Dear Inky - Inky T O D - Topic O' Day

[aeba]

Edit: Redacted. In hindsight the post didn't read as tongue in cheek as I tried.

Edited December 13, 2016 by aeba

[Runnin_Ute]

Legos do give you directions to build something, but once you know how they work you can build anything you want. My granddaughter and I build new structures out of our bricks all the time.

 

 

Question time:

 

Dear Inky,

My husband seems disturbed that the colors of paint that I have picked for our home mirror my ink choices. What can I tell him to ease his fears?

Perplexed

 

P.S. I still haven't found a good paint for Sherwood Green. It would be nice if paint had shading don't you think?

I was referring to the ones where you build a car or whatever - that actually looks like that thing. I have seen those as well. If I am going to build a model car or plane or ,,,, I will buy a model kit. Not a Lego kit

[dcwaites]

Dear Inky,

I have just received my bottle of Akkerman #5, Shocking Blue.

I was shocked!

It doesn't seem at all like the various samples posted here and elsewhere.

It is more a doppelgänger for Texas Blue Bonnet / Thistle Blue-Black.

Is this how it should be?

 

Otherwise, it is a nice ink.

 

Yours in Blue-Black confusion

DCW

[amberleadavis]

I pitched it. I debated trying to reconstitute it and decided not too. I still have the bottle though.

 

I just did a reconstitute tonight on the black cashmere.

 

My original mix job was using a 150 ml mason jar, dumped the powder out of the jar it was in (round metal cap from Hobby Lobby) Added about 30-32 ml distilled water and shook well. Then put it in an empty Pelikan 4001 (62.5 ml) bottle I had. I guess we will see how it pans out. I had originally mixed to 30 ml.

 

I look forward to the results.

[amberleadavis]

Is there any paint that comes in PPS? With sheeny?

 

We'd probably have to do a hand mix and use a gloss, but a few days in the Nevada sun and it won't be exciting.

[amberleadavis]

Dear Inky,

I have just received my bottle of Akkerman #5, Shocking Blue.

I was shocked!

It doesn't seem at all like the various samples posted here and elsewhere.

It is more a doppelgänger for Texas Blue Bonnet / Thistle Blue-Black.

Is this how it should be?

 

Otherwise, it is a nice ink.

 

Yours in Blue-Black confusion

DCW

 

 

Dear BB Confusion,

 

While Blue-Black inks can be awesome, I don't think they are majestic. Shocking blue has never worked for me. I have never gotten the results that others have achieved. For example, here is Shocking blue

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Ink_Companies/Akkerman/slides/05-Akkerman.jpg

 

Here is Thistle:

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Inked_Today/slides/20140526_175213.jpg

 

http://sheismylawyer.com/She_Thinks_In_Ink/Inked_Today/slides/20140526_174915.jpg

 

So, yes, I prefer Thistle. I don't think you have a mislabelled bottle.

 

However, once again, Inky owes you lots for introducing all of us to Thistle.

 

Sincerely, in your Blue Black Debt.

[LizEF]

Dear Inky,

 

As you may know from the "Week #2 / 8 Jan: Throw Of The Dice - 2017 Weekly Ink Project" thread, my random ink is Noodler's Blue Ghost. It really is pretty cool and all, but I'm having a really hard time figuring out what to do with it! So far, my only idea is to write letters to the NSA, CIA, and FBI and see if they can figure it out, but I'm slightly worried they might come break my door down in response to seemingly blank letters.

 

Can you help with suggestions for what to do with this intriguing but apparently useless ink - preferably something that won't risk my door being broken down in a midnight raid?

 

Invisibly yours,

 

Blinded-By-The-Light

Edited January 10, 2017 by LizEF

[amberleadavis]

Dear Blinded,

 

I've written you a secret message. Please PM me with your address so that I may mail it to you.

 

Sincerely, In the Shadows

[amberleadavis]

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_1_Ink/01-January/slides/2017-01-09_Ink_41.jpg

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_1_Ink/01-January/slides/2017-01-09_Ink_42.jpg

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_1_Ink/01-January/slides/2017-01-09_Ink_43.jpg

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_1_Ink/01-January/slides/2017-01-09_Ink_44.jpg

http://www.sheismylawyer.com/2017_1_Ink/01-January/slides/2017-01-09_Ink_45.jpg

[amberleadavis]

Some notes about Noodler's Ghost Blue.

