The sheath knife got its patina through honest use (making chili using beefsteak, fresh peppers, garlic, onions, etc).
The sticker I "faked" using a bit of Birchwood Casey Plum Brown solution on a warm (not real hot) blade waved over a gas flame to heat it,, then treated with olive oil and heated while wet with the oil. I don't use that one for food, mostly a letter opener...
I never did finish the Green River blade. When I browned a rolling block last winter, I gave it a treatment to try out some Dixie Instant Antique solution. Gonna put some scales on it from a rock maple I felled in the back yard. Setting in front of the wood stove last winter, I spied a piece of firewood I liked, cut a slab from it and aged it since. Pretty soon the wood will be ready.
But first I gotta finish this:
AUS-8 stainless blade, Paduak scales, mosaic pins, etc.
lottsa polishing to get a presentation finish on AUS-8 stainless. Very tough steel.
Like I said, pretty or plain, they gotta be functional, so i chose a "real" knife steel I know works.
I carry a Darrel Ralph designed folder with AUS-8 blade, etc, and it is a tough knife. I bought it as a kit, did it up with some filework on the spine, etc.
I've carried it two or three years now. The polished but not sealed cocobolo wood is coffee bean dark from repeated sweating through the pants pocket, soaking in rain, etc (on the bike), but I still like the appearance.