Useful Tips and Tricks!

Maybe this is something everyone already knows, but I just learned it, so I thought I would share.

I love working with sterling silver, and I try to keep my sterling pieces in zip lock baggies to minimize tarnishing, but things get tarnished none the less. I like using a silver cloth, but it's hard to get to small pieces or to wire in between beads. The other day I came across a bracelet that the wire in between the beads was getting tarnished. I searched on Yahoo for a way to clean it and found something that worked great: baking soda, aluminum foil, and boiling water. Here are the directions:

1. Line a glass or plastic dish with a slightly crumpled piece of aluminum foil, shiny side up. If you have a small aluminum pan that you won't be needing for food preparation again, you can use that instead.
2. Lay your jewelry on the aluminum, making sure the silver touches the aluminum.
3. Sprinkle a thin layer of baking soda on the jewelry.
4. Pour boiling water on jewelry until it is immersed. Bubbling should occur, giving off a rotten-egg odor (the sulfuric gases released by the cleaning action).
5. With a wood or plastic utensil, gently move the pieces around to ensure that all of the silver surfaces come in contact with the aluminum. You will notice that the silver has become bright again.
6. Rinse the jewelry under tap water. To ensure that you don't lose small pieces like earrings and pendants, put a sieve over the drain to catch whatever may slip off your fingers.
7. Gently wipe the pieces with an absorbent towel and polish with a soft cloth.

This method worked great to get the tarnish off the tiny pieces of wire.

Here is a picture of the bracelet I cleaned this way.

I have heard of this method before. I'm at the pint where I may need to use it too. I do the plastic bag and I have anti tarnish squares, but it's not enough. I have also heard of using lemon juice, but I guess it can be harmful to softer stones.

Great tip thanks for sharing!

Do you think this would work okay for plated metals as well? I'm wondering if it would damage or remove the plating.

Teresa wrote:

Do you think this would work okay for plated metals as well? I'm wondering if it would damage or remove the plating.

I don't know. It seems like it would be gentle enough, but I would definately try it out on something first. I'll let you know how it goes if I do it anytime soon.

I tried it on both sterling and plated stuff and it worked fine. Didn't seem to harm the plated stuff at all. I passed this bit of info on to my daughter so she can clean all her stuff. Thanks for the tip!

I was leafing thru a jewelry book that I've borrowed from my local library, when I came upon a great and useful tip!! Everyone wants thier crystals and glass to sparkle! I have found that mine pick-up oils from my hands and dull from just "hanging-out" in baggies waiting for use!

By the time our crystals and glass even get to us they have been handled and subjected to conditions that dull their beautiful sparkle! I have been using a liquid jewelry cleaner. I must don latex gloves every time I clean stones & crystals because I have very sensative skin! I am allergic to soaps, deodorant (don't worry, I use "Tom's Natural"), but you get the point!
O.K. here's the tip:

Take a pair of old pantyhose & cut them off at the ankle......pour in your crystals/glass that you want to sparkle, tie the open end shut & pop them in your dishwasher! YES!!! Right along with your dishes!! Quick & easy! When done, they will be clean AND dry!! A note: I would only put them in the "top" drawer of your dishwasher! I can't WAIT to try this!!

Aprilee

thats interesting

I can see how that would work. I think I would be concerned about possible etching, especially if you have hard water.

Teresa wrote:

I can see how that would work. I think I would be concerned about possible etching, especially if you have hard water.

I wouldn't think that running them thru once would hurt. Also, remember-they are protected by the nylon stocking (which would diffuse the water)!

Aprilee/ArtistryJewelry wrote:

I was leafing thru a jewelry book that I've borrowed from my local library, when I came upon a great and useful tip!! Everyone wants thier crystals and glass to sparkle! I have found that mine pick-up oils from my hands and dull from just "hanging-out" in baggies waiting for use!

By the time our crystals and glass even get to us they have been handled and subjected to conditions that dull their beautiful sparkle! I have been using a liquid jewelry cleaner. I must don latex gloves every time I clean stones & crystals because I have very sensative skin! I am allergic to soaps, deodorant (don't worry, I use "Tom's Natural"), but you get the point!
O.K. here's the tip:

Take a pair of old pantyhose & cut them off at the ankle......pour in your crystals/glass that you want to sparkle, tie the open end shut & pop them in your dishwasher! YES!!! Right along with your dishes!! Quick & easy! When done, they will be clean AND dry!! A note: I would only put them in the "top" drawer of your dishwasher! I can't WAIT to try this!!