 

1. Before leaving super secret notes, be sure that NGB shows up under black light on the paper you have chosen. I discovered that not all papers show the amazing effect.
2. NGB is darn near fade proof. I've left out written samples for two years in direct sun and the ink still shows up under black light. *Though I did confirm that it showed up when I first tested the ink and paper.
3. Now, what you may not know, Ghost Blue is an amazing mixing ink. See #6 above. Some of my favorite mixes have Ghost Blue added to final mix because it is not chalky, does not overly dilute the final color, and improves water and fade resistance. It has mixed well with every ink I've tried which has been about 20.

So, the bright ideas from above:

 

• Palimpsests. Now, I did show you an example above, but what is even more cool, write your note in GB, use washable inks for the rest of the page. Wash the inks away and reveal the note only under black light.
• Diary. My daughter has a list of boys she has kissed. Since this number is zero, her father is convinced this is a blank area her journal. Her brothers are convinced that secrets are there, but aren't motivated enough to buy a black light. For Ruth, this could be a list of inks.
• Calendar important but private dates, like when Aunt Flo visits.
• Notes / To-Dos / Reminders on the Fridge. Things like - Your mother-in-law is coming to visit - and later you can truthfully claim that you wrote it on the note on the fridge. *You should follow this up with reminding hubby in the middle of the night, so that you can also claim that you told him. This could also be, "Honey, I told you I was buying these inks."
• Leave passwords directly on the monitor or the safe combination on a sticky note. (Be sure to hide the black-light flashlight. Even better, lock the black-light into the safe.)
• Hide messages in doodles. The digital version of this is to hide files in image files. I doodled some scary trees with Ghost Blue and Proctor's Ledge. NGB was still west so it washed a little and NPL washed more. Under blacklight, the trees were terrifying with different UV colors.
• Add another ink to your current fill - you can improve an otherwise temporary ink. (See the notes about ink mixing above.)
• Love Letters. Be sure to buy the flashlight (and keep it in the safe, so that you can find it when you need it. Ha ha.) - See the letter.
• Leave important instructions - how to load the dishwasher, put away clothes - in case you run away from home or the kids leave home and need to know how to do things.
• Secret Recipes should be written in a secret ink.
• Plans for the Death Star.

[LizEF]

Dear Inky,

 

Who told you I was planning to make a Death Star! That was top secret - er, I mean, it would have been top secret if it were true, but it's not true! Please excuse me, I need to make a satellite call...

 

Thank you,

 

[amberleadavis]

I figured you were a Rogue One.

 

 

BTW, send me your address. I have the original letters to send you.

[inkstainedruth]

 

Some notes about Noodler's Ghost Blue.

 

1. Before leaving super secret notes, be sure that NGB shows up under black light on the paper you have chosen. I discovered that not all papers show the amazing effect.
2. NGB is darn near fade proof. I've left out written samples for two years in direct sun and the ink still shows up under black light. *Though I did confirm that it showed up when I first tested the ink and paper.
3. Now, what you may not know, Ghost Blue is an amazing mixing ink. See #6 above. Some of my favorite mixes have Ghost Blue added to final mix because it is not chalky, does not overly dilute the final color, and improves water and fade resistance. It has mixed well with every ink I've tried which has been about 20.

So, the bright ideas from above:

 

• Palimpsests. Now, I did show you an example above, but what is even more cool, write your note in GB, use washable inks for the rest of the page. Wash the inks away and reveal the note only under black light.
• Diary. My daughter has a list of boys she has kissed. Since this number is zero, her father is convinced this is a blank area her journal. Her brothers are convinced that secrets are there, but aren't motivated enough to buy a black light. For Ruth, this could be a list of inks.
• Calendar important but private dates, like when Aunt Flo visits.
• Notes / To-Dos / Reminders on the Fridge. Things like - Your mother-in-law is coming to visit - and later you can truthfully claim that you wrote it on the note on the fridge. *You should follow this up with reminding hubby in the middle of the night, so that you can also claim that you told him. This could also be, "Honey, I told you I was buying these inks."
• Leave passwords directly on the monitor or the safe combination on a sticky note. (Be sure to hide the black-light flashlight. Even better, lock the black-light into the safe.)
• Hide messages in doodles. The digital version of this is to hide files in image files. I doodled some scary trees with Ghost Blue and Proctor's Ledge. NGB was still west so it washed a little and NPL washed more. Under blacklight, the trees were terrifying with different UV colors.
• Add another ink to your current fill - you can improve an otherwise temporary ink. (See the notes about ink mixing above.)
• Love Letters. Be sure to buy the flashlight (and keep it in the safe, so that you can find it when you need it. Ha ha.) - See the letter.
• Leave important instructions - how to load the dishwasher, put away clothes - in case you run away from home or the kids leave home and need to know how to do things.
• Secret Recipes should be written in a secret ink.
• Plans for the Death Star.

