for lighter or darker oxidizing and with the amount of time you leave your metal pieces in the formula. The gel can also be applied directly to metal.






This product is very reliable and is also very easy to do. The gel makes oxidizing metals very quick and safe. Cleaning up is a breeze and storing the product is effortless because it is not effected by light or air. This product offers users a wide variety of patinas from rainbow to black and can be used on silver, copper, bronze, metal clay and fine silver. I would recommend this product to anyone and I love using it myself.

Inspirational

I rarely enjoy reading the newspaper because it it usually such a downer but Sunday I was actually amazed by one story. It was about a local woman who lives in Haiti working as a RN and also as a christian missionary. She is only thirty but she has the strength, courage and wisdom of someone much older.
Her name is Ginny and she has a blog detailing her journey for Jesus and the people of Haiti. Her blog, ginnyinhaiti.blogspot.com, is so vivid in detail and the pictures she provides of the Haitian people and their countryside are stunning. In addition to all the work she does from working to contain a Cholera outbreak to assisting in building a Church for the villagers, she has also adopted a 2 year old, Odessa from Haiti.
Ginny has totally immersed herself in the country and she takes you along with her through her blog. I almost cried when I read about the day she helped pass out shoes (donated by a Church from Georgia) to the school children. I have never seen such joy on the faces of children from such a simple thing that we take for granted.
If you are looking for a little inspiration and a true insider perspective on the situation in Haiti after the earthquake, Ginny provides it. This blog is definitely worth reading, I couldn't stop. God is truly working through Ginny and she selflessly volunteers for the journey!

New Years Resolutions

I can't believe it is already 2011! What happened to 2010? Last year was amazing!! My store on Etsy, Sunset & Vine Jewelry, had some success, I started a blog, my family made following the Lord a priority and we really have so much to be thankful for. I love our church, More Life Church, because of the pastor and the people that attend. My children really enjoy the children's program there is so much to be involved in.



As great as last year was I am determined to make this year even better. The sky is the limit. To accomplish this I decided to make three resolutions. I usually am not fond of resolutions because they are sort of made to be broken, at least in my case, but this year I kept it simple. I don't want to set myself up to fail this early in and be disappointed, right? So here are the resolutions in writing and forever on the web.

1. To grow in my spiritual life.
2. To get fit-not to lose weight.
3. To create and keep a better schedule for my family and to make lasting memories for my children.

I am happy to report that I haven't broken one of them yet! I have already made steady gains in my spiritual life by signing up to volunteer with Heartbeats, which is a faith based organization that aids young mothers. I joined a women's' group at my church and I just received an offer to join a bible study group. It is funny how the Lord works to help you succeed!



As far as getting fit goes I have been exercising daily, well almost daily :) I walk my dog for about half an hour and try to do 100 crunches, 100 jumping jacks and a few push-ups and squats. For all the excuses I have made in the past to not do these things it is amusing that I am actually enjoying myself.



I am mortified to admit to you that I need a family schedule because my three year old, Emi, rules the roost around here. She is a night owl and always has been. This means that my husband and I are always exhausted and never have any alone time. I was nervous to start her 9pm bedtime on Sunday but it went surprisingly well! Yeah!!!!!!! We even had time to start the new family memory part of my third resolution by reading a bedtime story for each of my three children instead of the usual one.



So far so good but I will keep you posted. How about all of you, any resolutions?

Grand Reopening

Just kidding! I worked out my issues with Etsy and I am back up and running again!! What a relief, I sure missed my Etsy community. If you have a moment take a look at my store, Sunset & Vine Jewelry.