Have you heard our Pysanka Power Podcast? We’ll feature an episode each week between now and Easter.The pillars of this audio file include tools of the trade, technique, how to’s and DIYs, history & legends, symbolism, and activities just for fun. Discover something different every week here or on your favourite podcast app.
https://www.babasbeeswax.com/X-Pysanka%20Power%20Podcast/The%20Essentials%20of%20Pysanky%20Ukrainian%20Easter%20Eggs.mp3
For better or worse. Today is Friday and who couldn’t use a little pysanka humour to start off the weekend? Discover the magic of pysanky one joke at a time! Credit for this one goes to ©Lynn Johnston
Tools, technique, tradition and more . . . . ask us anything about pysanky. To share our knowledge, our team of experts at www.babasbeeswax.com draws on not only our heritage, but also over 30 years teaching pysanky to all ages and levels of experience since 1991. Today's dialogue is on tradition.
Question
– What is
the traditional Ukrainian pysanka symbol for a bountiful harvest?
Answer
– Wheat.
To
see examples of different symbols, watch “My First Pysanka - Symbols my Baba
taught Me” featured on our YouTube Channel
(Baba’s Beeswax / iluvpysanky) | Book
Preview Playlist. Here’s the YouTube link https://youtu.be/4-Uenn4kz8E. Then head over to https:www.babasbeeswax.com to get a copy of this book for your own
collection.
We believe that pysanky is fun and we embrace “Panya Pysanka”, our cool,
hip, and whimsical mascot character. See her here in our “Ask Us Anything About
Pysanky” post and elsewhere on social media to see how we promote pysanky.
Discover the magic of pysanky one poem at a time in our monthly sharing of these words arranged purposefully with meaning, sound, and rhythm.
Just as Baba’s Beeswax https://www.babasbeeswax.com inspires and encourages beginners, experts, and anyone interested in Ukrainian egg decorating, these featured authors connect us to tradition and inspire us to new possibilities.
The late Orysia Tracz, in Ukrainian Weekly, said “If you need to think of a Ukrainian poem describing the beauty of the Ukrainian village and countryside, a poem by Taras Shevchenko (of course!) usually comes to mind: "A village, and the heart is at peace, a village in our Ukraine, a village like a pysanka...” (1847).
She goes on to say that in another poem, "Na Velykden, na solomi..." [on Easter, on the straw...] Shevchenko describes how children brag about what gifts they received for Easter. The essence of the poem comes through in the English translation. But what will not and cannot come across in English is the beauty of Shevchenko's work. The phrase "lost in translation" is certainly true here. The melody and beauty of the Ukrainian language - and how Shevchenko incomparably used it - defies translation. Ukrainian and Italian are regarded as the two most musical languages in the world, for singing, for opera and, I think, for poetry. This poem is in the C.H. Andrusyshen/Watson Kirkconnell translation, which retains the rhythm of the original:
We hope you enjoy reading Na Velykden, na solomni, by Taras Shevchenko:
On Easter Sunday among the straw
Out in the sun the children played
With Easter eggs in colors braw
And each of them loud boasting made
Of gifts received. One, for the feast,
Was given a shirt with sleeves of white;
One with a ribbon had been pleased,
One with a garment, laced and tight;
This boy was given a lambskin cap,
That one a pair of horsehide boots,
And one a jacket to unwrap.
Only one child among their bruits,
An orphan, had no gift of bliss;
Her hands are hidden in her sleeves.
She hears: "My mother bought me this,
My father got me that." (She grieves.)
"My good godmother made a blouse
Embroidered gay with dainty thread."
"The priest has fed me at his house,"
At last the little orphan said.
[Kos Aral, 1849, in exile]
Cute eggs sitting on a park bench in the city are feature in our Happy Easter Collection of face masks, apparel (more than just T-shirt), gifts and novelty items for your home or office (greeting cards, mugs, etc.). Celebrate Easter in the city or anywhere wearing the apparel in this Collection. This whimsical design in also featured on a variety of gifts and novelty items.
See the Collection here. https://www.cafepress.ca/babaspysankyboutique/17221135
#CafePress #pysanky #UkrainianEasterEgg #BabasBeeswax #JoanBrander
Are you writing pysanky with Ukraine's tryzub (trident) symbol? Here is a step-by-step guide to get the correct proportions for this three-pronged spear.
Today is Friday and who couldn’t use a little pysanka humour to start off the weekend? Discover the magic of pysanky one joke at a time with The Family Circus! Credit for this one goes to ©1996 Bill Keane.