 

 

This list is hilarious! I do NOT however, need to keep the list of inks from the husband. Mostly (I may have forgotten to mention that I bought a 4-1/2 oz. bottle of Blue Ghost, forgetting that I already had an unopened 3 oz. bottle... ). As for the reminder notes -- and verbal reminders -- it wouldn't do much good, because he's Mr. Oblivious; you don't want to know how many times I've said "If you're going to save the empty peanut butter jars, you need to get the labels off when you wash them -- AND the sticky stuff underneath...." Seriously, that is why there's a bottle of GooGone under the kitchen sink....

On a slightly more serious note -- I misplaced my blacklight last week, so I thought I'd run out to the Walmart closest to where I was meeting people for dinner last week and pick up a backup one (the little free one that came with the 3 oz. bottle died). And the next day, driving back out there with the receipt as it was starting to SNOW -- because the darn thing didn't work. And so I handed them the package and the receipt and the flashlight, and went to the back of the store to get the other one they had in stock; then got back up front and said "Under the circumstances, I'd like to test this one out as well... just to be sure...." Only *that* one didn't work either. So I got a refund instead, and the Waterworks Mall Wallyworld now gets to fight Rayovac over the *two* non-working UV flashlights -- I couldn't tell if the included batteries were bad or the LED light parts weren't working. And after I got back home (okay, I got an oil change on the minivan in between, and then went and dropped off the order renewal form at the bank for checks) I found the one I'd originally bought. And of course, it worked fine, just the way it had before I misplaced it (and no I didn't lock it in the safe... ). But now I seem to have misplaced the notebook....

I mostly use Blue Ghost for writing down website passwords (although I had to test the notebook I was using to make sure there wouldn't be a problem with the paper in it, since it's a slightly odd color. And of course without a functioning blacklight, it was kinda hard to do....

As for a diary, I'm not sure I'd be awake enough some mornings to both write with Blue Ghost and play with the blacklight at the same time (to make sure it was actually writing and not just making embossed nib lines (which kinda defeats the purpose of invisible ink). I have enough trouble trying to type one-handed *and* hold the blacklight up to the notebook at the same time (all those pesky capital letters and numbers and characters (and what if I had to change to something that used alternate characters like Ø... ).

What I really need is a blacklight version of those clip on book lights (the gooseneck ones you get at Barnes and Noble). Hmmm. I wonder how hard it is to get the bulbs themselves that would be small enough to fit in the head of one of those. I'll have to remind Steve of this the next time he goes to his "maker" club... "Hey, here's an idea for you to play around with on their 3d printer.... And get Bob or someone to help you with the wiring, and maybe make it solar-powered.... No -- wait! One of those Stirling engines, like that guy had at the Hack party after the Pittsburgh Maker Faire last fall...." (Hey, they have a Tardis (although I don't think this one is smaller on the outside... And our friend (the aforementioned Bob) built a full size K-9, and is putting in visual software so it will follow the Tardis around....

@ LizEF -- I only need a working set of plans for a really *small* Death Star.... And only just occasionally....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

ROFL

[dcwaites]

...

 

What I really need is a blacklight version of those clip on book lights (the gooseneck ones you get at Barnes and Noble). Hmmm. I wonder how hard it is to get the bulbs themselves that would be small enough to fit in the head of one of those. ....

..

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

How about a headlamp with UV lights

 

 

One of many available on the interwebs...

[LizEF]

Non-fountain-pen people just don't know what they're missing.

[inkstainedruth]

 

How about a headlamp with UV lights

 

 

One of many available on the interwebs...

 

Hey, that might come in handy. And while the price is higher than for the one I bought ($9.97 US) it's also really practical. Although I'd have to see how much the sizing on the headgear part is adjustable.

Of course I still like the idea of a goose-necked clip on....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

Any more questions? This has been fun. When I go to the pen show, Ruth, will you be the surrogate Inky?

[inkstainedruth]

Sorry, no can do. I've got this huge project that I'm a bit behind on. Sadly, not using FPs for it -- it's a job for a Uniball.

Plus, I don't think I can give Dear Inky the "je ne sais quoi" it really needs.... Right now I'm a bit under the weather, and then (on top of that) got completely soaked getting out of the local Sam's Club about an hour ago -- so currently curled up in front of the laptop (and the TV) in sweats and dry socks and fuzzy purple slippers....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[amberleadavis]

OH NO, get well soon!