So this is the egg project that I had been dying to work on since last year! I finally got the pressure to work on one. This egg was chosen from a lot of blueish goose eggs sold in a Chinese market in Shanghai near my mom's cousin's home. The market was amazing, nothing like here. It's a big warehouse with lots of stalls. Some sell fish in the fish area, and some sell only veggies, and others meat. It was surprisingly a lot cleaner than here, and definitely cleaner than Hawaii's Chinatown...by far! Then I got around to these beautiful eggs! They were all blueish tint, like moonstones in water. They were the most beautiful eggs I've ever seen. And so I brought 3. There were also pigeon eggs, which I also brought 3. The lady there asked me in Mandarin, "What are you going to make with these eggs?" Because I took so long to pick them out. Because I had to chose a good one, the shape and color had to be good. I couldn't understand, my mom translated for me. My mom told her that I was going to blow out the egg and make something out of the shell. She gasp, like she's never heard of such ridiculousness. She told us that it was wasteful. Then asked where I was from because I looked Chinese, but spoke none. "We are from the United States". The lady then understood why I was so "wasteful". I emptied them out in my relative's home, and broke one of the pigeon eggs...because I blew too hard. That was a tragedy. But alas, I got over it, because the other ones I blew were successful. I had them dried out and they were ready to go home with me! 1 year later...I finally have the courage to cut it open, because I wanted to paint an egg for my mom's friend's daughter's wedding. I finally busted out my dusty but new rotary tool I got for Christmas last year and put it to use. I was so concerned at first when cutting the egg, but the tool proved very helpful. I didn't even bother to practice on a chicken egg! I cut right open and it was dusty from the shell being cut. The cut was okay. Then I applied the hinges I got last year for doll houses on eBay I had to bend it several times to match the curve of the egg, and then I scratched the side of the hinge that would attach to the outside of the egg, and the area where the hinge would be for enhanced adhering. I used Elmer's wood glue, because I didn't have other glue, but it worked like a charm! Then I got around to painting the inside: I painted the inside different colors before I settled on gold. The gold that I used was home interior grade I got from home depot. I think I has real gold flakes in it, because it looks so vibrant. I dripped it in there to get a texture that I liked. and had to reapply several (5-6 coats) until it looked solid and opaque. Then I applied matte medium all over the outside of the egg - 3 coats to be exact. Had to make sure that no dust particles got stuck on the wet matte medium. Then while everything was dying I sew together a tiny little pillow for the inside of the egg. Luckily the day before, I found a scrap of golden (mustard yellow) colored velvet my mom was going to throw out. I chonked it, and used it! The pillow didn't come out as round as I wanted, but I was on a tight schedule. Then I made a little square for the bottom of the egg to sit on and buffer between the egg and the stand. The stand was actually a candle holder that I came across when I went to Alameda's Antique Fair for the first time, I got it for $2. Then I painted the sunflower. I chose a sunflower, because it's her favorite flower. Then I glued the gold trim on the opening of the egg to hide all the imperfections from the cut. And then top with filigree and a pearl bead. Wrapped it up in a box, and the egg went back to Shanghai, where it came from!
End. =D
