 Always use a short stub candle to remove the wax from your pysanky egg. I am holding the egg adjacent to the candle and not into the flame. This will allow the wax to melt and then you wipe it off. Holding the egg into the flame will cause it to scortch and leave a burn mark. Some institutions may be cautious with 'open flames'. You then need to be certain that the candles used are short and stubby, so that if they topple over there will be no catching fire. Also, be careful about the table surface, some places like to cover the desks in paper! |  Tea lights may seem like a good idea, but they never get hot enough for removing the wax from your egg, or heating up a traditional kistka funnel while you are writing with wax...so don't use them. |
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The supplies needed for writing drop pull pysanky can be very inexpensive: wax melter, tea light, bees wax and stylus.  I bought these inexpensive wax melters at a dollar store. They melt the wax in about 3 minutes and keep it very hot for writing. Below you see the #1 Micro-small drop pull stylus that I like best for writing on chicken eggs and turkey eggs. I have the best control with this stylus, athough there are other sizes you can buy.  My grandmother, Euphrosina ("Rozia" Laszenick) Taras, whom I never got to meet was a Lemko, a distinct Ukrainian ethnic group, from Szczawnik, (Austo-Hungarian empire). She emigrated to the US at age 18 on March 4, 1899, with $2.00 in her pocket. I have always wanted to work with Lemko designs. These egg designs are different from other Ukrainian pysanky designs. They are simpler, using molten wax and a stylus that transfers the drop of wax onto the egg, and then is pulled to form a tail to the drop. Generally two or three color dyes are only used. Lemko Drop Pull eggs are a creative process, because there are hundreds of permutations of designs that can be created on the egg. Here are a few of the eggs that I have written and also a photo of the wax pot and stylus that I use.  I found a scented candle melter at Marshalls in Clearance for $3.00. It was worth buying at that price to experiment with. Using bees wax in liquid form is different than using solid beeswax in the funnel part of the kistka, as most of us have been taught. I prefer to use the BeeBestWax©BlackDiamond© wax fine points and BeeBestWax©BluSapphire© when filling in larger areas, using a medium sized point, as it spread so well. One draw back on the melter is that heating up the wax takes a while; so I heat it up one hour before I plan to use it. How to Fill the Kistka: dip the heated kistka tip into the wax-gently tap on the side of the container- quickly wipe any excess wax on the kistka with a square of toilet paper. I will not go back to using solid spaghetti wax or blocks of wax again! I love using melted wax; it was smoother with more precise lines. Another benefit is that you don’t have to stop fill the funnel, wait for the wax to melt; or scrape off the wax from a solid block. Keep your eyes open at yard sales and craft shops for wax melters; www.ebay.comhas lots of candle warmers at great prices...or buy a La Petite wax warmer("Google" it). CLICK ON THE IMAGE BELOW TO SEE IT LARGE     |
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