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JennGM
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Since I keep talking about Ukrainian or pysanky eggs in the natural dyes thread I think this would be a good time to post some info on the Pysanky eggs.
This Thread Easter Eggs Traditions talks about different approaches, and includes some links for Ukrainian eggs and such.
For those near to D.C. the Annual Pysanky Workshop is being held at Ukrainian National Shrine on Sunday, April 1st
Annual PYSANKA WORKSHOP & EASTER BAZAAR
Sunday, April 1st from 12 noon to 5 pm
PYSANKA WORKSHOP: 2 pm - 5 pm (registration 1-2 pm): Adults: $15 & children under 12: $7:
Detailed AV presentation, Personalized instruction, Materials & supplies included.
BAZAAR: many vendors 12 noon - 4 pm
Traditional Ukrainian arts & crafts - Pysanka kits, how-to books, videos - Traditional foods & baked breads -
Smoked meats: kovbasa (smoked sausage), kabanos, bochok (rib bacon), pashtet (liver pate), poliadvytsia (very lean Canadian bacon), and more.
UKRAINIAN CATHOLIC NATIONAL SHRINE
4250 Harewood Road, NE (across from Catholic
University of America) WDC.
For directions & information call: Sophika at (240) 426-0530, Jurij at (301) 649-6558 or the Parish office at:
(202) 526-3737.
I love going to this. It's just held in the church basement. The new ad doesn't mention the buffet luncheon from the past years, so I'll need to call about that.
I'm trying to go this year. Any takers?
Key words: pisanki pysanka pysanky Ukrainian Polish Easter
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Jennifer G. Miller
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Rachel May
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 12:24pm | IP Logged
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I so want to come. I just have to check with the boss. 
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Rachel
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 3:40pm | IP Logged
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My boss is on retreat, so I'm going it alone, or with someone, I hope!
I called, and because they had some scheduling conflicts it's a week later than their usual plan and and it's just sandwich stuff, no hot meals. They will be offering a Ukrainian open face sandwich, with cream cheese and other stuff on top, not expensive. It actually will work better if you're on a budget, as the other meals were a bit pricier for families. There will be food sold there for Easter, but you can eat it then. It's very yummy. Dh and I like to buy our Easter sausage there. It's so good!
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Jennifer G. Miller
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JennGM
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| Posted: March 23 2007 at 3:41pm | IP Logged
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I forgot to add that this Shrine is two doors down from John Paul II Cultural Center, and right near the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception, so you really could make a day of it.
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Mary G
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So Jenn, will you make the Pysanky -- I've always wanted to try and just haven't YET! Are they hard? Worth doing? Something I should purchase a kit for? ADVICE, please....
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Oh Jenn I want to go to this so badly. We have been doing these for about 3 years, it is soooooo much fun. I would love to come down to this workshop. Now to convince the boss 
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JennGM
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Mary G wrote:
| So Jenn, will you make the Pysanky -- I've always wanted to try and just haven't YET! Are they hard? Worth doing? Something I should purchase a kit for? ADVICE, please.... |
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In a word, yes! It's just so wonderful. I've made a few, and love the whole process, but my husband learned later in the game and just loves it, too. My sister did it with her girls. They were young and first timers, but loved it.
It requires patience, some finer motor skills, and some supervision, as there are flames involved. But I really think your littles would enjoy it. I think your 7 and 8 year old will do well. You would of course start with less detail to get the process down, but it is a wonderfully fun.
I see that there is now a DVD How To for sale and I think that would be a great start. That's the appeal of the workshop. It first is slides of actual pictures by the man who is giving the talk, giving step by step instructions. Then we are given the materials and sit around and create our eggs, while several "experts" come around and help, praise, and talk pysanky. It's nothing fancy, but I absolutely love it.
I've seen young children at the workshop make incredible pysanky. They are growing up in Ukrainian households and see it done, and learn young. Some of the young boys and men make some of the most exquisite eggs...in fact the teacher is a man.
And the book that's a must have is A Kid's Guide to Decorating Ukrainian Easter Eggs. Hearthsong has it for $1.00 less. I have many books on making Ukrainian eggs, and this book is fabulous, even for adults. There are wonderful tips, great breakdowns step-by-step that makes this art accessible.
