Friday, March 29, 2013

Eggs - travaganza!

Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Decorated Easter Eggs
I love the shape of eggs, and over the years I have developed an egg collection.  My main  collection started with stone eggs I got as souvenirs in the Canadian Rockies.  (See this blog post).  I got other eggs over the years as well.  In recent years, when I've seen eggs I like at an estate or rummage sale, I end up buying them because they are usually so inexpensive.  So I now have quite a mish mash collection of eggs.  Today I am showing you some of them.

The photo above shows six decorated Easter eggs that actually used real eggs.  They are incredibly light and fragile, and so I am glad I have taken the time to photograph and document them. It seems impossible that they will last a lifetime - they are each from hollow real "blown out" eggs.  The style of the eggs are different, and they don’t necessarily “blend” well, but I enjoy them anyway.

Ukrainian Easter Eggs
Ukrainian Easter Eggs

The photo above shows my three Ukrainian Easter Eggs, decorated by truly talented artists.  Eggs like these take hours to decorate and I have seen them for sale for over $50. I bought my three at three separate estate sales, each under $5.

Decorated Easter Eggs
My attempt at Ukrainian Easter Eggs

LOL!  The photo above shows my attempt at decorating Ukrainian Easter eggs. Can you see the difference between my amateur attempt and the experts?  My sister purchased the correct tools (a ‘kitsky’ stylus), wax, and the correct dyes. I used my Ukrainian Design Book (image at right).  

Trying to recreate the artistry someone else has achieved can really give you an appreciation for the talent and skill that goes into doing a craft well.  Drawing lines on a 3D curved surface is much harder than it looks, and takes a lot of practice.  I will not be practicing that much, so I hope to find more eggs at sales.  I also had a couple of more eggs I made, but they broke after several years, reinforcing to me how fragile blown out eggs are.  
 
Ukrainian Easter Egg
Ukrainian Easter Egg
You can not count on finding an Ukrainian egg like the one above at estate sales.  I've gone to more then 50 estate sales, and only come across three Ukrainian Eggs.  And you don’t get a selection at estate sales – you just get the one random egg that happens to be there. 
Ukranian Ukrainian Easter Egg
Ukrainian Easter Egg, Multiple views
I now like Ukrainian Easter Eggs so much that I am considering buying a full price egg next time I see an egg artist selling them - just to encourage the artist for spending so much time perfecting this craft.  Support your local artists!  

Pewter Easter Egg
Pewter Easter Egg

Another egg I bought many years ago with my husband is the pewter egg above.  We like pewter, and this little egg was at a shop in Long Grove, Illinois.  They had several different pewter eggs there, but they were expensive (for us at that time), and so we only bought this one.  It opens up.  It is kind of like my own little Faberge egg, if you know what those are.


Holland Dutch Delft Easter Egg
Dutch Delft Easter Egg


The last egg I am sharing today I bought when my husband and I were on vacation in Holland.  Holland is known for Delft china - a hand painted blue and white china.  The souviner shops feature Delft, and we toured a Delft factory.  Delft china sort of goes with the flow blue china I love.

Holland Dutch Delft Easter Egg
Delft Easter Egg

In Holland, we saw three beautiful eggs in a window display in a shop.  The shop clerk would not/could not sell us the items from the window display, something that clerks typically will do in the United States.  After that, we searched for eggs in all the other souvenir shops we came across and even the Delft factory store.  This one egg was the only souvenir egg we found for sale.  Sometimes it is the search that makes it fun.  

I hope you enjoyed the goofy collection of eggs presented.  You may also have noticed the vintage linens I picked to go with the various eggs...  Have a Happy Easter all!

Click on the images to see them enlarged. 

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Faith Grace: Pearls and Lace Thur 129 (Entry 20 of 23.)

8 comments:

Sandi@ Rose Chintz Cottage said...

Oh my, what beautiful eggs! They are incredible works of art. I think you did a wonderful job of your own.
The pewter egg is adorable and I LOVE the Delft eggs! I'm so happy you shared these at my HOME. Have a lovely weekend.

Easter blessings,
Sandi

Unknown said...

Wow these are beautiful! Have never seen 'em at a rummage/garage sale! Wishing you a happy Easter:)

Anonymous said...

Your Ukrainian eggs are lovely. Years ago a friend who was of Ukrainian descent invited several of us over to try Ukrainian egg decorating. I was hooked! Like you, I found that the fancy designs are very difficult to execute properly. But your eggs are beautiful too! I especially like the blue colored egg you did. -- Min

Butterfly 8)(8 Bungalow said...

My mother makes them, and I never learned how.

Very beautiful.

Sheila Zeller said...

I'm popping over from Between Naps on the Porch - love your pewter egg, but seriously, your collection is beautiful! What treasures... So nice to discover your blog and meet you!!
Sheila

Doni said...

I think you did a wonderful job and should keep on! Your collection is really pretty. Thank you so much for joining my party!
Blessings,
Doni

Kathy said...

Your collection is lovely. The Ukranian eggs are exquisite in their design; love the Delft egg and the Pewter! I do appreciate you sharing with Home and Garden Thursday,
Kathy

777godsgirl said...

Your eggs are gorgeous! I have also collected a few. Due to finances I have to sell them so am listing them on ebay :( Maybe you will be interested. Happy Easter!
Diane aka 777godsgirl