Bonanzle – A great new place for online shopping – sick of eBay?

Having gotten heartily sick of eBay,we have just discovered Bonanzle. It started recently and is one of the top contenders for finding a home for a lot of unhappy eBay power sellers.

Well it seems to be working! Far easier to use than eBay and FREE to advertise all you wish. A much smaller than eBay comission is payable on sales and it is run by friendly people who answer emails. We have already set up our new shopping booth there!

Angels from Alas y Cia at Bonanzle

It has lots of extras, also free, like linking into the Google Checkout service as well as the normal pay pal and other options.

Very user friendly – it automatically resizes photos and you can have 4 for free. It is well designed and easy to find your way around.

Seems to be attracting a good number of flea-bay Power Sellers and we have just put up our first booth there today. You can import your Craigs List and eBay listings and your feedback there too with a few clicks.

It still has small disadvantages for non US sellers – partly because of their format, which is being updated soon, and partly because we cannot take advantage of the Google Checkout (apart from the UK) for selling, although for buying, it is fine from many countries. But these are relatively minor issues, well made up for by the sheer ease of listing items and the cost – no sale, no pay!

With the recent price increases and change in policy by eBay there are many contenders out there all for the ebay sellers (and buyers) and it looks as if Bonanzle may just have the edge on the others. It is growing fast and furious. It’s putting the fun back into online shopping

Check it out and pay us and the other guys a visit! there are some great shops.

Bonanzle for your online shopping

How to Imitate Antique Bronze

How to Imitate Antique Bronze

Antique bronze sculptures have a wonderful metal tone that add a touch of class to any figurine.

Bronze, part from its weight, has the disadvanate of being very expensive. But you can convert a small or large ornamental figurine into antique bronze sculpture using paints with a little time and expertise.

The figurine you use can be made out of nearly any material -
albastrite, resin, polyurethene, stone, plastic, wood,etc. The only difference in its preparation is that different base coats will be necessary, so that the paints adhere to the surface

You will need:
(what you cannot get from the hardware store you will find in any craft supply shop)

Black acrylic paint
Dark green acrylic paint
Imitation gold powder (purpurine) MUST be very fine
Shellac
Betun de Judea
Green pigment
Talcum powder
Sponge
Old cloths – old Tshirts are best.

First you need to prepare the figurine with an adequate basecoat. In the cases of non brilliant surfaces – normal black paint will be adequate. Give the figurine two coats of black paint.

Allow to dry.

Mix a small amount of purpurine/imitation gold powder available from craft shops with a little shellac varnish (pour a little into a bottle lid or a small open container, and apply this with a piece of sponge to the figurine, already painted black. You must do this unevenly, allowing the black base to show through in places.

Once dry, mix a dark green paint with a lot of water. Paint a thin coat of this all over the figure andthen remove with a cloth, leaving paint in the folds and gaps of the figure

When completely dry – apply a coat of shellac to the whole piece.

Once completely dry, (wearing gloves as betun stains badly),
Apply a coat of Betun de Judea with a brush or a sponge, or in
spray if you have it – and remove with a cloth immediately. You
will need to do this in sections. Apply betun and wipe off in
sections, as it dries quickly.

Before the betun is completely dry, apply a dusting of green pigement (available from craft suppliers)mixed with normal household talcum powder using a stiff paintbrush making
sure that it sticks in the gaps and creases of the piece.

Leave to dry for an hour or so and then polish with a soft cloth
or even a shoe brush to get rid of the excess green powder

You will then have a bronze antique figurine, aged with verdigris – straight out of an antique shop.

TIP When using this bronzing technique it is recommended that you use a clear space with a good covering of newspaper or plastic sheet to protect the surface – as it is a rather messy process. And wear latex or vinyl surgical gloves!

How To Create Antique Effects with Varnish

Although at Alas y Cia Granada we make angels and nativities, I often use the varnishing techniques used in decoupage to create antique finishes on our angel figurines.

We often use the two varnish techniques to achive the antique effect of cracked varnish, which imitates the real crackling that occurs with age on much varnished work, whether it is a painting or a fired figurine.

The principal of this technique is to employ two varnishes that dry at

different speeds and cause a crackling of the suface of the second varnish.

There are many ways to achieve this effect – here are two we use-

The first uses a two product kit sold by many manufacturers of arts and crafts materials. You usually paint on one or two coats of the first varnish. When it is dry you apply one coat of the second varnish. As it dries, cracks appear on the surface. Each manufacturer will have the instructions on the pack.

The second uses a more traditional technique. First you apply one or two good coats of a latex based varnish. The names of these latex varnishes will vary from country to country – your arts or crafts shop will be able to tell you which one to select. When it has dried, you then apply a well worked in coat of Gum Arabic. Dry this second varnish (you can use a hair dryer to hurry things up). When dry, cracks will appear.

With both methods. You then carefully apply a coat (patina) of tinted wax or diluted oil paint or diluted acrylic paint and wipe it off. The colour stays in the cracks and enhances them. You then seal with a protective coat of compatible varnish. (If you are using abrasive materials as your patina, you may need to protect your crackled surface with a compatible varnish before you apply the patina.)

And Hey presto! you have a genuine antique varnished finish that has

cracked with age.

Saludos

Jenny

Alas y Cia Granada

The Place for Angels on the Web

My Hobby is Now My Business

One of the most enjoyable ways of working, is when you
have the good fortune to be able to spend your working day doing something that you would do from choice AND earn money from it.

I have always enjoyed decorative painting and decoration – and spent a
lot of time painting ceramics and angel figurines. However when I found
it impossible to work outside the home with two small children to take
care of on my own – I started working from home.

I already had a business background and had also been self employed for
several years as well – so I looked around and realised that my own
hobby was easily converted into a home based business.

Like most people I started to sell my angels and christmas nativity
sets to friends. Then advanced to markets and craft fairs- found that
there was a demand for my work from gift shops and other shops catering
for angel lovers. So Alas y Cia Granada (Wings & Co Granada in English) was born.

Next stage – a web site of course and as a logical conclusion from
there – a marketing campaign on the internet – out of which I
discovered the Business and Social networking communities, which I also use to let people know about us.

And here I am.!

By day we paint angels ( I now have two people helping me) for our shop and private customers

and the rest of my work time – I get onto my trusty computer and join
in with the rest of the world and promote the business.

I started The Artists and Artisans Place at ApSense which is my own way of helping to promote the work of artists and Crafters, like myself.

I have found the internet to be a wonderful marketing method and also a
great way to meet all sorts of interesting people and learn about their
work -

Saludos

Jenny
Alas y Cia Granada

The Place for Angel Lovers on the Web

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Alas y Cia – -The Place for Angel Lovers on the Web

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This will be my home page when I can figure out how this wonderful WordPress system works!

It will be about angels and cherubs