pysanky

Well, I've returned to Pysanky.

I was cleaning out a box of stuff (finally) when I came across a carton of my Ukrainian eggs. They re-inspired me to try the art again, and since all my dyes were still sitting on the shelf, I dove right in. 

My first egg was admittedly pretty horrible. But my second attempt came out well!

the bottom:

a side view:

 :)

Ukrainian eggs

My kind sister used her amazing photography skills,
(see her blog here for even more amazing photos)
to take pics of my eggs!

Here they all are:

~

Now separately, in order of creation:

 This was my first one...

...which after making, I startled my family greatly by skipping through the house exclaiming how well the kistky worked.

:P

 ~

Next, a bird on one side...

And a flower on the other.

And yes, the leaves are blue.

*sigh*

Still learning...

;)

~

Then I decided to make an untraditional egg.

Traditional eggs mostly have geometric patterns, very even and uniform.

Untraditional eggs are...

ungeometric.

:P

So I made a peacock, 

 with it's tail flowing almost all the way around the egg.

I like the effect..

~

Then we have a very traditional egg.

An eight pointed star, which symbolizes the sun.

Actually, I didn't know that until after I made the egg. 

:P

~

Lastly, my latest egg.

I liked the way this one turned out. 

By now most of the lines are looking fairly straight!

~

And here are the eggs all together.

Well, five is all the eggs I have made so far, but I'm pretty sure I will make some more when I get time.

Phew.

Quite a few photos.

 Of course, I had around 70 pics, just of the finished eggs to sort through. 

:P

I'll do one more post on Ukrainian egg/Pysanky history sometime soon!

Ukrainian eggs - dye

I have started the eggs.
:)
First I'll post about making the dyes.
Because that proved to be a more difficult and time consuming task than I first thought.

I had an extra half hour, so I decided to make up the egg dyes.
Dyes take longer than half an hour to make.
Let me get that point across first. ;P

However, I didn't know this.

So I dived in.

I started to boil some water when I realized I needed distilled water.
No big deal.
I hired my little brother to run to a sari-sari store for some water.

Then I realized that the dye was going to be a tight fit in the containers I had.
I tried it anyway.
Thankfully the dye all fit.
:P
However, some splashed on the counter.
This is strong dye. Not food color dye.
STRONG.
*gulp*
Actually it wiped off alright.
(water soluble)

Nevertheless, I moved to the back sink.

I boiled, measured, poured, and made sure not to dye myself.
Despite precautions I did have greenish blue fingers for a while after...

Finally, all twelve dyes were made, and safely stored with the lids on tight.

Phew.

I stopped several times, for lunch, music, and homework.
And it took much more than half an hour.

Next I'll post about the actual eggs!