And before you even put kistka to egg, drawing designs and coloring on paper is a good project. This coloring book has some wonderful designs.
This kit is a great start. If more than one person is doing this, you don't need more dyes, although I would order more kistky. There are 3 basic sizes, thin, medium, and thick. You might want a few of the books.
Ukrainian Egg Decorating Kit from Hearthsong I have not seen. In the past they had a kit with the Kid's Guide book, but it looks like they are making their own, with their own DVD.
My favorite part of this art is that it has the religious link, and Christian symbols and symbols of Easter can be incorporated.
Although I'm calling them Ukrainian eggs, there are similar Polish and other Slovak ethnicities (sp?), each with a slightly different interpretation, but all gorgeous. The Polish call them pisanki, and I don't remember the rest.
It's not too expensive to try. Besides the kits, you'll need a candle, preferably a taper candle, some wide-mouth mason jars to hold the dye (and these can be saved for years, just add more vinegar to refresh). I'd recommend making or buying an egg drying board. Part of the process is melting the wax off the egg. You can do an open flame method, but beginner often scorch their eggs. The rack allows you to put the eggs in the oven to melt off the wax slowly and safely. You will also want to get some type of varnish to seal in the colors and the eggs, but you can do that at any time.
There are a variety of places to get your supplies. My favorite places are The Ukrainian Gift Shop and Polish Art Center for mail order, but there might be some local sources. The BEST experience would find some families that do this and see the gorgeous eggs and watch them do their magic.
A couple of warnings. The dyes are a chemical, so toxic. The colors are vibrant and intense. If you are worried about that, I have only found a non-toxic (but less intense color) from Surma, but I have not used them. Dh has used this method for our hardboiled eggs, just using the vegetable dyes. He likes the process much better than coloring with crayons. 
The eggs need to either be fresh farm eggs, white, medium to large size, or if from grocery store, you'll need to do a vinegar solution. The oils in your hands rub off, so I like to hold the egg with a soft cloth or paper towel. And knocking or dropping the egg ruins the masterpiece, so we also pad the table and surrounding area with towels.
This isn't a warning, but it takes a little getting used to the process, because you have to decide the pattern, what colors, and you cover with wax bit by bit from white to yellow to the darker colors. The egg is done when it has wax all over. Painting pottery is a bit like this, where you decide the light colors first then darker.
Ask away any other questions...I don't mean to overwhelm, but I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE pysanky!
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JennGM
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There are some great free resources on the web, which I'll repeat here.
Oh, and here are the instructions for pronunciation. I ALWAYS get it wrong (Mary Chris, please note!):
A pysanka (pronounced PEH sahn kah) is a Ukrainian Easter Egg. The plural version is pysanky (pronounced PEH sahn keh).
Learn Pysanky is fabulous, with simple designs, step-by-step process, also you can find local workshops, etc.
Some various Pysanky hints
Some poster downloads, a little egg vacuum science project, etc.
Great explanation of symbols and colors downloadable book.
online pysanky class
the art of Pysanky
The teacher of the above workshop has shared extensive list of links and Bibliography
Pysanka step-by-step
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Mary G
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OOOH thank you thank you thank you Jenn! You are such a treasure (and a great bonus to my spending habits too ).
I'm thinking I'll put together an Easter basket of these goodies and that will give us time to do them a bit post-Easter so that next year we'll have all the stuff good to go before Easter! What a great rabbit trail we can start and keep going each year. I especially love the idea of the coloring book and practicing, etc.
THANKS too (from my dh) for the free online ideas ... this will be a great project for me and the littles for the next couple of weeks ....
Jenn, again, thanks so much for taking the time to list all these great resources (and for all the times in the past I forgot to say thanks!)
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JennGM
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You're welcome, Mary! No problem! You're just as generous with your knitting!
I'm adding just a few more tidbits, since I'm spending my birthday money this afternoon.
I noticed Hearthsong's dyes are water soluble, so I think they might be safer to use.
Yahoo Group Eggs-Pysanky has great info.
Some other links:
This booklet sounds really good.
Luba's Website has some great items, including How-to Downloads and Chemistry of Ukrainian eggs and dyes. I'd love to see some chemists check this page out!