Aprilee

Wow cool idea Aprilee, the apt I just moved into has a dishwasher too!!

Cool! I love this new category!

I got this in a email today and I thought I would share the link with all of you. It is a GEMSTONE CLEANING CHART. I printed a copy for myself just in case I need to know how to clean a particular stone so I don't ruin it!
http://www.firemountaingems.com/encyclobeadia/beading_resources.asp?docid=CLEANINGGEMSTONES&WT.fmg_linksection=5SKL3HYTPGSS&WT.mc_id=NL090623

The blog looks great Teresa, you are on your way now. As for the Button, this is what I did for my blog and our team blog, I don't know what you mean by Badge. Hope this helps.

You need to desgin the button, I did ours in Power point. Set the page size to the size of the button (1.85 x 1.85 inches) and design the button. Make sure you set your view to normal size so you can see what it looks like. Then save it as a jpg and a power point so you can make changes later. I have powerpoint 7.0. Things to remember when designing the button, you want to make people click on your button so don't emphasise the name of your blog but what the blog offers.

Once you have jpg, then store it in photobucket or flickr.

Go to cutomize the blog, on the layout tab, select the add a Gadget, select HTML/javascript gadet.

in the code below replace my blog address with the address of your blog and the location of the button with the address of where you stored your button in the code below. change the text if you like and then cut and paste it in the gadget and save it.

Code:

<a href="http://justmy002worth.blogspot.com/" target="blank"><img src="http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo39/zeba_01_2008/blogbadge2-2.jpg"/></a>

<p>
Grab my button, add it to your blog with a link back to me and let me know so I can do the same for you!

<form><textarea rows="6" cols="19"><a href="http://justmy002worth.blogspot.com/" target="blank"><img src="http://i359.photobucket.com/albums/oo39/zeba_01_2008/blogbadge2-2.jpg[/color]"/></a></textarea></form></p>

This site has a lot of tutorials for blogs and they are pretty good, there is only a couple that didn't work. http://www.bloggerbuster.com/2008/08/125-more-excellent-blogger-templates.html

For those of you who do not know how to post pictures, here you go. It's really an easy process.
1. open a free image hosting account with photobucket
2. once you have your account and have loaded your pictures there, all you do is find the picture you want to share. Put your cursor towards the bottom of the picture and a drop down menu will appear. Choose IMG Code, copy and then come over to the thread where you want to post the picture.
3. Paste the copied image into your post. At first all you will see is the code, but once you send the post, the photo will appear.
4. Share your wonderful things with us. It doesn't always have to be stuff from your shop either.


* I'm not sure how to share images from other sites such as Picassa or flickr. Sorry.

Thyanks Aprilee. I'm on flickr too, but I did not know that about the pictures. Is that for all accounts or just the pro ones?

Aprilee/ArtistryJewelry wrote:

Teresa wrote:

Thyanks Aprilee. I'm on flickr too, but I did not know that about the pictures. Is that for all accounts or just the pro ones?

ALL accounts, Teresa!

Thats great! Thanks for the info. I'll have to give that try!

Aprilee/ArtistryJewelry wrote:

Teresa wrote:

For those of you who do not know how to post pictures, here you go. It's really an easy process.
1. open a free image hosting account with photobucket
2. once you have your account and have loaded your pictures there, all you do is find the picture you want to share. Put your cursor towards the bottom of the picture and a drop down menu will appear. Choose IMG Code, copy and then come over to the thread where you want to post the picture.
3. Paste the copied image into your post. At first all you will see is the code, but once you send the post, the photo will appear.
4. Share your wonderful things with us. It doesn't always have to be stuff from your shop either.


* I'm not sure how to share images from other sites such as Picassa or flickr. Sorry.

I'm on Flickr! click-on a pic you have already posted! A little "menu" will appear above the pic, click-on "all sizes" If you scroll down, the URL & HTML codes for that pic are there for you! You have the option to choose smaller sizes (again, THAT menue is above the pic there) When you click-on a different size, the pic changes to the size chosen, as do the codes! Aprilee

I can't get them to work here. I tried both codes provided and neither of them worked here. Are you pasting the code in the text box or are you using something from the menu bar at the top of the post? I tried all those too and nothing.

I finally got it to work, but if you still want to do that tutorial, knock your socks off! I'm sure it would be valuable for everyone! Thanks!

Still looking for help pricing your etsy stuff? Try this. I am finding it to be quite handy!
http://www.rolbe.com/etsy.htm

Great tips....

Anyone have anything on taking better photos or editing in photoshop to bring the light up better? I am having a hard time really getting the best photos.