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Post by penguy on Sept 19, 2021 19:34:17 GMT
My wife and I harvested some wild grapes for jelly and I made ink using some of the boiled juice diluted and run through a coffee filter into an ink bottle then added some gum arablc. I really like the results. On white paper it is blue violet and on cream colored paper sort of a burgundy. I used a Zebra G nib in a holder. So far I have written two letters with it. I'm wondering if I should keep it in the refrigerator to keep mold at bay or add some alcohol, or aftershave for a scented ink (think it has alcohol). Anyone else out there wanting to try some harvest inks....elderberry, highbush cranberry...other ideas, pumpkin yellow perhaps. I did post a photo of my results on the Facebook page for AWoSM. www.facebook.com/groups/1810689565834025
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Post by Catida on Sept 20, 2021 4:30:30 GMT
Fascinating! Unfortunately I can't see the photo, cause I'm not in Facebook.
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Post by stompie on Sept 20, 2021 7:24:45 GMT
Can't see the pictures yet, membership pending!
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Post by davidv on Sept 20, 2021 15:24:55 GMT
I was steaming beets yesterday and thought that boiling down the purple water would probably work. Beet colouring seems to be quite powerful and staining. I dumped it though…all the preserving tasks of gardening have been enough work, so I wasn’t in the mood for a side project. I wonder about the spoilage factor though. I’d guess the concentrate would have lots of spoilable sugar content.
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Post by penguy on Sept 20, 2021 16:38:03 GMT
I have the same feeling about spoilage so am busy writing letters with it before mold appears and I am certainly not going to be using it in a fountain pen. The gum arabic gives the ink a bit more body for use with a dip pen. The ink is actually really fun to write with. Like an iron gal ink there is a darkening of the ink when it dries. I think beets would work well. Probably you would end up with an ink going down red and drying a nice blue. If you do it let me know how it turns out. Gum arabic can usually be found at an art supply store in the watercolor department and you might find it handy to adjust the viscosity of the ink for calligraphy.
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