Tools, technique, tradition and more . . . . ask us anything about pysanky. To share our knowledge, our team of experts at www.babasbeeswax.com draws on not only our heritage, but also over 30 years teaching pysanky to all ages and levels of experience since 1991. Today's dialogue is on tools.
Question
– What are
templates and how are they used?
Answer
– Templates are designed to divide all sizes of
eggs into equal parts of 2, 4, 6 or 8 or for circles. The construction of our
templates is somewhat between heavy paper and light cardboard. There are 16
pysanka templates in a package ranging from 1/4" to 4-7/8".
We believe that pysanky is fun and we embrace “Panya Pysanka”, our cool,
hip, and whimsical mascot character. See her here in our “Ask Us Anything About
Pysanky” post and elsewhere on social media to see how we promote pysanky.
Learning pysanky is easy, fun and affordable. Continuing in our bi-weekly series we have Tips and Troubleshooting for eggs, beeswax, kistka, dyes, candles, pencil guidelines, removing beeswax, emptying your eggs, varnishing your pysanky, using a drying board, displaying your pysanky and more . . . .
What’s your learning style? is it listening (we have a podcast
“Pysanka Power Podcast”), is it watching (we have a YouTube Channel “Baba’s
Beeswax” or “iluvpysanky” with multiple playlists), is it doing (we have a
tutorial “Teacher Guide”), is it online (we have digital resources including
“ZOOM” meetings), or is it reading (we have unique publications from Canada and
elsewhere). We’ve been doing all this and more since 1991 and just celebrated
our 30th anniversary!
Today’s tip is to use either glass or plastic jars to
store your dyes. Allow dye to cool completely before adding to plastic jars as
the heat tolerance for some plastics may cause distortion if you add boiling
water to them.
To learn more about pysanky dyes, listen to Episode 3 of our Pysanka
Power Podcast “All About Pysanky Dyes” on your favourite app or here.
Our team has you covered. You can trust the experts at Baba’s Beeswax.com. Our Mission is
to provide you with everything you need to make beautiful pysanky the
traditional way from pysanky supplies and kits to workshops and books. Our
Vision is to inspire and encourage beginners, experts, and anyone
interested in Ukrainian egg decorating to discover the magic of one of the
great traditions of all time—PYSANKY!
Celebrate Easter travel with creative designs from Baba’s Pysanky Boutique – Super Pysanky of Easter Island. The mythology of the statues of Easter Island is represented in pysanky Ukrainian Easter eggs in our Super Pysanky of Easter Island Collection of face masks, apparel (more than just T-shirt), gifts and novelty items for your home or office (greeting cards, mugs, etc.). Like the adventures of Easter Island, you’ll eggs-plore wearing apparel in this Collection. The unique design is also featured on a variety of gifts and novelty items.
See the Collection here. https://www.cafepress.ca/babaspysankyboutique/17219944
Today is Friday and who couldn’t use a little pysanka humour to start off the weekend? Discover the magic of pysanky one joke at a time! Credit for this one goes to ©1979 Universal Press Syndicate from The 1st Treasury of Herman
Tools, technique, tradition and more . . . . ask us anything about pysanky. To share our knowledge, our team of experts at www.babasbeeswax.com draws on not only our heritage, but also over 30 years teaching pysanky to all ages and levels of experience since 1991. Today's dialogue is on tradition.
Question
– What is
the colour on a traditional Ukrainian pysanka that symbolizes light and youth?
Answer
– Yellow. To see the vibrant
palette of 18 pysanky dyes from Baba’s Beeswax, open this Colour
Chart on their website https://www.babasbeeswax.com/18%20Pysanky%20Dyes.htm. They also have a handy Laminated Pysanky Colour Sequence Chart
explaining the traditional sequence for guaranteed results, including
"orange wash" https://www.babasbeeswax.com/Catalogue.htm.
We believe that pysanky is fun and we embrace “Panya Pysanka”, our cool,
hip, and whimsical mascot character. See her here in our “Ask Us Anything About
Pysanky” post and elsewhere on social media to see how we promote pysanky.
#PanyaPysanka #AskUsAnything #JoanBrander #BabasBeeswax
A cute pysanka bunny is featured in our Hoppy Easter Collection of face masks, apparel (more than just T-shirt), gifts and novelty items for your home or office (greeting cards, mugs, etc.). Like this cute bunny, you’ll feel like hopping around wearing apparel in this Collection. A variety of gifts and novelty items features the same fuzzy creature.
