I started early in the morning to make my first batch of avocado ink. I had saved a weeks worth of the stones from very small to large around 6 so I used them all.
Peeled the brown skin off and chopped small. I don't have a small pan in my dye-craft stash, so with a little regret I grabbed one of my usa copper bottom revere ware pans that has been missing the wooded handle for years. I do have another the same size-so this is now my ink making pan with the lid too. My set of copper bottom usa made revere pans come from my Mom and my Grandma, some I bought for myself in the early '70's and I have picked up a couple large dutch oven size pans over the years too. So thinking that I have loved and used these pans over many years now, some with history before me-it's ok to add one for making inks etc. Smiles I do feel better about it afterwards.
I covered the chopped stones with distilled water (so as not to alter ph with the water from faucet) and kept it on low heat for about 30 minutes. After lots of reading in books and online and many sites-better to Not let inks boil or cook-we are coaxing color instead.
Most of what I read about this ink, added in soda ash. I thought I had some in my natural dye stash but I didn't Then I remembered I still had a little bit left of the arm and hammer washing soda which had the same name as soda ash-sodium carbonate so I took a chance and used it.
Almost immediately I got a lovely dark maroon color. I let it heat for another 15 minutes or so-below a simmer. I made test strips from watercolor papers-and tested every 15 minutes. I have learned from natural dyeing that sometimes if you heat too long-that is a fine line sometimes-you will lose the color and will go brown or not what you wanted. I don't think I would have gotten any color at all without adding in the sodium carbonate (soda ash or washing soda)
So after the 4th test I pulled it off the heat with the lid to cool down.
Several of the different sites I read online suggested to let sit overnite before straining and adding the gum arabic (binder for the ink) Others just strained it off right away. One site, the one I shared that gave herself a 30 day challenge for making inks let sit overnite and then reheated for two hours the next day-I personally don't like the idea of heating for that long the next day. I think I will bring it up to just below simmer tomorrow and then strain and add the gum arabic which I have now. For the preservative I will add in one whole clove and a few drops of wintergreen essential oil to the ink bottle.
When I was in my craft room looking through my dye supplies I found a journal I had started about the eco prints I did on papers I totally do not remember that at all. So I grabbed the book and started with taking notes about my avocado ink and taped in these test strips-I never take notes on dye projects because it has always been an adventure in color, but I think I will expand and take notes with these inks-as I think I am going to enjoy making and using these-and perhaps repeat the recipes.
Stay tuned for the reveal tomorrow of the finished ink-I am excited as it is a gorgeous dark maroon right now in the pan with the chopped avocado stones
Ooooo i'm on pins and needles Kathy!!! lol I thought for sure it would be green!! Goes to show what i know..lol Well i have nervously jumped in making those tribal women as a Party Invite card for my ex boss / now friend in Arkansas... I did tell you about that didn't i? She wanted me to add a few things and change it up a little, but i cannot for the life of me remember exactly what colors i used in colored pencil to do her card.. So i'm mocking up 4 of them.. each a little different for her to choose from then she will take them to Office Depo or some such and have cards made of them. So excited that she would do that.. So thats what i'm doing tonight.. I wondered if your Avocado Ink will smell like wintergreen OH and i wonder now if your blackberry Ink smells like blackberry... hmmm... :) Hugs! deb
ReplyDeleteHi Deb, that sounds like a fun art project for you. Yes the wintergreen eo does keep its smell-I think I put in a little too much in the blackberry ink so when I open the jar it smells like the wintergreen and a bit of the clove too-but once I write or paint with it the smell seems to go away. I have been anxious to strain this out tonight-but I will patient and do that tomorrow. I think it is going to be pretty
DeleteInk made with avocado stones? wow how cool is that!
ReplyDeleteYes very fun to see the color apppear
DeleteIt us a lovely shade -Christine cmlk79.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteI doubt Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde ever had the fun you are having with your ink experiments. 😉 I am anxious to see how it turns out! And, of course you should be documenting each step in a journal. And, I also was thinking the ink would be green! Hilltop post
ReplyDeleteYou have me smiling Mary-I got up around 1 am couldn't sleep so finished up the ink and wrote a post loving it
DeleteKathy - my grandmother bought me a whole set of revere pans when I got married...how neat is this?? I am still using my same pans forty five some years later. Wonder if the next generation will be able to say the same about what they are purchasing and using these days!! Love your ink adventures. Reading your post tomorrow. Hugs!
ReplyDeletethat's awesome-these usa revere ware pans are the best-now they are made in china and Not the same at all. we have gone to flea markets where the usa pans are high dollar. I use those and my cast iron pieces. nope the next generation will be buying more china probably-sad
Deletethe ink is fun for sure
This is exciting. to see how thr batch turns out.
ReplyDeleteHi yes this is all very fun and exciting for me-when I was natural dyeing fabrics-the fun was seeing the results of colors
DeleteThis is very exciting-so I have started with the posts I haven't read yet, and working to the present one. My mom had those copper bottom pans-I always loved them. I agree- I don't like the newer pans-especially the no-stick ones-yuk! I have read a tiny bit about making your own watercolor and I think they use gum arabic for that too.
ReplyDeleteI love these usa made pans too, so well made yes I believe the watercolor paints have the gum arebic added too-it's a binder to help adhere to the paper
DeleteI missed these avocado ink posts since I didn't see everyone's posts, but I am surprised by the color. I like it though, but I would have thought it would have been green.
ReplyDeleteseveral commented they thought it would be green I only knew the color since I researched how to make it It is really pretty and writes well too
DeleteYou are working on avocados and I am working on oranges. I think I need to get my avocados cooked up soon, but I have no soda ash. I DO have gum arabic and cloves, but no wintergreen. I used it all making soap two years ago. I lok forward to your reveal. I use my blog as my "notebook."
ReplyDeleteHi Elizabeth-do you have arm and hammer washing soda? that works the same as the soda ash same ingredient-sodium carbonate I think it was. you need it to bring out the color.
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