Link: Enchanted Hen Productions Ostrich Eggshell Jewelry

Yes, I am excited.  This is the first batch since moving to the Land of Enchantment, and it’s a good feeling to be settled in my studio and producing again.

It’s always interesting to see the final results as opposed to the work-in-progress.  The pieces might start out kind of uninteresting, until I get the final coat of finish on them, adding depth and bringing out the colors.  My fave result was with the simple design of the Trypillian Spiral earrings which were fairly cool looking in production but the black on brick contrast was much more dramatic when finished.

And then there are the Ukrainian designs with their warm reds and golds – they’re so pretty, I’ll post a picture here.

And this is just the first batch!  I still have a ton of work ahead of me and more new designs, but it does please me to get the first group out.

So I better get back to it!

Oh, first a Heads-Up  for those of you that are not on my email list yet:  There is a 25% discount for my subscribers through the end of March.  Sign up for my Enchanted Hen Newsletter (located to your right, on the sidebar) to get the coupon code.

Allright, I’m really going back to work now . . .

Nan

You know, I believe I discover something new every time I make a batch of jewelry.

Of course, I tend to discover it at the end of my batch instead of the beginning (where I could apply it to more pieces), but – oh well.  Next batch I can plan the design ahead and really experiment with this particular innovation.

It’s nothing real exciting (well, it is to me).  When dyeing the pieces, if I have a dark color background that has not been waxed, and I want to lighten it up a bit, I usually soak the shell piece in a weak solution of bleach.  I have to be careful though, because the bleach can dry out the shell (much like it does my fingers).  Then I brush it with an old toothbrush, maybe bleach some more until I get the result I want.

The thing about bleach and dyes, though – it doesn’t always clear out the color.  Sometimes it just fades the color to a dull version.  Blues are particularly hard to bleach.  Black is prettymuch impossible.

But – and if you have been following along – I had been using a vinegar etching technique on some brown eggs, and I wondered if it would remove dye.  So I tried it on a large oval brooch piece with the Rosette design on a black background.  I poured some undiluted white vinegar into a small bowl with the shell piece inside, enough to cover the surface.  Let it stew for about 5 minutes, and then removed the shell piece and brushed it lightly with a toothbrush under running water.

Voila!  It worked way better than the bleach, AND it did not fry my fingers to a chemical crisp!

The reason it works better, is that it actually removes a bit of the surface of the shell.  Whereas the bleach tries to alter the color.   And, of course, the wax is still protecting the design, so the only thing that gets altered is the un-waxed areas.

I was so pleased, I went back to all my (hundreds!) of finished pieces to see if I wanted any more with a white background.  Only found a few, but – like I said – next batch I’ll work with the technique a little more.

So, I learned a few things with this experiment:  (1) The dyes only penetrate the very surface of the eggshell, previously, I thought the dye saturated the shell.  (2) The dye remains in the little eggshell dimples and makes an interesting spotty effect that enhances the surface pattern.  And,  (3) Buy more white vinegar.

~Nan

There are several books I can recommend, that will help the beginning egger to get started, or for the veteran egger to possibly move in new directions with our craft. These images lead to Amazon.com pages, where you can read more and purchase them if you like. Here they are, in order of my favorites:

For the accomplished egger, I highly recommend this book Decorating Eggs by Jane Pollak. There are several different projects you can do with eggs, including Hanging Christmas Ornament eggs, of which I have made several batches and given as gifts. They are easy to make, and look wonderful on your tree. Also included in this book is the procedure for making eggshell jewelry. While Ms Pollak makes hers out of goose eggs, I have altered the process a bit to use ostrich eggs for my jewelry. But the basics are the same. Lots of good stuff here.

The books I started with are this series written by the women at the Ukrainian Gift Shop in Roseville Minnesota These have clear directions, drawings, and photographs, and each provide a short history of the symbols and colors used in the art of pysanka. After completing the all the exercises in these books, it naturally lead to design ideas, and a desire to continue in my own direction with this fascinating art.

Ukrainian Easter Eggs and How We Make Them
Author: Anne Kmit, Loretta L. Luciow

Eggs Beautiful
Author: Johanna Luciow

Ukrainian Design Book I
Author: Natalie and Luba Perchyshyn

Ukrainian Easter Egg Design Book 3
Author: Natalie Perchyshyn

Ukrainian Easter Egg Design Book 4
Author: Natalie Perchyshyn

So there you are – have at it!

Nan