Today is Friday and who couldn’t use a little pysanka humour to start off the weekend? Discover the magic of pysanky one joke at a time! Credit for this one goes to ©1990 Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
Today is Friday and who couldn’t use a little pysanka humour to start off the weekend? Discover the magic of pysanky one joke at a time! Credit for this one goes to ©1990 Rick Kirkman and Jerry Scott
Tools, technique, tradition and more . . . . ask us anything about pysanky. To share our knowledge, our team of experts at www.babasbeeswax.com draws on not only our heritage, but also over 30 years teaching pysanky to all ages and levels of experience since 1991. Today's dialogue is on tradition.
Question
– What is
the traditional Ukrainian pysanka symbol for prosperity?
Answer
– A windmill.
To
see examples of different symbols, watch “My First Pysanka - Symbols my Baba
taught Me” featured on our YouTube Channel
(Baba’s Beeswax / iluvpysanky) | Book
Preview Playlist. Here’s the YouTube link https://youtu.be/4-Uenn4kz8E. Then head over to https:www.babasbeeswax.com to get a copy of this book for your own
collection.
We believe that pysanky is fun and we embrace “Panya Pysanka”, our cool,
hip, and whimsical mascot character. See her here in our “Ask Us Anything About
Pysanky” post and elsewhere on social media to see how we promote pysanky.
Thinking about Easter eggs? A colorful display of dozens of pysanky is presented in our inspirational Eggs Beautiful Collection of face masks, apparel (more than just T-shirt), gifts and novelty items for your home or office (greeting cards, mugs, etc.). Like the colorful display of pysanky, you’ll be as vibrant as the poppy wearing apparel in this Collection. The unique design is also featured on a variety of gifts and novelty items.
See the Collection here. https://www.cafepress.ca/babaspysankyboutique/17219844
Learning pysanky is easy , fun and affordable. Continuing in our bi-weekly series we have Tips and Troubleshooting for eggs, beeswax, kistka, dyes, candles, pencil guidelines, removing beeswax, emptying your eggs, varnishing your pysanky, using a drying board, displaying your pysanky and more . . . .
What’s your learning style? is it listening (we have a podcast
“Pysanka Power Podcast”), is it watching (we have a YouTube Channel “Baba’s
Beeswax” or “iluvpysanky”), is it doing (we have a tutorial “Teacher Guide”),
is it online (we have digital resources including “ZOOM” meetings), or is it
reading (we have unique publications from Canada and elsewhere). We’ve been
doing all this and more since 1991 and just celebrated our 30th anniversary!
The essentials of pysanky and the important component
that inspired our name! Today’s tip is to use only pure beeswax with no
additives. Also consider the converse: i.e. do not use paraffin wax as it
doesn’t adhere to your egg the same as pure beeswax does. Paraffin will allow
dye to seep through. Beeswax creates a solid barrier.
Our team has you covered. You can trust the experts at Baba’s Beeswax.com. Our Mission is to provide you with everything you need to make beautiful pysanky the traditional way from pysanky supplies and kits to workshops and books. Our Vision is to inspire and encourage beginners, experts, and anyone interested in Ukrainian egg decorating to discover the magic of one of the great traditions of all time—PYSANKY!
Our whimsical mascot Guy Kistka is celebrating the Feast of Saint Valentine and spreading the love of pysanky.
Every February 14 candy, flowers and gifts are exchanged between loved ones, all in the name of St. Valentine. But who is this mysterious saint, and where did these traditions come from?
According to history dot com the story of this saint is shrouded in mystery. We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine’s Day, as we know it today, contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient pagan tradition. Does this sound familiar? Sounds like valentines and pysanky have something in common.
At least three different saints named Valentine or Valentinus, all of whom were martyred, have been recognized. Like pysanky legends, there are legends surrounding Valentine.
One legend contends that
Valentine was a priest who served during the third century in Rome. When
Emperor Claudius II decided that single men made better soldiers than those
with wives and families, he outlawed marriage for young men. Valentine,
realizing the injustice of the decree, defied Claudius and continued to perform
marriages for young lovers in secret. When Valentine’s actions were discovered,
Claudius ordered that he be put to death.
Other stories suggest that Valentine may have been killed for attempting to help Christians escape harsh Roman prisons. According to one legend, an imprisoned Valentine actually sent the first “valentine” greeting himself after he fell in love with a young girl–possibly his jailor’s daughter–who visited him during his confinement. Before his death, it is alleged that he wrote her a letter signed “From your Valentine,” an expression that is still in use today. Although the truth behind the Valentine legends is murky, the stories all emphasize his appeal as a sympathetic, heroic and–most importantly–romantic figure. By the Middle Ages, perhaps thanks to this reputation, Valentine would become one of the most popular saints in England and France.
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