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I can't go, but I am going to Mary Ann's (momtomany) house on Friday to make them! I am so excited. I have only done it once in a Russian studies class in high school. Thanks everyone for the great links!!
Beth
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mathmama wrote:
| I can't go, but I am going to Mary Ann's (momtomany) house on Friday to make them! I am so excited. I have only done it once in a Russian studies class in high school. Thanks everyone for the great links!! |
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Too fun!! Please share your report on your fun time!
I'd love to hear feedback on the DVD from Hearthsong and the one from Ukrainian Gift Shop. I think having a DVD would make a home group beginner gathering easier.
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JennGM
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Just adding some resources I found.
.pdf file of basic directions
By the same artist, Luba, she shares downloads, including instructions for children, both languages included.
ETA: Alas, in all my enthusiasm, I don't think I'm making it to the festival, as I don't like to drive into DC by myself. I'm just too chicken!
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Jenn! Don't say that! I'm still working on getting there so I will come and get you if it does work out. I'm chicken about driving too, but having a fellow chicken makes me brave.
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Paper Eggs has many pages of coloring pages to download and have fun with.
Jenn, you say your husband enjoys using normal veggie dyes - do you mean like the traditional Paas tablets? He does this on normal hardboiled eggs too?
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JennGM
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marihalojen wrote:
Paper Eggs has many pages of coloring pages to download and have fun with.
Jenn, you say your husband enjoys using normal veggie dyes - do you mean like the traditional Paas tablets? He does this on normal hardboiled eggs too? |
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Yes, exactly. While everyone was using Crayola crayons and PAAS dyes on our hardboiled eggs, he decided to whip out his kistka and candle and fool around on the HB egg. Now, it wasn't the all over elaborate designs, but fun to do the wax resist/batik method even with the family eggs.
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JennGM
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Rachel May wrote:
| Jenn! Don't say that! I'm still working on getting there so I will come and get you if it does work out. I'm chicken about driving too, but having a fellow chicken makes me brave. |
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I'm braver with a flock of chickens...just keep me posted.
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MaryM
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JennGM wrote:
| Yes, exactly. While everyone was using Crayola crayons and PAAS dyes on our hardboiled eggs, he decided to whip out his kistka and candle and fool around on the HB egg. Now, it wasn't the all over elaborate designs, but fun to do the wax resist/batik method even with the family eggs. |
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That sounds lovely. I love batik-look so think this would look wonderful. Will have to give it a try.
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mathmama wrote:
I can't go, but I am going to Mary Ann's (momtomany) house on Friday to make them! I am so excited.
Beth |
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Beth and I had a great time! And I have to say that I was very impressed with her results!
Thanks Jenn, for all the great links. My ds Matt especially loved the little pump for emptying the eggs.
I enjoyed doing it so much that I am hoping to get a few more eggs done before Easter. We have our own chickens, so we have lots of farm eggs.
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We're going to attempt pysanky with the littles on Monday -- the Ukranian books Jenn mentioned say "4 year olds can do this" with adult help of course.
Anyway, I rec'd my order from the Ukranian Gift Shop ... and it is amazing stuff.
The Kid's Guide to Decorating Ukranian Easter Eggs Kit is a perfect started set with the kistka, dyes, egg blower thingy, beeswax and the book that comes is so easy I feel very confident! (We'll see what I say on Monday evening ....) Well worth the $24.95 when compared to the Hearthsong "kit"
I also order the coloring book Jenn suggested.
Ukranian Easter Egg Coloring Book is perfect -- 16 designs on their own heavy paper (5-1/2x8-1/2) and perforated so you could take them out, copy them and have lots of great coloring and ideas for eggs. Also, this little booklet explains what each symbol means -- eg, "horses, deer and rams all mean wealth and prosperity". And it's only $2!
Finally, I also order a picture book called This was the day which has a little girl and her mom getting ready for the end of the Great Fast (Lent) by getting the house all clean and then they can do the eggs. The last couple of pictures show the celebrations of the Ukranian Orthodox Church on Easter and Bright Week where all come together and share food, fun and festitivities. The book is illustrated with great drawings using lots of bright colors (think a cross between Patricia Polacco's drawings and Jan Brett's detail). This is a short little book but will add nicely to our pysanky making!
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Topic: Pysanky or Ukrainian Eggs
