More About Making Ink

 I have been in search for a few years now on how to make ink. I've taken out books specifically about ink making. All very interesting, but labor intensive and I'm not into that. I like when things are done in an uncomplicated way.

I haven't tried to make this yet, but you can bet it's on my to do list or my to get list. 

Drawing Ink Recipe 

This is from Natural Earth Paints

Earth and Mineral Pigment

Gum Arabic Powder

Small mixing bowl and spoon (remember don't use for cooking or storing food after, secondhand store is good for finding these) 

A small glass jar   (you can find these in a hobby store or even a dollar store or just keep your eye out for jars at your local secondhand store. I have become hyper aware of glass jars and have asked my hubby to not throw out a jar until I've looked at it. You'd be surprised how much food stuff comes in small jars.)

tape and pen to label your jar.

Directions:

To make 1oz of ink

Mix 4 tsp of pigment (mineral any color you want) and 1 tsp of Gum Arabic and stir the two together in a small bowl (make sure this is a bowl you won't ever use for food or cooking!)

Add 4tsp (add a tsp at a time and stir, some pigments need more water some less. Gold mica, needs about 7tsp of water) of water to this dry mixture. Stir until it is really smooth.

Use to draw with a quill or brush.

With no preservatives it will last about 3 months, if refrigerated about 7 months.

*** My thought...I wonder if you put just a drop of essential oil, will it help to preserve it better. Rosemary, cinnamon, tea tree oil, lavender are some. I use Jade Bloom to buy essential oils; they are natural not synthetic and of reasonable price.

The trees around this area have gotten fiery looking with their reds, yellows and orange. I look at them every morning and every chance I get to take that deep breath.

 I hope everyone had a fun Halloween. I spent the entire month watching horror movies old timey and the newer ones. Soon it will be the holiday movies.

With many Hugs to all,

Dolores

Sharing About Making Your Own Paints

 I don't have much to say...the world is in chaos, but I'm still holding out for peace and love. And now is a good time to be creative not so much to sell, but to get out your head.

Natural Earth Paints has a resource library that tells you how to make art supplies using their pigment minerals. They also have craft section. 

I'm planning to get what I need to make ink, I haven't bought any in a very long time because ink isn't exactly friendly. 

Any who here is the link https://naturalearthpaint.com/blogs/blog/tagged/recipes.

May you all have a peaceful week!

Love to all,

Dolores

Happy Autumn!

Autumn Teddy 
All Rights Reserved by Dolores Jablonski 2025

Happy Fall Everyone!

It's my favorite time of the year and with October comes Halloween. Many homes in our area are set up for Halloween, some being more elaborate than Christmas. I only do pumpkins, which by the way please don't bleach your pumpkins or paint them if you're going to leave them outdoors; the wildlife also loves pumpkins, squirrels, chipmunks and deer if you have them in your area. They can get very sick and die from eating bleached pumpkins or pumpkins with acrylic paint on it. I even found out that the fake webbing we use outdoors can catch small birds.

Anyway, it's my favorite time of year!

 Natures fashion show of yellows, reds and orange, with a touch of brown,

Windy days and dropping temps (ha, summer still won't let go here!)

Time for baggy sweaters and hoodies!

Socks...oh my.... Socks, warm fuzzy socks, best thing ever!

Apples and apple cider, along with a few hot chocolates.

Long rides for leaf peeping or just a walk thru a park, make sure you look up to see the color,

look down so you can scatter the leaves that have fallen.

It's my favorite time of the year!

Here are some links to pumpkin recipes to enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies II Recipe

Best Ever Pumpkin Muffins - Lovely Little Kitchen

May you enjoy this fall!

Hugs,

Dolores

Well Here I Am...

 I bet you thought I wasn't coming back... WRONG!

Summer was a dizzy busy-ness of surgeries and such. 

Hubby needed eye surgery, and I needed to get a tooth pulled. With recovery time and the heat of the summer, well I just don't know where time went.

But all is well and I'm back.

I've gotten more involved with fiber, mostly wool which is very sustainable being that it comes from sheep and will biodegrade and have been making sure that it has been dyed naturally.

A wonderful friend recently moved to Iceland who happens to be a fiber artist, wasn't able to take all his fiber with him. He surprised me with a box filled with unspun fibers, and wool yarn and raw wool from the Rambouillet Sheep, I think, (he wasn't even too certain.) Anyway, it needed to be combed and spun and dyed. This wool was handed down to him and now to me. I'm still learning how card (brush) and haven't bought cards (brushes) to work with. It was something I don't know if I really want to get into, but here it is, I need a brush! I had read that the slicker dog brushes are similar to cards, not the best but it's a start.

It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't all the smooth, having little nubs here and there. I spun it anyway thinking it would make great art yarn.

 

Cat inspector with raw wool

Spun art wool. I'm practicing how to spin art wool on a drop spindle. 

I went ahead and dyed this in my stash of onion skins. As well as what my friend had spun.

I saved the dye in jars and they are labeled and in my fridge. Which reminds me I need to use them soon.

I had saved dye made from black tea and mixed the onion dye and tea dye together.

I got a lighter shade of that dark pumpkin color, it isn't as bright, but definitely lighter shade of the pumpkin color, I was hoping for more of a brown since the dye bath looked like a burnt sienna brown.

Green is hard to make naturally but have read that copper could turn some dyes into a green, makes sense if you ever had copper jewelry turn your skin green. I have a little piece of copper to use in the next onion dye bath...

Till next time,

Hugs,

Dolores