Witches Brew Patina

by Izzy Winterhart


So, while Staci was out playing at the beach letting Mother Nature kiss her sweet necklace with a bit of color, I was the mad scientist down in my dark dungeon creating my witches brew patina.  I've been anxious to try some new patina's as I've gotten just a bit bored with my liver of sulfur.  Here are my discoveries so far.


This first patina was done with saw dust (which I had plenty of with our deck build) and vinegar.  I  mixed in enough vinegar to moisten the saw dust and put the concoction in a plastic container.  I then buried the earrings in the saw dust, covered the container and let it sit for a few days.  It looks a bit like cork, doesn't it?  Notice the tiny black specks?  I LOVE this patina. (One of these might, just maybe, could be in an upcoming giveaway...)

While those beauties were brewing, I started another experiment.  This time it was ammonia and salt.  I placed ammonia in the bottom of a container and suspended these pieces above the ammonia.  I then sprinkled salt on the pieces and put the cover on the container.  I also let these sit for a few days. 

This piece has some amazing blue tints.

This piece only spotted with a bit of blue, perhaps not enough salt, but I still like it.

This one, well, I just didn't like how the blue turned out so I rinsed it off thinking I'd throw it in the pickle pot and start over.  After rinsing however, I was mesmerized by the black patina created.  It looks as though it's been sitting in a treasure chest at the bottom of the ocean for hundreds of years.  LOVE.

And then there is the trusty ole liver of sulfur.  I will always love this patina and even though I'm trying new things I'll never desert my first.

Now...  this one was a complete Izzy experiment.  I didn't see this brew in any book, just made it up.  It's saw dust, salt and vinegar.  Done the same as the first on in this post except I added salt.  I just dug it out of the saw dust so I could share it here.  I'll have to see it all cleaned up but I think the bright orange and green will look amazing with this black stone.  I'm very excited to see it finished.

The two books I found these recipes and more were Metal Craft Discovery Workshop by Linda & Ope O'Brien and Mixed Metal Mania by Kim St. Jean.

I will tell you that if you are a perfectionists, uhm, well, this process isn't for you.  If, however, you LOVE surprises then you should try one or more patina techniques found in those books.  Pieces always come out differently.  No piece will be the same and that's the beauty of discovery.

“Man cannot discover new oceans unless 

he has the courage to lose sight of the shore."

~Andre Gide