Monday, April 11, 2011

Win This ACEO for April!

Here’s the prize for my monthly contest in celebration of five years of business. It’s an Ukrainian Easter egg ACEO/ATC. Another schnipster project, this one took a few hours to design. Schnipstering can be a little hit or miss at times :-)

All you have to do is leave a comment and I will pick a winner on April 30 at 6pm MTN.




When I was thinking of this month’s prize, I wanted to share a special Easter tradition that others might not know much about. The eggs are more than just a decoration; it is a symbol of renewal and resurrection of course.

I learned how to make Ukrainian Easter eggs as a young person in Edmonton, Alberta. Edmonton has a huge Ukrainian population which is very proud of its culture. My first egg was made in Grade 4, but it wasn’t until Grade 7 that I really made one that was really good. Designing each egg takes a lot of thought. A tool called a kiska is used to scoop wax and draw with it. Anything covered in wax will have the colour preserved as the egg is dipped in different dyes. So the first layer would be white, and then yellow and so forth.

Good, even wax coverage is necessary for a good strong line. The final dye coat is usually black or red. At the end of the process, the wax is melted off with heat from a candle and wiped with a tissue. The real name for the eggs is psyanky and you can learn more about them at this website .

Vegreville, Alberta, by the way, is home to the world’s largest psyanka! Vegreville is also home to the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, which is a wonderful historic park to visit, especially if you like Eastern European churches.

Whew, this post is getting long! Other Eastern European cultures also decorate eggs, and they have different styles and names. Wikipedia has a good round-up of Easter egg traditions if you want to learn more.

17 comments:

  1. Well Christine, this aceo has to be mine, because I am Ukrainian ;o) Beautiful aceo! Have a great day!

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  2. Awesome! The next time I am at my parents I will try to get a picture of one of my eggs. I think it's in Mom's china cabinet :-)

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  3. Your Egg is just beautiful! I am really impressed!

    What is Schnipster / Schnipstering? I have never before heard this term. Sounds like one might be snipping away a design with a pair of scissors or another type of cutting tool ....

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  4. Very nice work on the ACEO - and interesting information about the eggs! Very cool!

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  5. Thanks for stopping by Debbie. It is pretty fun to do.

    IrelandBrady...you're right! Papercutting is called scherenschnitte. Those who snip call themselves schnipsters :-) Scherenschnitte sounds like a sneeze when you say it!

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  6. This is a wonderful design for Easter I had no idea about Schnipstering (?) either, very cool :)

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  7. Wow! That must definitely take a lot of time and patience! You must use very fine cutting scissors and/or extremely sharp exacto knife blades. You have a terrific talent!

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  8. I would love to see one of your eggs Christine ;o) I think I will put some up on my blog before Easter ;o)

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  9. This is beautiful! Please include my name in your giveaway!
    Funny, Kiska was the name of the Navy ship my husband served on when we were first married back in the 80's.

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  10. Susan couldn't post for some reason, so here's what she wanted to say:

    Christine, love your design! Why don't you come trade with us at yahoo? We would love it! Speaking of eggs, I have always wanted to learn how to do the pysanky style egg decorating with wax relief and paint..Our local YMCA had a class several years ago and I raced down to sign up....I was the only one who did, so they cancelled the class. I was soooo disappointed....I think this style of ethnic tradition is a vanishing art form. At least we can keep the idea going with our snippings!

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  11. Christine, I just love your ACEO. Although I am not Ukrainian, I have always been fascinated by the art of Pysanka and took some classes to learn this beautiful technique. I made & still have a few eggs. I'll revive my blog post about it for Easter.

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  12. Lovely cutting, the colours too. Thanks for the giveaway!

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  13. I would love to see your blog post Deb! I thought it was more a prairie thing, so it's nice to know that there's others out there :-)

    You're in Brenda :-) Thanks for stopping by. It's funny where similar names come up - I wonder what the two words mean now.

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  14. Wow - I have heard several people this year talk about psanky! I took a class years ago and really enjoyed it. I still have my eggs, too. Lovely ACEO! What a wonderful giveaway!

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  15. That is so cool Kathy! I wonder if they're a trend and I just don't know it :-)

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  16. Wow this is beautiful, and so unique. Thank you for explaining how you did it. I know who ever wins will be very happy with it. Your so talented.

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  17. Yeehaaaa!!! I got this little beauty & all the WONDERFUL extras this week & I have been meaning to post to show all, I will do so because I have to update my side bar with this little beauty & a link :))))
    THANK YOU THANK YOU, I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!

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