This is by far the most ample ink I have in my home, it is that of inks made from flowers. This is the one of the easiest and fastest inks to be create and requires the least amount of materials to produce brilliant and soft colors. The inks from flowers can be either stunning and dark, or a lighter and more pale like one would expect from watercolor. Flower inks don’t last as long as inks produced from berries or nuts, and being left in the sunlight will fade their colors faster, but since this ink is so fast and easy to make, it can always be in supply. The shelf life of this ink is about a month if kept in the dark, but that is often dependent on the color itself.
Materials:
- Glass containers (preferably mason jars or drinking cups)
- A pestle or other wooden tool (to crush the flowers with)
- Boiling water
- Cheese cloth
- Rubbing Alcohol or 100 Proof Vodka
- Glass storage container
- Optional: Gum Arabic
Steps:
- First, gather the flower petals of choice for the color desired (note some flower ink isn’t the same color as the flower petals).
- Take these petals and crush them into the glass container, stuffing as many as you can in 1/3rd of the container as possible. The more crushed the petals, the more color will come out.
- Fill the container with just enough boiling water to barely cover the flower petals. Do not fill the container, as this will dull the ink.
- Set this container aside to brew overnight (I actually leave mine in the window to brew for 24 hours).
- Strain the flower petals from the liquid, pouring the colored ink into a clean glass storage container.
- Add 1 part alcohol to the container and shake gently (do not shake hard enough to form bubbles).
- Optional: You may add Gum Arabic to give the ink a thicker consistency.
Recommended flowers & herbs:
- Blue ink: Hyacinth flowers, blue lotus
- Red or Pink ink: Crush rose, lavender, and hibiscus
- Greenish inks: Lily of the valley, marigolds, DARK dahlias,
- Yellow inks: Marigolds, daffodils, buddleia and dandelions
- Orange ink: Dyer’s coreopsis, dahlias
- Purple inks: Red peonies, lavender
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