The Black Walnut Ink Experiment

I purchased some black walnut ink from my friends Joanne and Alex a while back. Now that the holidays are behind me, I've had some time to experiment with the ink. I dyed some bone beads. You can see the results above. I love the way they came out. I have plans to throw a few more items into the dye pot.
There are a couple of pieces listed in my shop. You can find them here. And you can find the ink for sale here.
I am also going to dye with indigo. Stay tuned.
Until next time.....

Beet Juice

I love beets and grow them every year. For the most part, I slice and steam them until fork tender and freeze them in pint freezer containers without any liquid. I find that they keep quite well. When it comes time to eat them, I remove a container from the freezer, thaw and enjoy.
The other day I did just that. I noticed the beautiful juice at the bottom of the container. The first thing that came to mind was using it for a dye. I went to the studio and unearthed a handful of vintage carved bone rose beads and plopped them into the juice. I left it overnight. In the morning I poured off the juice and rinsed the beads. I laid them out to dry.
This is the results. I just love how they came out. Two toned dusty rose beads. Perfect for something. What yet, I don't know. But I do know that I will be dyeing more beads with beet juice in the future. Maybe some wooden ones.
When I turn these into jewelry, I'll post the piece or pieces here.
Until next time.....

How To: Tea-Dyed Bone Beads

I recently took out my stash of bone beads. I've had many of them since I started making jewelry, which would make them vintage according to Etsy's 20 year law! I wanted to dye some of them with tea to give them an antiqued, rustic look. Where to go to find out the info?

I remember a while back reading something on Lisa's blog. Sure enough, I found what I was looking for. A convo or two later with this fab woman and I was good to go.

Here's how I did it, in case anyone else is interested.

I put two tea bags (black tea) in a one quart size yogurt container.

Pour in one cup boiling water

Add beads

Leave overnite

Take out. Rinse. Dry. Use.

The pictures of the deer pendants give you a good idea of the before and after. I like the tea stained one best. John likes the white, natural one. They are both available in my Etsy shop in a limted number.

Until next time.....