Update August 8, 2023: THANK YOU for your support of our fundraising efforts on behalf of our friend Kyrylo Cherniak and the Ukrainian artisans he works with! Between our purchases of these artisan goods and your transactional support in purchasing them, we were able to send nearly $3,000 since the Russian invasion of Ukraine to Kyrylo in support of those artisans and in support of Kyrylo's efforts in helping his fellow citizens of Lviv and other parts of Ukraine in their time of crisis. We're in touch with Kyrylo as often as he can write and the biggest problem he and his fellow citizens face right now, he says, is limited power. Generators are extremely expensive. 

These wooden pysanky are sold out and it's not looking good for more to arrive any time soon. However, we do have real pysanky eggs (about 40 of them) in stock. 

We'll continue to send financial support to Kyrylo as best we can. As long as the artisans there are making things and as long as Kyrylo can send them our way, we can continue to support them by purchasing what they make. When you purchase these items, too, it translates to real support for real people who are just trying to make a living and to make the best of a terrible situation. We thank you immensely.

Pysanky eggs are a springtime tradition in Eastern Europe, where they are a beautiful aspect of the Easter celebration. These wooden pysanky are painted by hand by women in remote villages of the Carpathian Mountains in Ukraine. They paint the eggs in traditional patterns. No two are alike, in both size and pattern, but each is generally about the size of an extra large egg. Assorted colors and patterns; let us choose for you. (But you know us: if you have a special request, just ask and we'll see what we can do to get you what you want.) Buy them individually or get a half dozen in a compostable egg carton for a special price, or a buy a dozen (packaged in 2 half dozen compostable egg cartons) for an even better price.

And what can we say right now about Ukraine? Our hearts are breaking for everyone in Ukraine. We think especially of the artisans who make these pysanky, and our friend Kyrylo Cherniak, who organizes their shipment to us. He lives in Lviv, in western Ukraine, and he gives us updates on what is happening there. We pray for peace and an end to Russian agression for Kyrylo and the artisans who make these pysanky and all the people of Ukraine.

One tangible way we have of helping the people of Ukraine is by supporting our friend in his efforts. We are sending all our profits from the sale of these pysanky eggs back to Kyrylo, so he can continue to help his fellow citizens in crisis –– by feeding the refugees, and by supporting the artisans who make the things he still ships from Ukraine to us. Maybe you can find it in your heart to buy these items even after Easter –– perhaps in solidarity with our friends in Ukraine, as we do what we can to support them directly. We like to think of it as all the hope and promise of an egg, translated to hope and promise for a peaceful Ukraine, sovereign and free from oppression.

This is entirely what we mean when we talk about transactional support for our artisans and the real people we touch through our oddball Convivio Bookworks business model. From us, and them: Thank you for your support.